"One Hundred Thousand Whys" is the masterpiece of Soviet science popularization writer M. Ilin.
M. Ilin (1896-1953) is a famous Soviet science writer, engineer, and children's literature writer who is very familiar to Chinese readers. The title of the book "A Hundred Thousand Whys" is taken from a poem by the British novelist and poet Joseph Rudyard Kipling, winner of the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature: "Five thousand where, seven thousand what, a hundred thousand Why."
This book was published in 1929 and was quickly translated and introduced to China in a short period of time. It was published by many publishers and had a great impact on my country's popular science creation. China's older generation of science popularization writers and many science popularization writers who grew up in the 1950s have all benefited from Mi Yilin's works.
About the author:
M. Ilin (1896-1953) is a famous Soviet science writer, engineer and children's literature writer who is very familiar to Chinese readers. Famous popular science works include "One Hundred Thousand Whys", "What Time Is It", "Black and White", "The Sun on the Table", "Journey to the Atomic World" and "Things Around You".
Mi Yilin’s works are examples of excellent science popularization works and have had a great impact on the field of science popularization creation in my country. China's older generation of science writers and many science writers who grew up in the 1950s have all learned from Mi Yilin's works. Mi Yilin is good at combining literature and science, using literary and artistic style, vivid metaphors, and eloquently telling scientific knowledge.
Gao Shiqi, a famous popular science writer in my country, once summarized the writing characteristics of Mi Yilin's works in 16 words in the People's Daily: "rich content, vivid writing, lively thoughts, and short paragraphs." Mi Yilin's works have been translated and introduced in China for seventy or eighty years. The editions have been continuously increasing and the number of prints has not declined. He has always been a good teacher and helpful friend for the majority of young people.