7 h 34 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What turns the frightening forces of nature into stories you want to follow?
In The Strange Tales of Doctor Ulebuhle, Bruno Hans Bürgel gathers tales about volcanoes, storms, plague and precious stones. The playful Doctor Ulebuhle serves as a guide to curious things, while stories carry the science. Wonder comes first, inviting you closer to subjects that might otherwise seem difficult or remote.
Bürgel explores both the forces that frighten people and the natural wonders that awaken their curiosity. Diamonds take their place alongside volcanoes and storms as subjects worth exploring. Throughout these tales, curiosity matters more than technical detail: the aim is to make the earth and its wonders understandable to ordinary readers.
What you’ll discover
- Science carried by stories Follow natural wonders through tales that give facts a warm, approachable setting.
- Nature at its fiercest Explore volcanoes, storms and plague as subjects of both human fear and scientific curiosity.
- Wonders worth exploring Discover why the natural world offers so much to a curious mind.
- A playful companion Let Doctor Ulebuhle guide your attention toward the curious things of the natural world.
- Room for your curiosity Approach science through wonder, without needing to think of yourself as a scientist.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy fables with a spark of science, cozy storytelling by a grumpy old uncle, and historical ideas about nature, the stars and the sea.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A grumpy scholar trades cake for quiet
- Buried cities and a wandering water drop
- Ghosts are only nature in a dark coat
- Worth is measured by work, not by sparkle
- A clockwork man without a heart
- Short lives, heartbeats and tiny worlds
- Down to the seabed and out to the ice
- Comets, storms and a visit to another world
- Plague, amber and the pleasure of curiosity
Who’s who
- Doctor UlebuhleAn owl-eyed, pipe-smoking old scholar in Goslar who tells science tales to neighborhood children over tea and raisin cake.
- ChristineUlebuhle's old housekeeper in the big black bonnet, who serves the cake and tea and explains the cabinet of memories to the children.
- Ghost-HeinrichDoctor Horn's frightened coachman, who sees a spirit in every shadow and glow on his night errands.
- John DollandA big, weather-beaten diver who goes down to a sunken ship to bring up papers and a mother's belongings.
- Master CorneliusA proud watchmaker from Basel who gives up family and money to build an iron man that will make him famous.
- Doctor GravesgraveA doctor and boyhood friend of Ulebuhle who travels to India to find the cause and cure of plague.
- Baron DiamondA vain jewel who boasts of his noble birth and tells a hardworking pencil about his travels.
- The Professor and ChristianA forgetful stargazer and his attentive old servant who travel to Uranus and argue along the way.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 7 h 34 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Les Contes étranges du Docteur Ulebuhle
A cranky old scholar in Goslar pays children in cake to hear why the sun, a diamond and a drop of water matter.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Why would a grumpy scholar with a rat-tail braid bribe the neighborhood children with raisin cake? In The Strange Tales of Doctor Ulebuhle, Bruno Hans Bürgel disguises science as fairy tale.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A grumpy scholar trades cake for quiet
The frame of the book is Doctor Ulebuhle, an old scholar in the German town of Goslar. He lives in a crooked medieval house with a slate tower, a telescope and a room stuffed with beetles, bones and instruments. His name comes from the owl look of his horn-rimmed glasses, and a tiny gray braid hangs down his coat collar.
The children of the town make a racket around the fountain outside his window. So the old man tries a new plan. He invites them upstairs every Sunday evening for tea, raisin cake and stories, if they promise to leave his garden in peace.
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What is The Strange Tales of Doctor Ulebuhle about?
It is a set of linked tales told by an old scholar in Goslar to a group of children. The stories wrap historical scientific ideas, from volcanoes and diamonds to comets, storms and distant planets, in a fairy-tale shape.
Who is Doctor Ulebuhle?
He is an eccentric, pipe-smoking scholar who lives in a crooked house with a telescope tower in Goslar. His name comes from his owl-like glasses and the name Buhle, and he tells stories to the children over tea and cake.
Is Doctor Ulebuhle a true story?
The book mixes fairy-tale storytelling with scientific explanations. The stories also refer to historical disasters, including the burial of Pompeii in the year 79.
The author
Bruno Hans Bürgel
1875–1948 · German astronomer and science writer
Bruno Hans Bürgel (1875–1948) was a German astronomer and writer. He was born in Berlin and died in Babelsberg, now part of Potsdam. He wrote books explaining astronomy to general readers. His works include Aus fernen Welten (1910) and the autobiography Vom Arbeiter zum Astronomen (1919).
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