Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Natural cataclysm is the subject of several readings: the 1899 Alaskan earthquake, which uplifted cliffs at Yakutat Bay 47 feet; a terrifying forest fire in Northern Wisconsin in 1899; the fiery sunsets which followed the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1883; a storm at sea which sank the English frigate Anson in 1807; and the explosion of a hydrogen-filled dirigible over Chicago in 1919. Natural beauty, also a topic, includes a guide to the Antrim coast of Ireland, observations on Black Walnut trees and the communal life of Yellow-Jacket wasps, and an essay on how to paint reflections. Two colloquies of Erasmus explore a young woman's choice to become a nun and the "preposterous judgments" of people who value the names of things more than the Things themselves. Progress--envisioned as the age of electricity; changes in burglary; and Nostradamus' prognostications for the future round out the volume. -summary by Sue Anderson Elizabeth G. Peckham was the co-author of "Communal Life of Yellow-Jacket Wasps" Fifty Quatrains of Nostradamus was translated by Theophilus de Garencières