English (Footprints Without Feet) · CBSE Class 10 · Supplementary Reader · Claire Boiko · 25 Quiz
The Book That Saved the Earth — Summary, Author, Theme & Glossary
About the Author
Claire Boiko was an American playwright well known for her humorous, imaginative plays for young people. ‘The Book That Saved the Earth’ is a science-fiction comedy play set four centuries in the future.
Theme
The play is a light-hearted satire that celebrates the power and importance of books. It humorously shows how an ordinary book of nursery rhymes — Mother Goose — saved the Earth from a Martian invasion. It also mocks false pride and self-styled ‘intelligence’ (Think-Tank) and quietly praises true, humble intelligence (Noodle).
Summary
The play is narrated by a Historian in the twenty-fifth century, from the Museum of Ancient History. She tells how the twentieth century was called the ‘Era of the Book’ and how, in 2040, a single book stopped a Martian invasion. She turns on her ‘historiscope’ to show the events.
On Mars, the vain and pompous ruler Great and Mighty Think-Tank — a creature with a huge egg-shaped ‘balloon brain’ — orders his assistant Noodle to contact the Martian space probe on Earth. The space crew — Captain Omega, Lieutenant Iota and Sergeant Oop — have landed in the Centerville Public Library but have no idea what the books are. Think-Tank, through a series of absurd, confident mistakes, declares the books are first sandwiches (and makes Oop eat one!), then ear-communication devices, and finally eye-communication devices.
At each wrong guess, the clever, tactful Noodle gently corrects Think-Tank without ever offending him, letting Think-Tank believe the ideas were his own. After taking intelligence-boosting vitamins, the crew reads aloud from a big book of nursery rhymes, Mother Goose. Think-Tank hilariously misinterprets the innocent rhymes as deadly threats: ‘Mistress Mary’ means Earthlings can grow crops of silver and explosives; ‘Hey diddle diddle’ means they have trained cows and dogs for an interplanetary attack; and ‘Humpty Dumpty’ (whose picture resembles his own balloon-shaped head) means the Earthlings have seen him and plan to capture Mars. Terrified, Think-Tank orders the crew to flee and evacuate all of Mars, escaping a hundred million miles away to Alpha Centauri.
The Historian concludes that this is how a dusty old book of nursery rhymes saved the world. Five hundred years later, Earth made friends with the Martians, taught them to read and set up a library in Marsopolis — ruled now by the wise Noodle, who had replaced the foolish Think-Tank. But there is one book the Martians can never bring themselves to read: Mother Goose!
Glossary
easel = wooden frame to support a board or picture; apprentice = a learner of a trade; peevishly = irritably; riffling = quickly turning the pages; barn = a storage building; haberdashery = a shop selling small dress articles; squiggles = scrawls, illegible markings; decipher = to find the meaning of something puzzling; transcribe = to write out in full; levity = lack of seriousness.
NCERT Textbook Solutions (The Book That Saved the Earth)
RF1-1Read and Find Out: Why was the twentieth century called the ‘Era of the Book’?
The twentieth century was called the ‘Era of the Book’ because in those days there were books about everything — ‘from ant-eaters to Zulus’. Books taught people how to, when to, where to and why to do things; they ‘illustrated, educated, punctuated, and even decorated’. Books were central to life and learning, hence the whole age was named after them.
RF1-2Who tried to invade the earth in the twenty-first century?
The Martians tried to invade the earth in the year 2040 (the twenty-first century). The invasion was ordered by their ruler, the Great and Mighty Think-Tank, who wanted to put the ‘ridiculous little planet’ Earth under his ‘generous rulership’ — but the invasion never actually happened, because a single book stopped it.
RF2-1Read and Find Out: What guesses are made by Think-Tank about the books found on earth?
Think-Tank makes three absurd guesses, each confidently wrong. First he declares the books are sandwiches — ‘the main staple of Earth diet’ — and orders the crew to eat one. Next, told the Earthlings did not eat them, he says they are communication sandwiches meant for the ears, and orders the crew to listen to them. Finally he decides they are for eye communication, to be watched — and when the crew finds ‘code’ (print) inside, he orders them to break the code.
TI-1Think about it: Noodle avoids offending Think-Tank but at the same time he corrects his mistakes. How does he manage to do that?
Noodle is extremely tactful and diplomatic. He never contradicts Think-Tank directly, which would wound his huge ego. Instead he humbly offers his correction as an ‘insignificant bit of data’ or a ‘cloudy piece of information twirling in my head’, and lets Think-Tank take all the credit by pretending the right idea was Think-Tank’s ‘next point’. For example, he gently reminds that Earthlings did not eat the sandwiches but watched them — and Think-Tank promptly ‘clarifies’ this as his own thought. Thus Noodle corrects the mistakes while flattering his master.
TI-2If you were in Noodle’s place, how would you handle Think-Tank’s mistakes?
(Sample) I would handle them much as Noodle does — with tact and respect, since bluntly telling a vain, powerful ruler he is wrong could be dangerous. I would offer the correct information gently and modestly, perhaps as a question or a small ‘reminder’, allowing him to feel the right conclusion was his own. At the same time I would make sure the truth got through, so that no harm was done by his mistakes. Honesty wrapped in politeness is the safest way.
TI-3Do you think books are being replaced by the electronic media? Can we do away with books altogether?
(Sample) To a large extent books are being supplemented — and partly replaced — by electronic media such as e-books, the internet, audiobooks and online courses, which are convenient and quick. However, we cannot do away with books altogether. Printed books need no battery or screen, cause no eye-strain, are easy to preserve, and give a special pleasure of their own. Books remain a reliable, lasting store of knowledge and culture, so they are likely to coexist with electronic media rather than vanish.
TI-4Why are books referred to as a man’s best companion? Which is your favourite book and why?
(Sample) Books are called a man’s best companion because they are always with us, never betray us, and give us knowledge, guidance, comfort and joy in both happiness and loneliness. They broaden our minds, fire our imagination, and teach us about life and the world without ever asking anything in return. (Students should name their own favourite book — e.g. ‘My favourite book is … because it … ’ — and write a short paragraph on why they love it.)
TA-1Talk about it: In what ways does Think-Tank misinterpret innocent nursery rhymes as threats to the Martians?
Think-Tank twists each harmless rhyme into a terrifying ‘threat’. From ‘Mistress Mary’ he concludes that Earthlings can combine agriculture and mining to grow crops of silver and high explosives. From ‘Hey diddle diddle’ (the cow jumping over the moon, the laughing dog) he decides Earthlings have taught their animals space-travel and musical culture, and may launch an attack of ‘millions of cows’. And from ‘Humpty Dumpty’, whose picture resembles his own balloon-shaped head, he panics that the Earthlings have seen him and plan to ‘capture Mars Central Control and me’. His vanity and foolishness turn nursery rhymes into an invasion scare.
TA-2The aliens in this play speak English. Do you think this is their language? What could be the language of the aliens?
(Sample) No, English is almost certainly not the real language of the Martians. The playwright has them speak English only so that the audience can understand the play. Real aliens, if they existed, would have a language entirely their own — perhaps based on sounds, signals, electronic beeps, light, colours or some form of thought-transmission quite unlike any human tongue.