Ellen MacGregor (1906–1954)
Author of Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars
About the Author
Image credit: By University of Washington - https://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/collection/uwdocs/id/15337, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=141437729
Series
Works by Ellen MacGregor
The Peculiar Miss Pickerell 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1906-05-15
- Date of death
- 1954-03-29
- Gender
- female
- Education
- University of Washington
University of California, Berkeley - Occupations
- librarian
science fiction writer
children's book author - Organizations
- Society of Midland Authors
Children's Reading Round Table
Authors League - Short biography
- Ellen MacGregor was born in Baltimore, Maryland and educated in schools in Garfield and Kent, Washington. She attended the University of Washington at Seattle, where she received a bachelor of science degree in library sciences in 1926. She also did postgraduate work in science at the University of California, Berkeley. In her career as a librarian, she worked in many locations including Hilo, Hawaii; Chicago, Illinois; and Key West, Florida. She was an editor of the Illinois Women’s Press Association’s monthly bulletin, Pen Points. In 1950, she began to publish comic short stories about the extraordinary and amazing travels of a prim New England spinster named Miss Lavinia Pickerell. The first in the series of science fiction novels for children for which Ellen MacGregor became famous, Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars, appeared in 1951. The books provided children with enjoyable fantasy literature containing accurate scientific facts. Three more Miss Pickerel novels followed before Ellen MacGregor's early death at age 47. McGraw-Hill, her publishers, searched unsuccessfully for someone to continue the series until 1964, when they selected Dora Pantell, a social worker and textbooks writer. She used notes left by Ellen MacGregor to create further Miss Pickerell novels until 1986.
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Places of residence
- Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Hilo, Hawaii, USA
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Key West, Florida, USA
Wisconsin, USA
Washington, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
This book shocked me by being *actually reality based*.
Okay, yes, the basic premise of "little old lady who has frighteningly close relationship to her cow find scientists building moon rocket in her pasture and accidentally stows away" requires deep, deep suspension of disbelief. But once she actually gets on the rocket, the science is all *good* science. Written for about a third-grade level, so very simplified, but despite the 1951 publication date, there's nothing that makes me want to show more write corrections in the margin. And in fact this would serve as a very good primer on space travel: more accurate than some *textbooks* I've encountered. But not too preachy or teachy, and the character of Miss Pickerell shines over all.
It's very ... something ... when the part of the story that takes place on Earth is the fantastic part, but that's the 1950s for you. (And why I adore old-fashioned YA SF. As much as I like modern SF, what happened to a story where you could have a line like "Wouldn't work," Mr. Killian said, "On account of the orbits. You know about orbits?" show less
Okay, yes, the basic premise of "little old lady who has frighteningly close relationship to her cow find scientists building moon rocket in her pasture and accidentally stows away" requires deep, deep suspension of disbelief. But once she actually gets on the rocket, the science is all *good* science. Written for about a third-grade level, so very simplified, but despite the 1951 publication date, there's nothing that makes me want to show more write corrections in the margin. And in fact this would serve as a very good primer on space travel: more accurate than some *textbooks* I've encountered. But not too preachy or teachy, and the character of Miss Pickerell shines over all.
It's very ... something ... when the part of the story that takes place on Earth is the fantastic part, but that's the 1950s for you. (And why I adore old-fashioned YA SF. As much as I like modern SF, what happened to a story where you could have a line like "Wouldn't work," Mr. Killian said, "On account of the orbits. You know about orbits?" show less
Miss Pickerell is taking her identical twin nephews and her cow to the city to visit the circus and the Atomic Energy Museum. They are traveling downstream in a steam boat and Miss Pickerell is rather put out because the cow was put in the hold with a bunch or annoying rocks. The rocks were ballast. But, when the owner of the boat found that there was a cow aboard, he put into shore and dumped Miss Pickerell and the cow off in a small village. There's an atomic energy research facility near show more by. Also, the town sherif is trying to prospect for uranium. Miss Pickerell gets involved with both, the sheriff and the research facility, and eventually figures out that there were stores of uranium back in the mountain near where she lives (the source of the steam boat's ballast).
So, we learn all about atomic energy, radioactive decay, how geiger counters work, cosmic ray background radiation, radio-carbon dating, and so forth. A fun way to (re)learn some science.
Given that the book came out in 1953, views favoring atomic energy were pretty highly boosted. Those old atoms were to power our future. We know these days that nuclear power is not so easy. The safety issues are much more difficult and expensive to deal with than we'd imagined back in the olden days (the real problem primarily is waste disposal, I believe, and no one wants to pay for that, neither the profiteers nor the taxpayers).
But, none-the-less, knowing about basic scientific issues is always a good thing. Even if some of the political and economic issues change, the basic science remains steadfast. We've become rather an anti-science society, which doesn't bode well for our futures. It fair boggles my mind that we had well over a dozen people running for President a few months ago, none of whom had even a vague clue about the nature of science. They all seemed to think scientific investigation is merely a matter of opinion. It seems that a good place for those ignoramuses to begin to understand the nature of scientific investigation would be some Miss Pickerell. show less
So, we learn all about atomic energy, radioactive decay, how geiger counters work, cosmic ray background radiation, radio-carbon dating, and so forth. A fun way to (re)learn some science.
Given that the book came out in 1953, views favoring atomic energy were pretty highly boosted. Those old atoms were to power our future. We know these days that nuclear power is not so easy. The safety issues are much more difficult and expensive to deal with than we'd imagined back in the olden days (the real problem primarily is waste disposal, I believe, and no one wants to pay for that, neither the profiteers nor the taxpayers).
But, none-the-less, knowing about basic scientific issues is always a good thing. Even if some of the political and economic issues change, the basic science remains steadfast. We've become rather an anti-science society, which doesn't bode well for our futures. It fair boggles my mind that we had well over a dozen people running for President a few months ago, none of whom had even a vague clue about the nature of science. They all seemed to think scientific investigation is merely a matter of opinion. It seems that a good place for those ignoramuses to begin to understand the nature of scientific investigation would be some Miss Pickerell. show less
After Sylvia Plath, I needed something that wouldn't tax my emotions. What better thing to read than a novella (19,430 words, I counted them) written for children, wherein the main character has a pet cow and we are treated to some gentle science lessons?
Miss Pickerell is a spinster who lives alone on a small, isolated farm with her pet cow and her prize rock collection. She's happy and content to be away from people and noise. But, once a year, she spends a month with her seven nieces and show more nephews in the city. It just about drives her bats. They all chatter endlessly. On the other hand, she will admit to having learned rather a lot from their chatter.
Anyway, after visiting them, she arrives home to her peace and quiet, only to find that someone has been in her house. Worse, she finds that there's a giant construction in her pasture. She climbs up the construction to give the people inside a piece of her mind, and the next things she knows, the doors close, there are some explosions, she passes out. When she regains consciousness, she finds she's in a rocket ship headed for Mars.
She has a few adventures on the way to Mars and back. Also, we get some gentle lessons about gravity and its effects. Rather a nice respite from depression and suicide. show less
Miss Pickerell is a spinster who lives alone on a small, isolated farm with her pet cow and her prize rock collection. She's happy and content to be away from people and noise. But, once a year, she spends a month with her seven nieces and show more nephews in the city. It just about drives her bats. They all chatter endlessly. On the other hand, she will admit to having learned rather a lot from their chatter.
Anyway, after visiting them, she arrives home to her peace and quiet, only to find that someone has been in her house. Worse, she finds that there's a giant construction in her pasture. She climbs up the construction to give the people inside a piece of her mind, and the next things she knows, the doors close, there are some explosions, she passes out. When she regains consciousness, she finds she's in a rocket ship headed for Mars.
She has a few adventures on the way to Mars and back. Also, we get some gentle lessons about gravity and its effects. Rather a nice respite from depression and suicide. show less
The thing I love about Miss Pickerell stories is that the author tries to be as scientifically accurate as possible - within the framework of a highly unlikely plot.
This book was written in 1965 (by another author from Macgregor's copious notes after her death), but sticks closely to the scientific facts as known at the time. Miss Pickerell likes to read the encyclopedia, so she can include all sorts of tidbits about pressurized cabins, low-g movements, solar storms, and lots more. The show more series really does try to be fun and educational.
Of course, a large part of the plot - spores discovered on the moon that may or may not cure a disastrous illness among the animals of Square Toe County - is silly, but that's where the fun comes in. show less
This book was written in 1965 (by another author from Macgregor's copious notes after her death), but sticks closely to the scientific facts as known at the time. Miss Pickerell likes to read the encyclopedia, so she can include all sorts of tidbits about pressurized cabins, low-g movements, solar storms, and lots more. The show more series really does try to be fun and educational.
Of course, a large part of the plot - spores discovered on the moon that may or may not cure a disastrous illness among the animals of Square Toe County - is silly, but that's where the fun comes in. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 24
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 1,769
- Popularity
- #14,555
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 20
- ISBNs
- 48
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 1
