1. 7 by 6 and 1, square 7, Sans dessus dessous.

    In the first chapter, J.-T. Maston asserts that no woman could ever make scientific achievements of the level of the discoveries made by Euclides, Kepler or Newton.

    Find information about one or more famous women scientists who lived before 1900.

    I have found a most excellent site. It fits the bill and more so. The main page is Distinguished Women of Past and Present. Its description is:

    This site has biographies of women who contributed to our culture in many different ways. There are writers, educators, scientists, heads of state, politicians, civil rights crusaders, artists, entertainers and others. Some were alive hundreds of years ago and some are living today. We’ve heard of some of them, while many more have been ignored by history book writers. I’d like to acknowledge as many as I can.

    If you go to the “Search by field of activity”, you get a comprehensive list of fields of activities.

    And if you go to the “Biology list”, you will find names such as

    • Mary Anning, 1799–1847 (Great Britain)
    • Cornelia M. Clapp, 1849–1934 (U.S.A.)
    • Ida H. Hyde, 1857–1945 (U.S.A.)
    • Julia Barlow Platt, 1857–1935 (U.S.A.)
    • Rosa Smith Eigenmann, 1858–1947 (U.S.A.)
    • Nettie Maria Stevens, 1861–1912 (U.S.A.)
    • Beatrix Potter, 1866–1943 (Great Britain)
    Photo of Marie Curie

  2. 3 by 2 and 1, square 10, Les Indes Noires. Meeting with Zvi, who pays a single fine and goes back to square 7. Met by Jean-Michel. Pay a single fine and go back to start.

  3. 4 by 2 and 2, square 4, Les Tribulations d’un Chinois en Chine.

    Kin-Fo and Lé-ou use a phonograph for communication.

    When, and by whom, was this apparatus invented?

    I was hoping for a little controversy! Because people are always saying that the inventor from their country invented the TV or the Telephone etc.

    My guess was “Thomas A Edison” and I was proved right: Thomas Edison’s Phonograph.

    It starts off saying:

    In 1857 and 1859 Leon Scott patented developed the “phonautograph”, a device that recorded sound waves on a rotating cylinder. The phonautograph did not have the ability to playback the sound it recorded, but was sold as a laboratory device to analyze sound starting in 1859.

    BUT HEY!!! what good is it if you can’t hear the sound?

    So the true inventor of the phonograph was indeed EDISON! As it states:

    On February 19, 1878 patent number 200,251 was issued to Edison’s phonograph.

    Schematic drawing of a phonograph

  4. 8 by 4 and 4, square 12, Le Pilote du Danube.

    The climax of the novel takes place at the wild region of the Danube Delta.

    Find information on this region.

    • Let me first start with a site which shows an oil painting impression of the Danube Delta.

    • The site Danube Delta starts off:

      At the end of the great river Danube’s journey through Europe to the Black Sea there spreads out a natural paradise unparalleled in Europe, where canals, lakes, reed islands, pastures and sand dunes cover over 5,165 sq km (2,000 miles).

      Many cruise and day trip possibilities open up the wonders of the Delta.

      This amazing wetland shelters over 300 species of birds, countless fish from royal sturgeon down to carp and perch, while its 1,150 kinds of plants range from sinuous lianas suggesting tropical forests to gently blossoming water lilies. It is small wonder that UNESCO has designated the Delta a “Reservation of the Biosphere”.

      The Delta appears to part of Romania.

    • I must add the following UNESCO site Danube Delta, which gives the reasons for the Danube Delta being recognized by the UN.

    Photo of the Danube delta

  5. 9 by 5 and 4, square 21, Clovis Dardentor.

    Clovis Dardentor is in serious danger when he is attacked by a lion.

    Do lions still live in northern Africa?