Class 10 English NCERT Book Footprints Without Feet Chapter 10 The Book that saved the Earth Summary in English with PDF File for cbse, hbse and other state boards.
The Book that saved the Earth Summary Class 10 English
The Book that saved the Earth author- Claire Boiko
This is a science fantasy. This imaginary story is set in the twenty-fifth century. The place is the Museum of Ancient History, Department of the Twentieth Century. There is a Historian sitting at a table. There is a movie projector on the table. She is giving a talk to the audience about the twentieth century. She tells the audience that the twentieth century was often called the Era of the Book. In those days, there were books about everything. They taught the people everything. But the strangest thing was that a book saved the Earth.
She narrates a real story from the twenty-first century. She tells how the Martians (people from the planet Mars) invaded the earth and a book of nursery rhymes saved us from their attack. The incident relates to the Martian invasion of 2040. Infact, the invasion never took place. A single book stopped it. It was not a noble encyclopedia or a book about rockets and missiles. It was a book of nursery rhymes. Then the Historian shows the audience the happenings that actually took place. These have been recorded in a film. She turns on the projector. It shows the Mars Space Control room. We see Think-Tank who is the commander-in-chief. He has a huge, egg-shaped head. He wears a long robe decorated with stars and circles. His deputy, Noodle stands beside him at a switchboard.
Think-Tank has already sent a manned spacecraft to the Earth. Their purpose is to collect information about the earth’s defence system and send it back to the other spacecraft from Mars who are ready to attack the earth before lunch. Think-tank asks Noodle to place him in communication with their manned space probe to the Planet Earth. Think-tank says they are soon going to take it over. Noodle establishes his contact with the Mars Space Control. Captain Omega and his deputies are in a library. They came on the earth in order to gather secrets of the earth defiance. They have landed in a library. They have seen the books and the library for the first time.
Think Tank talks to Captain Omega who tells him that they have arrived on Earth without incident. As they have never seen a library before, they are not sure where they are. However, Lt. Iota tells Think Tank that there are about two thousand peculiar items (books). She thinks that the place must be some storage barn. Sergeant Oop also says that he has never before seen anything like those things. He calls them ‘hats’. Omega asks for Think Tank’s advice. Through his remote camera, Think Tank looks at the ‘books’. He calls them eatables and they are in a refreshment stand. He says that what they have in their hands are ‘sandwiches’. They are the main food of Earth diet. Think Tank orders Omega to eat it (book) to confirm. Omega asks Lt. Iota to eat it. Iota orders Sergeant Oop to eat it. Oop bites a corner of the book. He pretends to chew and swallow and tells Think Tank that it is delicious.
After sometime Noodle informs Think-Tank that a bit of data floated into his mind. Now he has found that the people of the earth do not eat them. But they use them as communication devices. Think Tank also believes what he tells him. He orders Omega to listen to them (books). He puts a book to his ears and tries hard to listen. Think Tank asks Omega if he can listen something from them. Omega replies that they may not be on the correct frequency. Think Tank says that the Earthlings have sharp ears. Noodle says that he has piece of information in his mind. The people of the Earth opened them and watched them. Now Think-Tank says that those ‘sandwiches’ are for eye communication. He asks Captain Omega to take three sandwiches and tell him what he sees in them.
Omega looks at the books and tells Think-Tank that they have pictures of Earthlings. They have some sort of code, lines and dots with pictures. He asks him to study the pictures and decipher the code in them. The book that Omega is looking at is a nursery rhyme book. He reads the nursery rhyme ‘Mistress Mary. Think Tank wonders how the Earthlings have combined agriculture and mining. They also grow explosives.
He feels that the people of the earth are very intelligent and brave. Noodle says that the invasion spacecraft are ready to attack the earth. But Think-Tank asks Noodle to tell the invasion fleet to hold. New information has come to him. Think Tank asks Iota to transcribe the information. She reads the nursery rhyme ‘Hey diddle … spoon’. Think Tank feels alarmed. He thinks that the Earthlings have reached a higher level of civilisation.
They have taught their domesticated animals music and space techniques. They may be launching an interplanetary attack of millions of cows. He asks him to notify the invasion fleet that there will be no invasion that day. Then Oop reads the nursery rhyme ‘Humpty Dumpty … again’. He shows the picture of Humpty Dumpty also. The picture resembles Think-Tank. He is scared. He says that the Earthlings have seen him
They are planning to capture Mars Central Control and him. He decides to run away from Mars. He orders Noodle to prepare a space capsule for him. He must escape without delay. The Earthlings are coming to capture Mars. Noodle asks Think Tank where they shall go. Think-Tank replies they will go to the planet Alpha-Centauri, a hundred million miles away.
After showing this film, the Historian says that one old book of nursery rhymes saved the world from a Martian invasion. Then in the twenty-fifth century they resumed contact with Mars. They became friends. Think Tank was replaced by Noodle. They taught the Martians the difference between books and sandwiches. They established a model library on Mars. But they can never read one book. It is Mother Goose.