The Mad Scientists' Club

The Mad Scientists' Club is a series of short stories by Bertrand R. Brinley about a gang of science geeks. They all live in the mythical(?) town of Mammoth Falls, which is somewhere near Canada. Most of the stories deal with the Mad Scientists' battles with their nemesis, Harmon Muldoon's gang. Harmon used to be a Mad Scientist, but he was kicked out for "conduct unbecoming of a scientist" and giving away club secrets.

Growing up, I loved reading the Mad Scientists' Club stories. They all have that same "geek chic" of the Encyclopedia Brown stories where intelligence and cleverness is valued more than raw, brute strength. Reading the stories today, the science is a little dated (the emphasis on HAM and the reliance on mechanical engineering-y solutions, for example), but I still love reading them.

The members of the Mad Scientists' Club are:

• Jeff Crocker: the president of the club, mainly because the club meets in his folks' barn, but he's "just as smart as Henry and maybe a little more scientific."
• Mortimer Dalrymple: the sardonic and sarcastic one. Mortimer is always making wise cracks, often at the expense of either Dinky or Freddy.
• Henry Mulligan: the brains behind the outfit. Henry usually has the brilliant ideas, but it's Jeff who usually has to find a way to bail them out.
• Dinky Poore: the small guy. Dinky is Freddy's best friend. If The Mad Scientists' Club were Star Wars, Dinky would be R2-D2.
• Freddy Muldoon: Harmon Muldoon's cousin. Freddy is the fat one who's maybe not as smart as the rest. Freddy is Dinky's best friend. The two serve as comic relief in the stories.
• Homer Snodgrass: Homer is the well-read, literate member of the Mad Scientists. He's always reading fiction or poetry.
• Charlie: the narrator of the stories. He's the modest and unassuming one. I'm sure he has a last name, but I don't remember it right now.

The exploits of the Mad Scientists' Club are recorded in three books, The Mad Scientists' Club (1965), The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club (1968) and The Big Kerplop (about which I know nothing; I didn't even know it existed until Tem42 /msg'd me). Anyhow, the short stories I know are:

• The Mad Scientists' Club
  • The Strange Sea Monster of Strawberry Lake: Dinky tells a fib about seeing a sea monster in Strawberry Lake and the Mad Scientists pull a stunt to bring it to life.
  • The Big Egg: The Mad Scientists find a dinosaur egg and try to hatch it. But Harmon's gang steals it ... or did they?
  • The Secret of the Old Cannon: The Mad Scientists think they've solved a fifty-year old crime that has political considerations for the upcoming local elections.
  • The Unidentified Flying Man of Mammoth Falls: On Founders' Day, the Mad Scientists make a mannequin fly, interrupting the big parade.
  • The Great Gas Bag Race: The Mad Scientists and Harmon Muldoon's gang are engaged in a hot-air balloon race at the county fair.
  • The Voice in the Chimney: The Mad Scientists haunt an old, spooky house.
  • Night Rescue: After an Air Force pilot is lost near Mammoth Falls, the Mad Scientists undertake a daring rescue.
• The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club
  • The Telltale Transmitter: The Mad Scientists stop a sophisticated bank robbery.
  • The Cool Cavern: Harmon Muldoon's gang is trapped in a cavern by a rock slide and the Mad Scientists need to find a way to get them out.
  • Big Chief Rainmaker: when a drought hits Mammoth Falls, the Mad Scientists are asked to make it rain. Until it rains too much, then they're asked to make it stop.
  • The Flying Sorcerer: when Dinky becomes obsessed with UFOs, the Mad Scientists agree to build him one.
  • The Great Confrontation: it's an all-out war when Harmon Muldoon's gang kidnaps Dinky and Freddy.

Many (all(?)) of these short stories were first printed in "Boys' Life", the boy scout magazine. The Mad Scientists are all members of the same Explorer post.

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tim three: You are correct, but you have to remember that all of these kids are boy scouts so it's very much a Leave it to Beaver/Norman Rockwell type of Mad Science rather than Dr. Frankenstein/Dr. Jekyll.

The Big Kerplop was the only full length Mad Scientists' Club adventure ever published. Unfortunatly for MSC fans, it is very rare, as (I've heard) less then a thousand copies were printed. The plot centers around the accidental dropping of an atomic bomb (no, it didn't explode) into Strawberry Lake, the panic of the people of Mammoth Falls, and the eventual saving-of-the-day (and the lake) by the Club. Thoroughly enjoyable for anyone who has read the other two books. Consider yourself lucky if you've read it, let alone owned a copy.

[Editor's note: The Big Kerplop is back in print. All Scientists, rejoice! (2009) ]

A quick addendum: There is a fourth book in the Mad Scientists' Club series, which was published after the author Bertrand Brimley's death by his son Sheridan. It is titled The Big Chunk of Ice and involves a trip to Europe, a blimp, and a diamond, among other things! The Mad Scientists' Club - The Complete Edition was published in 2010, which contains all four books (both full length novels and all short stories).