Tom Swift
I was a clever wee bugger as a lad, sometimes too smart for my own good. When I was in primary school my teachers could never find things for me to do, as I was invariably finished the set work before some of the slower kids had even started. So in P7, my teacher brought in a pile of books which her son had read when he was young. They were based around the adventures of a boy called Tom Swift who devised and used, with his father Barton, a series of wondrous electromechanical contrivances to save the day. A bit like McGyver-meets-Scotty-from-Star-Trek, if you will.

I loved them. I read every single book that she brought in. I wouldn't say that's what inspired me to be a scientist, as I'll already made my mind up by that point, but it certainly did nothing to change my mind.

It also kept my teacher happy, as I was stuck with my head in a book most of the time and she could get on with teaching the rest of the class.

Not exactly classic literature, mind you.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Mon 19 May 2008, 9:45, 2 replies)

I read a few of those.
I liked them at the time- but I recently re-read one and was startled at how badly it was written. Almost as bad as the Hardy Boys.

A word of advice- don't re-read your childhood books as an adult. It tarnishes your memories of them.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Mon 19 May 2008, 15:01, closed)

@TRL
In my case, re-reading Alice in Wonderland would do the reverse.

I also found that reading Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy as an adult, the book had a lot more meaning (first read it aged 11, again aged 20, and once again aged 26).
( mistaspakkaman and the inedible shifting caterpillars, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:32, closed)