The object of The Guide to Science was to present answers to over 2000 questions about common phenomena.[1] There are questions dealing with the man-made objects such as candles, stoves and chimneys as well as answers seeking to explain natural phenomena such as thunder and lightning (including a mention of ball lightning[7]), clouds, dew and rainbows. Brewer intended that his book should be intelligible to a child, since children might often ask the questions he was seeking to answer, but without being so foolish as to offend the scientific.[1]