Author: Tim Harris
Publisher: Hungry Tomato (R)
ISBN: 1541500962
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 36
Book Description
Action-packed photos and engaging text present the reality of modern human flight, including an aircraft powered by nothing more than the sun's energy, and soaring thousands of feet above sea level in nothing but a fabric suit.
Gossamer Odyssey
Author: Morton Grosser
Publisher: Zenith Imprint
ISBN: 9780760320518
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298
Book Description
Gossamer Odyssey tells the story of the historic flight of the Gossamer Albatross, a spindly, feather-light craft which on June 2, 1979, became the first human-powered aircraft to cross the English Channel. Author Grosser covers the history of human-powered flight including the various unsuccessful efforts in Europe following World War I as well as programs in England and Japan following World War II. The development and flight of the first successful human-powered aircraft, the "Gossamer Condor, is covered in great detail. Grosser, who was a member of the "Gossamer Albatross team, provides an expert account that is fully accessible to the layperson and demonstrates how the channel crossing was an incredibly challenging undertaking despite the earlier success of the "Condor.
Publisher: Zenith Imprint
ISBN: 9780760320518
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298
Book Description
Gossamer Odyssey tells the story of the historic flight of the Gossamer Albatross, a spindly, feather-light craft which on June 2, 1979, became the first human-powered aircraft to cross the English Channel. Author Grosser covers the history of human-powered flight including the various unsuccessful efforts in Europe following World War I as well as programs in England and Japan following World War II. The development and flight of the first successful human-powered aircraft, the "Gossamer Condor, is covered in great detail. Grosser, who was a member of the "Gossamer Albatross team, provides an expert account that is fully accessible to the layperson and demonstrates how the channel crossing was an incredibly challenging undertaking despite the earlier success of the "Condor.
The Triumph of Human Empire
Author: Rosalind Williams
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226899586
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433
Book Description
In the early 1600s, in a haunting tale titled New Atlantis, Sir Francis Bacon imagined the discovery of an uncharted island. This island was home to the descendants of the lost realm of Atlantis, who had organized themselves to seek “the knowledge of Causes, and secret motions of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of Human Empire, to the effecting of all things possible.” Bacon’s make-believe island was not an empire in the usual sense, marked by territorial control; instead, it was the center of a vast general expansion of human knowledge and power. Rosalind Williams uses Bacon’s island as a jumping-off point to explore the overarching historical event of our time: the rise and triumph of human empire, the apotheosis of the modern ambition to increase knowledge and power in order to achieve world domination. Confronting an intensely humanized world was a singular event of consciousness, which Williams explores through the lives and works of three writers of the late nineteenth century: Jules Verne, William Morris, and Robert Louis Stevenson. As the century drew to a close, these writers were unhappy with the direction in which their world seemed to be headed and worried that organized humanity would use knowledge and power for unworthy ends. In response, Williams shows, each engaged in a lifelong quest to make a home in the midst of human empire, to transcend it, and most of all to understand it. They accomplished this first by taking to the water: in life and in art, the transition from land to water offered them release from the condition of human domination. At the same time, each writer transformed his world by exploring the literary boundary between realism and romance. Williams shows how Verne, Morris, and Stevenson experimented with romance and fantasy and how these traditions allowed them to express their growing awareness of the need for a new relationship between humans and Earth. The Triumph of Human Empire shows that for these writers and their readers romance was an exceptionally powerful way of grappling with the political, technical, and environmental situations of modernity. As environmental consciousness rises in our time, along with evidence that our seeming control over nature is pathological and unpredictable, Williams’s history is one that speaks very much to the present.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226899586
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433
Book Description
In the early 1600s, in a haunting tale titled New Atlantis, Sir Francis Bacon imagined the discovery of an uncharted island. This island was home to the descendants of the lost realm of Atlantis, who had organized themselves to seek “the knowledge of Causes, and secret motions of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of Human Empire, to the effecting of all things possible.” Bacon’s make-believe island was not an empire in the usual sense, marked by territorial control; instead, it was the center of a vast general expansion of human knowledge and power. Rosalind Williams uses Bacon’s island as a jumping-off point to explore the overarching historical event of our time: the rise and triumph of human empire, the apotheosis of the modern ambition to increase knowledge and power in order to achieve world domination. Confronting an intensely humanized world was a singular event of consciousness, which Williams explores through the lives and works of three writers of the late nineteenth century: Jules Verne, William Morris, and Robert Louis Stevenson. As the century drew to a close, these writers were unhappy with the direction in which their world seemed to be headed and worried that organized humanity would use knowledge and power for unworthy ends. In response, Williams shows, each engaged in a lifelong quest to make a home in the midst of human empire, to transcend it, and most of all to understand it. They accomplished this first by taking to the water: in life and in art, the transition from land to water offered them release from the condition of human domination. At the same time, each writer transformed his world by exploring the literary boundary between realism and romance. Williams shows how Verne, Morris, and Stevenson experimented with romance and fantasy and how these traditions allowed them to express their growing awareness of the need for a new relationship between humans and Earth. The Triumph of Human Empire shows that for these writers and their readers romance was an exceptionally powerful way of grappling with the political, technical, and environmental situations of modernity. As environmental consciousness rises in our time, along with evidence that our seeming control over nature is pathological and unpredictable, Williams’s history is one that speaks very much to the present.
The History of Human Space Flight
Author: Ted Spitzmiller
Publisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 0813059704
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 693
Book Description
Military Writers Society of America Awards, Gold Medal for History Highlighting men and women across the globe who have dedicated themselves to pushing the limits of space exploration, this book surveys the programs, technological advancements, medical equipment, and automated systems that have made space travel possible. Beginning with the invention of balloons that lifted early explorers into the stratosphere, Ted Spitzmiller describes how humans first came to employ lifting gasses such as hydrogen and helium. He traces the influence of science fiction writers on the development of rocket science, looks at the role of rocket societies in the early twentieth century, and discusses the use of rockets in World War II warfare. Spitzmiller considers the engineering and space medicine advances that finally enabled humans to fly beyond the earth's atmosphere during the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. He recreates the excitement felt around the world as Yuri Gagarin and John Glenn completed their first orbital flights. He recounts triumphs and tragedies, such as Neil Armstrong's "one small step" and the Challenger and Columbia disasters. The story continues with the development of the International Space Station, NASA's interest in asteroids and Mars, and the emergence of China as a major player in the space arena. Spitzmiller shows the impact of space flight on human history and speculates on the future of exploration beyond our current understandings of physics and the known boundaries of time and space.
Publisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 0813059704
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 693
Book Description
Military Writers Society of America Awards, Gold Medal for History Highlighting men and women across the globe who have dedicated themselves to pushing the limits of space exploration, this book surveys the programs, technological advancements, medical equipment, and automated systems that have made space travel possible. Beginning with the invention of balloons that lifted early explorers into the stratosphere, Ted Spitzmiller describes how humans first came to employ lifting gasses such as hydrogen and helium. He traces the influence of science fiction writers on the development of rocket science, looks at the role of rocket societies in the early twentieth century, and discusses the use of rockets in World War II warfare. Spitzmiller considers the engineering and space medicine advances that finally enabled humans to fly beyond the earth's atmosphere during the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. He recreates the excitement felt around the world as Yuri Gagarin and John Glenn completed their first orbital flights. He recounts triumphs and tragedies, such as Neil Armstrong's "one small step" and the Challenger and Columbia disasters. The story continues with the development of the International Space Station, NASA's interest in asteroids and Mars, and the emergence of China as a major player in the space arena. Spitzmiller shows the impact of space flight on human history and speculates on the future of exploration beyond our current understandings of physics and the known boundaries of time and space.
A Century of Triumph
Author: Christopher Chant
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743234790
Category : Aeronautics
Languages : en
Pages : 406
Book Description
On December 17, 1903, on the windswept beaches of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright piloted the world's first powered flight, in one of the most famous moments in history. Within a few short years, airplanes of various designs were lifting into the air over Europe and America. Soon, the entire world was caught up in the fevered advance of flight and airplanes, Zeppelins, autogyros and helicopters were making the world a much smaller place. To celebrate the first full century of powered flight premier aviation historian Christopher Chant and world-famous illustrator John Batchelor have joined forces to showcase an astonishing march of progress. From the early experiments of gliderman Otto Lilienthal to the moon walk of Neil Armstrong, it has indeed been A Century of Triumph. From the golden age of Zeppelins to the extreme design experiments of World War II to the fierce modernism of supersonic fighter jets, A CENTURY OF TRIUMPH demonstrates the full richness of mankind's flying craft. In addition to Batchelor's illustrations, the book features never-before-published vintage watercolour posters of pre-World War I aviation races and a treasure trove of photographs. Chant's text combines full histories of the planes themselves with biographical essays on some of the great figures of the twentieth century: the Barnstormers, Igor Sikorsky, Amelia Earhart, Chuck Yeager, and the Apollo XVII astronauts, among others. A CENTURY OF TRUMPH is a visual and factual feast for anyone who marvels at the majesty of flying.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743234790
Category : Aeronautics
Languages : en
Pages : 406
Book Description
On December 17, 1903, on the windswept beaches of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright piloted the world's first powered flight, in one of the most famous moments in history. Within a few short years, airplanes of various designs were lifting into the air over Europe and America. Soon, the entire world was caught up in the fevered advance of flight and airplanes, Zeppelins, autogyros and helicopters were making the world a much smaller place. To celebrate the first full century of powered flight premier aviation historian Christopher Chant and world-famous illustrator John Batchelor have joined forces to showcase an astonishing march of progress. From the early experiments of gliderman Otto Lilienthal to the moon walk of Neil Armstrong, it has indeed been A Century of Triumph. From the golden age of Zeppelins to the extreme design experiments of World War II to the fierce modernism of supersonic fighter jets, A CENTURY OF TRIUMPH demonstrates the full richness of mankind's flying craft. In addition to Batchelor's illustrations, the book features never-before-published vintage watercolour posters of pre-World War I aviation races and a treasure trove of photographs. Chant's text combines full histories of the planes themselves with biographical essays on some of the great figures of the twentieth century: the Barnstormers, Igor Sikorsky, Amelia Earhart, Chuck Yeager, and the Apollo XVII astronauts, among others. A CENTURY OF TRUMPH is a visual and factual feast for anyone who marvels at the majesty of flying.
Tragedy and Triumph in Orbit
Author: Ben Evans
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461434300
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 631
Book Description
April 12, 2011 is the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering journey into space. To commemorate this momentous achievement, Springer-Praxis is producing a mini series of books that reveals how humanity’s knowledge of flying, working, and living in space has grown in the last half century. “Tragedy and Triumph” focuses on the 1980s and early 1990s, a time when relations between the United States and the Soviet Union swung like a pendulum between harmony and outright hostility. The glorious achievements of the shuttle were violently arrested by the devastating loss of Challenger in 1986, while the Soviet program appeared to prosper with the last Salyut and the next-generation Mir orbital station. This book explores the continued rivalry between the two superpowers during this period, with each attempting to outdo the other – the Americans keen to build a space station, the Soviets keen to build a space shuttle – and places their efforts in the context of a bitterly divisive decade, which ultimately led them into partnership.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461434300
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 631
Book Description
April 12, 2011 is the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering journey into space. To commemorate this momentous achievement, Springer-Praxis is producing a mini series of books that reveals how humanity’s knowledge of flying, working, and living in space has grown in the last half century. “Tragedy and Triumph” focuses on the 1980s and early 1990s, a time when relations between the United States and the Soviet Union swung like a pendulum between harmony and outright hostility. The glorious achievements of the shuttle were violently arrested by the devastating loss of Challenger in 1986, while the Soviet program appeared to prosper with the last Salyut and the next-generation Mir orbital station. This book explores the continued rivalry between the two superpowers during this period, with each attempting to outdo the other – the Americans keen to build a space station, the Soviets keen to build a space shuttle – and places their efforts in the context of a bitterly divisive decade, which ultimately led them into partnership.
The Triumph of Sociobiology
Author: John Alcock
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198032897
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
In The Triumph of Sociobiology, John Alcock reviews the controversy that has surrounded evolutionary studies of human social behavior following the 1975 publication of E.O. Wilson's classic, Sociobiology, The New Synthesis. Denounced vehemently as an "ideology" that has justified social evils and inequalities, sociobiology has survived the assault. Twenty-five years after the field was named by Wilson, the approach he championed has successfully demonstrated its value in the study of animal behavior, including the behavior of our own species. Yet, misconceptions remain--to our disadvantage. In this straight-forward, objective approach to the sociobiology debate, noted animal behaviorist John Alcock illuminates how sociobiologists study behavior in all species. He confronts the chief scientific and ideological objections head on, with a compelling analysis of case histories that involve such topics as sexual jealousy, beauty, gender difference, parent-offspring relations, and rape. In so doing, he shows that sociobiology provides the most satisfactory scientific analysis of social behavior available today. Alcock challenges the notion that sociobiology depends on genetic determinism while showing the shortcoming of competing approaches that rely on cultural or environmental determinism. He also presents the practical applications of sociobiology and the progress sociobiological research has made in the search for a more complete understanding of human activities. His reminder that "natural" behavior is not "moral" behavior should quiet opponents fearing misapplication of evolutionary theory to our species. The key misconceptions about this evolutionary field are dissected one by one as the author shows why sociobiologists have had so much success in explaining the puzzling and fascinating social behavior of nonhuman animals and humans alike.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198032897
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
In The Triumph of Sociobiology, John Alcock reviews the controversy that has surrounded evolutionary studies of human social behavior following the 1975 publication of E.O. Wilson's classic, Sociobiology, The New Synthesis. Denounced vehemently as an "ideology" that has justified social evils and inequalities, sociobiology has survived the assault. Twenty-five years after the field was named by Wilson, the approach he championed has successfully demonstrated its value in the study of animal behavior, including the behavior of our own species. Yet, misconceptions remain--to our disadvantage. In this straight-forward, objective approach to the sociobiology debate, noted animal behaviorist John Alcock illuminates how sociobiologists study behavior in all species. He confronts the chief scientific and ideological objections head on, with a compelling analysis of case histories that involve such topics as sexual jealousy, beauty, gender difference, parent-offspring relations, and rape. In so doing, he shows that sociobiology provides the most satisfactory scientific analysis of social behavior available today. Alcock challenges the notion that sociobiology depends on genetic determinism while showing the shortcoming of competing approaches that rely on cultural or environmental determinism. He also presents the practical applications of sociobiology and the progress sociobiological research has made in the search for a more complete understanding of human activities. His reminder that "natural" behavior is not "moral" behavior should quiet opponents fearing misapplication of evolutionary theory to our species. The key misconceptions about this evolutionary field are dissected one by one as the author shows why sociobiologists have had so much success in explaining the puzzling and fascinating social behavior of nonhuman animals and humans alike.
Sonnets, triumphs, and other poems now first completely
Author: Francesco Petrarca
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 568
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 568
Book Description
To Conquer the Air
Author: James Tobin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439135495
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464
Book Description
James Tobin, award-winning author of Ernie Pyle's War and The Man He Became, has penned the definitive account of the inspiring and impassioned race between the Wright brothers and their primary rival Samuel Langley across ten years and two continents to conquer the air. For years, Wilbur Wright and his younger brother, Orville, experimented in obscurity, supported only by their exceptional family. Meanwhile, the world watched as Samuel Langley, armed with a contract from the US War Department and all the resources of the Smithsonian Institution, sought to create the first manned flying machine. But while Langley saw flight as a problem of power, the Wrights saw a problem of balance. Thus their machines took two very different paths—Langley’s toward oblivion, the Wrights’ toward the heavens—though not before facing countless other obstacles. With a historian’s accuracy and a novelist’s eye, Tobin has captured an extraordinary moment in history. To Conquer the Air is itself a heroic achievement.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439135495
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464
Book Description
James Tobin, award-winning author of Ernie Pyle's War and The Man He Became, has penned the definitive account of the inspiring and impassioned race between the Wright brothers and their primary rival Samuel Langley across ten years and two continents to conquer the air. For years, Wilbur Wright and his younger brother, Orville, experimented in obscurity, supported only by their exceptional family. Meanwhile, the world watched as Samuel Langley, armed with a contract from the US War Department and all the resources of the Smithsonian Institution, sought to create the first manned flying machine. But while Langley saw flight as a problem of power, the Wrights saw a problem of balance. Thus their machines took two very different paths—Langley’s toward oblivion, the Wrights’ toward the heavens—though not before facing countless other obstacles. With a historian’s accuracy and a novelist’s eye, Tobin has captured an extraordinary moment in history. To Conquer the Air is itself a heroic achievement.
Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds
Author: Gary M. Pomerantz
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0676793983
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230
Book Description
“A deeply moving account of the extraordinary strengths that ordinary people can display when tragedy confronts them. As emotionally powerful a book as you are likely ever to read.” –David J. Garrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Bearing the Cross In August 1995, twenty-six passengers and a crew of three board a commuter plane in Atlanta headed for Gulfport, Mississippi. Shortly after takeoff they hear an explosion and, looking out the windows on the left side, see a mangled engine lodged against the wing. From that moment, nine minutes and twenty seconds elapse until the crippled plane crashes in a west Georgia hayfield–nine minutes and twenty seconds in which Gary Pomerantz takes readers deep into the hearts and minds of the people aboard, each of whom prepares in his or her own way for what may come. Ultimately, nineteen people survive both the crash and its devastating aftermath, all of them profoundly affected by what they have seen and, more important, what they have done to help themselves and others. This is not so much a book about a plane crash as it is a psychologically illuminating real-life drama about ordinary people and how they behave in extraordinary circumstances. Each of us has wondered what we would do to survive a life-threatening situation: Would I survive? How would I conduct myself–would I act to save others in need or only myself? Would others try to save me? How would I be affected by the experience? Judging by what is revealed in Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds, the answers are surprisingly optimistic. In telling the remarkable stories of these twenty-nine men and women, Gary Pomerantz has written one of the most compelling books in recent memory. Open to any page and you’ll immediately be drawn into the dramatic pull of the narrative. But on a deeper level, Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds speaks as powerfully about our capacity to care for others as it does about the strength of our will to live. This rich and rewarding book will linger in your mind long after you turn the last page.
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0676793983
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230
Book Description
“A deeply moving account of the extraordinary strengths that ordinary people can display when tragedy confronts them. As emotionally powerful a book as you are likely ever to read.” –David J. Garrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Bearing the Cross In August 1995, twenty-six passengers and a crew of three board a commuter plane in Atlanta headed for Gulfport, Mississippi. Shortly after takeoff they hear an explosion and, looking out the windows on the left side, see a mangled engine lodged against the wing. From that moment, nine minutes and twenty seconds elapse until the crippled plane crashes in a west Georgia hayfield–nine minutes and twenty seconds in which Gary Pomerantz takes readers deep into the hearts and minds of the people aboard, each of whom prepares in his or her own way for what may come. Ultimately, nineteen people survive both the crash and its devastating aftermath, all of them profoundly affected by what they have seen and, more important, what they have done to help themselves and others. This is not so much a book about a plane crash as it is a psychologically illuminating real-life drama about ordinary people and how they behave in extraordinary circumstances. Each of us has wondered what we would do to survive a life-threatening situation: Would I survive? How would I conduct myself–would I act to save others in need or only myself? Would others try to save me? How would I be affected by the experience? Judging by what is revealed in Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds, the answers are surprisingly optimistic. In telling the remarkable stories of these twenty-nine men and women, Gary Pomerantz has written one of the most compelling books in recent memory. Open to any page and you’ll immediately be drawn into the dramatic pull of the narrative. But on a deeper level, Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds speaks as powerfully about our capacity to care for others as it does about the strength of our will to live. This rich and rewarding book will linger in your mind long after you turn the last page.
Superfast Jets
Author: Tim Harris
Publisher: Hungry Tomato ®
ISBN: 1541533259
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 35
Book Description
From extremely fast passenger planes to stealthy military vehicles, jets have come a long way since their invention. Action shots and diagrams along with high-interest text explore these superfast aircraft.
Publisher: Hungry Tomato ®
ISBN: 1541533259
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 35
Book Description
From extremely fast passenger planes to stealthy military vehicles, jets have come a long way since their invention. Action shots and diagrams along with high-interest text explore these superfast aircraft.