Understanding Flight

Book Description

The simplest, most intuitive book on the toughest lessons of flight--addresses the science of flying in terms, explanations, and illustrations that make sense to those who most need to understand: those who fly. Debunks long-rooted misconceptions and offers a clear, minimal-math presentation that starts with how airplanes fly and goes on to clarify a diverse range of topics, such as design, propulsion, performance, high-speed flight, and flight testing. Not-to-be missed insights for pilots, instructors, flight students, aeronautical engineering students, and flight enthusiasts.

Download Description

Customer Reviews:

A great introduction into flight.......2006-11-14

I always was very interested in flight and aerodynamics but never really had the chance to read a book that gave me a clear understanding of the principles that are involved in it.
Understanding Flight is a great introduction for everyone who is interested in this field. It provides a lot of useful information and explains the phenomenon of flight in a easy way. The good thing about this book is, that someone who reads it does not need any kind of pre-knowledge in order to understand it. It explains everything necessary to know from the basics up to more sophisticated topics.
All together, this is really a very good and interesting book, which I recommend to everyone who is interested or involved in flight.

No math.......2006-09-08

This book does an outstanding job of explaining the basics of flight: how and why planes fly, what matters in wing design, how propellers work, how jet engines work. It does this with no math, and some good clear use of Newton's 3 laws.

This would be a good introduction to aerodynamics even for engineers. My only complaint is that the section on supersonic flight is not as good as the earlier parts of the book.

Changing the paradigm.......2006-07-05

For a pilot that was tought aerodynamics based in Bernoulli theories, this is a total change of the old paradigm. It explain the concepts in very simple words. Every one can understand the Coanda Effect and its importance in aerodynamics.

Half of the equation.......2006-03-19

As a life long pilot and college professor of aviation, I have long been aggrevated by the one sided nature of aerodynamic discussions. While not perfect, it does go into great detail about "Newtonian" lift. However, the authors' dismissal of Bernoulli is somewhat inappropriate and premature. Bernoulli's work can be derived from Newton's. In fact, Bernoulli used Newton's works in order to discover his equation that is commonly cited to describe lift. In short, you can't dismiss Newton when trying to understand Bernoulli and vice-versa.

Smartly written.......2005-04-22

As a pilot, I have more than a passing interest in aerodynamics. If I'm to believe the pundits, it keeps my aircraft up in the air; so out of a feeling of self-preservation, I've tried hard to understand what's happening to my aircraft during flight and as a result and most important, understand what is safe to do during flight.

There are many books on the subject with most of them written in dry, academic tones complete with differential calculus. There are notable exceptions to this ('The Science of Flight' by Hubin comes to mind) but really, I've not found many books that take a conversational approach until I got 'Understanding Flight' by Anderson. Quickly but precisely, Anderson dissects aerodynamics for the non-mathematician and using examples from other fields and everyday occurrences, explains what happens when a wing is subject to an airflow. Due to this book, I've been finally disabused of the great sucking theorem by Bernoulli that most often is used to explain lift. The point is, Anderson explains exactly what happens and it makes sense. Along the way, he does a reasonable job of debunking other theories of flight and why they couldn't logically explain heavier-than-air flight.

I really like this book and do highly recommend it.

Naked God, The: Flight - Part 1 (Naked God)

Average customer rating:

Well worth reading.
Great Series
A lively writer in search of a good editor
Space opera at its best
Excellent Series, But Not For Everyone

Naked God, The: Flight - Part 1 (Naked God)
Peter F. Hamilton
Manufacturer: Aspect
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

High Tech | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0446608971

Amazon.com

This final installment of Peter F. Hamilton's Homeric space adventure, which began with The Reality Dysfunction, volumes I (Emergence) and II (Expansion), and continued in The Neutronium Alchemist, volumes I (Consolidation) and II (Conflict), is no simple winding up of the story. You'll be amazed to find Hamilton busily introducing new characters, new plots, and new enigmas up to the very end. After all this time can he possibly surprise us? Absolutely. --J.B. Peck

Book Description

After invasions and battles, panic and horror, after denial and the revelation of ultimate truths, after four volumes and 2,300 pages, it all comes down to this: To stem the tide of souls of the dead who have returned to possess the bodies of the living, Joshua Calvert must take his ship, the Lady Macbeth, on a mission beyond the farthest reaches of explored space. His goal is to find the artifact/entity the Tyrathcans call The Sleeping God in the hope that this legendary presence can offer some kind of help, or at least advice with the problem. Otherwise human civilization is perhaps doomed. Meanwhile on Ombey, an army of bitek soldiers stages a counter-invasion of possessed-controlled Mortonridge--a strange battle in which neither side is completely human--but the gains are little and each victory dear. The best of Adamist "gray" technology and Edenist green biotech, now used together in willing cooperation, still offer little hope. Physics cannot overcome metaphysics. This final installment of Peter F. Hamilton's Homeric space adventure, which began with The Reality Dysfunction, volumes I (Emergence) and II (Expansion), and continued in The Neutronium Alchemist, volumes I (Consolidation) and II (Conflict), is no simple winding up of the story. You'll be amazed to find Hamilton busily introducing new characters, new plots, and new enigmas up to the very end. After all this time can he possibly surprise us? Absolutely. --J.B. Peck

Download Description

The Reality Dysfunction and The Neutronium Alchemist chronicled an epic, far-future struggle set in a universe of thrilling complexity. Multiple worlds, alien races, two types of future humanity, and uncountable forms of fascinating future technology make up the universe created by Peter F. Hamilton. The "reality dysfunction" is a break in the fabric of reality that allows the dead to return to our world, where they possess living bodies. In The Naked God, the Confederation starts to collapse economically and politically as more star systems fall to the possessed. On Earth, Quinn Dexter plots to bring about the Final Night for the human race. Opposing him is Louise Kavanagh, who unknowingly teams up with the universe's most powerful and secretive policeman. In the midst of all this chaos, Joshua Calvert and Syrinx take their ships in search of an alien god which may hold the solution to the current crisis. Unfortunately, it was lost in space ten thousand years ago on the other side of the Orion Nebula, and the Tyrathca, the only ones who might know where it is, aren't telling.

Customer Reviews:

Well worth reading........2007-01-09

This review is of the entire Night's Dawn trilogy.

The Night's Dawn trilogy is definitely worth the read. Hamilton does a wonderful job of making the characters come to life. He also explores various ideas (both old and new) about different technologies, their uses, and their effects on future society.

The trilogy focuses mainly on the dead coming back to possess the bodies of the living, and the battle between the living and the possessed. The idea put me off a little at first, but it gave rise to some unique circumstances.

I was slightly disappointed by the ending. The entire saga ends in about eighty pages, which is disappointing after reading over three thousand pages worth. But the story is well worth reading, especially the adventures of Joshua Calvert (the main character). Spaceship battles, other dimensions, interesting aliens and artifacts, zero-G sex, and technology's influence on society. Definitely worth reading.

Great Series.......2006-07-02

If you like hard edged space opera, you'll this! It's Star Wars for adults, with more original ideas and better writing.

A lively writer in search of a good editor.......2005-12-12

Hamilton is a writer with a real gift for sweeping space action set-pieces in search of a firm editor. Weighing in at over 3,000 pages, the Night's Dawn trilogy, of which Naked God is the final part, kept me turning the pages but also had me skipping a huge proportion of them.

Hamilton is uncomfortable with the portrayal of character: most of the protagonists are adolescents masquerading as young adults, who change over the epic span of 3 volumes about as much as a real person does in a weekend. Instead of character development, you get character proliferation. In The Naked God the author helpfully lists the dramatis personae: but the list has to be broken down into 17 sections, each with up to a dozen characters!

As a reader, I found myself not caring at all about a handful of plot lines and quickly learned to filter them out. The chief plot, though it rattles along well, rather resembles an old computer game called `Elite': you're a roguish space captain, you fly to planet M and buy such-and-such, fly to planet D and sell it for a profit, buy better weapons, then use them in a scorching space battle, etc. And just like that game, I really couldn't be bothered reading up on all the background economics and local colour and just wanted the next shoot `em up to begin.

Though strictly a space opera, the trilogy is also big on explicit scenes of torture, sexual deviancy and gruesome mayhem: in fact, the book pretty much crosses genre into horror hokum. The basic threat to humanity was explored to much greater effect (and in 5% of the length) by Fred Pohl in A Plague of Pythons. Despite being the sort of books you truly want to get to the end of; if only to find out how the story ends (weakly), I'm afraid there isn't a thought-provoking sci-fi idea in the whole trilogy. Ultimately, this reads like a collection of ideas for half a dozen short novellas that were wrongly shoehorned into a single narrative.

Amazon reviews require you to tick a box stating "I am over the age of 13", but to enjoy Hamilton's bloated books it must help not to be.

Space opera at its best.......2005-11-13

Building upon the characters and concepts introduced in The Reality Dysfunction, this book is exciting and an enjoyable read. Though the very first novel in the series dragged a little, by the time you are a few pages into this you will be hooked! Suspension of disbelief has never been easier or more fun. Highly recommended.

Excellent Series, But Not For Everyone.......2005-02-25

There are six books in Peter F. Hamilton's "Night's Dawn" series:

- "The Reality Dysfunction - Part 1: Emergence,"
- "The Reality Dysfunction - Part 2: Expansion,"
- "The Neutronium Alchemist - Part 1: Consolidation,"
- "The Neutronium Alchemist - Part 2: Conflict,"
- "The Naked God - Part 1: Flight," and
- "The Naked God - Part 2: Faith."

Be warned: you CANNOT read these books individually. They are, essentially, chapters in one whopping great book. If you like the first book, then you'll have to read the other five books in order. There's no tie-up of any sort between any of the books. The publisher just broke the story up because it totals over 3,000 pages. If you pick up a book before you've read all the previous books (in order), put it down. It won't mean anything to you. Since these books are entirely dependent on each other, I'm writing this review on the series as a whole, not on the individual books.

This is one of the greatest science fiction sagas written. It ranks up there with David Brin's "Uplift Saga." It is literally a story of good vs evil and shows some of the potential (and pitfalls) of the human race. Over the years, I've read the whole series five times, and I still love it. I really only have two gripes with the book. First, and this is unavoidable in what Hamilton is doing, the evil in the series is definitely, graphically evil. This is not a book where the villain twists his mustache and laughs "nyah hah hah" as he forecloses on the orphanage or ties the heroine to the railroad tracks. The writing is fairly graphic in a lot of places. After five readings, this gets a bit wearing. My second gripe is one which somewhat limits the audience of the series (even more so than the evilness presented, and it's why I've given the series four stars instead of five): there's too much sex and the writing about it is too graphic. This is a problem with all of Hamilton's books, but it seems more prevalent in this series. Because of this, I wouldn't recommend the book for your children to read. But, as long as you're aware of that, I highly recommend the series and give it 4 stars out of five.

The Privateer: Flight Engineer Ii (Flight Engineer/James Doohan, Vol 2)

Average customer rating:

Great Story but...
surprisingly good
Very enjoyable reading, a good sequel to, ýThe Rising.ý

The Privateer: Flight Engineer Ii (Flight Engineer/James Doohan, Vol 2)
Doohan & stirling
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

High Tech | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0671578324

Amazon.com

Gene Roddenberry created Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott--the Enterprise's beloved chief engineer Scotty--in the image of his friend James Doohan, a former real-life engineer and officer in the Canadian Army. Now Doohan, in his Flight Engineer series, coauthored with military-SF powerhouse S.M. Stirling, has created an equally likable character in Scotty's image: Commander Peter Ernst Raeder, a sly and salty flight engineer for the Commonwealth Navy.

Be warned: Baen Books has given the series an astronomically inappropriate tagline--"Beam us up again, Scotty!" And they've likewise made the unseemly decision to set Doohan's disembodied head afloat on the cover of both this and the last book, spinning surreally above generic space battles like some mustachioed, Scottish Death Star. But despite the crass cashing in on Scotty and his mug, Doohan and the already accomplished Stirling come through with fun and competent, if straightforward, work, a jocular mix of naval intrigue, pitched ship-to-ship combat, and (surprise!) last-minute, skin-of-your-teeth problem-solving. And at the heart of the story sits the worldly-wise, sardonic wit of Commander Raeder.

If you're new to the series, you'll probably want to check out The Rising first. But if you're anxious to see whether Raeder's daring aboard the Dauntless earned him reprimand or reward, pick up Privateer. One of his commanders puts it best: "You know the reward for good work, don't you, son?" "More work, sir?" "You're learning, son." We can trust the same applies to Doohan and Stirling. --Paul Hughes

Book Description

THESE SPACE PIRATES ARE THE GOOD GUYS!

Peter Raeder was an ace pilot until a battle cost him his hand -- and his right to fly the fighter ships he loved. So he became Flight Engineer on the fast carrier Invincible, a crack new ship with a picked crew, ready to fight the fanatical Mollies and their spiderlike alien allies. On his first mission, he faced pirate raiders, attacks by Mollies and a hidden saboteur on board who came close to destroying the Invincible, before Raeder unmasked him.

Unfortunately for Raeder, his heroism didn't follow the rulebook, and his reward for saving the ship was a reprimand and a deskbound assignment -- a fate worse than death for a born spacehound like Raeder. Then a less rulebound General offers Raeder an escape: command of a hidden base deep in Mollie-controlled space from which ships, posing as space pirates, will harry Mollie shipping, like the seagoing privateers of Earth's past. And Raeder finds a dangerous mission preferable to exile to an office cubicle...even if his chances of surviving are very nearly zero.

Customer Reviews:

Great Story but..........2000-12-17

Read this book right after reading the first one and was disappointed that the authors got the saboteur confused in this book. He was the head of the Invincibles quartermasters not the XO.

surprisingly good.......2000-07-12

I received this book as one of a group purchase as I wanted the other three in the bundle, I only read it as I was short of material, I'd already passed up the previous book by "Scotty", after all he's only an actor what does he know about writing.

Well he knows how to (co)write a damn good SFF novel thats what. Interesting characters in exciting situations, this book is good!

Ive since bought the first in the series and i am waiting for the third to come out (soon).

Enjoy.

Very enjoyable reading, a good sequel to, ýThe Rising.ý.......1999-09-30

I give this book my highest accolade: Good enough to be a David Weber novel. It reads a lot like a William Keith novel and anyone who likes the Wing Commander series would really enjoy this one. The main character, Peter Raeder, is a brave and compassionate leader who always wins, very much like Honor Harrington in the David Weber series. I enjoyed the characters. Sterling has proven himself to be an excellent scifi writer, but in collaboration with Doonhan, his novels are really ENJOYABLE. It's hard to tell what the influence of each author is in a novel, but they make a great team and I hope they collaborate on many more novels. I'd order the next book in the series right now if I could.

Average customer rating:

Hagberg scores again.
Not Clancy, but pretty good!
A complex, multi-layered thriller
An Okay Novel
Joshua's Hammer

High Flight (McGarvey)
David Hagberg
Manufacturer: Forge Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0765357429

Book Description

First electronics. Then automobiles. Now the Japanese are ready to strike at our largest industrial export--airplanes. Intrigue and danger heighten as America faces its worst industrial challenge since the Great Depression. With the Cold War over, Japanese industrial espionage may succeed tomorrow where, fifty years ago, their military might failed. Expert saboteurs continue to strike at our vital industries, while hundreds of thousands of American jobs and countless billions of dollars hang in the balance. Ex-CIA field officer Kirk McGarvey is hired by Guerin Airline Company to investigate a recent rash of accidents and restore the company's, and America's, international reputation.

Customer Reviews:

Hagberg scores again........2007-07-09

From the first Hagberg book I ever read, I have been a fan.

Every book he writes grabs your attention from cover to cover.

Not being an expert on all things Military or Intelligence, I don't worry about so called errors that may appear in books of this genre, after all it is a novel, and Hagberg, can get really close to the truth in his writings

Not Clancy, but pretty good!.......2004-02-16

This is my first Hagberg book, and I'll probably pick up a few more now. The length is considerable, but most of it flows along nicely. Any book of this length will have a few pages where the pace slows. The political angle is the most prevalent ... this isn't really a techno-thriller or an action thriller. For example, Crichton's "Airframe" is an airplane techno-thriller, and you'll learn a lot about airplanes. Clancy likewise teaches you a lot about submarines (Hunt for Red October), or nuclear bombs (Sum of All Fears), even if sometimes you feel the story has paused so you can read a scientific journal article. However, I didn't really learn anything in this novel ... "Rising Sun" (Crichton) was more 'educational'.

I think I bought this book because I heard it contained P-3 Orion aircraft, of which I'm a fan. Indeed, they are mentioned in mostly realistic ways, but they are not a main player. The only P-3 Orion technical 'problem' was on page 821 where Hagberg says that the Orion throttled back to deploy dipping sonobuoys. A "dipping sonobuoy" is the terminology typically used for the equipment on a anti-submarine helicopter, not an airplane. While you could stretch the term to apply to the sonobuoys planes drop, it's not what one would usually use.

Overall, it's nice entertainment.

A complex, multi-layered thriller.......2003-06-18

Okay, let's get the bad stuff out of the way. I fully agree with everyone who complains about the lack of character development.

That said, we have a very intriguing concept here. It has been called Japan Inc. and the concept that business is war is taken to its logical extreme in High Flight. How separate is the Japanese government from entrenched business interests? And could there be a government behind the government that could engineer an economic attack on the United States in order to expand Japan's control over the Pacific Rim.

This is a very complex plot that involves baiting the Russians to strike back and the Seventh Fleet to intervene on behalf of the Japanese. Into this mix, a covert group attempts to gain control of America's domestic airline production industry and the plot involves sabotage of civilian airliners. There is a lot going on in this book, but it is well written and it continues to draw you on to the next page. Considering it is almost 900 pages long, this is a page turner that deserves to be read.

Whether you agree or disagree witht eh book's premise, it is worth considering.

An Okay Novel.......2003-01-04

This is the second book that I have read by this author. At heart it is basically a political-conspiracy type thriller. It pits the Japanese against the Americans in control of an airplane manufacturing company. A group of very powerful Japanese businessmen plot to restore the glory of the former Japanese empire by trying to gain control of an American aircraft manufacturing company that is developing a hypersonic commercial airplane. But that goal is only part of a larger plan that aims to control the western Pacific so that Japan can have access to natural resources in south east Asia. This group of Japanese, with the help of a few "loyal" military men, plans to execute a mini war against the Russian and they manipulate the American government in order to achieve their ultimate goal.

The American aircraft manufacturing company counters the potential Japanese hostile takeover by hiring a former CIA assassin to help them stop the Japanese plot. At the same time a former Undersecretary of State has his own agenda. He wants to warn the administration and the American public that Japan is getting too powerful. He wants to avoid another Pearl Harbor. He teams up with a former East German spy/assassin and a couple of American weirdos to blow up eight airplanes and blame these terrorist acts on the Japanese.

If I had to write this review with one word, it would be: Unbelievable! This is definitely not one of my favorite novels.

* Character Development: Hagberg hardly spends any effort in developing the characters. I don't have any feeling for the main character, the CIA assassin, nor the villains, the East German assassin and the former Undersecretary of the State. This novel is definitely not character driven. On top of that, the author has created a hero who happens to be an assassin. It makes it more difficult for me to accept the hero. Score: 1.

* Pacing: The author did an okay job in pacing the novel. The pace is relatively fast and that may be the only reason that I was willing to finish reading this book. However, this novel is not exactly a page-turner. Score: 3.5.

* Plot: The plot follows three main parties. The Japanese manipulators, the American conspirator (the former Undersecretary of State), and our hero, the former CIA assassin.

The author wants us to believe that this Japanese group is powerful enough to control their own government and military and, at the same time, that the Japanese military is strong enough to start a mini-war against Russia and the United States. Additionally, I had a hard time accepting the idea that the Japan wants to control the western Pacific just to make sure that they have access to natural resources. When the story opens, there is no threat to Japan. Furthermore, the author never explains why controlling the American aircraft manufacturing company would help the Japanese achieve their goal. On top of that, the author hopes that the readers will forget that the State Department would have to authorize any foreign company that took control of a strategic industry.

The American conspirator (the former Undersecretary of State) is a character that is hard for me to accept. I sure hope that our political system is doing a much better job of selecting personnel in public office. A former Undersecretary of the State intends and actually sacrifices two thousand American lives by blowing up eight commercial airplanes just to warn the administration and the American public of the threat of Japan. Unbelievable!

The list of unconvincing events and unbelievable characters just goes on and on. The author believes that the combined efforts of the FBI and the CIA organizations are no match for a former CIA assassin, our hero. It is very clear that the author ignores a lot of well known facts. The CIA is not allowed to operate inside our country and the top brass, like the deputy director of operations and intelligence, do not run around like a field agent. Well, I think I have beaten this dead horse enough. Score: 1.

* Storytelling: I liked the author's writing style, though he may not be top of my favorites list. The chapters are broken down into manageable subsections. This was very helpful to me because I only spent half-an-hour to read for each sitting. However, this book is 200 to 300 pages too long. Score: 3.5.

* Reviewer's Lean: I'm very critical of this book. I have read other novels where the plot was also very unquestionable but I was willing to look over it. Novel like Matthew Reilly's Ice Station is so fact-faced that I don't have time to slow down and think about the plot holes while I am reading. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed reading portions of this book. Therefore, I'm willing to add half a point to make the overall score 2.7.

Joshua's Hammer.......2001-06-08

After reading most of David Hagberg's Books I was hooked on this one. I usually read in bed at night but I could not put this book down. I didn't want it to end. 5 stars. What a great movie this book would be, unless someone didn't tell it like it was.

Average customer rating:

Basics of Aerothermodynamics
Ernst H. Hirschel
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Engineering | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 3540221328

Book Description

The basics of aerothermodynamics are treated in this book with special regard to the fact that outer surfaces of hypersonic vehicles primarily are radiation cooled. The implications of this fact are different for different vehicle classes. In any case the properties of both attached viscous and separated flows are of importance in this regard. After a discussion of flight environment and transport phenomena in general, the most important aerothermodynamic phenomena are treated. Thermal surface effects are particularly considered, taking into account both radiation cooling and/or active cooling, for example of inner surfaces. Finally the simulation means of aerothermodynamics are discussed. Computational methods and their modelling problems as well as the problems of ground facility and flight simulation, including the hot experimental technique, are treated.

Average customer rating:

Put a red "S" on his chest and call him Superman.
Promising start, falls apart
The best new science fiction novel I've read in years.
A Respectable First Try
Making the science in science fiction come alive!

Warp Speed
Travis Taylor
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Adventure | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

High Tech | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Space Opera | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1416520635

Book Description

Dr. Neal Anson Clemons, brilliant physicist and martial arts expert, was born at the very moment that men first landed on the moon, and his dream had always been to find a way to travel to the stars. And now he and his team have achieved a breakthrough, both in building a warp drive, and finding a new energy source powerful enough to make the drive more than an interesting theoretical concept. With the help of a beautiful Air Force Major and astronaut, Tabitha Ames, the US Government has funded the project, including assembly in orbit of the first faster-than-light probe. Unfortunately, forces working behind the scenes have much darker dreams, and they do not hesitate to blow up a space shuttle, attempt to kill Neal and Tabitha, and use the stolen warp technology to start what they expect to be a short victorious war with the United States. But Neal has ideas for using warp drive completely unsuspected by America's enemies, and repelling the all-out attack is only the beginning of a titanic struggle to reach the stars.

Customer Reviews:

Put a red "S" on his chest and call him Superman........2007-09-17

Here is the story in short...a brilliant scientist ,in the face of eminent danger,creates technology that saves the world. The Doctor is Anson Clemons. The world is Earth. The rest is pure ego.

The main character in this book would give Dr. Wayne Dyer an inferiority complex. Not only is he a maritial arts expert, chick magnet,the next Einstein...but he has the ability to let you know he is smarter than you.

NOw I know this is a fictional character. I know the author is a nice guy but what gives him the right to call Dr. Carl Sagan an "idiot" and a "junk scientist?" Thank goodness for the leadership Sagan showed in the scientific community and the great gift of communication he had with the public. He also was modest.

The characters in this book are supposed to resemble Robert Heinleins characters but it just get unbelievable when "Superman" Clemons,who distains the medical profession,fabricates a nano tech "cure" for a co- worker with no prior knowledge of medicine. This reminded me of the Superman comic book where Superman was called upon to operate on Lois Lane to save her but had to take a one day crash course in Medicine and Pass the medical board and get his MD so he could legally operate on her in a hospital. This guy can do anything.

Now i know I have not written a sci-fi novel or anything else,but i have read a lot of them. What i enjoy in a novel is new ideas and situations but the characters bringing this forth on the page have to be less self centered than these characters for me to care what they are doing. The scientific theory and reference to actual research being done is interesting. But the ongoing assumption of Dr Taylors work is that any alien contact will be hostile, any technolgy developed will be used for war by the communists or terrorists or anyone else that is not an
American. Basically ,just kill everyone but the true americans and let God sort it out.

Maybe if your world view is as paranoid as this book, you would enjoy it...mine is not.

Promising start, falls apart.......2007-08-13

This book starts out engagingly enough. We have a very opinionated first person narrator who is appealing even when I disagreed with his opinions. I have no problem with the initial hand-wavy science, but some of the basic plot elements don't work for me. First, there is no clear motive, or even a real guess at one by the characters as to why China took the actions it did. Second, the female lead is put in charge of funneling funds to the man who has become her lover, and this is before any emergency: talk about conflict of interest and questionable use of tax dollars. Third the narrator, the President, and apparently everyone else who counts approves the decision that WWIII will forever be kept secret from the American public. Excuse me? WWWIII will be kept secret? There's a good idea! No way that could ever leak! The actual fighting of the war wanders everywhere too. While the cast should be focused like a laser beam on the war, we get long tech-babble filled digressions about colonizing the moon. Finally, the story ended about 20 pages after the climax. After the war is won, we get more tecno-babble pages about exploring the moon and the solar system (while the characters are apparently given free rein to do anything they please with technology so dangerous that the American public must never know about it..) I get the homage to Doc Smith, but Smith plots never wandered, and he generally knew when to end a book.

The best new science fiction novel I've read in years........2007-07-29

By the time I finished reading Warp Speed and its sequel, The Quantum connection, plus Von Neumann's War (with John Ringo), Into The Looking Glass and The Vorpal Blade (with John Ringo), I had experienced the most enjoyable and exciting science fiction binge in many years. I have read a great deal of science fiction over the last fifty some odd years, as well as having written a fair number of science fiction novels myself. I simply do not understand anyone giving Travis S. Taylor's books, either his single author titles or his collaborations, less than four stars at the very least and all except possibly The Vorpal Blade (four stars) should have five stars. Shucks, even my wife, who normally prefers British murder mysteries loved all these books. I would absolutely love to see more science fiction novels as good as these. Warp Speed actually should rate six stars if I was allowed to rate it that high. Darrell Bain.

A Respectable First Try.......2007-07-09

As someone who his still trying to get his own work published I have to admit that Travis "Doc" Taylor has done something I have not. But that does not mean I can't offer a review. I have read many of the books that Taylor cites as influences and he is certainly well read. Warp Speed is in the tradition of E.E. Doc Smith that has been modernized with some Heinlein-esq characters and polished with modern science.But pulp for pulp's sake is no virtue.

First the science. It is believable and seems to be a not to far progression of our own. But better books than this have had less believable or probable science.

Second the Heinlein. I as a reader have a few issues with him especially his later work. It gets very preachy. He takes time away from his narrative to preach a point of personal belief. For Heinlein it was rants against philosophy (since I was a philosophy major I did not enjoy his unfair slander) and Taylor falls into this trap two. He goes into early unjustified rants against doctors. He criticizes them for not engaging in scientific study like a physicist or engineer. Imagine how hampered an engineer testing the strength of steel would be if his subject could feel pain. He also makes broad judgments about the South that simply are not true. I live in Florida. We do not all own guns, we do not all have accents, and our crime is no lower on average than the rest of the country. So throughout the book one mans opinions are treated as the facts of the world. It gets annoying.

The book as a whole is well written dialog flows well and characters meet the level expected of them. This is pulp after all. We are in the tradition of Heinlein not Asimov or Niven. The biggest problem in the book is one many new writers (myself included) fight. Our hero is an inflated version of who we want ourselves to be filling out our delusions of grandeur. You can tell a lot about Taylor from the his main character.

Making the science in science fiction come alive!.......2006-09-28

Someone once said that if you want to be a good writer you should write what you know. "Warp Speed" by Travis S. Taylor shows that not only does he have a good eye for story telling, but also that he knows a lot! The book is written in the first person perspective following Dr. Neil Anson Clemons, Physicist, Engineer and a University Professor. Anson, as his friends call him, is working on developing alternative propulsion systems for the space program. In other words he's trying to find a way to make space travel more practical than strapping people to giant rockets and shooting them into the sky. Specifically he is working on developing a warp drive to allow faster than light travel.

The book takes a lot of interesting turns. In most science fiction that I've read the technologies are more of a back drop that facilitates the plot. "I want my character to fly like Superman so he has the Dyson 3000 anti-gravity belt", or even more simply, "my character has a sword made of energy, never mind how, he just does". In Taylor's book, the technology he uses starts almost with where we are today. It's set a few years in the future, but nothing seems extraordinarily out of place, no ray guns or teleportation. As Anson's work on the warp drive progresses a number of new technologies are brought into play besides the warp drive but the reader is not asked to simply accept them, rather, they become a part of their logical development. In fact it all was introduced so realistically that I'm surprised we haven't already developed many of the things Anson and his team discover.

The focus on the technology in "Warp Speed" doesn't mean the characters are skipped or glossed over. The character of Anson Clemons is brought into very clear focus as a "renaissance man" with a number of talents and interests that blend together to complement each other and help explain his motives and thought processes. The other characters are well rounded, but they are seen through Anson's eyes which colors them more to how he perceives them. One does pick up on an endearing bit of absentmindedness from Anson, as he "forgets" to mention significant developments in his life, only to have them pop up in the story with an "oh yeah, did I mention that...".

Don't let me fool you, "Warp Speed" isn't just a book about the development of a new propulsion technology. This is good science fiction with plenty of action to keep the reader hooked. In fact, at times the action comes so fast you almost can't get your breath as the characters are thrust from one situation to another with no breaks. One minute they are in space, then they are in a forest with tornadoes, then they are facing terrorists, it almost makes a person dizzy, but it still manages to flow well.

I recommend "Warp Speed" by Travis S. Taylor. It is a real page turner that makes some of the science behind science fiction come alive. This is the first in a series with the second book "The Quantum Connection" due out in paperback soon. To quote author John Ringo "Flubells away!" which will make much more sense if you read the book. Check it out!

Flying Too High (Phryne Fisher Mysteries)

Average customer rating:

Wing walking
excellent historical mystery
takes your breath away

Flying Too High (Phryne Fisher Mysteries)
Kerry Greenwood
Manufacturer: Poisoned Pen Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Historical | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Australia & New Zealand | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1590582373

Book Description

The second in the classic Phryne Fisher series from Kerry Greenwood, featuring the irresistible heroine Phryne. Whether she's foiling kidnappers, seducing beautiful young men or simply deciding what to wear for dinner, Phryne handles everything with her inimitable panache and flair.

Danger, excitement and love--this is how the glamorous Phryne Fisher is determined to live her life in her second enticing adventure.

Walking the wings of a Tiger Moth plane in full flight ought to be enough excitement for most people, but not Phryne Fisher, amateur detective, woman of mystery, as delectable as the finest chocolate and as sharp as razor blades.

In this, the second Phryne Fisher mystery, the 1920s' most talented and glamorous detective flies even higher, handling a murder, a kidnapping and the usual array of beautiful young men with style and consummate ease--and all before it's time to adjourn to the Queenscliff Hotel for breakfast. Whether she's flying planes, clearing a friend of homicide charges or saving a child from kidnapping, she handles everything with the same dash and elan with which she drives her red Hispano-Suiza.

Customer Reviews:

Wing walking.......2007-08-28

The second book in the series takes place only a few months after "Cocaine blues" ends and with it returns its bright and luminous Phryne Fisher. Many of the secondary (if you can call them that) characters return which adds a nice touch. I liked this book even more than the previous one. Phryne seems to have found her grove in this story along with moving into her new, fashionable domicile. She has to solve two cases at once, the murder of a cantankerous, generally disliked husband and father and the kidnapping of a little girl. Phryne handles both cases with her normal aplomb, intuition and style along with a little wing walking and flying. I especially like Greenwood's use of language and how it reflects the times; this adds another layer of fun and effervescence to these stories that makes me look forward to the next one. I recommend this book highly.

excellent historical mystery.......2006-08-02

In the three months that the Honorable Phyrne Fisher has lived in Australia, she has made a name for herself as an investigator who always solves her cases. She solved a case for a woman who travels in high society circles and that woman gives Phyrne's business a glowing recommendation to her friends. Her latest client Mrs. McNaughton is afraid that her son will kill her husband because he refuses to lend his son money to go on an airplane adventure. At the airport Phyrne talks to Bill McNaughton and tells her about her mother's fears and he tells he was never intending to kill his father. Bill's friend Jack Lawton is amazed as he watches Phyrne fly Bill's plane with much skill.

The next day Phyrne learns that Mr. McNaughton has been murdered and Bill has been arrested. When he is released on bail he hires Phyrne to find the real killer. While she works that case Candida Maldon is kidnapped and held for ransom. Jack convinces the family to hire Phyrne, who she devises a plan using Bill's plane to find and retrieve the kidnapped girl. Solving Bill's problem is a piece of cake in comparison.

Kerry Greenwood is one of Australia's most talented mystery writers. Her heroine is a woman who would be at home in the twenty-first century but since she lives in the 1920's she is careful to project a proper image while still doing what she wants. The wily, spunky heroine somehow makes the audience believe she is smart enough to easily solve two cases in a matter of days while the exotic locale will please armchair travelers.

Harriet Klausner

takes your breath away.......2006-01-12

this second in the series is even better than the first. and it features airplanes.

the characterizations are first rate, the plot is nicely paced, the resolution satisfying, the information about bi-planes enough to send anyone out to find and fly one.

phyne's situation develops and characters who will continue in the series are introduced. this book could still be read without reference to the first, as there is enough backstory to bring a reader up to date.

this series is a must for any mystery lover, but any read could enjoy them for the writing, the humor, the history of australia, and, of course, for phyrne.

Eight Miles High: Folk-Rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock

Average customer rating:

Encyclopedic coverage, flawed by many glib/inaccurate characterizations
an entertaining and worthy sequel

Eight Miles High: Folk-Rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock
Richie Unterberger
Manufacturer: Backbeat Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0879307439

Book Description

Eight Miles High documents the evolution of the folk-rock movement from mid-1966 through the end of the decade. This much-anticipated sequel to Turn! Turn! Turn!(00330946) - the acclaimed history of folk-rock's early years - portrays the mutation of the genre into psychedelia via California bands like the Byrds and Jefferson Airplane; the maturation of folk-rock composers in the singer-songwriter movement; the re-emergence of Bob Dylan and the creation of country-rock; the rise of folk-rock's first supergroup, CSNandY; the origination of British folk-rock; and the growing importance of major festivals from Newport to Woodstock. Based on firsthand interviews with such folk-rock visionaries as: Jorma Kaukonen, Roger McGuinn, Donovan, Judy Collins, Jim Messina, Dan Hicks and dozens of others.

Customer Reviews:

Encyclopedic coverage, flawed by many glib/inaccurate characterizations.......2006-12-07

Richie Unterberger is a well known, oft-published, and very skillful writer. Part of his skill manifests when he has a negative opinion about something - he (as if by magic) makes it seem that everyone who mattered back then shared this opinion, consensus-like. Not so much in 'Turn Turn Turn!: The '60s Folk-Rock Revolution' as in 'Eight Miles High: Folk-Rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock', this tendency very often produced woeful results at best - the trouble being that it usually it wasn't the way he's saying it was. One might consider that his tastes are quite narrow - I'd hazard to characterize them, after a fashion, as (mildly to wildy) sectarian, that is to say, canonical - in other words his judgements seem to bear the stamp of those who are and were "in the know".

I am also supposing that he arrived at a good number of these original opinions by reading certain critics whom he favors, as he himself was barely out of the toddler stage when the music was happening that he writes about. At least that's how much of 'Eight Miles High' seems to read, like he's quoting a series of sound bites he picked up various places, and are still simmering in the back-burner of his brain.

This is not to say that 'Eight Miles High' isn't a valuable resource, encyclopedic in its scope - but it can be difficult to look past the hurried and/or glib judgements that threaten at many points to stink up what otherwise seems like a valiant and meritorious effort.

I imagine hopefully that there won't be this sort of a problem with his new book on Beatles music.

an entertaining and worthy sequel.......2003-06-10

I found this to be a fine continuation of the story of folk rock. It's just as good as Unterberger's first book about folk rock, called Turn Turn turn. I highly recommend it to fans of Unterberger's other writing, as well as anyone who likes folk, folk-rock, or sixties /early seventies music in general.
Unterberger writes with an opinionated but reader- friendly style. His writing lacks the bombast, snobbery, and smug attitude that we often find with some of the old guard of music critics. Unterberger tends to see things in a more open- minded,inclusive way than many of the famous writers like Christgau and Dave Marsh, and Jann Wenner and the other rolling stone writers, who seem to have picked the obvious choices of the era and a few pets like Springsteen and Jackson Browne when considering who is worthy of respect and worth hearing for the era. Nothing against those talented guys, but let's face it: they are where they are in large part because of their annointing by scribes with friends in high places. Everyone else is either dismissed as irrelevant or trash to those writers. Unlike Christgau,Unterberger doesn't waste time with poisonous diatribes. Unlike Marsh he doesn't stick to boring, predictable lists generally comprised of overplayed hits. it's all subjective, true, but anyone with the audacity to list the best Beatles single of all time at a lowly #29 simply should not be read, period! Unterberger lets you know where he stands on a musician or group but doesn't try to force his opinion on you. One can picture getting into a friendly argument with Unterberger , the way guys in bars debate who is worthy of enshrinement in a sports hall of fame, and that's something I have trouble imagining with some of these other writers. I don't always agree with Unterberger, for example, he calls the Jefferson Airplane album Surrealistic Pillow the best of the San Francisco sound, while i would say that while its a great disc, and it might be the most important, i would opt for Moby Grape's stunning debut, even though it is perhaps not exactly indicative of the S.F. sound per se( the most obvious parrallel album is probably Buffalo Springfield's first)- but that is what makes the book so compelling and thought provoking. I also wonder why he mentions the first , much more psychedelic and jazz influenced album by Mad River, who were probably, in my estimation, the best San Francisco area band that never made much of a dent nationally. While their second album is derivative of the likes of The Band, Creedence, the Youngbloods, and others, ( the first one was a lot like Quicksilver or Country Joe) I actually think it is the better of the two, and more of a folk rock/ country rock album.
unterberger's book is sure to please the entire range of music afficionados; both the person who just wants to know the story of folk-rock and the sixties enthusiast who is hoping to unearth some interesting tidbits about obscure figures from the remote past are sure to be pleased with the work. most people think of folk rock as the dylan newport incident, the byrds, eve of destruction and a few other big events and hits, but this book shows there was so much more going on during this era. musical mutations (and regressions) were occurring at an astonishing rate. simultaneous movements were happening both here and in the british isles and elsewhere. unterberger skillfully demonstrates the changes , differences, and similarities that were passing back and forth, leading to distinctive styles as well as overlapping features. if i have one complaint about this work it is that it's too brief. it will definitely make you want to more about the figures it desrcibes, and will probably send you to the internet to discover more facts about some group or artist.
before reading this book , i knew that folk rock was more than a few major hits and a handful of well known performers. but it did make me think just how pervasive the influence of folk and folk rock was on pop and rock in the sixties and early seventies. the innovations and strengths of the music of that era, for me, have not even come close to be being matched since. this book made me think that even much of the far out music of the era had connections with folk. in fact , it is much harder to think of music that isn't, in some way, folk-rock. for instance, the silver apples and the United States of America, pioneering electonic music innovators,would not make anyone's list of folk rockers, but on the Silver Apples 2nd record, contact, we hear a song called Ruby that features some banjo and even bluegrass vocals, and on the USA album the songs are sometimes interspersed with magnificent Civil War era sounding tubas and the like. In another bizarre example, both 1970 DEBUTalbums by the hard rock/early metal bands UFO and Uriah Heep, renditions of the standard 'Come Away Melinda " are featured. The much maligned Heep actually do a very impressive version of this tune, perhaps best remembered for the Tim Rose version, although Judy Collins and even Harry Belafonte did this great anti -war song. Even one of my favorite all time bands, The Move, got into the act with songs like Mist on A Monday Morning, their magnificent cover of the baroque rock/ sometimes folk band Ars Nova's Fields of People, and the Bee Gees meets British Isles Folk number called "No Time." These facts show that Unterberger's book is likely to make the reader create connections of his or her own. I highly recommend this book, and look forward to the next Unterberger tome.

Akiko Flights Of Fancy - The High Flying Expanded Edition (Akiko)

Average customer rating:

Akiko Flights Of Fancy - The High Flying Expanded Edition (Akiko)
Mark Crilley
Manufacturer: Sirius Entertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1579890881

Book Description

Mark Cilley's most popular Akiko collection is now even fancier! Akiko Flights of Fancy: The High Flying Expanded Edition is the definitive anthology of short stories culled from over 50 issues of the original Akiko comic book series and other obscure venues. This enormous new edition is twice the size of the sold-out original and includes many more rare, clever and outrageous comic innovations from one unique mind.

Mach 1 and Beyond: The Illustrated Guide to High-Speed Flight

Average customer rating:

Great non-technical book about high-speed flight

Mach 1 and Beyond: The Illustrated Guide to High-Speed Flight
Larry Reithmaier
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Aeronautics & Astronautics | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Boating | Water Sports | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Fly the Wing

ASIN: 0070520216

Book Description

This compelling book opens up the world of high-speed flight to readers who do not have extensive technical backgrounds. Covering both subsonic and supersonic flight, it demystifies the world of high-speed aerodynamics, flight principles, gas turbine jets, and more. You'll learn why there are no supersonic airliners, what problems confront designers of 2,000-mph aircraft, and whether or not a hypersonic, or Mach 5, airplane is likely to be built.

Customer Reviews:

Great non-technical book about high-speed flight.......1998-09-24

Great book for anyone who wants to learn all about high-speed flight without having to learn Calculus, Thermodynamics, and other things associated with an Aerospace Egnineering degree.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books