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Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut's Story of Invention (Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation series)
Par Kathryn D. Sullivan. 2019
The first American woman to walk in space recounts her experience as part of the team that launched, rescued, repaired,…
and maintained the Hubble Space Telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope has revolutionized our understanding of the universe. It has, among many other achievements, revealed thousands of galaxies in what seemed to be empty patches of sky; transformed our knowledge of black holes; found dwarf planets with moons orbiting other stars; and measured precisely how fast the universe is expanding. In Handprints on Hubble, retired astronaut Kathryn Sullivan describes her work on the NASA team that made all of this possible. Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, recounts how she and other astronauts, engineers, and scientists launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained Hubble, the most productive observatory ever built. Along the way, Sullivan chronicles her early life as a “Sputnik Baby,” her path to NASA through oceanography, and her initiation into the space program as one of “thirty-five new guys.” (She was also one of the first six women to join NASA's storied astronaut corps.) She describes in vivid detail what liftoff feels like inside a spacecraft (it's like “being in an earthquake and a fighter jet at the same time”), shows us the view from a spacewalk, and recounts the temporary grounding of the shuttle program after the Challenger disaster. Sullivan explains that “maintainability” was designed into Hubble, and she describes the work of inventing the tools and processes that made on-orbit maintenance possible. Because in-flight repair and upgrade was part of the plan, NASA was able to fix a serious defect in Hubble's mirrors—leaving literal and metaphorical “handprints on Hubble.” Handprints on Hubble was published with the support of the MIT Press Fund for Diverse Voices.What's It Like in Space?: Stories from Astronauts Who've Been There
Par Ariel Waldman. 2016
Everyone wonders what it's really like in space, but very few of us have ever had the chance to experience…
it firsthand. This captivating illustrated collection brings together stories from dozens of international astronauts—men and women who've actually been there—who have returned with accounts of the sometimes weird, often funny, and awe-inspiring sensations and realities of being in space. With playful artwork accompanying each, here are the real stories behind backwards dreams, "moon face," the tricks of sleeping in zero gravity and aiming your sneeze during a spacewalk, the importance of packing hot sauce, and dozens of other cosmic quirks and amazements that come with travel in and beyond low Earth orbit.The Olive Farm: A Memoir of Life, Love and Olive Oil in South of France
Par Carol Drinkwater. 2001
"All my life, I have dreamed of acquiring a crumbling, shabby-chic house overlooking the sea. In my mind's eye, I…
have pictured a corner of paradise where friends can gather to swim, relax, debate, eat fresh fruits picked directly from the garden and great steaming plates of food served from an al fresco kitchen and dished up on to a candlelit table the length of a railway sleeper. . . " When Carol Drinkwater and her partner Michel have the opportunity to buy 10 acres of disused olive farm in Provence, the idea seems absurd. After all, they don't have a lot of money, and they've only been together a little while. THE OLIVE FARM is the story of the highs and lows of purchasing the farm and life in Provence: the local customs and cuisine; the threats of fire and adoption of a menagerie of animals; the potential financial ruin and the thrill of harvesting their own olives - especially when they are discovered to produce the finest extra-virgin olive oil. . .Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars: The Story of the First American Woman to Command a Space Mission
Par Jonathan H. Ward, Col. Eileen M. Collins Usaf. 2021
The long-awaited memoir of a trailblazer and role model who is telling her story for the first time. Eileen…
Collins was an aviation pioneer her entire career, from her crowning achievements as the first woman to command an American space mission as well as the first to pilot the space shuttle to her early years as one of the Air Force's first female pilots. She was in the first class of women to earn pilot's wings at Vance Air Force Base and was their first female instructor pilot. She was only the second woman pilot admitted to the Air Force's elite Test Pilot Program at Edwards Air Force Base. NASA had such confidence in her skills as a leader and pilot that she was entrusted to command the first shuttle mission after the Columbia disaster, returning the US to spaceflight after a two-year hiatus. Since retiring from the Air Force and NASA, she has served on numerous corporate boards and is an inspirational speaker about space exploration and leadership. Eileen Collins is among the most recognized and admired women in the world, yet this is the first time she has told her story in a book. It is a story not only of achievement and overcoming obstacles but of profound personal transformation. The shy, quiet child of an alcoholic father and struggling single mother, who grew up in modest circumstances and was an unremarkable student, she had few prospects when she graduated from high school, but she changed her life to pursue her secret dream of becoming an astronaut. She shares her leadership and life lessons throughout the book with the aim of inspiring and passing on her legacy to a new generation.Safely to Earth: The Men and Women Who Brought the Astronauts Home
Par Jack Clemons. 2018
In this one-of-a-kind memoir, Jack Clemons—a former lead engineer in support of NASA—takes readers behind the scenes and into the…
inner workings of the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs during their most exciting years. Discover the people, the events, and the risks involved in one of the most important parts of space missions: bringing the astronauts back home to Earth. Clemons joined Project Apollo in 1968, a young engineer inspired by science fiction and electrified by John F. Kennedy’s challenge to the nation to put a man on the moon. He describes his experiences supporting the NASA engineering team at what is now the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he played a pivotal role in designing the reentry and landing procedures for Apollo astronauts and providing live support as part of the Mission Control Center’s backroom team. He went on to work on Skylab and the Space Shuttle Program, eventually assuming leadership for the entire integrated software system on board the Space Shuttle. Through personal stories, Clemons introduces readers to many of the unsung heroes of the Apollo and Space Shuttle missions—the people who worked side by side with NASA engineers supporting reentry and landing for each Apollo mission and the software team who fashioned the computer programs that accompanied the crews on the Space Shuttle. Clemons worked closely with astronauts who relied on him and his fellow engineers for directions to their destination, guidance on how to get there, control of their fate during their journeys, and a safe return. He reveals problems, challenges, and near-disasters previously unknown to the public and offers candid opinions on the preventable failures that led to the loss of fourteen astronauts in the Challenger and Columbia tragedies. Highlighting the staggering responsibility and the incredible technological challenges that Clemons and his colleagues took on in the race to reach the moon and explore the mysteries of space, this book is a fascinating insider’s view of some of the greatest adventures of the twentieth century.Henry Ford: Young Man with Ideas (Childhood of Famous Americans Series)
Par Hazel B. Aird, Catherine Ruddiman. 1960
Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life
Par Jason Roberts. 2024
From the bestselling author of A Sense of the World comes this dramatic, globe-spanning and meticulously-researched story of two scientific…
rivals and their race to survey all life on Earth.In the 18th century, two men dedicated their lives to the same daunting task: identifying and describing all life on Earth. Their approaches could not have been more different. Carl Linnaeus, a pious Swedish doctor with a huckster's flair, believed that life belonged in tidy, static categories. Georges-Louis de Buffon, an aristocratic polymath and keeper of France's royal garden, viewed life as a dynamic swirl of complexities. Both began believing their work to be difficult, but not impossible—how could the planet possibly hold more than a few thousand species? Stunned by life's diversity, both fell far short of their goal. But in the process they articulated starkly divergent views on nature, on humanity's role in shaping the fate of our planet and on humanity itself. The rivalry between these two unique, driven individuals created reverberations that still echo today. Linnaeus, with the help of acolyte explorers he called "apostles" (only half of whom returned alive), gave the world such concepts as mammal, primate and homo sapiens—but he also denied species change and promulgated racist pseudo-science. Buffon coined the term reproduction, formulated early prototypes of evolution and genetics, and argued passionately against prejudice. It was a clash that, during their lifetimes, Buffon seemed to be winning. But their posthumous fates would take a very different turn.With elegant, propulsive prose grounded in more than a decade of research, featuring appearances by Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin and Charles Darwin, bestselling author Jason Roberts tells an unforgettable true-life tale of intertwined lives and enduring legacies, tracing an arc of insight and discovery that extends across three centuries into the present day.Two O'Clock on a Tuesday at Trevi Fountain: A Search for an Unconventional Life Abroad
Par Helene Sula. 2024
"An inspiring yet relatable read for anyone ready to stop settling." —Nina Ruggiero, Travel + Leisure In this inspiring travel…
memoir—the antidote to the &“just quit your job and ditch all your belongings to backpack the world&” mentality—a young woman explores how she took calculated risks to follow her dreams: traveling and living abroad without sacrificing stability and comfort.Like many young professionals, Helene settled into a steady 9-5, watching the clock tick by and dreaming of seeing the world one day. But after a climbing accident leaves her bedbound for months, she finds a new voice connecting with others online and starts a blog to write about her true passion: travel. When her blog takes off and a sponsored trip overseas opens her eyes, she wonders: could she lead a stable life while traveling the world?From skinny dipping in the icy Baltic and hiking Germany&’s storied Black Forest, to wrestling with visa applications and apartment hunting in medieval Heidelberg, Helene shares the realities—both the magical and the mundane—that come with chasing bold dreams and learning that home is where you make it. For those who fear change, the secret lies in taking calculated risks.Uplifting yet candid, this travel memoir will inspire others to take chances and transform their own lives. But you don&’t have to uproot your life to find meaning—just have the heart to take a leap.Learning to Think: A Memoir of Faith, Superstition, and the Courage to Ask Questions
Par Tracy King. 2024
Set in 1980s Birmingham, England, a piercing memoir about the liberating power of a scientific view of the world. Tracy…
King was raised in a house of contradictions—her family was happy and creative, yet shadowed by debt, phobias, her father’s alcoholism, and the illusory promises of a born-again Christian church. The uneasy balance of the King household was irrevocably upended on a rainy spring night in 1988, when her father was killed by teenagers just blocks from their public housing estate. Her mother’s dysfunctional reliance on the church deepened following the tragedy, and King, suffering from undiagnosed anxiety, stopped attending school. The account of her father’s death remained hazy, made worse by the fact that four of the accused teenagers—neighborhood boys she could not avoid—were never charged. What could have triggered such an act of aggression? Clinging to hearsay and what little information she had from the police, King allowed her imagination to fill in the rest. Over the years, in a bid to balm her grief and gaps in formal education, King journeyed through multiple belief systems: she distanced herself from fundamentalism, searching for clarity instead in the occult, paranormal beliefs, and conspiracy theories. Amid the chaos of her coming of age, she stumbled upon a copy of Carl Sagan’s The Demon-Haunted World on the shelves of a Birmingham bookshop —a discovery that proved transformative. Sagan’s sage caveat, “But I could be wrong,” became King’s guiding light, empowering her to confront her demons. An eloquently written and often sharply funny account that is ever sensitive to the fallibility of memory and the nuances of truth, Learning to Think is a resounding battle cry for the value of education and the freedom to think critically, imaginatively, and for oneself.Birdwatchingwatching: One Year, Two Men, Three Rules, Ten Thousand Birds
Par Alex Horne. 2006
Alex Horne is not a birdwatcher. But his dad is, so with the prospect of fatherhood looming on his own…
horizon, Alex decided there was no better time to really get to know both his father and his father's favourite hobby. So he challenged his dad to a Big Year: from 1 January to 31 December they would each try to spot as many birds as possible; the one who spied the most species would be the victor. Along the way Alex would find out what makes his dad tick, pick up a bit of fatherly wisdom and perhaps even 'get into' birdwatching himself.Join Alex as he journeys from Barnes to Bahrain in this charming tale of obsession, manliness, fathers and sons, and the highly amusing twists and turns of a year-long bird race.The Best Medicine: The True Story of a Nurse who became a Doctor in the 1950s
Par Georgie Edwards. 2013
‘I am one of the old school and believe that a woman’s place is within the home … However, I…
cannot, I will not, condone unfairness amongst females. I suggest that in due course you send your Matron a letter of thanks. You had after all a most unusual reference.’In 1949, Staff Nurse Georgie Edwards is asked to chaperone medical students undertaking their practical exams when suddenly the penny drops. Georgie wants to learn to diagnose and treat too.Against the odds, she wins herself a place to study medicine at London’s St Bartholomew’s Hospital and she sets about becoming not a consultant ‘who sweeps by’ but a doctor who listens and cares. Yet Georgie wants to fall in love and start a family as well as have a career – is this one dream too many for a woman in the 1950s?Warm and full of humour, The Best Medicine is Georgie’s fascinating memoir of her early years as a nurse and doctor.Behind the Scenes at the Museum of Baked Beans: My Search for Britain's Maddest Museums
Par Hunter Davies. 2010
'I am fascinated by people turning their daft dreams into a reality. How did they do it and why?'Driven by…
his own passion for collecting Hunter Davies has packed his notepad and set off in search of Britain's maddest museums. As he explores these hidden gems he soon discovers that they are everywhere and that they celebrate just about everything, from lawnmowers in Southport to pencils in Keswick.But as Hunter travels up and down the country he comes to realise that it isn't only the collections that are fascinating, it's also the people who have put them together. Whether they're a man who loves his Heinz so much he's changed his name to Captain Beany or a kleptomaniac Vintage Radio buff, these eccentric collectors are Britain's finest and could live in no other country in the world.Once you discover these museums and get to know their curators, Great Britain won't look quite the same again...Barging Round Britain: Exploring the History of our Nation's Canals and Waterways
Par John Sergeant, David Bartley. 2015
Barging Round Britain by David Bartley is a beautifully-illustrated guide to a unique and fascinating part of our history: the…
canal network.Explore the people and places that have forged this national treasure, from the birth of the Industrial Revolution to the leisure explosion on our waterways today. Fully-illustrated with maps and photographs, the book will trace canal routes across the UK, from the Georgian grandeur of Bath to the dramatic splendour of the Scottish Highlands.This is the official tie-in to the ITV series, coming to prime-time TV in January 2015. David Bartley's Barging Round Britain includes a foreword and chapter introductions by the presenter of the TV series, John Sergeant.Backpacks, Boots and Baguettes
Par Mick Webb, Simon Calder. 2004
High in the Pyrenees, a full day's hike from any trappings of civilisation, is no place for a human to…
be - unless you are searching for the time of your life.This is the roof of a mountain range that stretches from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean coasts, and provides some of the most breathtakingly beautiful landscape to be found in Europe. It is also the place for hikers to get soaked, roasted or scared out of their wits - not by the endangered brown bear, but by rights-of-way such as the precipitous Chemin de la Mature, hacked out of a cliff by 18th century convicts and is still used in the 21st century to punish anyone fearful of heights, such as TV presenter Simon Calder. Luckily, his friend and walking companion Mick Webb has a complementary range of phobias, such as being confined with 54 fellow hikers, and their socks, in a refuge two miles above sea level.Together, they step out to conquer the roof of the Pyenees, following the time honoured tradition of walking the GR10. the preferred route of the, at times eccentric, French Ramblers' Federation. Testing a hiker's emotional resilience as keenly as his walking boots, the GR10 is not for the faint-hearted. Weaving an occasionally treacherous, always exhilarating trajectory through a landscape of strong traditions and strange animals, Calder and Webb narrate an eventful and humerous travelogue. With their backpacks, boots and baguettes, they explore the region: meeting the people, savouring the views and the wines - and aguing about how best to cope with the constant surprises and challenges of magnificent mountains. They also very quickly learn that la loi de l'emmerdement maximum means 'sod's law' in French.Autobiographies
Par Charles Darwin. 1986
The Autobiographies of Charles Darwin (1809-82) provide a fascinating glimpse into the mind of one of the world's intellectual giants.…
They begin with engaging memories of his childhood and youth and of his burgeoning scientific curiosity and love of the natural world, which led to him joining the expedition on the Beagle. Darwin follows this with survey of his career and ends with a reckoning of his life's work. Interspersed with these recollections are fascinating portraits - from his devoted wife Emma and his talented father, both bullying and kind, to the leading figures of the Victorian scientific world he counted among his friends, including Lyell and Huxley. Honest and illuminating, these memoirs reveal a man who was isolated by his controversial beliefs and whose towering achievements were attained by a life-long passion for the discoveries of science.An Astronomer's Tale: A Bricklayer’s Guide to the Galaxy
Par Gary Fildes. 2016
A Bricklayer's Guide to the Galaxy . . . The inspirational memoir of a former brickie who followed his passion…
for the stars and built his own observatory. Perfect for readers of Robert Macfarlane, Helen Macdonald and James Rebanks - as well as fans of Brian Cox and the BBC’s Sky at Night Gary Fildes left school at sixteen, got a trade like most of his mates and was soon married with four kids. His life seemed set. But he had a secret. Something he only practised late at night with a few like-minded friends. Then one day, middle age approaching alarmingly, he acted on his lifelong passion. He finally came out. As an astronomer.Today, Gary is the founder and lead astronomer of Kielder Observatory, one of the top ten stargazing sites in the world, which he also helped to build. Situated in the beautiful forests of Kielder, Northumberland, within Europe’s largest protected dark sky park, it offers some of the UK's most spectacular views of stars, planets and galaxies.An Astronomer’s Tale is Gary’s inspirational story: part memoir, part nature writing, part seasonal guide to the night sky. It is a book brimming with passion; and at a time when the world is captivated by space, it will leave you ready to get out there and explore the wonders of the skies for yourself.As I Was Saying . . .: The World According to Clarkson Volume 6 (The World According to Clarkson)
Par Jeremy Clarkson. 2015
As I Was Saying... is the seventh book in Jeremy Clarkson's best-selling The World According to Clarkson series.***Crikey, the world…
according to Clarkson's been a funny old place of late . . .For a while, Jeremy could be found in his normal position as the tallest man on British television but, more recently, he appears to have been usurped by a pretend elephant.But on paper the real Jeremy remains at the helm. That's as it should be. For nearly thirty years he has been fearlessly leading the charge as one the best comic writers in the country. And in 2015, he shows no sign of slowing down. So, whether it's pondering If Jesus might have been better off being born in New Zealand Why reflexive pronoun abuse is the worst thing in the world How Pam Ayres's head trumps Gordon Gecko's underpants Or what a television presenter with time on his hands gets up toJeremy is still trying to make sense of all the big stuff.Circumstances change. Nothing's forever. But As I Was Saying provides glorious proof that Jeremy remains as funny, puzzled, excitable, outspoken, insightful and thought-provoking as ever. As if you ever doubted it . . .***Praise for Clarkson: 'Brilliant... laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph 'Outrageously funny... will have you in stitches' Time Out 'Very funny . . . I cracked up laughing on the tube' Evening StandardThe Art of Flight
Par Fredrik Sjöberg. 2006
Accidental Journeys with the Bestselling Author of The Fly TrapStories just begin. We rarely know where and almost never why.…
It doesn't matter. Nothing is certain any longer. I just want to shut my eyes, point at random and say, as a sort of experiment, that once, when I was sixteen years old, I spent a whole night singing romantic songs in the top of a pine tree. That's where it may have started.Fredrik Sjöberg continues his exploration of the pleasures and trials of those who spend their time tracing the smallest details of the natural world in these two tales of ambition, fear and hapless romance. Calling on his childhood memories and experience as a hoverfly collector, and following the trail of long forgotten entomologists before him who left their native Sweden for the national parks of the United States, Sjöberg contemplates the richness of life and the strange paths it leads us on.Arctic Diary: Surviving on thin ice
Par Sam Branson, Richard Branson. 2007
It's hardly a surprise to discover that Sam Branson has a love of adventure and a real concern about our…
future in a world where the climate is changing rapidly. Journeying into the heart of the Arctic wilderness with his father and a film crew, Sam explores the changing landscape and the lives of the native Inuit people who have survived in a relentlessly inhospitable environment for 5000 years.Sleeping on frozen seas and encountering majestic polar bears, Sam and his father embark together on a winter expedition which Sam must ultimately complete on his own, finding new depths of resilience and courage in a formidable and breathtaking landscape.Ararat: In Search of the Mythical Mountain
Par Frank Westerman. 2007
Mount Ararat in Turkey is where, as biblical tradition has it, Noah's Ark ran aground and God made his covenant…
with mankind. Now it stands astride the fault-line between religion and science, a geographical, political and cultural crossroads, bound up with the centuries-old history of warfare between different cultures in this region. Frank Westerman takes a pilgrimage from the mountain's foot to its highest slopes, meeting along the way geologists, priests and an expedition in search of the Ark's remains, as well as a Russian astronaut who observes that 'there is something between heaven and earth about which we humans know nothing'. Ararat is a dazzling, highly personal book about science, religion and all that lies between, by one of Europe's most celebrated young writers.