Popular Posts

• The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought

  For scientist and layman alike this book provides vivid evidence that the Copernican Revolution has by no means lost its significance today. Few episodes in the development of scientific theory show so clearly how the solution to a highly technical problem can alter our basic thought processes and attitudes. Understanding the processes which underlay the [...]

• Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System The First 100 Missions, 3rd Edition

  This is the eighty year history of developing reusable lifting–reentry spacecraft. From the early works of Eugen Sanger in Germany to the Cold War developments in the United States, and finally to the ultimate experiment–the Space Shuttle. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Space Shuttle launch, this greatly enlarged third edition adds many [...]

• Mapping and Naming the Moon: A History of Lunar Cartography and Nomenclature

  Almost thirty years after the Apollo missions, “Tranquillity Base”, “Hadley Rille”, or “Taurus-Littrow” are names still resonant with the enormous achievements represented by the lunar landings. But how did these places get their names? Who named Copernicus crater? Where did all those names on lunar maps come from, and what stimulated their selection? Ewen Whitaker [...]

• The Sextant Handbook

  Loran and GPS notwithstanding, there will always be a place for the sextant aboard any blue-water boat, if for no other reason than the thrill and mystery of finding one’s position on earth by gazing at the heavens. Here is the indispensable reference that should accompany the instrument aboard. Cmdr. Bruce Bauer, a professional navigator [...]

• The Planet Mars: A History of Observation and Discovery

  Twenty years after the Viking missions of the ’70s, we are finally going back to Mars. No fewer than ten missions are planned for the period between 1996 and 2003, and it is likely that human explorers will follow soon after–perhaps by the middle of the twenty-first century. When they do, they will owe much [...]