Myths and Marvels of Astronomy


Richard A. Proctor - 2010
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

The Speed Of Time


Sharad Nalawade - 2012
    The world you live in is stranger than fiction... as you read this, you exist in other places at the same time. Do not regret having missed the chance to realize your dreams, for you may just have fulfilled it in another universe.. * Are the trillions of atoms that make you, nothing but vibrations in 10 dimensions?* Is it true that we are all connected with each other?* Can you go into the future to change the present?* Why do scientists and philosophers struggle with the concept of Time?* Can science explain consciousness through physics?* Is our fate driven by the underlying randomness in nature?* Is nature hiding the best-kept secrets which can never be unravelled by humans?The Speed of Time approaches the most complex and esoteric theories of science in lucid, clear and simple language and in the style of a thriller, leaving you wanting more... while addressing questions through the enigmatic theories in Physics such as Quantum Mechanics, Einstein's Theory of Relativity, Time, Chaos, and much more. Just start reading and you will not put it down.

Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour


Neil deGrasse Tyson - 2016
    Inspired by the enormously popular introductory astronomy course that Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott taught together at Princeton, this book covers it all--from planets, stars, and galaxies to black holes, wormholes, and time travel.Describing the latest discoveries in astrophysics, the informative and entertaining narrative propels you from our home solar system to the outermost frontiers of space. How do stars live and die? Why did Pluto lose its planetary status? What are the prospects of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe? How did the universe begin? Why is it expanding and why is its expansion accelerating? Is our universe alone or part of an infinite multiverse? Answering these and many other questions, the authors open your eyes to the wonders of the cosmos, sharing their knowledge of how the universe works.Breathtaking in scope and stunningly illustrated throughout, Welcome to the Universe is for those who hunger for insights into our evolving universe that only world-class astrophysicists can provide.

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void


Mary Roach - 2010
    From the Space Shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule, Mary Roach takes us on the surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.

Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery


Scott Kelly - 2017
    "A stunning memoir from the astronaut who spent a record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station – a candid account of his remarkable voyage, the journeys that preceded it, and his colorful formative years." Inside book cover comments.

101 Mistakes All Golfers Make (and how to fix them)


Jon Sherman - 2016
    Sometimes the best answers are the simple ones. Written in an easy-to-understand format, 101 Mistakes All Golfers Make will serve as your guide to golf for years to come. Players of all levels will learn how to improve their mental game, course strategy, practice methods, technique, and much more. By seeing the most common mistakes made by all golfers, you will get something that is often lacking in the golf world, which is coaching. Many times golfers just need to be pointed in the right direction in order to enjoy the game more, and fulfill their potential. Whether or not you are a complete beginner, or a more experienced golfer, this book will give you tons of ideas on how to approach the game in a new way! "The information that Jon shares here is passionately researched and will no doubt prove to be a valuable resource as you plot your course towards a better golf game.” Andrew Rice "101 Mistakes is an awesome and easily digestible read. Pick it up, put it down, repeat, and get better at golf with this book that's chock-full of great little tips." Adam Young - Golf Coach, Author of The Practice Manual "As a PGA Golf Instructor and developer of golf training products, I know first hand the complication that golf can create in our minds. Jon provides brief solutions to these problems, which lead to realistic goals accomplished through practical steps." Jim Hackenberg, PGA - Owner & Developer of Orange Whip Products

Bold They Rise: The Space Shuttle Early Years, 1972-1986


David Hitt - 2014
    In this spirit, the team at NASA set about developing the Space Shuttle, arguably the most complex piece of machinery ever created. The world’s first reusable spacecraft, it launched like a rocket, landed like a glider, and carried out complicated missions in between.  Bold They Rise tells the story of the Space Shuttle through the personal experiences of the astronauts, engineers, and scientists who made it happen—in space and on the ground, from the days of research and design through the heroic accomplishments of the program to the tragic last minutes of the Challenger disaster. In the participants’ own voices, we learn what so few are privy to: what it was like to create a new form of spacecraft, to risk one’s life testing that craft, to float freely in the vacuum of space as a one-man satellite, to witness a friend’s death. A “guided tour” of the Shuttle—in historical, scientific, and personal terms—this book provides a fascinating, richly informed, and deeply personal view of a feat without parallel in the human story.

Chariots for Apollo:: The Untold Story Behind the Race to the Moon


Charles Pellegrino - 1985
    Then, in 1961, John F. Kennedy challenged America -- and from Long Island to Cape Canaveral, Houston to Huntsville, an army of engineers, scientists, bureaucrats and astronauts were swept up into the effort. Somehow, America would put a man on the moon's surface and bring him back safely before the decade was over. But how?For eight frantic years the engineers would design and redesign, the scientists would argue, and brave men would trust their lives to virtually untested machinery. This dramatic chronicle of the race to the moon takes us behind the scenes of this awesome quest, into the minds of the people whose lives were devoted to it and changed by it, and through the missions themselves -- including the tragedy of Apollo 13. A riveting portrait of ingenuity, determination, and raw human courage, "Chariots for Apollo is the powerful story of how one society came together to reach its goal -- a quarter of a million miles away.

Moondust: In Search Of The Men Who Fell To Earth


Andrew Smith - 2005
    Twelve astronauts made this greatest of all journeys and were indelibly marked by it, for better or for worse. Journalist Andrew Smith tracks down the nine surviving members of this elite group to find their answers to the question "Where do you go after you've been to the Moon?"A thrilling blend of history, reportage, and memoir, Moondust rekindles the hopeful excitement of an incandescent hour in America's past and captures the bittersweet heroism of those who risked everything to hurl themselves out of the known world -- and who were never again quite able to accept its familiar bounds.

The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence


Paul C.W. Davies - 2010
    Thus began one of the boldest scientific projects in history, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). But after a half century of scanning the skies, astronomers have little to report but an eerie silence—eerie because many scientists are convinced that the universe is teeming with life. The problem, argues the leading physicist-astrobiologist Paul Davies, is that we’ve been looking in the wrong place, at the wrong time & in the wrong way. Davies should know. For more than three decades, he's been closely involved with SETI & now chairs its Post-Detection Taskgroup, charged with deciding what to do if we’re confronted with evidence of alien intelligence. In this extraordinary book, he shows how SETI has lost its edge & offers a new exciting road map for the future. Davies believes our search so far has been overly anthropocentric: we tend to assume an alien species will look, think & behave like us. He argues that we need to be far more expansive in our efforts, & in this book he completely redefines the search, challenging existing ideas of what form an alien intelligence might take, how it might try to communicate with us & how we should respond if it does. A provocative & mind-expanding journey, The Eerie Silence will thrill fans of science & science fiction alike.

Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration


Buzz Aldrin - 2013
    Buzz Aldrin, one of the first moonwalkers, has no shortage of these ideas. And in Mission to Mars he treats us to how, when, and why we should travel there." -Neil deGrasse TysonLegendary "space statesman" Buzz Aldrin speaks out as a vital advocate for the continuing quest to push the boundaries of the universe as we know it. As a pioneering astronaut who first set foot on the moon during mankind's first landing of Apollo 11--and as an aerospace engineer who designed an orbital rendezvous technique critical to future planetary landings--Aldrin has a vision, and in this book he plots out the path he proposes, taking humans to Mars by 2035.Foreword by Andrew AldrinChapter 1: The View from Air Force OneChapter 2: Time for Decision-makingChapter 3: Your Space: Building the Business CaseChapter 4: Dreams of My MoonChapter 5: Voyage to ArmageddonChapter 6: The March to MarsChapter 7: Homesteading the Red PlanetChapter 8: The Clarion Call

Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet


Leonard David - 2016
    In October 2015, NASA declared Mars “an achievable goal”; that same season, Ridley Scott and Matt Damon’s The Martian drew crowds into theaters, grossing over $200 million.Now the National Geographic Channel fast forwards years ahead with Mars, a six-part series documenting and dramatizing the next twenty-five years as humans land on and learn to live on Mars. Following on the visionary success of Buzz Aldrin’s Mission to Mars and the visual glory of Marc Kaufman’s Mars Up Close, this companion book to the Nat Geo series shows the science behind the mission and the challenges awaiting those brave individuals.The book combines science, technology, and storytelling, offering what only National Geographic can create. Clear scientific explanations make the Mars experience real and provide amazing visuals to savor and return to again and again.

Bringing Columbia Home: The Untold Story of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew


Michael D. Leinbach - 2018
    And it would be Mike Leinbach who would be a key leader in the search and recovery effort as NASA, FEMA, the FBI, the US Forest Service, and dozens more federal, state, and local agencies combed an area of rural east Texas the size of Rhode Island for every piece of the shuttle and her crew they could find. Assisted by hundreds of volunteers, it would become the largest ground search operation in US history. For the first time, here is the definitive inside story of the Columbia disaster and recovery and the inspiring message it ultimately holds. In the aftermath of tragedy, people and communities came together to help bring home the remains of the crew and nearly 40 percent of shuttle, an effort that was instrumental in piecing together what happened so the shuttle program could return to flight and complete the International Space Station. Bringing Columbia Home shares the deeply personal stories that emerged as NASA employees looked for lost colleagues and searchers overcame immense physical, logistical, and emotional challenges and worked together to accomplish the impossible. Featuring a foreword and epilogue by astronauts Robert Crippen and Eileen Collins, this is an incredible narrative about best of humanity in the darkest of times and about how a failure at the pinnacle of human achievement became a story of cooperation and hope.

Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon


Jeffrey Kluger - 2017
    Sixteen weeks later, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders were aboard the first manned spacecraft to depart Earth’s orbit, reach the moon, and return safely to Earth, delivering a tear-inducing Christmas Eve message along the way.

Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon


Craig Nelson - 2009
    on July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 rocket launched in the presence of more than a million spectators who had gathered to witness a truly historic event. It carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins to the last frontier of human imagination: the moon. Rocket Men is the thrilling story of the moon mission, and it restores the mystery and majesty to an event that may have become too familiar for most people to realize what a stunning achievement it represented in planning, technology, and execution. Through interviews, twenty-three thousand pages of NASA oral histories, and declassified CIA documents on the space race, Craig Nelson re-creates a vivid and detailed account of the Apollo 11 mission. From the quotidian to the scientific to the magical, readers are taken right into the cockpit with Aldrin and Armstrong and behind the scenes at Mission Control. Rocket Men is the story of a twentieth-century pilgrimage; a voyage into the unknown motivated by politics, faith, science, and wonder that changed the course of history.