5 comments about Born With a Bang: The Universe Tells Our Cosmic Story : Book 1 (Sharing Nature With Children Book).

1. It takes a great deal of skill to reduce as complex a concept as the creation of the universe to a form a five year old child can understand. My grandson was captivated and asked many questions and I learned a few things also. We promptly read the second book in the series and have ordered the third.



2. I have raved about this book to everyone I know. Actually there are two in the series. As a parent, it feels good to give my child lessons on how we are all cosmically connected. These books are stunningly beautiful, rich with meaning, truth, science and laced with spirituality.



3. I didn't realize what people meant by refering to this book as "New Age" - basically the "Universe" is narrating the story and "dreams" of people and trees and planets. The timeline and discription of big bang and star life cycles is great - but I am uncomfortable with the "wishes" and "dreams" and "feelings" of a universe.
   
   I was looking for an age appropriate book to explain the formation of the universe to my 5 year old - and it has captured his imagination. As an atheist trying to build a good basis of science over superstition, I felt that the narration was over the top, when the science is way cool and didn't need the whole dream/wish/creator overtones.



4. Anti-particle, hydrogen globs, planetary pups.....I felt myself doing all the explaining, when I was hoping the book would do that for me. The pictures are just swirls of colors- never shows a final product "A picture of an Earth". Almost like something make-believe in my sons eyes. Jennifer Morgans "Lava to Larva" 2nd book summarizes this book in just a few pages. Dont care care for it much either- same goofy pictures, doesnt show evolution of man.



5. Our family loves this series. We are not a religious family but we do find awe and wonder in the natural world. This book and its two sequels do a fantastic job of transforming complex events and advanced scientific terms into an understandable, inspiring account of evolution through the use of storytelling.
   
   The pictures are stunningly beautiful (worth framing and displaying), but the text is what really grabbed our attention! Some reviewers have taken issues with how the narrative is written in first person, as if the universe has feelings and emotions. However, this does not distract from the factual science - in fact it brings the science to life and gives it an exciting voice.
   
   Reading this story is much different than browsing through a dry, piece-meal science textbook -- and that's what makes this series so unique and accessible!
   
   Metaphors are one type of storytelling used in these books. Typically metaphors are used to help people grasp complicated information by relating it to things they already understand. That is exactly how this series uses metaphors. The storytelling tools the authors have used in these books help kids (and adults) gain a deeper grasp of the sophisticated workings of our universe by explaining intricate processes in a fascinating, easy-to-understand way.
   
   What might be treated as cold facts and mundane details in a normal book actually come alive through this type of story telling in the Born With A Bang series. It engages the reader - from young to old. Visiting friends have casually picked up these books just as something to flip through and ending up sitting down to read them cover to cover, absolutely captivated by the vivid pictures and incredible storytelling.
   
   The first person account is a clever method that creates an interest in all the amazing cosmological, biological, and chemical events that have formed life as we know it. These same events often receive very dry treatment in other books -- as if they are distant, boring, and unrelated to our everyday lives and that has turned many people off from science. But this series does a great job at showcasing how exciting and vibrant science can be!
   
   These books are especially great for families who find their spiritual and/or philosophical views missing in other story-like books that approach this subject with a creative twist. Too often those other books tend to be based on biblical stories or they contain creationist material that is misleading and inaccurate.
   
   However, the Born With A Bang series is based on the current scientific understanding of the universe. Add the unique format of storytelling and these books make it possible to explore this material through a variety of perspectives, including Atheism, Humanism, and Paganism.
   
   The content of these books show that the creation of the cosmos, the formation of earth, and the evolution of life are more than just scientifically interesting -- these things are part of an awe-inspiring account of our origins, of our life story.
   
   As readers we are pulled into the books because they do a wonderful job of illustrating how we are truly part of all that has come before us.

5 comments about Introduction to Aircraft Design (Cambridge Aerospace Series).

1. I consider this book to be a rough draft for a much larger book to come (I hope). The author just skims lightly through vast numbers of subjects, so that anyone who knows anything about airplanes will learn nothing new. Yet it isn't written on a basic enough level to have much to offer someone who knows nothing.

   Disappointing.




2. This book is a very general view from a very British perspective. I don't think it belongs in Embry-Riddle's graduate programs because it does not meet the needs of experienced professionals. As an undergraduate overview of the systems design process, it is good. However, the author does not even touch helicopters, seaplanes, or lighter-than-air-technology. So, the book would be more aptly named "Introduction to Airplane Design."
   
   Some of his information on armament systems is grossly inaccurate. Furthermore, the systems design process section does not reflect the current state of the art in the discipline of Systems Engineering. I expect improvement in the next edition and hope the author makes more of an effort to talk to engineers on the other side of the pond.



3. This book was very loosely written. It touches on the subjects and leaves you hanging. If you ever wanted to cite anything from this book, you'd be hard pressed to find anything useful. Unfortunately, it was a part of my curriculum to use this book for my Masters.



4. I agree with one of the other reviewers, that this book is rather brief in its content, but if one takes it for he introduction book that it is, then one understands why there is little detailed info.
   
   The appendices are pretty robust though, and have some good tables with lots of hard-to-find info. There are appendices with formulas, scientific data, formula, conversionss, and there are tables with aircraft parameters and statisitics.
   
   The author is obviously a Brit and uses examples from Cranfield's past research as many examples used in the book.
   
   This book was required for Embry-Riddle's ASCI-603 Aircraft & Spacecraft Development.
   
   If you are serious about a book on aircraft design, and you really want to know what you'll need to know, or are serious about the field, save your money and get Dan Raymer's Aircraft Development: A Conceptual Approach (4th ed.). It's more expensive, but fatter than a Bible and practically a Bible in itself for the field of aircraft design.



5. Aircraft design from a Cranfield University perspective ONLY. Siginificant aircraft and designs are not discussed. Don't waste your money.
   
   Better books: Fundamentals of Aircraft Design by Leland Nicolai, Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach by Daniel P. Raymer or, for a multi-volume approach, try Aircraft Design by Jan Roskam.

2 comments about Schaum's Outline of Introductory Surveying (Schaum's).

1. Requires a connecting book to enable reader to work with modern day total stations and the softwares available with them. Typically, advanced topics such as developing set-collection of survey points, their imporance and criteria for selection etc.



2. If you are looking for reference materials to take the California Engineering Surveying Exam as part of the Civil Engineer's PE exam, this is not the book you want. It doesn't cover the general concepts that an engineer is looking for. Seems to directed more at a person working on a surveying crew instead.

5 comments about Deke!: An Autobiography.

1. The best insiders book about the early astronaut office. It has so much good stuff about which astronaut was assigned what duties and a good behind the scenes view of each spaceflight. There are also good stories about some of the lesser known astronauts who never flew in space. A great book!



2. There is no question about it, Deke Slayton was one of the people
   most responsible for the amazing success of the American Space
   Program in the 1960's. As Director of Flight Crew Operations, he
   chose the astronaut crews that flew the missions. When looking
   back at the flights, there is no question that Slayton knew
   who to put where in order to get the job done. However, to this
   day, there are still a lot of questions in the air which Slayton
   did not really address in his otherwise outstanding book. For example, in
   Andrew Chaikin's book "A Man On the Moon", or Apollo 7 astronaut
   Walt Cunningham's book, many astronauts say that they never got
   a handle on how Slayton made his choices. Astronauts, particularly those chosen
   in later groups, even though they were fine pilots, highly educated
   and hard workers, would seemingly be passed over for flights by more veteran
   astronauts that didn't seem to be as well qualified. This was
   due to what Cunningham called "the pecking order" and a prime
   qualification of that pecking order was to be a personal pal of Slayton's.
   One example of this was Slayton's choice of Alan Shepard to be commander
   of Apollo 13, later switched to 14, even though Shepard had only his single 15-minute Mercury flight 10 years earlier (Shepard had been grounded due to an inner-ear problem). Many thought that Shepard
   should be required to do duty on a back-up crew prior to his being
   given command, and that otherwise he would have a lot of problems getting
   up to speed with the complex Apollo and Lunar Module (LM) spacecraft. In the end, Shepard did a fine job piloting the LM to a pinpoint touchdown in the Fra Mauro region of the Moon, but he, like many of the original Mercury astronauts, had little interest in the scientific aspects of space exploration, and as a result, the scientific yield of the mission was very disappointing. Another example was Gene Cernan who was chosen to command the final Apollo 17 mission in spite of reservations from important people in the program like Jim McDivitt, former astronaut and later head of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office. Cernan crashed his helicopter while he was ogling sunbathing girls. Something like this is usually unforgiveable, but Slayton covered up for him.
   Slayton does not really clarify questions like these. He states that he originally chose the crew of Grissom, Eisele and Chaffee to fly the first Apollo mission (Eisele was replaced by Ed White-and it was they who perished in the Apollo 1 fire). Slayton states directly that since there would be no rendezvous and docking with a LM in this mission, it wouldn't be as difficult as later ones so he could use astronauts who were "weaker". He does not explain why he felt they were weaker.
   Slayton also states that he was prepared for scientist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt (the only professional geologist to qualify as an astronaut) to fly as LM Pilot in Apollo 18 (giving him a chance to walk on the Moon), but he strongly objected to moving him up to fly Apollo 17 after it became clear that Apollo 17 would be the last mission. In the end, he capitulated to the political pressure from the scientific community and Congress, but it is hard for me to see why someone qualified for Apollo 18 should not fly Apollo 17 if he was able to handle the LM Pilot duties in addition to the scientific work he was best qualified to handle.
   
   In summary, this is a very good book with a lot of information, and it is clear that Slayton knew what he was doing, but he doesn't really
   clarify how he ultimately evaluated the abilities of the astronauts who worked for him which would have really made the book that much more interesting.



3. The book arrived within the scheduled delivery time in excellent condition.
   
   Thank you,
   
   Mark & Francine Keehnel



4. If you want to know how the first person to set foot on the moon was chosen, or any of the other why's that were previously unknown and hidden to outside knowledge, then this is the book that you'll want to read.
   
   Deke Slayton was an astronaut himself with one of the most fascinating personal stories (which we learn in this book). But he was also deeply involved, perhaps more than anyone, in choosing who flew and on which flights.
   
   Before Slayton died at a relatively young age, his name was added to a book called "Moon Shot," which was shallow and disappointing. The stories I knew he must have were not in there. With his death, I assumed that we'd lost any opportunity to know how the astronaut selection process had worked, something which had decided which spacefarer would be a name to be remembered for all time in the history books, and who would be obscure, even forgotten.
   
   But then I found that he hadn't written "Moonshot" - he'd actually been working on this second, much better, much deeper book. And here are all the stories. For the first time, we learned how some of the most historic and momentous decisions were made. It makes for fascinating reading, and I am thankful that Slayton took the time to get it all down on paper before he passed away.
   
   Possibly the best recommendation for this book is that many astronauts have commented that they did not know why they had been picked for certain flights (or passed over) until, decades after retirement, they read this book.
   
   An essential read for anyone with the slightest interest in some of the most important historical events of our age.



5. I would have to say that this book, more than any other, is one I have read and referred to many times over. Covering the most astonishing era of science and exploration in our history, this is the story of the man who was not only a superb pilot and astronaut, but as their influential superior forged the careers of others, by determining who would crew crucial missions. It might have been a difficult thing to have said to Deke's face, but if he hadn't been grounded with a minor heart aliment in the early 1960s, he might only be remembered today as a fellow who flew the Delta 7 Mercury mission after John Glenn's unforgettable flight, and perhaps another one or two missions. But he was forced into taking the responsible position of Chief Astronaut, and in doing so became the perfect person for the job, and today we celebrate that accidental irony. Of course he finally got to make a space flight in 1975, so his NASA astronaut career had a happy ending after all.
   
   Deke knew all of the other astronauts well, and understood better than most who would form the most compatible and best-performing crews for a particular flight. Put two guys together in a VW bug-sized spacecraft and whirl them around the world with little to do for two weeks and see them want to kill each other by mission's end. But that didn't happen on Deke's watch - he matched people and personalities perfectly, and the crux of this, his legacy, are the many highly successful space missions that operated under his pragmatic management.
   
   It is a cracking good book as well, and Michael Cassutt managed to get the most he could from a gravely ill Deke Slayton, who sadly passed away before this book could be published. On behalf of all spaceflight enthusiasts and historians, however, thanks heavens for Michael's foresight in conceiving and carrying through with this book; for without it a veritable raft of questions about the space program and the astronauts will forever have remained unanswered. It is certainly a definitive and reliable source of information for me, and I am delighted that the story of a great man has been so eloquently and thoroughly told.

5 comments about Communion: A True Story.

1. I read this claptrap when it first came out 20 (?) years ago. I remember how bizarre it was he heard and saw strange things but no one around him saw or heard anything. He also tries to paint a picture that he is skeptical or not a believer in UFOs. Well, all the books he has written on UFOs since have put the lie to that. He found his little pot of gold writing about UFOs and has milked the UFO cow about dry. If you read the book carefully you will see it is a man feeling the waters on how the public will accept the idea of his UFO "experiences". When it became a best seller he got busy writing junk about UFOs he somehow forget to put in his first book. How lucrative his little series has become! Nothing like money to make a believer out of you! Before he started down this bizarre path he wrote a good little horror book named Wolfen about werewolves in New York City. A movie was even made of it. Must not have brought in enough cash so he started this UFO travesty. "A True Story" indeed. Of craziness.



2. In the early 1980s, I was the lone witness to several UFOs hovering over the wheat fields near my house in Tennessee. They resembled inverted maroon lampshades, the kind made with macrame?
   
   As a result of this experience, my life changed a lot. For example, I became addicted to working picture puzzles. I started mall-walking with a group of senior citizens even though I was only in my 30s. My feet got larger until I needed the next shoe up (my spouse said this was due to swelling from the heat). I found it hard to know a 'drape' from a 'curtain,' or tell a soup spoon from a table spoon. My mind was fogged.
   
   Friends have laughed at me for admitting this, but I began constantly craving beet, radish, and turnip juice. So much so that I bought a Kenmore juicer. I craved the juices individually as well as mixed together. And before the UFO sighting, I didn't even like the look of these particular vegetables. I've always been into green and leafy.
   
   The UFO experience filled 99% of my mind-space. I haven't been hypnotized yet, so I don't know if I've had missing time or been probed about the body cavities.
   
   Six days after the UFOs, a man showed up on my doorstep. I wondered if there was a mortician's convention in town. He wore a black suit and hat and dark sunglasses. A navy tie with a fly and tackle print.
   
   Turns out his name was Noel Dollish. He was friendly if listless. Weird thing is, he knew about the UFOs, though I hadn't even told Bruce yet. I thought he was selling maybe bibles. He said he was from the GHI or FGI. He handed me a glossy booklet called 'So You've Seen A UFO...' with a lot of fine print at the bottom. I gave him a cup of International Coffee. He left with a little tap dance. I felt trepidatious.
   
   Two afternoons later Noel was back. This time he explained there were secret hand-and-arm gestures he had to teach me. Like it was official business. Gestures that would 'facilitate future communications.' He extended his arms and hands in different positions and would hold out one or more fingers. Each one meant something different. That I understood. I wrote a bunch down. Some I just pretended to write down.
   
   The messages he "conveyed" were oddball stuff, like "The Void Assumes Meaning Through Man," "My Name Is Casper Hightower," "God Does Not Live In Birds, Birds Live In God," "St. Anthony Abbot The Rabbit," and "If Atoms Are Aware, How Much More A Star?" I finally said I had milk boiling over on the stove. That night I suffered burning flatulence and rectal rot? I tried to put Noel out of my mind.
   
   During the autumn, I would spot Noel out in the corn shucks standing on one leg or the other or both, making hand-and-arm gestures in my direction. I didn't need binoculars. He was always dressed in dark black. I felt violated. This went on until the first snow flakes fell.
   
   So Whitley Strieber's Communion and the sequels have brought me a lot of comfort over the decades. They've become touchstones of my life. His books are well told. When he is first "visited" in the cabin in the woods, I could feel a fine trickle of hot perspiration running down my spine. I related to his fear so much. My spouse wanted me to come to bed, but I stayed up and finished Communion the same night I got it from the drugstore. "Never more the dawn!" was my attitude.
   
   The scene when the "visitors" dress in human street clothes and frolic about his bed--the irony is chilling, and so deep, though it's written so subtly that many readers miss the "message." Readers, go over these passages several times.
   
   Many people suspect their bank accounts are constantly tampered with, if even in small ways, no matter how good their personal bookkeeping is. We know from Mr. Streiber's recent books that the government has had its "fingers" in our very minds--why not our finances?
   
   Get out your tin foil skullcaps, everybody. The future isn't going to be rosy. At least that is what I think the author's message is. 2012 is just around the corner. That may be the year aliens swoop down on us from the heavens like those Swedish chicks in metal bras and helmets.
   
   Many people claim that as a horror-fiction novelist, Communion and the sequels are more of the same, only gussied-up with aliens. Ha-ha, joke on you. There is a big difference between the style of his vampire novels like the lesbian romance The Hunger and Communion. You can tell right away if you have read both that one is a sappy softporn thing and the other like what Joni Mitchell calls "a scraping of the soul." Streiber really scraped when he wrote Communion.
   
   I mean I admire his bravery. First in facing these creatures face-to-face, and then for having the courage to confront agents, publishers, and a reading public that might slop him with gutter water for making such 'claims.' People forget he's a victim. Oh my cow, is he a victim.
   
   I recommend that ANYONE who has seen a UFO buy this book. You'll want to place an order for the sequels too, and keep them together as a set in a cool dry place.
   
   Don't listen to those theories about earthquake lights, magnetic waves, balls lightning, or Dr. Michael Persinger. Go to the source and get your information from the source. This is a book that makes sure your information about the universe really expands. Share it with your book circle or church group. Ask your library to carry copies.
   
   My dream is that one day Oprah will feature it on her show in her club. Its implication for man is too important to ignore.
   
   Another good one is Brad Steiger?



3. This book is a chore to read. You keep hoping it will get interesting. It is just poorly written. He rambles and repeats himself as if he really doesn't have enough to say about the subject to fill up a book. His experts are mostly others who also believe in alien abduction so their credibility is shaky in my opinion. It's hard to believe you could make a story about alien abduction boring but this guy has done it. Afterward it is hard to say if this guy is just crazy or a hypochondriac or just a writer who came up with a great idea to sell books.



4. Regarding the vast contradictions in Strieber's story even within the pages of this book, its rather amazing that this man still has an audience and a 'following'. Alien Abduction is no doubt interesting, and in theory, also plausible (why not?), but Strieber's steadfast dedication to milking his 'story' for all sorts of commercial worth are definitely suspect, not to mention his occassional psychobabble and philosophical ramblings, all of which make you wonder whether you are reading the diaries of a highly depressed, delusional individual.
   
   Hey, I'm all for 'suspension of disbelief' etc, and am willing to embrace his tale wholeheartedly if it were not for the gigantic plot-holes. Seriously, who edited this book? Did they not notice the glaring contradictions? How can you have THREE versions of a story that you supposedly remember in minute detail? I do not know. Another thing that bothered me about the 'gray' aliens - why do all these aliens look EXACTLY like they are out of some Steven Spielberg production? The long head, huge beady eyes - I mean, come on Whitley, if you're concocting a story, at least be a little creative.
   
   The most stupendous part of the book (not my tone of sarcasm here) was the inclusion of the 'hypnosis' transcripts of Strieber and his wife. His wife does not strike me as terribly bright, nor is she especially helpful. Dear Reader, if wading through pages and pages of this woman answering "I Don't Know" to every pretty basic hypnosis question is the sort of thing that rocks your boat, then fine. It definitely made me look upon this book with revulsion and boredom, two of the finer emotions of life, if you think about it.
   
   Perhaps the worst part is the author attempting to write this entire book in the vein of a 'science fiction novel'. The attempt does not work, primarily because first of all, its supposed to be a true story, and the language he uses to 'evoke a mood' or 'atmosphere' is pretty hokey. He uses typical literary stunts that a NOVELIST would use, and this in no way should be taken as an authentic biography, which is what the author claims it is. Between this and the hilarious Zeta Reticuli book out there (which is written as if its the Bible - check it out), I am sure that aliens, if they did exist, must be pointing at us and laughing at our absolute lack of common sense or story-telling ability.
   
   Heres the thing : As a true story, this sucks. None of this probably even happened, and the author himself spends half the book 'disoriented' and 'confused' (by his own admission). At times he claims he can remember things in patches, at other times he sees detail in the smallest things. When its convenient for him, he blacks out so that he doesn't have to give us any clarity on anything. Add his wife to this mess, and it gets worse. The poor dear doesn't know whether she's coming or going and its obvious her husband hasn't tutored her very well, or she perhaps forgot his 'instructions'.
   
   Idiotic. The sad part is that there are still believers who look up to this phony author. Drop the act, Strieber. It doesn't work, and you just look like a total fool with your vague and abstract story about 'people from the sky'. At one point he even suggests they may not be aliens, but 'fairies living amongst us'. WHAT? Whatever you're on, get off it.
   
   Two Stars, both for the comic value.



5. The whole topic of alien abduction is a little hard to make an unbiased decision on. Either you "believe" or you "don't". I will start by saying that I do believe in the possibillity of extra-terrestrials seing what I would definetly have to describe as an UFO on one occassion. Regardless of my own experience I do have to say that this book while definetly intelligent, thoughtprovoking, and creepy fell a little flat towards the second half. The reason for this is because Whitley Streiber is far more concerned with establishing the credibility of this phenomenon than the sharing of his experience.
   This at times starts to ring really hollow emotionally. He even is willing at times to dismiss his experience as an mental abberation but then point out how he thinks(and knows through research and testimony)that a government cover up is in effect. It's a little like peddling since his website is as impersonal as this book pushing the latest conspiracies, books, dvd's, and of course his wife's journals. Hey everyone has to make a living and maybe the Greys told him to do that!
   Without sounding to jaded because I do believe just keep in account that he was an established Horror writer before this. He is very intelligent and entertaining writer and tries to bring an objective point of view to a very polarized topic and that probably accounts for the success of this book. Ultimately though someone who experienced something outside the box doesn't need acceptance or credibility. They know wether or not what they experience happened or not

5 comments about The Custodians: Beyond Abduction.

1. Delores Cannon's fascinating accounts of sessions with hypnotically regressed individuals and their alien experiences were riveting. I couldn't put the book down! I highly recommend this book for anyone with even the slightest interest in the subject.



2. This was the first book I've read written by Delores Cannon, and have since ordered several more by this author. This book is a real page turner for the truth seeker. She comes across as very down to earth despite the unconventional subject matter. She maintains her cool when speaking with channeled advanced beings, when many of us would just freak out. She gets eye opening, mind blowing answers to a lot of questions that I've often wondered about.



3. If your an open mind trying to find a world view that makes sence you might get trapt into such paradoxes as this. Please be careful tho because to ponder and live by thinking this a reality will only let you be perceptable to other ignorances of the sort.I can't say the material in this book is titly nitted to have everything make sence If your looking for reasurance of quantities beyond the material search your Bible from a point of view that is not of the culture but in a literal sence. There are ways of being sure there, as is the human condition is fully paralell to what most would agree on. Hope you find what your looking for or perhaps who seeks you.



4. This book will change your view on ufo's and all that you think you know about the universe, humankind's purpose, and amazing it is to have this knowledge.



5. once again, this is a must read from Dolores Cannon, our society has made ufo and alien subject matter to be of fear based concepts, Dolores gets behind the whole abduction thing, and gets to the real answers, I would suggest reading " keepers of the garden " first.
   If you have an interest in ufo's, the paranormal, spirituality.... Dolores's writing Will bridge the gap and connect all three of these together, that will bend your mind like a pretzel, she is taking UFO research into a whole new level. this is a MUST READ book.

5 comments about Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil.

1. Liz Greene is extremely adept at holding the information surrounding planetary influence. This book is actually, I think, one of her better books. She is able to get to the point in a manner that is not especially true in all of her books. If you are a serious student or a professional... you definitely want this book in your collection. If you are dabbling... go dabble somewhere else. Liz Greene, although really quite brilliant... is not an effortless read. And it is not the complexity of the subject matter. She just is not a very dynamic writer and her books tend to be very dry and not very reader friendly. If that one HUGE thing was different it would be a 5 star all the way!



2. ...it's certainly a classic in psychological astrology that teach people to respect the laws of Saturn.



3. This book has some serious weeknesses:
   1. The author seems to be confused about the nature of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and thus she keeps on mislabeling the energies of these planets. She keeps on pointing out how misunderstood these planets are, and I think that notion applies to her first and foremost.
   2. The book attempts to assimilate the occult perspective on outer planets, as it has been done by Alice Bailey, and the author seems to have bought wholesale into the Bailey's theories instead of developing her own understanding based on her own experience. Granted, that is hard to do with Saturn because of lengthy time-span involved into such a study, but the book would be a lot better had she done so. Unfortunately now it has a ton of hints and poetic allusions to the occult nature of Saturn and its myth, but severely lacks solid psychological perspective. A good book on Saturn, considering the natural Saturn-Moon opposition, would be an in-depth study of emotion and it's affect on how we function and build our lives. The author touches on it, but superficially. She talks about the pain of Saturn, but never explains why it is painful. She also talks about the rewards of Saturn, but doesn't give clues on how to turn Saturn into being rewarding. Where does it stop being painful and becomes rewarding? As a result, you find a lot of correlations to your life in this book, but absolutely no info on how to transform it. Thus Saturn will remain for you after reading this book what he has always been --"The Devil" and "The Great Malefic", something that will come and hit you on the head during the transit.
   3. The writing style is nausating with "pie in the sky" metaphore. Saturn would appreciate a little more matter-of-factness and insight.



4. From a psychological standpoint, it really can clear some strange things up for you, especially if you've got a million aspects to Saturn like I do. Totally clear, AND most importantly, she doesn't forcast the doom and gloom other idiot astrologers proclaim when talking about Saturn. Truth is, freedom isn't free, and if you've set yourself up to get it in this life, Saturn is your best friend. Yay!!!!! Liz Greene!!!!!!



5. This book is an easy read for the beginner astrologer, which is my level of prior knowledge. It is clear to understand, with lots of examples.

5 comments about Illustrated Guide to Aerodynamics.

1. I found Skip Smith's book to be an excellent layman's introduction to aerodynamics. Fluid mechanics does not usually make for interesting, easily comprehensible reading, but Dr. Smith's book is clearly the exception. I'm constantly irritated by the very inaccurate descriptions of aerodynamics given in many flying magazines and instructional books. This book has none of those common errors. Reading this book should greatly increase the average pilot's knowledge of how his plane flies and what huge design constraints aeronatical engineers have to live with. Highly recommended reading for all those who are interested in learning more about the principles of flight.



2. This book will be very helpful to pilots who want an "intuitive" understanding of aerodynamics. It will allow them to apply the information that is only touched on in other beginning piloting texts. I am considering using it as a textbook for a community college pilot technology curriculum. His explanation of wing lift does not emphasize Newton enough and seems to over emphasize Bernoulli, but this is not intended as a highly technical or mathematical approach. It is real world information for the pilot.



3. I started from Aerodynamics for Engineers which was a bad choice. However, this was excellent introductory book that was on very understandable and practical level, just how introduction should be. Very good book for homebuilder or pilot point of view.



4. I read this book for research that I am doing at school. In this book the author carefully and slowly explains the principles of aerodynamics. His approach is perfect for those of us who are new to the subject.
   
   The layout of the book makes sense. The book includes many examples along with thorough explanations of these examples. (He also gives many interesting anecdotal comments.) Additionally, the author's handling of the material is simple, but not so basic that one cannot get a full understanding of aerodynamic forces acting on an airplane and on the structures than comprise the vehicle.
   
   This book is a very useful reference for understanding aerodynamic forces and how these forces can be determined and predicted.



5. I have owned this book for about 10 years, and it is one of my favorites. I have read it cover to cover, and have referred to it many times since. Great for the pilot, mechanic, kit builder or amatuer designer. Easy to read and informative. A "must have" for anyone who really wants to understand airplanes and aerodynamics.

5 comments about The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever (5th Edition).

1. Hoagland does his homework. He is very detail-oriented, and he cites several examples of NASA obfuscations, image manipulation, and yes, outright lies. The first was Jerry Soffen's statement that the face was a "trick of light and shadow", and NASA took another picture "a few hours later" that showed it was a rock. We know this was impossible because of the location of the orbit. With 30 years of improvements in imaging technology, we continue to see blurry pictures of this face.
   
   The Viking lander images also show a blue sky with a very earth-like terrain. But, we have had to live with 30 years of intentionally red-shifted images of the Martian landscape.
   
   Many critics seem to dwell on one issue - the accuracy of his geometric calculations. They are all missing the entire point. After the anomalous structures were identified, the idea of a (dimensionless) mathematical message was theorized. When this theory was tested, the geometric relationship between the structures was repeated over and over. So, the accuracy of the measurements is not an issue because the values "have" to be correct as they fit the repeated geometry.
   
   The most important part of pure science is prediction. Hoagland has made several predictions that have been later observed (the hexagonal patterns on Saturn) or proved (liquid water on Mars).
   
   This book is filled with a detailed history of the space program and the struggle for public disclosure of the real story of Mars. People who refuse to accept it are not capable of accepting it.



2. The most compelling part of Dr. Hoaglands thesis that Mars contains structures that were intelligently designed is by far the pictures. He ads to this stunning visual evidence with mathematical evidence, that, while more obscure, is equally compelling. I would quarrel a bit with his conclusion that they must have been put their by a civilization that didn't originally come from there.
   
   The jury really should be out on whether Mars ever supported intelligent life. When/If humans ever get there and start doing some archaelogy, then you can say. But the point is made over and over again in his book that there are many anomalies on Mars that can only be artificial.



3. Carefully written, well-organized and complete with lengthy and detailed circumstantial evidence and reasoning to lead one to the conclusion that perhaps a civilization of intelligent beings lived on Mars at one time.



4. The book introduces interresting thoughts and is provoking in that aspect, but the "evidence" presented has been debunked not only by NASA but proponents and opponents of NASA and JPL. I could spend the day giving you a varitable works cited of how many minds have debunked this book, but seriously, search Amazon for the tons of books that have better theories and more compelling evidence. The facts about mars alone are more interresting than this guy's analysis of public domain images NASA released at the end of the 70's. To put it simply, It's similar to seeing shapes in clouds, it's not really a pony or a plate of mashed potatoes, what this book is suggesting is that YES, if the clouds look like a pony, TADA! IT'S A PONY. Pick it up for $1 or less but don't fall into the trap.



5. I prefer to believe that the simplest answer is generally the one that is correct, until proven otherwise. This is a concept known to science as parsimony. It is a preference for the least complex explanation of an observation.
   
   Are all of the objects on Mars depicted in photos created by a race of aliens hundreds of thousands of years ago, and were the pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx created by the same aliens? And is NASA and JPL and the NSA, as well as the rest of the powerful governments on Earth all involved in a huge coverup for no apparent reason?
   
   Or were those blurry photos, taken from planetary orbit using 1970's low-res technology, just rocks and shadows of rocks?
   
   Hoaglund jumps to the conclusion that martians built all of these things. He is not a scientist, and offers no testable proof of anything, nor does he demonstrate any evidence of critical thinking.
   
   Analogously, using his brand of so-called logic, it might seem reasonable to a weak minded person to state that, because one sees an image that looks like the Virgin Mary on a waffle, God or Mary must have put it there, or it must be an omen of some sort. It couldn't possibly just be a random shape on a waffle, right?
   
   Hoaglund is not a scientist, but he is a genius at marketing and making money. He rediscovered the concept embodied in the quotation of Tusser, "A fool and his money are soon parted."
   
   I was a fool to read this book, I'm glad I didn't buy it.

5 comments about Rocket Propulsion Elements, 7th Edition.

1. I started work with a rocket design group fresh out of a MS in mechanical engineering. One of the first things everybody told me was to pick up a copy of Sutton. It's a good thing I did, because I immediately started referring to it for just about every project I worked. After just a few months it became a dog eared, marked, and well used reference.
   
   It's a few years later now, and I don't work with rockets full time any more. I've forgotten enough of the details that today when I was explaining a bit of rocketry to a coworker, out came Sutton again. It's still a great book.



2. I have loved rocket propulsion in all its forms (real and imagined) since I was following the Apollo 11 mission on television. This book will help you with every aspect of rocketry whether for direct professional relevance, hobbyist development or whether you dream with many of us of solving the problems that will allow us (as so eloquently put by the late Carl Sagan) to "dip our toes in the cosmic ocean". I believe we must swim between the stars and the nuts and bolts foundations for doing it are in this book. Go get it. Lets do it.



3. When as a young physicist I started working on rocket nozzle design most of the material in this book had to be dug up from a paper here, a book there, or else it simply wasn't known. Now here's everything you need to know in a couple of chapters. And besides nozzle design, here in information on virtually every aspect of rockets from the design to the propellents, from concepts to testing. Most of the book is on conventional liquid or solid fuel chemical rockets, because that's where most of the action is today. There is a new chapter (from my older edition) on electrical propulsion.
   
   The book is suitable for use as a textbook for either a one or two term course, or as an introductory book to an engineer now moving into the field, or as a reference book for the experienced. It is especially good to use when you need to come up to speed on some area of the business where you don't normally work.
   
   The one weakness of the book is the lack of discussion on computers either in terms of engine control systems or of the design software that is avaiable. Next revision I guess.



4. I was fortunate enough to have a rocket propulsion internship at the Moscow Aviation Institute when I was an undergrad. As I hadn't taken a full-fledged rocket propulsion I bought this book for the trip. After arriving I proudly showed this great tome to my researchers to which they scanned it and replied, "This book is great if you would like to look at pictures and read vague stories about general rocketry, but it doesn't explain at all how to engineer or build anything, so it is worthless." I passed this off as hubris until they gave me a couple of the old Soviet books on rocket engineering full of detailed performance characteristics and equations which were horribly lacking in Sutton. Even with my nonexistent Russian they were more useful than "the tome." Unfortunately I wasn't able to bring their engineering books back with me, but trust me, I was ashamed I had brought Sutton. I ended up not even using it as a door stop. I can hope future versions will get technical but don't count on it. If it hasn't managed to do it in 50 years since it was first published, it probably won't happen.



5. I picked up this book in a used bookstore on a lark, tossed it on my "in" pile of books, and there it languished for a year or so. When I finally picked it up as a cure for insomnia, I managed to make my way through 2/3 of the thing before finally falling asleep. This book is marvelous. I had no idea what was involved in real rocket science, but quite a bit. Vibration physics, thermodynamics, chemistry, injectors, turbopumps... The book would make a wonderful practical course for, say, a senior physics student, to test his knowledge of different fields. I was also struck by the elegant simplicity of the models which were actually used to design the rockets we use today. This is no cookbook of differential equations for finite element analysis and doing what the idiot box says; this hearkens back to when engineers used slide rules, and designed things they really understood. The elegant results for nozzle shape, driven by thermodynamics (I had no idea why rockets had big nozzles like they do), and flame length estimators of rocket thrust alone were worth the price of the book.
   
   I had no idea it is still used as a textbook for rocketry (I have the second edition from 1956), but it doesn't surprise me terribly. The lucidity of the writing and derivations made this almost inevitable. I'm sure there are more practical books in Russian, but there aren't in English, so this one will remain a classic until Americans begin to do real rocket science again.