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Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military
By Avis Lang, Neil DeGrasse Tyson. 2019
“Extraordinary.… A feast of history, an expert tour through thousands of years of war and conquest.” —Jennifer Carson, New York…
Times Book Review In this far-reaching foray into the millennia-long relationship between science and military power, acclaimed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-author Avis Lang examine how the methods and tools of astrophysics have been enlisted in the service of war. Spanning early celestial navigation to satellite-enabled warfare, Accessory to War is a richly researched and provocative examination of the intersection of science, technology, industry, and power that will introduce Tyson’s millions of fans to yet another dimension of how the universe has shaped our lives and our world.Peace by Chocolate: The Hadhad Family’s Remarkable Journey from Syria to Canada
By Jon Tattrie. 2020
An Atlantic BestsellerA Hill Times' 100 Best Books in 2020 SelectionFebruary 2016. Antigonish, Nova Scotia.Tareq Hadhad was worried about his…
father: Isam did not know what to do with his life. Before the war began in Syria, Isam had run a chocolate company for over twenty years. But that life was gone now. The factory was destroyed, and he and his family had spent three years in limbo as refugees before coming to Canada. So, in an unfamiliar kitchen in a small town, Isam began to make chocolate again.This remarkable book tells the extraordinary story of the Hadhad family — Isam, his wife Shahnaz, and their sons and daughters — and the founding of the chocolatier, Peace by Chocolate. From the devastation of the Syrian civil war, through their life as refugees in Lebanon, to their arrival in a small town in Atlantic Canada, Peace by Chocolate is the story of one family. It is also the story of the people of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and so many towns across Canada, who welcomed strangers and helped them face the challenges of settling in an unfamiliar land.Unicorn in the Woods: How East Coast Geeks and Dreamers Are Changing the Game
By Gordon Pitts. 2020
A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2020A CBC New Brunswick Book List SelectionAs tech investors the world over search…
for elusive unicorns (start-ups valued at over $1 billion), acclaimed business journalist Gordon Pitts asks whether there can be a place for high-tech innovation and unicorn-like value creation outside of major urban centres, whether in Atlantic Canada, rust-belt New York, or Northern Ontario.Journeying back to the origins of Radian6 and Q1 Labs — two New Brunswick companies that sold for a combined $1 billion — in the basements and offices of a group of geeks and dreamers, Pitts tells a story of two remarkable companies and the legacies that continue to this day. But theirs was not a simple tale of overnight success; there were sellouts and firings, comebacks and vindication, and still unfulfilled promise.This is a story of high-tech value creation far from Silicon Valley, a story of the mythical unicorn in the woods. Are the stories of Radian6 and Q1 Labs outliers, rogue datapoints that should be discarded, or the foundation for a new knowledge economy outside of the mainstream?Isaac Newton, The Asshole Who Reinvented the Universe: The Asshole Who Reinvented The Universe
By Brian Taylor, Florian Freistetter. 2018
A blunt and humorous profile of Isaac Newton focusing on his disagreeable personality and showing that his offputting qualities were…
key to his scientific breakthroughs.Isaac Newton may have been the most important scientist in history, but he was a very difficult man. Put more bluntly, he was an asshole, an SOB, or whatever epithet best describes an abrasive egomaniac. In this colorful profile of the great man--warts and all--astronomer Florian Freistetter shows why this damning assessment is inescapable.Newton's hatred of fellow scientist Robert Hooke knew no bounds and he was strident in expressing it. He stole the work of colleague John Flamsteed, ruining his career without a second thought. He carried on a venomous battle with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz over the invention of calculus, vilifying him anonymously while the German scientist was alive and continuing the attacks after he died. All evidence indicates that Newton was conniving, sneaky, resentful, secretive, and antisocial. Compounding the mystery of his strange character is that he was also a religious fanatic, a mystery-monger who spent years studying the Bible and predicted the apocalypse.While documenting all of these unusual traits, the author makes a convincing case that Newton would have never revolutionized physics if he hadn't been just such an obnoxious person. This is a fascinating character study of an astounding genius and--if truth be told--an almighty asshole as well.Single-Minded: My Life in Business
By Claude Littner. 2016
The story of a high-stakes careerClaude Littner is best known as the mercilessly tough interviewer on the BBC's award-winning The…
Apprentice. His abrupt style and zero-tolerance policy on nonsense have become the highlights of every series. But what is he like in real business?SINGLE-MINDED reveals the story of Claude's varied career and the turbulent years that shaped him. From being told at school he would never amount to anything to his current status as a boardroom heavyweight both on-screen and off it, success has never come easy. Claude's complex, fascinating work has taken him into many different industries and countries, encompassing:- retail start-ups- knife-edge company rescue missions- the bruising rough-and-tumble of Premier League football- facing down French trade unions- taking on Texan oil barons in multi-million-dollar deals- and, in the private sphere, conquering life-threatening illnessAs Lord Sugar writes in the foreword to Claude's story, the book 'should be recommended reading for anyone who aspires to make their way in business . . . It is instructive and entertaining, providing an interesting insight into the ups and downs of business life and how single-mindedness, openness and determination can yield dividends both financial and personal.'Photomechanical Materials, Composites, and Systems: Wireless Transduction of Light into Work
By Timothy J White. 2017
An exhaustive review of the history, current state, and future opportunities for harnessing light to accomplish useful work in materials,…
this book describes the chemistry, physics, and mechanics of light-controlled systems.• Describes photomechanical materials and mechanisms, along with key applications• Exceptional collection of leading authors, internationally recognized for their work in this growing area• Covers the full scope of photomechanical materials: polymers, crystals, ceramics, and nanocomposites• Deals with an interdisciplinary coupling of mechanics, materials, chemistry, and physics• Emphasizes application opportunities in creating adaptive surface features, shape memory devices, and actuators; while assessing future prospects for utility in optics and photonics and soft roboticsThe Shard: The Vision of Irvine Sellar
By Howard Watson. 2017
'We were told we would never get planning consent and we did. We were told we would never be able…
to fund it and we did. Then we were told we would never be able to build it and we did.' Irvine SellarIn 2000, Irvine Sellar, a former market trader famous for helping to create the look of the Swinging Sixties on Carnaby Street, stood on a rooftop in Southwark, London, and decided to build the tallest building in western Europe. He had virtually no experience, and he wanted to build at the wrong height, in the wrong place, on the wrong side of the river and at the wrong time.Twelve years later, the Shard, a 'vertical city' designed by one of the world's leading architects, Renzo Piano, changed the skyline of London. It immediately became one of the most instantly recognizable and admired contemporary buildings in the world.This is the story of one man's vision for London and his determination to redefine an ancient but maligned part of the city despite seemingly insurmountable challenges including mass opposition, a huge planning inquiry, the financial crash, and major construction issues that required radical improvisation at every turn. At every twist in the tale, Sellar refused to give up.The Shard is a tale of extreme ambition, innovation and a relentless desire to recast the skyscraper as a force for good.Guidance and Control Technology of Spacecraft on Elliptical Orbit (Navigation: Science and Technology)
By Fucheng Liu, Shan Lu, Yue Sun. 2019
This book introduces readers to the navigation guidance and control technologies involved in single-spacecraft double-spacecraft and multiple-spacecraft…
tasks in elliptical orbits It comprehensively covers the key technologies of guidance navigation and control GNC system design for spacecraft in elliptical orbits including the orbit design formation configuration design and maintenance autonomous navigation technology and relative navigation technology as well as autonomous rendezvous technology The methods that this book introduces are very close to actual practical engineering applications and presented in an accessible style The book can serve as reference teaching material for senior undergraduates and postgraduates with space navigation related majors while also providing essential information and guidance for research personnel and engineering technical personnel engaged in the development of GNC systems for spacecraftErich Hückel (1896-1980)
By Andreas Karachalios. 2009
This study, the first comprehensive account of Erich Hückel's career, examines his scientific work as well as his importance for…
the emergence of quantum chemistry as an independent discipline in Germany during the 1930s. Hückel began his career by studying quantum physics in Göttingen, but his background in chemistry led him to take up pioneering research on the physics of chemical bonding. Drawing on a variety of sources, Andreas Karachalios offers a probing account of fast-breaking developments in quantum theory that paved the way for Hückel's research. In Göttingen and later in Leipzig, Hückel interacted with leading figures not only in quantum physics and physical chemistry but also with others in nearby fields, including organic chemistry and mathematics. During his later career in Marburg, Hückel clashed with Linus Pauling over the properties of the benzine molecule. In order to appreciate this controversy, Karachalios gives a brief account of the mathematical formalism of spin invariants, with both Hückel and Pauling used in their analyses, though with different interpretations. This serves not only to clarify their differences but also to illustrate the importance of the quantum-mechanical theory of resonance for chemistry at this time.Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman
By Richard P. Feynman. 1939
A Nobel Prize-winning physicist, a loving husband and father, an enthusiastic teacher, a surprisingly accomplished bongo player, and a genius…
of the highest caliber---Richard P. Feynman was all these and more. Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track--collecting over forty years' worth of Feynman's letters--offers an unprecedented look at the writer and thinker whose scientific mind and lust for life made him a legend in his own time. Containing missives to and from such scientific luminaries as Victor Weisskopf, Stephen Wolfram, James Watson, and Edward Teller, as well as a remarkable selection of letters to and from fans, students, family, and people from around the world eager for Feynman's advice and counsel, Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track not only illuminates the personal relationships that underwrote the key developments in modern science, but also forms the most intimate look at Feynman yet available. Feynman was a man many felt close to but few really knew, and this collection reveals the full wisdom and private passion of a personality that captivated everyone it touched. Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track is an eloquent testimony to the virtue of approaching the world with an inquiring eye; it demonstrates the full extent of the Feynman legacy like never before. Edited and with additional commentary by his daughter Michelle, it's a must-read for Feynman fans everywhere, and for anyone seeking to better understand one of the towering figures--and defining personalities--of the twentieth century.Dark Genius of Wall Street: The Misunderstood Life of Jay Gould, King of the Robber Barons
By Edward J. Renehan Jr.. 2005
Though reviled for more than a century as Wall Street's greatest villain, Jay Gould was in fact its most original…
creative genius. Gould was the robber baron's robber baron, the most astute financial and business strategist of his time and also the most widely hated. In Dark Genius of Wall Street, acclaimed biographer Edward J. Renehan, Jr. , combines lively anecdotes with the rich social tapestry of the Gilded Age to paint the portrait of the most talented financial buccaneer of his generation-- and one of the inventors of modern business.A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics From the Bottom Down
By Laughlin, Robert B.. 2005
In this age of superstring theories and Big Bang cosmology, we're used to thinking of the unknown as impossibly distant…
from our everyday lives. But in A Different Universe, Nobel Laureate Robert Laughlin argues that the scientific frontier is right under our fingers. Instead of looking for ultimate theories, Laughlin considers the world of emergent properties-meaning the properties, such as the hardness and shape of a crystal, that result from the organization of large numbers of atoms. Laughlin shows us how the most fundamental laws of physics are in fact emergent. A Different Universe is a truly mind-bending book that shows us why everything we think about fundamental physical laws needs to change.Superconductivity: Discoveries and Discoverers
By Kristian Fossheim. 2012
This book is about the work of 10 great scientists; who they were and are, their personal background and how…
they achieved their outstanding results and took their prominent place in science history. We follow one of physics and science history's most enigmatic phenomena, superconductivity, through 100 years, from its discovery in 1911 to the present, not as a history book in the usual sense, but through close ups of the leading characters and their role in that story, the Nobel laureates, who were still among us in the years 2001-2004 when the main round of interviews was carried out. Since then two of them already passed away. For each one of the 10 laureates, the author tells their story by direct quotation from interviews in their own words. Each chapter treats one laureate. The author first gives a brief account of the laureates' scientific background and main contribution. Then each laureate tells his own story in his own words. This book is unique in its approach to science history.Mathematical Aspects of Subsonic and Transonic Gas Dynamics
By Lipman Bers. 2016
This concise volume by a prominent mathematician offers an important survey of mathematical aspects of the theory of compressible fluids.…
The treatment is geared toward advanced undergraduates and graduate students in physics, applied mathematics, and engineering. Focusing on two-dimensional steady potential flows, the text eschews detailed proofs in favor of clear indications of the main ideas and descriptions of new mathematical concepts and methods that arose in connection with these chapters in fluid dynamics.Starting with a general discussion of the differential equations of a compressible gas flow, the book advances to the mathematical background of subsonic flow theory. Subsequent chapters explore the behavior of a flow at infinity and methods for the determination of flows around profiles, flows in channels and with a free boundary, the mathematical background of transonic gas dynamics, and some problems in transonic flow. An extensive bibliography of 400 papers concludes the text.Gauge Field Theories: 100 Years After General Relativity
By Gunter Scharf. 2016
One of the main problems of theoretical physics concerns the unification of gravity with quantum theory. This monograph examines unification…
by means of the appropriate formulation of quantum gauge invariance. Suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of physics, the treatment requires a basic knowledge of quantum mechanics.Opening chapters introduce the free quantum fields and prepare the field for the gauge structure, describing the inductive construction of the time-ordered products by causal perturbation theory. The analysis of causal gauge invariance follows, with considerations of massless and massive spin-1 gauge fields. Succeeding chapters explore the construction of spin-2 gauge theories, concluding with an examination of nongeometric general relativity that offers an innovate approach to gravity and cosmology.Introduction to Fluid Dynamics
By Edward B. Mcleod Jr.. 1978
Concise, unified, and logical, this introduction to the study of the basic principles of fluid dynamics emphasizes the statement of…
problems in mathematical language. In addition to its value as a reference for professional engineers, this volume is suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of mathematics and engineering. Some familiarity with the algebra of vector fields is assumed, and a useful appendix provides a succinct review of vector algebra.An introductory chapter covers fundamental notions from the continuum hypothesis to steady-state flow. Succeeding chapters explore conservation of mass, forces acting on a fluid in equilibrium, dynamic equations of motion, irrotational motion, integration of Euler's equation in special cases, and flows representable by harmonic functions. Additional topics include two dimensional flows, rectilinear vortices, general vortex motion, flows with a free boundary, and compressible fluids.The Element in the Room: Science-y Stuff Staring You In The Face
By Helen Arney, Steve Mould. 2017
'They make science fun and understandable which is a great combo.' Sandi Toksvig 'These nerds are the real deal.' Ben…
Goldacre, author of BAD SCIENCE Why is it impossible to spin your right foot clockwise while you draw a 6 with your right hand? Can you extract DNA from a strawberry daiquiri? Would you make love like a praying mantis? Should you book a holiday on Earth 2.0? The Element in the Room will take you on a rib-tickling, experiment-fuelled adventure to explain everyday science that is staring you in the face. If you are sci-curious, pi-curious or just the-end-is-nigh-curious then this is the book for you.Steve Mould and Helen Arney are two thirds of science comedy phenomenon Festival of the Spoken Nerd. As a trio they have appeared on QI, created their own experimental* comedy show 'Domestic Science' for Radio 4, toured their stand-up science shows to over 50,000 nerds (and non-nerds) and accumulated millions of views on YouTube.'Made me go Hydrogen Argon, Hydrogen Argon, Hydrogen Argon.' Rufus Hound'MIND BLOWN.' Tim Harford'Science was never such hilarious explosive fun.' Richard Herring'This book is 37% better than mine. But it took 100% more nerds to write it.' Matt Parker (the other third of Spoken Nerd)Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow
By Jay Leno, Steve Lehto. 2016
In the wake of World War II, the U.S. automobile industry was fully unprepared to meet the growing demands of…
the public, for whom they had not made any cars for years. In stepped Preston Tucker, a salesman extraordinaire who announced the building of a revolutionary new car: the Tucker '48, the first car in almost a decade to be built fresh from the ground up. Tucker's car, which would include ingenious advances in design and engineering that other car companies could not match, captured the interest of the public, and automakers in Detroit took notice. Here, author Steve Lehto tackles Tucker's amazing story, relying on a huge trove of documents that has been used by no other writer to date. It is the first comprehensive, authoritative account of Tucker's magnificent car and his battles with the government. And in this book, Lehto finally answers the question automobile aficionados have wondered about for decades: exactly how and why the production of such an innovative car was killed.Building Atlanta: How I Broke Through Segregation to Launch a Business Empire
By Herman Russell, Bob Andelman, Andrew Young. 2014
Born into a blue-collar family in the Jim Crow South, Herman J. Russell built a shoeshine business when he was…
12 years old--and used the profits to buy a vacant lot where he built a duplex while he was still a teen. In the ensuing 50 years, Russell has continued to build and develop businesses, amassing one of the most influential and profitable minority-owned business conglomerates. In Building Atlanta, he shares his inspiring life story, revealing how he overcame racism, poverty, and a debilitating speech impediment to become one of the most successful African American entrepreneurs, Atlanta civic leaders, and unsung heroes of the civil rights movement. Not just a typical rags-to-riches story, Russell achieved his success through focus, planning, and humility and he shares his winning advice throughout. As a millionaire builder before the civil rights movement gained impetus and a friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and Andrew Young, he quietly helped finance the civil rights crusade, putting up bond for protestors and providing the funds that kept King's dream alive. Here he provides a wonderful, behind-the-scenes look at the role that the business community--which included black and white individuals working together--played in Atlanta's peaceful progression from the capital of the racially divided Old South to the financial center of the New South.