Space Memoir

"Oggi il ministro, con mia sorpresa, mi ha comunicato la revoca dell'incarico di presidente ASI. È il primo spoils system di ente di ricerca. Grazie alle migliaia di persone con cui ho condiviso quattro anni fantastici di spazio italiano." Con questo messaggio, il 6 novembre 2018, Roberto Battiston annuncia il suo allontanamento dall'Agenzia spaziale italiana. Un cambio improvviso, imposto dalla politica, diventa per l'autore l'occasione di raccontare per la prima volta dall'interno il mondo dello spazio italiano.

Dr. Elisha Waldman's years at Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center were filled in equal measure with a deep sense of accomplishment, with frustration when regional politics sometimes got in the way of his patients' care, and with tension over the fine line he would have to walk when the religious traditions of some of his patients' families made it difficult for him to give these children the care he felt they deserved. Navigating the baffling Israeli bureaucracy, the ever-present threat of war, and cultural clashes, Waldman learned to be content with small victories.

Traci Shoblom is the youngest daughter of Apollo 12 astronaut Richard F. Gordon. She is an author, speaker, and a university lecturer. Although she’s published numerous nonfiction books, articles, academic chapters, scripts, and more, Apollo’s Creed is Traci’s “labor of love.” In it, she shares the stories, anecdotes, and wisdom that her dad told her at home—when the cameras were off.

The first popular introduction to Hawking's work, this program discusses the mysterious world of black holes, singularities, and the "big bang"--the point at which our universe may have begun.

Why don’t we know the name of John Atanasoff as well as we know those of Alan Turing and John von Neumann? Because he never patented his computing machine, and because the developers of the far-better-known ENIAC almost certainly stole critical ideas from him. Jane Smiley tells the quintessentially American story of John Atanasoff with technical clarity and narrative drive, making the race to develop digital computing as gripping as a real-life techno-thriller.

The commonly held view of Albert Einstein is of an eccentric genius for whom the pursuit of science was everything. But in actuality, the brilliant innovator whose Theory of Relativity forever reshaped our understanding of time was a man of his times, always politically engaged and driven by strong moral principles. An avowed pacifist, Einstein’s mistrust of authority and outspoken social and scientific views earned him death threats from Nazi sympathizers in the years preceding World War II.

Based on his historic mission to the International Space Station, Ask an Astronaut is Tim Peake's guide to life in space and his answers to the thousands of questions he has been asked since his return to Earth. With explanations ranging from the mundane (how do you wash your clothes or go to the bathroom while in orbit?) to the profound (do humans have a duty to explore the unknown?), all written in Tim's characteristically warm style, Tim shares his thoughts on every aspect of space exploration.

In 1961, Wally Funk was among the Mercury 13, the first group of American pilots to pass the ‘Women in Space’ programme. Wally sailed through a series of rigorous physical and mental tests, her scores beating many of the male candidates, including those of John Glenn, the first American in orbit. But just one week before she was due to enter the final phase of training, the programme was abruptly cancelled. A combination of politics and prejudice meant that none of the women ever flew into space.

It was a time of bold new technology, historic moments, and international jousting on the final frontier. But it was also a time of human drama, of moments less public but no less dramatic in the lives of those who made the golden age of space flight happen. These are the moments and the lives that Into That Silent Sea captures, a book that tells the intimate stories of the men and women, American and Russian, who made the space race their own and gave the era its compelling character.

Eminent scientist, investor of the particle accelerator, Princeton physics professor, and most importantly, inspiration to thousands in the space industry, Gerard K. O’Neill was a remarkable individual whose impact changed the world. Yet, he isn’t as well known as recent space contemporaries Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

Most of us would agree that Albert Einstein’s name is synonymous with “genius” and that his likeness is often used as a shorthand for all scientists, appearing everywhere from cartoons to textbooks. He has become more myth than man. That being the case, how best to capture his essence? In Einstein in Time and Space, talented young science journalist Samuel Graydon answers that question with an illuminating mosaic—99 intriguingly different particles that cumulatively reveal Einstein’s contradictory and multitudinous nature.

Women Space Pioneers is a profile of the lives and experiences of the first eight women astronauts in the U.S. space program when they all became astronauts, and their impact on the future of women's participation in space exploration.

Wally Schirra was the only one of the original seven NASA astronauts to command a spacecraft in all three pioneering space programs - Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. This chronicle of his experiences takes us into space on Schirra's 1962 Mercury flight that orbited Earth six times and aboard Gemini for the first rendezvous of two manned craft in space.

"Liminal" means threshold, and we find thresholds all day long if we have the eyes to see. Thresholds are not just a transitionary place, they are opportunities for discovery, awareness, and choice. We are at a fascinating place now in the history of the human experience, at the threshold of the next paradigm place. By all measures, our world is changing, and this requires us all to be prepared by building capacity to contribute to its ease.

Growing up, Alyssa Huynh heard stories from her family about their journey from Vietnam to Australia following the fall of Saigon and the racism they experienced upon arrival. While the discrimination she faced was different, she never quite felt like she belonged either. Longing for a safe space, she turned to the internet. Through sharing her writing online, she created a supportive community for fellow Asians and people of color with similar experiences, as well as for allies.

Antes de conquistar Marte, debemos aprender a sobrevivir en el espacio. Un libro ejemplar sobre el triunfo de la imaginación humana, la fuerza de voluntad y las maravillas infinitas de la galaxia. Scott Kelly es el hombre que más tiempo ha pasado en el espacio, 340 días, durante los cuales ha visto y vivido cosas que prácticamente ninguno de nosotros veremos o experimentaremos nunca.

What is the difference between men and women? Jennifer Finney Boylan, bestselling author of She’s Not There and co-author of Mad Honey with Jodi Picoult, examines the divisions—as well as the common ground—between the genders, and reflects on her own experiences, both difficult and joyful, as a transgender American.

As a young boy Frank Kovac Jr. fell deeply in love with stargazing, painting glow-in-the-dark constellations on his bedroom wall and inviting friends to an observatory he built in his Chicago backyard. As he reached adulthood, Kovac did not let go of his childhood dreams of reaching the stars. He began scheming to bring the universe home. While working at a paper mill as a young man, Kovac tirelessly built a 22-foot rotating globe planetarium in the woods.

Women today feel pressure to be the best wife, mom, and professional possible - often at the expense of their own identity. But what if you could experience deep peace - knowing you are loved right now, just as you are? In Brave Love, the founder of the multi-million-dollar company Lisa Leonard Designs inspires women to find themselves again amidst the noise and competing demands of real life.

The stories in this book are all true. Its author has been held up at gunpoint at night on a road in Guatemala and shot with a machine gun in the chest and shoulder in Vietnam. He's come close to dying of thirst in the Sahara and freezing to death in the Himalayas. He's contracted malaria and typhoid fever in Ethiopia and hepatitis in India. There have been accidents involving motorcycles and automobiles. He's had close calls involving lions (twice), elephants (three times) and a rhino (once).