NASA-SP-2009-4802. NASA History Series. Edited by Steven J. Dick and Mark L. Lupisella. Authors with diverse backgrounds in science, history, anthropology, and more, consider culture in the context of the cosmos. How does our knowledge of cosmic evolution affect terrestrial culture? Conversely, how does our knowledge of cultural evolution affect our thinking about possible cultures in the cosmos? Are life, mind, and culture of fundamental significance to the grand story of the cosmos that has generated its own self-understanding through science, rational reasoning, and mathematics? Book includes bibliographical references and an index.

WWII - 1944 - Th e Pacifi c War Zone In the Pacific Fleet Replacement Pilot Pool at Pearl Harbor, Ensign Bruce Weber receives training in the new Grumman Hellcat fighter planes. He is then assigned to a fighter squadron aboard a carrier. Bruce demonstrates exceptional airmanship skills, shooting down several enemy aircraft. After he has accounted for more than a dozen enemy planes, squadron enlisted personnel repaint their hero's plane with white engine speedring and tail to resemble a bald eagle. During the first few months of the deployment, three of Bruce's close friends are shot down by Kenji Okada, a Japanese super ace known as "The Osprey." Okada flies a Distinctively painted Zero. Bruce swears vengeance and searches for the Osprey on every flight. The two aces eventually meet. The dogfight is long and difficult but Bruce finally shoots Okada down. Returning to the carrier, Bruce lands almost out of fuel just before the ship is disabled by a Kamikaze. Fire decimates the aircraft and the ship is out of action. Both are ordered back to the states, their fighting days over at least for a while.

The four volumes of the encyclopedia of Cameroon aviation law are intended for students, lawyers, judges, scholars, and readers of all backgrounds with an interest in aviation law and to provide the definitive corpus of relevant national and regional legislation, including global aviation treaties and legislation, to enable all readers, without exception, to develop the background, knowledge, and tools to understand local, regional, and international aviation law in a contextual fashion. The first volume has a detailed text of country legislation, including national cases and materials, while the second volume focuses on international aviation law treaties, international cases and materials, and Aircraft Refueling Indemnity (Tarbox) Agreements.

With energy consumption rising and with it our dependence on crude oil from politically uncertain regions, and faced with the threat to the environment from polluting emissions, it is becoming ever more evident that fuels from renewable resources are an increasingly attractive option to fossil fuels. Edinger and Kaul, like a growing number of other experts, hold the mobility of populations--transportation, in other words--responsposible for the rise in the rate of greenhouse gas emissions, a condition that can only get worse as less developed regions of the world emerge with their own needs and demands for mobility. What to do? Edinger and Kaul outline in sharp detail the shortcomings of current vehicular technologies and dominant fossil fuels. They present a careful, authoritative examination of innovative technologies that in their opinion have the best chance of combating dangerous reliance on conventional means of power, not only for transportation but other purposes as well. And they focus on special forms of fuel cell drive systems, with their high efficiencies and reduced consumptions, and on other emerging renewable technologies and their innovative, sustainable power sources--such as fuels from biomass and renewable electricity, a particularly promising source of energy for newly growing economies. Wide ranging in coverage, forthright in style, the book is an important review of how things are today, why they could get worse, but perhaps most importantly, what we can do about it.

There has been a long felt need for a book which details the legal aspects of the airport business. This book will discuss the nature of the airport business and inquire into the constraints faced by airports in obtaining their revenues. It will also discuss the liability of an airport operator for injury to persons who use the airport premises and liability for vehicular accidents landside or airside including work accidents of airport employees or other accidents caused by airport employees of the airport. The bulk of the book will be dedicated to the legal aspects of issues such as principles of lease financing of premises and equipment; employee contracts; agency; general contractual and tortuous liability of airports; negligent entrustment of property and equipment; obligations of oversight of tenants in their implementation and application of contractual terms, Risk Management; legal principles pertaining to the oversight of airport safety and security; competition; labour law; and the art of negotiation.

On July 4, 1991, the Arleigh Burke class of destroyers, the most powerful surface combatants in naval history, was commissioned. It was the culmination of a century-and-a-half evolution of the destroyer—an evolution captured in this vivid and timely history of the world's most popular warship. Destroyers: An Illustrated History of Their Impact tells the story of one of the most-recent, most-rapidly evolving additions to the world's navies. Coverage ranges from the 1882 launch of the first destroyer, through the nonstop technical and strategic innovations of the world war eras, to the current high watermarks of destroyer design such as the Arleigh Burke class (named for the navy's most-famous destroyer squadron combat commander). With its ship-by-ship analysis, this masterful volume shows how destroyers have continually met the challenge of protecting naval and land operations from ever more dangerous attacks. The book also captures the flavor of shipboard life for officers and crew and looks at the crucial role of the destroyer as a standard-bearing status symbol of naval might and political intention.

The four volumes of the encyclopedia of Cameroon aviation law are intended for students, lawyers, judges, scholars, and readers of all backgrounds with an interest in aviation law and to provide the definitive corpus of relevant national and regional legislation, including global aviation treaties and legislation, to enable all readers, without exception, to develop the background, knowledge, and tools to understand local, regional, and international aviation law in a contextual fashion. The first volume has a detailed text of country legislation, including national cases and materials, while the second volume focuses on international aviation law treaties, international cases and materials, and Aircraft Refueling Indemnity (Tarbox) Agreements.

Railroads altered the landscape of the United States. Within a few decades of the invention of the locomotive, railways stretched from coast to coast, enabling people and goods to travel far greater distances than ever before, completely altering our concept of time and space. And while railroads may seem like an "old" technology, they continue to be an essential means of transporting both goods and people, and new technologies are making the railroads an increasingly relevant resource for the 21st century. This volume in the Greenwood Technographies series provides an accessible overview of the nearly 200 years of the growth and development of this historically significant--and popular --technology. The Railroad: The Life Story of a Technology gives students and railroad enthusiasts plenty of information on the development of this popular technology: * Chronicles the early years of the railroad, from early wooden tramways in Massachusetts, to the famous "Tom Thumb" * Discusses the important technological "failures," such as the narrow-gauge craze of the late nineteenth century with track widths as small as two feet. * Covers all aspects of railroad technology -- everything from the structure of the track to communications to what powers the locomotive. * Links the technology to broader social developments, such as the decline of the railroad in the mid-20th century to outmoded governmental and labor restrictions, and the current rise of railroad technology as a result of new managerial techniques. The volume includes a timeline of important dates in railroad history, a glossary of important terms, and a selected bibliography of works appropriate for further research.

Tiger 747 tells the story of the Boeing 747 in service with the Flying Tiger Line, Seaboard World and Federal Express, with an individual history of the thirty-four jumbos operated. An in-depth historical essay covers the history of the airline, starting with the American Volunteer Group pilots in China in World War 2 that evolved into a fly-by-night cargo outfit in the propliner era, growing in size and sophistication until the Flying Tiger Line was a global brand in air cargo in the golden days of the jet age; with an in-depth look at Seaboard World and Fedex who make up a vital part of the story. A second epic chapter covers the 747 from the early days of the Boeing Airplane Co in the early days of powered flight right up to the latest models, with an emphasis on the 747 Classic. This unique book also includes technical information and descriptions, and pilot and crew memories. An essential addition to every aviation enthusiast's bookshelf.