Book Description

Space propulsion systems have a great influence on our ability to travel to other planets or how cheap a satellite can provide TV programs. This book provides an up-to-date overview of all kinds of propulsion systems ranging from classical rocket technology, nuclear propulsion to electric propulsion systems, and further to micro-, propellantless and even breakthrough propulsion, which is a new program under development at NASA. The author shows the limitations of the present concepts and how they could look like in the future. Starting from historical developments, the reader is taken to a journey showing the amazing technology that has been put on hold for decades to be rediscovered in the near future to questions like how we can even reach other stars within a human lifetime. The author is actively involved in advanced propulsion research and contributes with his own experience to many of the presented topics. The book is written for anyone who is interested in how space travel can be revolutionized. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Love this book!!!!!!!
This book has it all. All the todays propulsions systems that you think of. ... Read more

Book Description

Oceans play a pivotal role in our weather and climate. Ocean-borne commerce is vital to our increasingly close-knit global community. Yet we do not fully understand the intricate details of how they function, how they interact with the atmosphere, and what the limits are to their biological productivity and their tolerance to wastes. While satellites are helping us to fill in the gaps, numerical ocean models are playing an important role in increasing our ability to comprehend oceanic processes, monitor the current state of the oceans, and to a limited extent, even predict their future state.
Numerical Models of Oceans and Oceanic Processes is a survey of the current state of knowledge in this field. It brings together a discussion of salient oceanic dynamics and processes, numerical solution methods, and ocean models to provide a comprehensive treatment of the topic. Starting with elementary concepts in ocean dynamics, it deals with equatorial, mid-latitude, high latitude, and coastal dynamics from the perspective of a modeler. A comprehensive and up-to-date chapter on tides is also included. This is followed by a discussion of different kinds of numerical ocean models and the pre- and post-processing requirements and techniques. Air-sea and ice-ocean coupled models are described, as well as data assimilation and nowcast/forecasts. Comprehensive appendices on wavelet transforms and empirical orthogonal functions are also included.
This comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the field should be of interest to oceanographers, atmospheric scientists, and climatologists. While some prior knowledge of oceans and numerical modeling is helpful, the book includes an overview of enough elementary material so that along with its companion volume, Small Scale Processes in Geophysical Flows, it should be useful to both students new to the field and practicing professionals.

* Comprehensive and up-to-date review
* Useful for a two-semester (or one-semester on selected topics) graduate level course
* Valuable reference on the topic
* Essential for a better understanding of weather and climate ... Read more

Reviews (3)

overpriced and not necessarily useful
This is a suprisingly overpriced and depth-lacking
book. I am stunned, definitely stunned.

It may probably be used to some advantage by beginners
and/or practitionners of ocean modeling, but as an in
depth guide it just does not do.

I found myself wanting to use it when I picked up knowledge
on the Bryan-Semtner-Cox ocean model from the perspective
of an independent model developer and I found out that
the book was on the whole pretty useless in its content
and structure (i.e. layout).

It probably deserves more than one star, but the
massively exaggerated price just isn't justified.

Instead I would recommend the books by Haidvogel,
Beckman or Kowalik and Murty (both at WSPC) in
addition to some OGCM user guides and papers on the
WEB.

Anyway, similar remarks do apply to Kantha's other
book on Small-scale processes in GFD, although I
found that slightly more useful.

Nevertheless, I should acknowledge the authors' great
courage in attempting so ambitious and potentially
most useful projects. Maybe getting together in a
larger team with better articulated competences would
have helped here.

the best example to buid a model
This book is not only for ocean's specialists but all people concerned with environemental activities. Anyway I'am a teacher in advanced economics in France and I use this book as the best example of complex and multivariables model. The authors demonstrate clearly (read the foreword) the necessity for students to enlarge the field of their scientifics investigations to biochemical, numerical analysis, computing, climate. This book could be read by anyone with a little background in mathematics and with a lot of curiosity.

A great book in modeling
This book is amazing. You can learn basic physics from chapter, you can learn powerful analysis techiques from appendixs. Obviously authors can clearify very complicate physics phenomena in a simple way, with the help of modeling work. ... Read more

Book Description

It was all part of man's greatest adventure--landing men on the Moon and sending a rover to Mars, finally seeing the edge of the universe and the birth of stars, and launching planetary explorers across the solar system to Neptune and beyond.

The ancient dream of breaking gravity's hold and taking to space became a reality only because of the intense cold-war rivalry between the superpowers, with towering geniuses like Wernher von Braun and Sergei Korolyov shelving dreams of space travel and instead developing rockets for ballistic missiles and space spectaculars. Now that Russian archives are open and thousands of formerly top-secret U.S. documents are declassified, an often startling new picture of the space age emerges:

• the frantic effort by the Soviet Union to beat the United States to the Moon was doomed from the beginning by gross inefficiency and by infighting so treacherous that Winston Churchill likened it to "dogs fighting under a carpet";

• there was more than science behind the United States' suggestion that satellites be launched during the International Geophysical Year, and in one crucial respect, Sputnik was a godsend to Washington;

• the hundred-odd German V-2s that provided the vital start to the U.S. missile and space programs legally belonged to the Soviet Union and were spirited to the United States in a derring-do operation worthy of a spy thriller;

• despite NASA's claim that it was a civilian agency, it had an intimate relationship with the military at the outset and still does--a distinction the Soviet Union never pretended to make;

• constant efforts to portray astronauts and cosmonauts as "Boy Scouts" were often contradicted by reality;

• the Apollo missions to the Moon may have been an unexcelled political triumph and feat of exploration, but they also created a headache for the space agency that lingers to this day.
  

Reviews (20)

THE comprehensive history of space exploration
William Burrows has compiled a complete and detailed history of the space program from the earliest thoughts and writings about the nature of space and space travel, to the present day struggles of NASA with the space station. Especially interesting is his tracing of the dynamic tension and close brotherhood between the "civilian" space program and the "military" program, although they were supposed to be separate.

As a long-time worker in the civilian space program I can attest to the accuracy of Burrow's writing about it. The only flaw in the book is its tendency to belabor the same points a bit, e.g. that the military and civilian space programs were inextricably linked. Also, the book is so replete with names that it can be a little confusing.

Nevertheless, this is a book that should be on the shelf of everyone interested in space exploration.

The Most Comprehensive History of Spaceflight Ever Attempted
William E. Burrows brings to the task of writing a comprehensive history of spaceflight a wealth of background and understanding. He added to that in-depth research and lucid writing to place between two covers the most exhaustive and complex history of the subject ever published. At some level, perhaps, he tries to do too much, but overall he succeeds admirably in explaining the political, technical, scientific, economic, and cultural history of humanity's recent adventure in space. It is a long read, and sometimes requires effort on the part of the reader to wade through exceptionally complex scenes, but "The New Ocean" is overall a stunning achievement. The chances are pretty good that readers will be able to answer almost any question they might have about spaceflight by referring to this book. And if they cannot find everything they want on the subject, the exhaustive bibliographical references point to additional material. I recommend this as a starting point for serious exploration of the history of spaceflight worldwide.

Mostly a political history
I enjoyed this book very much, and thought it filled a niche I hadn't thought of before. Its strongest focus seems to be on the political environment of space exploration, where "political" has 2 meanings: 1) The traditional fight for funds in the US Congress and also the environments in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, and 2) the infighting for limited funds among the different areas of the civilian and military space establishments. (The "office politics" of space, if you will.)

In this context, the book could be thought of as a space history from a management point of view. There's not a lot of technical detail here, esp. for those who have read a lot of space books. But Burrows does a good job of explaining why certain decisions were made in the different programs, given the historical context. It leads to a greater understanding of why we have the systems we have today, and how they have evolved, fight by political fight. The parts about the US spy satellites, the space shuttle, and solar system exploration were definitely enlightening from this point of view.

As noted with other reviews, "This New Ocean" has rather startling breadth, but sometimes maddeningly little depth. This is OK and to be expected in a survey book; my only problem was that it felt uneven. Some parts were covered with a broad stroke that gave the outlines but not every last detail, while others felt tacked on or thrown in. In particular, the development of the Russian space program after Khrushchev felt shallow, esp. coming after an extended section on the US program. This was a little unsatisfying, given the importance of Russian rockets in the more commercial environment of the post-Cold War world.

Overall though, this book is clearly recommended reading. It enlarged my view beyond just the science and technology to see how things get done, and has stimulated me and made me aware of new areas and ideas to learn about.

A Thoroughly Researched History of Space
Burrows offers the best attempt so far at a comprehensive history of the Space Age in a single volume. There are two flaws. First, the commercial side of space is almost untouched. The driving engine of space development today is in the tens of billions of dollars being poured into communications satellites and other applications. Burrows spares only a few pages for this topic. The other flaw is Burrows' tendency to snipe at the evil American military-industrial complex without trying to understand or explain the actual thinking behind US military space endeavors. Despite these reservations, this book is a first-rate achievement. It is simply indispensable for students of space history.

Too many good stories for one volume
The breadth of "This New Ocean" forces Burrows to treat the most compelling technical and personal achievements of the Space Age too lightly. With rocket launches more reliable today than fifty years ago, it's difficult to understand what the big deal was about the early rocket launches. A deeper engineering background than he offers would permit a better appreciation of the early rocketeers' work. Moreover, Burrows' writing seems heavy-handed at times (especially in condemning the effects of the Soviet political structure on research there). Burrows seems most comfortable writing on space-based reconnaissance (thanks to his earlier work on that subject), and he carefully relates the internecine funding battles of the 1950s and 1970s to the political climates of those times.

This volume is best used to place technological developments in a political context; look to Baker's "History of Manned Space Flight" or "The Rocket" for more careful consideration of the engineering. ... Read more

Book Description

The only book available today that covers military and commercial aircraft landing gear design. It is a comprehensive text that will lead students and engineers from the initial concepts of landing gear design through to final detail design. The book provides a vital link in landing gear design technology from historical practices to modern design trends, and it considers the necessary airfield interface with landing gear design. The text is backed up by calculations, specifications, references, working examples, and nearly 300 illustrations. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

This book is essitial if you design landing gear
I have been an aerospace for over 25 years and within the last couple of years have been working on landing gear specifically. This book is on every shelf of anyone who has anything to do with landing gear. That is why I purchased it. The small price you pay for this reference bible will be paid for over and over again as you refer to its insights and knowledge contain within its pages. It outlines everything from bushings to complete landing gear system and everything in-between. With the knowledge in this book it will give you an excellent base to start from and an excellent reference for years to come. If I could give it 10 stars I would. You will not be disappointed with your purchase

Excellent Design Guide for Landing Gear
Currey addresses almost all of the aspects of landing gear design. Frombasic gear geometries to dynamic analysis of the shock strut - thedescriptions are clear and the illustrations accurate.

With this bookalone its possible to design a complete landing gear - well almost. Stressanalysis, computer dynamic analysis and manufacturing processes are notcovered in great detail in the book, nor should they be.

Curreyaccurately describes what's involved in the preliminary design stages oflanding gear. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1961, only a few weeks after Alan Shepherd completed the first American suborbital flight, President John F. Kennedy announced that the U.S. would put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.The next year, NASA awarded the right to meet the extraordinary challenge of building a lunar excursion module to a small airplane company called Grumman from Long Island, New York. Chief engineer Thomas J. Kelly gives a first-hand account of designing, building, testing, and flying the Apollo lunar module.It was, he writes, "and aerospace engineer's dream job of the century."Kelly's account begins with the imaginative process of sketching solutions to a host of technical challenges with an emphasis on safety, reliability, and maintainability.He catalogs numerous test failures, including propulsion-system leaks, ascent-engine instability, stress corrosion of the aluminum allow parts, and battery problems, as well as their fixes under the ever-present constraints of budget and schedule.He also recaptures the anticipation of the first unmanned lunar module flight with Apollo 5 in 1968, the exhilaration of hearing Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong report that "The Eagle has Landed," and the pride of having inadvertently provided a vital "lifeboat" for the crew of the disabled Apollo 13. ... Read more

Reviews (35)

Very Good, but pretty technical
Tom Kelly's memoir of the development of the Apollo Lunar Module is a great book. I found it to be surprisingly forthright and honest about the accomplishments and mistakes that the Grumman team made during their first and only foray into manned spacecraft construction. Students of space history and engineers will probably get the most out of this book, which is loaded with technical detail. However, for those who read the book and come away somewhat bewildered from the acronyms and technical detail, Kelly does a very good job of conveying the excitement and enthusiasm for the challenge of landing a man on the moon that swept across America in the 1960's. Kelly also gives us a view of the major players in Apollo like Joe Shea, Chris Kraft, and the astronauts themselves, that is not really seen. Kelly gives us the perspective of an outsider, though an engineer, who meets these people for the first time and what it was like to work with them and what kind of an impression they left upon him.

Overall, if you're a space nut, this is a good book for you, if you're not, be prepared for lots of engineering talk. But don't let that scare you away, Moon Lander is full of goodies about Apollo for everyone.

The Engineering and Project Management Behind the LM
.... While there are a lot of engineering terms and technical descriptions of hardware, there are no engineering formulae. The author, Thomas J. Kelley, was the chief engineer of the Grumman-built Lunar Module (LM), during its design, development and testing phases and also for part of the early landings on the Moon. The author presents a new and untold story of the development of one the greatest marvels of modern engineering, the first vehicle designed solely for manned space exploration. That is, the human side of the development of this space vehicle.

The first few chapters of the book describe how Grumman developed the proposal that ultimately won the NASA contract to build the LM. The book then moves onto the development of conceptual ideas, the final design, the building, the testing and finally the flying of the LM to the lunar surface. The book concludes with a good summary of each Apollo mission, including the Apollo 13 mission, which used the LM as a lifeboat, and his thoughts about the Apollo program and the beginning of the Space Shuttle program.

I found the opening chapters of the book that were devoted to writing the winning NASA proposal and the subsequent contract negotiations and the development of the LM very interesting. This winning proposal was less than 100 pages!!!!!. Try that today. Through out these and other parts of the book, the author is not afraid to criticized his company, upper management and fellow co-workers and take the blame when he was wrong. While there are many technical details in each of these sections of the book, most of the chapters describe in great detail the project management of the LM.

For me, the most interesting part of this part was the human side of the development of the LM. He describes in detail how he and others felt about what they were doing, if they could really do it and the thrill of actually building the LM. For example, through out the first lunar landing, he always questioning himself, "Did we forget anything?" A feeling that I share ever time NASA launches a Shuttle.

When I finished this book, I had a great understanding of the human side of this massive engineering project, which was (or is) until now an untold story. This book clearly captures the excitement of everyone behind the scenes who worked on the Apollo project. If you have any interest in the space program, even today's projects, this book will give you understanding of those people who developed these wonderful machines.

For those with a serious interest in engineering
I don't want to repeat much of what the previous reviewers said, as I agree with most of it. There is no question that the content of the book is engaging, detailed, and intereseting.

What I would like to add is that I can only give this book 4 stars because of my significant interest and background in engineering. For my friends and family who love the space program but are more interested in the history and emotion, I always recommend A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew L. Chaikin. This book by Kelly I only recommend to my friends who are scientists and engineers, or perhaps those with a serious technical side to them. This is not so much a book about emotions and drama as it is a description of how real people solved an engineering and management problem. It can be a overly dry and dull for some.

Will you understand this book without a degree in engineering? Yes, it is not the type of book that tries to talk over the head of the reader. Will you want to wade through all the technical details and alphabet soup of acronyms unless you love engineering? I doubt it. I've let a number of non-technical people borrow this book and most returned it without getting past the second chapter. The general response was that it was hard for them to "Get into it".

One thing that I really enjoyed about this book was that it spent a lot of time on the issues of management that are often glossed over at the expense of sticking only to the technical details. There is a lot of time spent on the debate that occured before decisions were made, the outcome of the decisions, and the fallout if the decision turned out to be a bad one. Now there is something few authors (especially managers) would be willing to admit to--a mistake. It is refreshing to see that addressed in such detail.

If anything, I would highly recommend this anyone who is considering engineering as a future career. It does an excellent job of describing the day to day activities that are required in a big engineering project (space program or otherwise). If you read this book and find it exciting and interesting (as I did), then engineering may be for you.

Excellent description of life on a real engineering project
I bought this book hoping to learn the engineering secrets and insider trivia about the Lunar Module. The book includes this type of material although I was hoping for more engineering details.

However, the real value of this book is the experience Tom Kelly communicates about managing a complex engineering project. My experience is on much smaller aerospace projects but I totally recognized similar events, frustrations, failures, and successes. I suspect most readers find the management details dry and uninteresting but I found them to be gold nuggets of knowledge and, sometimes, inspiration. All of the technical details of building great engineering works such as a spacecraft can be completely figured out given no deadline or other constraints. But the real world challenge is figuring out how to do stuff that's never been done before with limited resources, insufficient budget, and short schedules. "Moon Lander" conveys this working environment very well. I would highly recommend this book to college engineering students and to people that would like to work in the aerospace field. This book tells the story of what it's REALLY like to work on an aerospace project.

An Engineer's Apollo Story
To put it simply: This is a great book telling a great story about a great machine in a great space program. Go buy it and read it. In my view, no aerospace engineering history library is complete without this book, as it contains much still-relevant advice (alas, not always heeded) for modern projects.

I can assure you from my own experience, more than 30 years and the Atlantic ocean away, that Kelly's recounting of Grumman's part of the Apollo program is as close you'll ever get to being an engineer/manager in a large scale aerospace project without actually being there. Kelly's book conveys a hands-on feeling of the decade long strain as well as the day-to-day stress, and in general gives you an inside view of the many ups-and-downs of a leading engineering position in the Apollo program. To achieve all this in a single volume in a balanced manner is nothing short of impressive.

(I should have some idea about this; myself having worked for several years in the aerospace business as a project engineer, in a 10 years+ missile project spanning four cooperating nations, numbers of subcontractors, government research institutes, procurement agencies and supporting military units.) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Torenbeek's synthesis of subsonic airplane design
This book has a huge amount of useful data which is used in the preliminary design of aircraft compared to other books. Although it goes into a lot of detail is surprisingly very easy to read and understand. Iwould certainly recommend it to anyone interested in the design of subsonicaircraft as a student. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (5)

Find the Russian edition
Interesting book, but try to find the original Russian edition if you are interested in early Soviet space technology.The Russian version is in a larger format and has much higher quality prints of the photos.

A subject we do not hear too much about.
As mentioned in another review, unlike the NASA MISSION REPORTS this is "merely" the translation of a Russian brochure dealing with the Soviet/Russian Space programme. As such a different standard has to be set in terms of expectations.

In my lowly opinion, despite the obvious lack of detail on Russian space missions except for a select few this brochure offers a glimpse into one of the other major spacefaring powers and how they approach spaceflight, that we even now only rarely get to see.

To my thinking this translation provides a perfect introduction to the Russian space programme and should encourage people who are interested to find out more about the Russian space missions.
If we are lucky perhaps we will see Russian Mission Reports in the future.

Long on photos, short on text.
As an avid fan of the Godwin/NASA Mission Reports Series, I was somewhat disappointed with this book. I had eagerly looked forward to an in-depth, detail-laden, fact-packed look at RSC Energia, but was dismayed to find that the book only contains approximately 20 pages of text (including the introduction by Godwin). The remaining pages are filled with photos, that are only occasionally placed in chronological order. In addition, what little text there is is very uncritical and reads like a propaganda page, neglecting any mention of the political history of RSC Energia, the impact of the loss of the "moon race" on the organization, the checkered political career or Sergei P. Korolev (who was once interned in a prison in Siberia for political crimes), or the profound social impact the space program had on the average russian citizen. Even more frustrating, despite what Godwin says in the introduction, a great many of the photographs in this book have been previously published in the west, albeit mostly online.

Overall, the book is worth purchasing for those who wish to obtain some high-quality images of Soviet/Russian space hardware, but does little to enhance the understanding of the Soviet/Russian space program.The excellent biography of Korolev by James Harford did a nice job of detailing Korolev's life, but left out many details about the entire space program that this book could have filled in.

History of the Russian Space Program in Awesome Photographs
Unlike the NASA Mission Reports published by Apogee Books and edited by Robert Godwin which are loaded with many technical reports, other documents and crew debriefs, this latest entry about the Russian space program contains very little text, but is instead loaded with numerous photographs, technical drawings, cut-away-views, and artist sketches.Also, in contrast to the other Apogee Books publications, this book does not focus on a single aspect of space flight, but on the history of the Russian space program and specifically the Energia Corporation.While some may feel that this book is just another collection of space pictures, it is not.The photographs presented here tell the history of the Russian space program and have been chosen such that they present a great deal of general technical information.If you are interested the history of the Russian space program or the race to land a man on the moon, you can't go wrong purchasing this book.

The book opens with several small sections of text.One section is from the two editors of the book (the English and Russian) and the other section presents a brief history of the Energia Corporation.After this brief introduction, the remainder of the book presents the history of the Russian space program from its earliest days to the present.The picture section begins with the Russian space program after World War II and the use captured German hardware to begin the development of their ballistic missiles.It is quite easy to see that the Russian launch vehicles are direct descendants of the German launch vehicles.The book then moves on to the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, and the manned spaceflight program, which enabled the Russians to put the first person, Yuri Gargarin, into space.After this group of photographs, there are others that cover, planetary exploration, the development of the Soyuz capsule and its derivatives, the Soviet lunar landing program, the Russian space shuttle, Buran and of course to the Mir space station.

I found the sections of the Russian lunar landing program extremely interesting.While its easy to see the parallels between the US and Russian efforts, they developed some noticeable and unique methods to get a cosmonaut to the Moon.Additionally, the parts on the development of the Soyuz family of space vehicles and on the Buran space shuttle were equally engrossing.One interesting facet of the Russian space program that I gleaned from this book is that in the past 55 years the Russians have had only four different leaders.

This book was originally published in Russian by the Energia Corporation and translated into English.Furthermore, the photographs are not some faded Xeroxed pictures, but are high quality prints.I also feel that many of these pictures have never been released to the West or possibly never released at all.

The Soviet Legacy Of Spaceflight
This is a great book with many excellent colour and black and white photos of the Soviet space program, from it's infancy up to the Mir Space station. Korolev was the Soviet chief of spaceflight and master planner back in the 1960's when the Soviets were trying to beat us to the moon, he was truly a visionary man and a credit to the Russians. The volume here begins with a few pages of text and then continues with page after page of an amazing photo history of the Soviet space program, very well done. What I especially found interesting was the photographs of their giant Saturn 5 class N booster, designed to take cosmonauts to the lunar surface, it was an awesome moon-rocket, a shame really that it was not successful. Everything in Soviet manned space is covered here, there are even pictures and drawings of the never used manned lunar lander. This is a gem of a book, and very reasonably priced. ... Read more

Book Description

In demonstrating how Newtonian gravitational theory and Euclidean geometry can be used and developed in Earth’s environment, the text discusses earth’s gravitational field; matrices and orbital geometry; satellite orbit dynamics; geometry of satellite observations; statistical implications; and data analysis. Prerequisites: introductory course in college physics and a first-year course in calculus.
... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Classic in the Field
A reprint of this book is long overdue because I know several people who have a crumpled photocopy of the original addition and many others who have searched for a used copy without success. This book is a must read for anyone with more than a passing interest in astrodynamics and especially gravity field modeling.

The book begins with a concise description of the earth's gravity field in terms of potential theory. After a quick refresher on matrices and orbital elements, Kaula proceeds to describe the motion of an artificial satellite. In particular, he provides a detailed analysis of gravity field perturbations upon the evolution of the orbital elements including secular effects and resonance effects. The final chapters are concerned with modeling observations used to track satellites, using the observations to estimate the true motion of the satellite, and estimating geodetic information from the motion of the satellite.

Although first published in 1966, this book remains one of the best volumes available on satellite theory and geodesy. It is still used as a reference and textbook by many if not most experts in the field. However, the work is certainly not perfect. Kaula gives a concise and complete coverage of the subject, but it comes at the cost of loads of equations with little explanatory text. This can make it somewhat difficult to follow. It is certainly not written as a popular guide for the general public. Nevertheless, many astrodynamicists are delighted to have this volume available from the good folks at Dover. ... Read more

Book Description

Sound for Film and Television, Second Edition provides a thorough introduction to the fascinating field of recording, editing, mixing, and exhibiting film and television sound. It strikes a fine balance between aesthetic and technical content, combining theory and practice to approach sound as both an art and a science, as no other text has before. This edition includes new information on digital techniques as they have arisen in the industry, and expanded coverage of sound editing and design.


Written by one of Hollywood's leading sound experts, Sound for Film and Television, Second Edition provides a solid grounding in all aspects of the sound process. Basic principles are presented with illustrations demonstrating how they affect the day-to-day activities on a film or television set, in the editing room, and in the mix room.

*The only text to present sound design as both an art and a science

*Accompanying audio CD contains examples demonstrating key concepts

*Bridges the gap between production books and design engineering books ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The Best Intro you will ever have
An easy to read, logical guide to practical production sound. If you only ever read one book on audio this should be it.

Yawn
Should bore the socks off you if you have a pulse.

Probably One of The Best Books about Sound
This is an amazing book. It contains every aspects of Film TV Sound in depth (including newest techonologies like Surround stuff) and it is easy to understand. The CD is not what you expect from this book but anyway it is useful.

Wonderful Intro to Sound for Film and Video
As a newcomer to the world of audio for video productions, I found this book to be an excellent introduction. The author has struck a very nice balance that explains the technical and science aspects without getting bogged down in complexity. The book covers everything from sound and how people perceive it, to equipment, to techniques, and it even has a CD that demonstrates principles discussed in the book. The author makes liberal use of examples from popular films that I found very helpful in gaining insight into the topics under discussion. In addition to being a terrific overview, I've found myself going back to it as a reference due to the clear explainations it contains on a wide variety of topics.

Practical and theoretical for sound design/theory.
Having read almost every book out on sound for film and television, from the most contemporary to the classics, it was a surprise to find both the theoretical/aesthetic use of sound and technical sound information (from one who really knows, the author, creator of the THX sound system.) The innovative thinking Homan put into the design of the THX system has been equally applied to this book. The book gives countless examples of both classic and contemporary films demonstrating practical application of sound theories.The information in the book has been of great value to me in my film work and to several students I know from USC School of Cinema-TV and its Summer Production Workshops. I also found the CD in the back of the book extremely helpful in actually "hearing" principles discussed in the book, another innovation from the author. ... Read more

Book Description

Recently, there has been a serious effort to design aircraft that are as small as possible for special, limited-duration missions. These vehicles may carry visual, acoustic, chemical, or biological sensors for such missions as traffic management, hostage situation surveillance, rescue operations, etc.

The goal is to develop aircraft systems that weigh less than 90 grams, with a 15 centimeter wingspan. Since it is not possible to meet all of the design requirements of a micro air vehicle with current technology, research is proceeding. This new book reports on the latest research in the area of aerodynamic efficiency of various fixed wing, flapping wing, and rotary wing concepts. It presents the progress made by over 50 active researchers in the field from Canada, Europe, Japan, and the United States. It is the only book of its kind. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Helpful for MAV Design
I found this book extremely helpful for information while recently working on my senior design project at the Rochester Institute of Technology. As of winter 2002/2003 there is very little liable information on micro air vehicle aerodynamics available free through technical papers and other readings that I could find. After looking for information for nearly a month I purchased this book and had several of my questions on MAV design and applications answered. This book is primarily a collection of AIAA and university MAV technical papers. I would recommend this book to any college student or professor working on a MAV related project. ... Read more

Book Description

Designed to prepare students to become aeronautical engineers who can face new and challenging situations. Retaining the same philosophy as the two preceding editions, this update emphasizes basic principles rooted in the physics of flight, essential analytical techniques along with typical stability and control realities. This edition features a full set of exercises and a complete Solution's Manual. In keeping with current industry practice, flight equations are presented in dimensional state-vector form. The chapter on closed-loop control has been greatly expanded with details on automatic flight control systems. Uses a real jet transport (the Boeing 747) for many numerical and worked-out examples. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Look for Simplicity in Flight Dynamics in this Book
Flight Dynamics is one of the most important and complicated fields in aerospace engineering. At my university KFUPM, students taking AE 426 (Flight Dynamics) are required to do 3 projects to pass the course. For these reasons, I have purchased 4 books in flight dynamics. Dynamics of Flight is one of these books that I would love to comment on in this review. Below is a list of points that summarizes my personal opinion about this book.

1)Compared to other flight dynamics book I used, Simplicity in this book, in particular, is something worthy of remark. You would not see big fat hamburger equations.

2)The policy mentioned above is quite very good, as it has made me in further read in this field. And this why I highly recommend it to beginners.

3)By and large, it is clear and easy to understand.

4)The book has good balance between theory and application.

5)At the end of each chapter, there is quite good number of problems to solve. However, the final answers to these questions are not provided.

6)I am 80% satisfied with the number of examples provided in this book compared to the number of examples provided in (Introduction to Aircraft flight Dynamics + Flight Dynamics Principles). But, it worth to mention that I faced similar problems (Boeing 747 numerical examples) given in this book in my major exams.Also we had some problems in which we were asked to write/ define flight dynamics and its importance. I found the answer to such equations in chapter 1 of this book as it has excellent introduction to flight dynamics.

7)This book was helpful to me in writing two of my project plus in my major exams as I mentioned earlier.

8) Very good appendixes at the end of the book that will refresh your mind in some topics required in this course.

9)Objectives of each chapter are stated.

10)The authors did excellent job by listing important points. In fact, this is something wonderful and remarkable in this book.

11)The figures that the authors used in explaining the equations of motion of a rigid airplane are not so good.

12)No PC programs in this book

Fit for beginners for learning dynamics of flight.
"Dynamics of Fligth, Stability and Control" is a basic book for beginners who want to learn dynamics of flight. It doesn't have too many complicated equations and formula, but using simple phrases and sentenses to make readers can access easily. As my junior-college text book, I think this book is worthy. ... Read more

Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of dynamics of space systems starting with the basic fundamentals. This single source contains topics ranging from basic kinematics and dynamics to more advanced celestial mechanics; yet all material is presented in a consistent manner. The reader is guided through the various derivations and proofs in a tutorial way. The use of "cookbook" formulas is avoided. Instead, the reader is led to understand the underlying principle of the involved equations and shown how to apply them to various dynamical systems.

The book is divided into two parts. Part I covers analytical treatment of topics such as basic dynamic principles up to advanced energy concept. Special attention is paid to the use of rotating reference frames that often occur in aerospace systems. Part II covers basic celestial mechanics treating the two-body problem, restricted three-body problem, gravity field modeling, perturbation methods, spacecraft formation flying, and orbit transfers.

A Matlab® kinematics toolbox provides routines which are developed in the rigid body kinematics chapter. A solutions manual is also available for professors. Matlab® is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Space craft Dynamics
I think the author has omited some relations between the equations he has obtaind. He'd better to expand relations more. ... Read more

Book Description

The result of 20 years of research at MIT Lincoln Lab, this book is of the most significant technological consequence for the industry. It actually solves the problem of low angle radar land clutter by showing the reader how to design and predict the performance of radars that operate in situations where land clutter is prevalent.

Radar land clutter constitutes the unwanted radar echoes returned from the earth’s surface that compete against and interfere with the desired echoes returned by targets such as aircraft and other moving and stationary targets. The ability to accurately predict the effects of land clutter in surface radar has been an unsolved problem for many years. This book is comprehensive in addressing the topic, containing many interrelated results, each important in its own right. It unifies and integrates all the results so as to create a comprehensive, innovative, and unequaled work.

The results of this book directly enables the reader to predict land clutter effects in surface radar. Modern military aircraft deliberately fly low to hide their presence from radars that are also dealing with land clutter. Depending on the terrain, the performance of the radar varies greatly from very good to very poor. This book helps radar engineers provide accurate assessments of ground clutter, thus bringing their ability to detect and operate against low flying aircraft to a much higher and much more consistent level.

Key Features:

- No competing title is available on the market. The information provided cannot be replicated elsewhere. Thus, this will be the standard text on the subject for years to come.

- Actually solves a decades-old problem.

- Contains 310 figures, 140 tables, and 40 full-color graphs.

Book Description

Introduction to Aircraft Flight Dynamics is geared directly toward the senior undergraduate engineering student as well as beginning graduate students. The author uses linear algebraic principles and notations to establish airframe equations of motion. The use of this dimensional approach to stability derivatives when describing aerodynamic forces and moments in the six governing relations assures that the solutions to given problems remain in real time and frequency.

In addition, the textbook uses modern control theory concepts to introduce the airframe as a plant matrix operator. Consistent reference is made to matrix algebra-oriented software, MATLAB, as a tool for solving aircraft-related problems in both the linear and nonlinear forms. Contemporary analytical methods are also employed to describe the aerodynamics involved in flight vehicle motion and to develop a rationale for modeling and solving related problems in aircraft dynamics. The author also discusses modern control theory methods. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Right Door to Flight Dynamics
This is the best textbook that I would not hesitate at all to recommend for students taking Flight Dynamics course. Based upon a comparison between this book and 3 other flight dynamics books (Flight Dynamics Principles, The Dynamics of Flight: The Equations, and Dynamics of Flight: Stability and Control), which I used for my course AE 426 at my university KFUPM, below is a list that summarizes my personal view about this book:

1.The starting point of this book, which was reviewing the ABC of aerodynamics, is excellent because of the fact that the subject of aircraft flight dynamics depend on an understanding of many physical fields including propulsion, structure, aerodynamics, and engineering mechanics. And this is something remarkable about this book in contrast to the others mentioned above.

2.The author stated the objective of every chapter.

3.Concepts are clearly explained in this textbook and are easy to understand.

4. The textbook has very good balance between theory and application.

5.The textbook has made me very interested in further study of this discipline of aerospace engineering.

6.There is a good number of problems to solve given at the end of each chapter. But, their final answers are not provided.

7.This textbook has excellent number of examples making it worthy of remark compared to other flight dynamics books I used. Actually, I am very happy indeed with its examples. You will find many provided examples with different level of difficulty that covers many concepts in flight dynamics.

8.The book was helpful in doing my projects as well as my major exams.

9.In the event that you have no idea about Matlab, which is a suitable computer software tool for flight dynamics analysis, this book has very simple Matlab flavor. You will find, in this book, some examples solved by using Matlab plus you have one appendix that deals with the usage of Matlab Programs. None of the other flight dynamics books mentioned above use Matlab Programs. Some Aerospace Engineering students are required to develop a Matlab program as a project, which we did at my university.

10.In addition to the Matlab appendix, there are 4 other good appendices in this book, which help me reviewing mathematical concepts required to understand in this course.

11.Airframe equations of motions in 3-D are very difficult indeed to visualize and learning how to get them was important part in my course, unfortunately the figures that the author, Mr. Schmidt, provided in this book did not meet my satisfaction very much.

Otherwise this book, to my way of thinking, is the best choice for students taking flight dynamic course. It deserves to get 4.5/5.0 if I were grading it individually. But, since I am grading it based on a comparison, it deserves full mark. ... Read more

Book Description

An inspiring, deeply moving testament to the timelessness of paternal love

Dr. Jerry Linenger's 132 days aboard the decaying Russian space station Mir were beset by power outages that left the crew in total darkness and tumbling out of control, poisonous chemical leaks, and near collisions with space debris. Most terrifying of all was a raging fire that, in a matter of minutes, nearly destroyed the station and all on board.

It was with that last event, when, with the crew cut off from the world below and locked in a battle for survival, Linenger's letters to his son changed from a routine chronicle of daily events into the eloquent, deeply moving serial narrative presented in Letters from Mir. Combining wise meditations on life, destiny, and the future of space exploration with wryly playful observations on everyday life, this openended conversation between a father and his beloved son is as contemporary as the latest Mars Explorer mission, yet as timeless as the paternal sentiments they express.

Reviews (2)

...to Mr. Keller.
As a friend of Jerry's, I feel I should correct something. (Not that he or his record need defending.) We do in fact speed up to reach higher orbits. This puts energy into the orbit, resulting in a higher/larger orbit. The resulting average velocity is lower, but we got there by increasing velocity from a lower orbit. Conversely, to decrease altitude, we slow down. Again, average velocity is higher, but we got there by slowing down (taking energy out of our orbit).

Also, if the detail in Jerry's letters is too much, it seems inconsistent to then say it is a "glaring error" to use 7 million pounds of liftoff thrust instead of 6.6...

A Bit Odd in Places
Jerry Linenger was the fourth NASA astronaut of a total of seven who served aboard the Russian space station Mir. His mission lasted from January 12, 1997, till May 24, 1997 giving him a total of 132 days in space. At the time, this was the longest duration flight of an American male. During his stay, Jerry Linenger became the first American to conduct a space walk from a foreign space station and in a non-American made spacesuit. He and his two Russian colleagues also performed a "fly around" in the Soyuz spacecraft, undocking from one docking port of the station, manually flying to and redocking at a different location. While living Mir, Linenger and his two Russian crewmembers faced numerous difficulties, the most severe fire ever aboard an orbiting spacecraft, failures of onboard systems and a near collision with a resupply cargo ship during a manual docking system test. These tales and many others are recounted in his other book, "Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous Months Aboard the Space Station Mir."

In his latest offering, Dr. Linenger recounts these events as well as many others, using personal letters sent, via e-mail, to his 14 month old son and a few to his wife and mission control. It is quite clear from these letters that he was very proud of his young son, missed him and his wife a great deal and that he felt extremely isolated and alone. Several of the letters I found very refreshing, such as the need to honest (especially in this day and age); however, I also found many of the letters to be rather strange. Dr. Linenger goes into a great amount of detail about the equipment on the Mir, such as heat rejection system and the carbon dioxide removal system. I doubt most high school students could understand what he was trying to say. Maybe it's me, but if I were going to write letters to my toddler son, I would keep the technical descriptions simple. I would want him to be able to read my letter say by the time he was ten. The very technical sections within the book also take away from the general tone of the book of his isolation, missing his son, wife and the planet Earth. One letter to mission details his concern about safety, almost a foreboding of things to come on the next mission with Michael Foale.

I also found two glaring errors in the book. First, the liftoff thrust of the shuttle is not 7 million lbs, but 6.6 million lbs. Second, his description of the orbital mechanics is described incorrectly. He states, "We go faster in order to get up higher. As we slow down, our orbit lowers." The exact opposite is true. The lower the orbit the higher the velocity and the higher the orbit the slower the velocity. For example, communication satellites that are essentially stationary over the Earth (one orbit per day) are at an altitude of 23,000 miles. The space station, which orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, is at an altitude of 250 miles. As an astronaut, he should know better.

In conclusion, if you want to know what happen to Jerry Linenger aboard Mir, read his other book, "Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous Months Aboard the Space Station Mir." If you want to know how he felt orbiting the Earth and his feelings of isolation, get this book. ... Read more

Book Description

'Aircraft Structures for Engineering Students' provides a completely self contained course in aircraft structures, which includes discussion on the fundamentals of elasticity and aircraft structural analysis, as well as the associated topics of airworthiness and aeroelasticity. Although much of the basic material is timeless, the author has updated the text throughout, including new material on areas that have developed since the last edition - in both educational and technological terms. As well as extensive revisions, the new edition includes a solutions manual for all end of chapter problems to accompany the text.

The expansion of aviation makes aircraft structures an increasingly important topic at undergraduate level. Since its original publication in 1972, this book has become the 'bible' for aircraft structures.

Lecturers: Please email jo.blackford@repp.co.uk for your password to access the solutions manual for this title.

Extra worked examples and problems. Latest materials in aircraft construction. Airframe loads produced by manoeuvring. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Bad examples, NOT clear
The examples are not clear. They only show numbers with no units and do not even explain where the numbers came from. I am a student so I had to buy this book. I would not recomend buying this book unless you absolutly have to. I have seen alot of engineering books and this one is truely one of the worst.

effective
This useful book gives a strong theoretical basis on structural analysis.In fact the maths involved is advanced but clearly explained, so that it is quite easy to follow the theory presentation. Worked examples, as well as line illustrations, are very helpful, efficaciuosly completing the expositions. In the end ,a quite comprehensive textbook. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A great book for flight professionals
This text offers an algegraic approach to basic aerodynamics, air craft performance, plus limited coverage of helicopters. The chapters are now managebable for use in a college level introductory aerodynamics course primarily geared toward flight students, in any of the new emerging college curriculum. The book's organization has improved significantly over the first edition. The text is easy to read with good practical examples but there is a level of sophistication above most of the other aerodynamics texts geared for pilots. Practicing aviation professionals will also gain from use of this text. In short, I would say that the book is ideal for college level aviation programs and practicing aviation professionals.

Fantastic guidance for aerodynamics theory
In short, this new volume is an excellent introduction to the aerodynamics of aircraft. This book could well serve as an introductory text for those entering the study aeronautical engineering student, engineers, pilots, publics. The author explains the subject of aerodynamics in concise languages. So very easy to read. It will not only help you fly more safely and get more performance out of your aircraft, but also increase the aerodynamic knowledge greatly and easily. This book well illustrated and nicely developed the physical phenomena with good photo, drawings, and understandable curves. If you're interested in understanding the principles of aerodynamics and aircraft design, this outstanding source book is the place to turn! Whether you're a pilot, technician, flight student, or kitbuilder, a knowledge of basic aerodynamics is essentials. The new material covers all the important topics needed for the complete understanding of aircraft flight dynamics. These topics included the basic concepts for the mechanics and aerodynamics, aircraft performance, low and high speed flight, takeoff and landing performance, maneuvers, stability and control. In addition, this book includes a convenient question-and answer helpful for anyone studing aeronautical engineering. "Flight theory and aerodynamics-2nd edition", you'll have all the information you need to fully comprehend this complex, yet fascinating, scinece! ... Read more

Book Description

This book supplies the engineering background required to understand the flying qualities of today’s fixed-wing aircraft, and lays the essential groundwork for control law designers. Aircraft Handling Qualities leads from the full mathematical model of the airframe to the linear models that are useful for both insight and control law design, and discusses the more common flying qualities criteria. The author has good practical experience of flying and handling qualities--results of such experience are not generally available. He combines excellent industrial experience with a teaching post at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Readership: Final year undergraduates and postgraduates of aeronautical engineering; new entrants to the aeronautical industry. Includes 200 line illustrations and 10 photographs.

Copublished with Blackwell Science Ltd. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A great educational book
This book is a "must have" for those in the aeronautics field. It is well-written, comprehensive, and accessible. Mr. Hodgkinson uses a great deal of research and diagrams to support the information in the book. It was an invaluable tool in helping me better understand the relationship between the pilot and the plane. ... Read more