|
 (4.5 / 5.0) <P>On January 15, 2009, the world witnessed one of the most remarkable emergency landings in aviation history when Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger skillfully glided US Airways Flight 1549 onto the surface of the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 aboard. His cool actions not only averted tragedy but made him a hero and an inspiration worldwide. To Sullenberger, a calm, steady pilot with forty years of flying experience who is also a safety consulting expert, the landing was not a miracle but rather the result of years of practice and training-wisdom he gained in the cockpit of U.S. Air Force jets and in his Texas boyhood.
Born to a World War II veteran and dentist father and an elementary school teacher mother, Sully fell in love with planes early. He learned to fly as an eager 16-year-old from a crop duster, an older neighbor in north Texas, who took off and landed his fragile plane on the grass field behind his house. While Sully′s father encouraged his interest in flying, he also imparted stern advice he′d learned from his Navy service during World War II: a commander is responsible for everyone in his care-and those words have shaped Sully′s life and work and continue to guide him today. HIGHEST DUTY reveals the important lessons Sully learned through childhood, in his military service, and in his work as a commercial airline pilot. At heart, it is a story of hope and preparedness-that life′s challenges can be met if we′re ready for them-reminding us that, even in these days filled with war, tragedy, and economic uncertainty, there are values still worth fighting for. A few weeks after the crash, Sully discovered that he′d lost a library book about professional ethics, Just Culture: Balancing Safety and Accountability, in the downed plane′s cargo hold. When he called the library to notify them, they waived the usual fees. Mayor Michael Bloomberg replaced the book when he gave Sully the Key to the City in a New York ceremony. 
|
$12.69 |
|
|
(4.5 / 5.0) A gripping, groundbreaking biography of the combative man whose genius and force of will created modern capitalism.
Founder of a dynasty, builder of the original Grand Central, creator of an impossibly vast fortune, Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt is an American icon. Humbly born on Staten Island during George Washington’s presidency, he rose from boatman to builder of the nation’s largest fleet of steamships to lord of a railroad empire. Lincoln consulted him on steamship strategy during the Civil War; Jay Gould was first his uneasy ally and then sworn enemy; and Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for president of the United States, was his spiritual counselor. We see Vanderbilt help to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the modern corporation—in fact, as T. J. Stiles elegantly argues, Vanderbilt did more than perhaps any other individual to create the economic world we live in today. In The First Tycoon, Stiles offers the first complete, authoritative biography of this titan, and the first comprehensive account of the Commodore’s personal life. It is a sweeping, fast-moving epic, and a complex portrait of the great man. Vanderbilt, Stiles shows, embraced the philosophy of the Jacksonian Democrats and withstood attacks by his conservative enemies for being too competitive. He was a visionary who pioneered business models. He was an unschooled fistfighter who came to command the respect of New York’s social elite. And he was a father who struggled with a gambling-addicted son, a husband who was loving yet abusive, and, finally, an old man who was obsessed with contacting the dead. The First Tycoon is the exhilarating story of a man and a nation maturing together: the powerful account of a man whose life was as epic and complex as American history itself.<br><br><br><i>From the Hardcover edition.
|
$20.26 |
|
|
(4.5 / 5.0) <P style="MARGIN: 0pt">Adhering to a reputation for excellence, this definitive manual of the latest civil aviation directives has been fully updated and indexed to clearly reflect all the changes in the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) and the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) over the past year. In addition to the regulations, AIM procedures, and redrawn AIM illustrations, this retypeset edition also includes a study guide for specific pilot certifications and ratings, a pilot/controller glossary, the NASA Aviation Safety reporting form, important FAA contact information, and a free e-mail service that accounts for regulation changes throughout the publication year via the Aviation Supplies & Academics website. A combined FAR/AIM index is also included.
|
$10.37 |
|
|
 (5.0 / 5.0) The cultural resilience of fairy tales is incontestable. Surviving over the centuries and thriving in a variety of media, fairy tales continue to enrich our imaginations and shape our lives. This Norton Critical Edition of The Classic Fairy Tales examines the genre, its cultural implications--and its critical history. The editor has gathered fairy tales from around the world to reveal the range and play of these stories over time. The Classic Fairy Tales focuses on six different tale types: "Little Red Riding Hood,' "Beauty and the Beast," "Snow White," "Cinderella," "Bluebeard," and "Hansel and Gretel." It includes multicultural variants of these tales, along with sophisticated literary rescriptings. Each tale type is preceded by an introduction, and annotations are provided throughout. Also included in this collection of over forty stories are tales by Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde. "Criticism" collects twelve essays that interrogate different aspects of fairy tales by exploring their social origins, historical evolution, psychological dynamics, and engagement with issues of gender and national identity. Bruno Bettelheim, Robert Darnton, Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, Karen E. Rowe, Marina Warner, Zohar Shavit, Jack Zipes, Donald Haase, Maria Tatar, Antti Aarne, and Vladimir Propp provide critical overviews. A Selected Bibliography is included.
About the Series--Each Norton Critical Edition includes an authoritative text, contextual and source materials, and a wide range of interpretation--from contemporary perspectives to the most current critical theory--as well as a bibliography and a chronology of the author's life and work.
|
$15.08 |
|
|
(4.5 / 5.0) West with the Night is the story of Beryl Markham--aviator, racehorse trainer, beauty--and her life in the Kenya of the 1920s and '30s.
Regarded by many as one of the best adventure books ever!
|
$6.45 |
|
|
(5.0 / 5.0) <DIV>Known simply as "the bible" among RVers, this exhaustive reference contains over 11,000 detailed listings for parks, service centers, and attractions. Compiled by the experts at Trailer Life, it rates each park with their exclusive triple rating system for everything from cleanliness and amenities to visual appeal. This edition fully embraces the Internet age, with handy charts showing which parks offer Internet and Wi-Fi access and those that accept online reservations. Other helpful features include phone numbers for up-to-the-minute traffic and weather conditions in each state and province, free dump site locations, and more than 70 full color digital maps complete with bridge, ferry, tunnel, and toll information. The guide also covers the rules of the road and towing laws for each state. No matter how far-flung the destination, the Trailer Life Directory 2010 ensures that travelers are never lost, in danger, or unprepared for what lies ahead.
|
$15.40 |
|
|
(5.0 / 5.0) A one-of-a-kind trip planner, a superb on-the-road reference, and an album of 400 photographs. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, here are 120 outstanding drives that show the magnificence of America-each with detailed, easy-to-follow maps.
|
$18.61 |
|
|
(4.5 / 5.0) Those who knit, crochet, or embroider have long had sources to which to turn for in-depth instructions on specific stitches and stitch combinations. Now there is such a reference for the sewer--an encyclopedic approach to gathering, shirring, ruffling, tucking, pleating, and quilting and their myriad variations. Filled with hundreds of diagrams and crisp black-and-white photos, this volume explains in detail how to achieve a tremendous range of three-dimensional fabric effects. This is not a book of particular projects; this is a book of instruction and inspiration for anyone who has ever wielded needle and thread. --Amy Handy
|
$18.78 |
|
|
 (4.0 / 5.0) Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that “the longitude problem” was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day—and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives and the increasing fortunes of nations hung on a resolution. One man, John Harrison, in complete opposition to the scientific community, dared to imagine a mechanical solution—a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land. <I>Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of Harrison’s forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world.<BR> <DIV><DIV><B>Dava Sobel is the bestselling author of Longitude, Galileo’s Daughter, and The Planets, coauthor of The Illustrated Longitude, and editor of <I>Letters to Father. She lives in East Hampton, New York.<DIV><DIV><P>Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day—and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives, and the increasing fortunes of nations, hung on a resolution. <P>The quest for a solution has occupied scientists for the better part of two centuries when, in 1714, England's parliament upped the ante by offering a king's ransom (£20,000, or approximately $12 million in today's currency) to anyone whose method or device proved successful and reproducible. The scientific establishment throughout Europe—from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton—had mapped the heavens in its pursuit of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to image a mechanical solution—a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land. Longitude is story of an epic scientific quest and of Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking. Through Dava Sobel's consummate skill, <I>Longitude opens many new windows on our world. "As much a tale of intrigue as it is of science . . . A book full of gems for anyone interested in history, geography, astronomy, navigation, clock making, and—not the least—plain old human ambition and greed."—The Philadelphia Inquirer "As much a tale of intrigue as it is of science . . . A book full of gems for anyone interested in history, geography, astronomy, navigation, clock making, and—not the least—plain old human ambition and greed."—<I><B>The Philadelphia Inquirer<P>"This is a gem of a book."—The New York Times<P>"A simple tale, brilliantly told."—The Washington Post Book World<P>"Intricate and elegant . . . No novelist could improve on the elements of Dava Sobel's achievement."—Newsweek "An exquisitely done narrative of the chronometer. It is a wonderful and engrossing achievement."—William F. Buckley, Jr.<P>"Only someone with Dava Sobel's unusual background in both astronomy and psychology could have written it. Longitude is a wonderful story, wonderfully told."—<B>Diane Ackerman, author of A Natural History of the Senses<DIV>"The marine chronometer is a glorious and fascinating object, but it is not a simple one, and its explanation calls for a writer as skilled with words as the watchmakers were with their tools; happily such a writer has been found in Dava Sobel."—Patrick O’Brian, author of The Commodore and the Aubrey/Maturin series
|
$6.97 |
|
|
(5.0 / 5.0) <DIV><DIV><P style="MARGIN: 0pt">Used extensively as a reference source for the FAA Knowledge Exams, this resource includes basic knowledge that is essential for all pilots, from beginning students to those pursuing advanced pilot certificates. This updated guide covers a wide array of fundamental subjects, including principles of flight, aircraft and engine structures, charts and graphs, performance calculations, weather theory, reports, forecasts, and flight manuals. Required reading for pilots for more than 25 years and formerly published as an Advisory Circular (AC 61-23C), this new edition is now listed as an official FAA Handbook.
|
$14.98 |