Hypersonics is the study of flight at speeds where aerodynamic heating dominates the physics of the problem. It is an engineering science with close links to supersonics and engine design. Within this field, many of the most important results have been experimental. The principal facilities have been wind tunnels and related devices, which have produced flows with speeds up to orbital velocity. Why is this important? Hypersonics has had two major applications. The first has been to provide thermal protection during atmospheric reentry. Success in this enterprise has supported ballistic-missile nose cones, has returned strategic reconnaissance photos from orbit and astronauts from the Moon, and has even dropped an instrument package into the atmosphere of Jupiter. The second application has involved high-speed propulsion and has sought to develop the scramjet as an advanced airbreathing ramjet. Atmospheric entry today is fully mature as an engineering discipline, but work with its applications continues to reach for new achievements. Studies of scramjets still seek full success, in which such engines can accelerate a vehicle without the use of rockets. Hence, there is much to do in this area as well.

Facing the Heat Barrier: A History of Hypersonics (The Nasa History Series)

Business & Money

HEPPENHEIMER, T.A.

Education & Reference

Natl Aeronautics & Space Admin

A Positron Named Priscilla is a book of wonder, offering a fascinating, readable overview of cutting-edge investigations by many of today's leading young scientists. Written for anyone who loves science, this volume reports on some of the most exciting recent discoveries and advances in fields from astronomy to molecular biology. This new book is from one of the world's most prestigious scientific institutions, the National Academy of Sciences. The Academy provides an annual forum for the brightest young investigators to exchange ideas across disciplines--an exchange that was the spark for A Positron Named Priscilla. Each chapter is authored by a popular science writer who offers helpful historical perspectives, clear and well-illustrated explanations of current scientific thinking, and previews of future developments. The scope of topics and breadth of discussion ensure interest at all levels. Topics include <ul>
<li>Planetary science and the compelling glimpse through the clouded atmosphere of Venus afforded by the spacecraft Magellan. 
</li> <li>Astrophysics and the emergence of helioseismology, a new field that allows researchers to probe the interior workings of the sun. 
</li> <li>Biology and what we have learned about DNA in the 40 years since its discovery; our current understanding of protein molecules, the "building blocks" of living systems; and the high-tech search for answers to the AIDS epidemic. 
</li> <li>Physics and our new-found ability to move and manipulate individual atoms on a surface. The book also tells the remarkable story of "buckyballs," or buckminsterfullerenes, a form of carbon discovered only a few years ago, that have the potential to be used in a variety of important applications, from superconductivity to nanotechnology. 
</li> <li>Mathematics and the rise of "wavelet" theory, and how mathematicians are applying it in sometimes startling ways, from assisting the FBI with fingerprint storage to coaxing the secrets from a battered recording of Brahms playing the piano. 
</li> <li>Geosciences and the search for "clocks in the earth" to make life-saving earthquake predictions. 
</li> </ul>
A Positron Named Priscilla is a "must" read for anyone who wants to keep up with a broad range of scientific endeavor. Table of Contents <ul>
<li>Front Matter</li>
<li>A Positron Named Priscilla</li>
<li>1 Shake, Rattle, and Shine: New Methods of Probing the Sun</li>
<li>2 A Positron Named Priscilla: Trapping and Manipulating Atoms</li>
<li>3 AIDS: Solving the Molecular Puzzle</li>
<li>4 Doubling Up: How the Genetic Code Replicates Itself</li>
<li>5 Magellan</li>
<li>6 Clocks in the Earth? The Science of Earthquake Prediction</li>
<li>7 The Mathematical Microscope: Waves, Wavelets, and Beyond</li>
<li>8 A Family Affair: The Top Quark and the Higgs Particle</li>
<li>9 Bouncing Balls of Carbon: The Discovery and Promise of Fullerences</li>
<li>10 Fold, Spindle, and Regulate: How Proteins Work</li>
<li>Appendix A: Abstracts of Additional Sessions of the Frontiers of Science of Science Symposia</li>
<li>Appendix B: Symposia Programs</li>
<li>Appendix C: About the Authors</li>
<li>Index</li>
</ul>

A Positron Named Priscilla: Scientific Discovery at the Frontier

Science & Math

National Academy Of Sciences

Chaikin, Andrew

Burke, Barbara

Moffat, Anne Simon

Maggio, Elizabeth J.

Holzman, David

Hoffman, Michelle

Greenwood, Addison

Bartusiak, Marcia F.

Astronomy & Space Science

National Academies Press

Reveals the numerous clashes between politicians and scientists as they work on potentially good, yet potentially destructive nuclear advances

Man Made Sun: The Quest for Fusion Power

Biographies & Memoirs

Little,Brown & Co

The Real Future

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Doubleday Books

Is there life in space? Within the solar system, which we can reach and are now beginning to explore, the answer may be: Nothing but spores and bacteria. Perhaps the answer is: Nothing. Beyond our region of space the answer may yet be: Civilizations and cultures of greatness and magnificence untold. But we have not yet learned to detect them or to communicate with them.As this has become apparent there has been a reaction against many of the more utopian hopes associated with space flight. Less than fifteen years ago John Kennedy could commit the nation to explore "this new ocean," with widespread hope that we were entering a new Age of Discovery. Today it is fashionable to believe that our problems can find solution only on earth and there is nothing in space which can aid us in any way.This is not so. If we cannot find planets fit for us to live on, or if Mars is not up to our fondest hopes - very well. We can take our own life into space. We can build colonies in space, as pleasant as we want and productive enough to markedly improve humanity's future prospects. And, we can begin to do this anytime we please.

Colonies in Space

WARNER BOOKS

Addresses the problems of technology and lifestyle which will confront future space explorers and settlers, suggesting solutions to space construction, work in space, tourism, space war, and interstellar colonization

Toward Distant Suns

History

World

Ballantine Books

a gripping, in-depth look at how America's $200 billion aviation industry took flight "To understand the industry, this is necessary reading." --The Miami Herald "With the precision of a scientist, a good reporter's marshaling of disparate facts, and the vigor of a natural storyteller, Heppenheimer offers an absorbing narrative." --Richard Snow, Editor American Heritage. "Tom Heppenheimer tells a fascinating story." -- R. T. Jones Inventor of the swept wing. "An important addition to the history of technology as well as business." -- Publishers Weekly. "An airworthy briefing firmly grounded in the applied science and allied realities that permit air transport of passengers and cargo over long distances and high speeds." -- Kirkus Reviews.

Turbulent Skies: The History of Commercial Aviation (Sloan Technology Series)

John Wiley&Sons, Inc.

T. A. Heppenheimer's acclaimed chronicle of rockets, politics, and the pioneers who dared to reach beyond humanity's limits. "The most comprehensive, up-to-date, and best written history of space flight there is."-The Times (London) "A lively account of the development of space activities in the U.S. and the Soviet Union . . . as good a one-volume overview of space as exists."-Scientific American. "Countdown is by far the best history of space flight I have ever read. It is detailed, lucidly written for the layman, and full of fascinating stories.-Adrian Berry, Daily Telegraph. "Science writer Heppenheimer's readable account provides a timely historical overview of the early visionaries, the engineers, and the geopolitical forces that placed men on the moon and created today's aerospace industry. . . . A thoughtful analysis that is highly recommended.-Library Journal. "By far the most significant and technically insightful account of the ventures into the space environment I have seen. . . . [Heppenheimer] concentrates unerringly on key elements, both technical and managerial, in this account of man's initial space ventures."-Lee Atwood, Former president and chairman, North American Aviation Corporation. "Like a skilled artisan, Heppenheimer weaves social, political, scientific, technological, military, and economic threads of the history of space flight into a tapestry that reveals fascinating patterns and themes."-Publishers Weekly

Countdown: A History of Space Flight

wiley

Turbulent Skies: The History of Commercial Aviation

Americas

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