Product Description
This invaluable book provides an introduction to space science. It brings together the various space science disciplines in one volume, and will benefit a wide audience, particularly students starting their graduate studies. The text presents a unique outlook, which will encourage students to think in broad terms across the whole range of space science, from the Earth’s climate system to cosmology. There are also chapters describing basic techniques necessary to progress in space science research. ... Read more

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First published by NASA in 2000 as Challenge to Apollo, these two volumes are the first comprehensive history of the Soviet-manned space programs covering a period of thirty years, from the end of World War II, when the Soviets captured German rocket technology, to the collapse of their moon program in the mid-1970s.

The spectacular Soviet successes of Sputnik--the first Earth satellite (1957) and Yuri Gagarin--the first man in space (1961) shocked U.S. leaders and prompted President John F. Kennedy to set the goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. The moon race culminated with the historic landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969 (coincidentally the first Soviet unmanned moon probe crashed on its surface while the American astronauts were at Tranquility Base).

The epic story of the Soviet space program remained shrouded in secrecy until the unprecedented opening of top secret documents. Based almost entirely on these Russian-language sources and numerous interviews with veterans, Siddiqi's book breaks through the rumors, hearsay, and speculation that characterized books on the Soviet space program published during the Cold War years. Supplementing the text with dozens of previously classified photographs, he weaves together the technical, political, and personal history of the major Soviet space programs, providing the other side of the history of human space flight. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good but HEAVY reading.
This book covers the soviet space/rocket program from it's infancy (before and following WWII) all the way to Kolarov's death.It does so in what I would call, pure history book style, or 'just the facts please'.I did find it to be VERY informative after reading for years on the US space program to hear how the soviet program was actually done was a real eye opener for sure and it will keep you going for that next page/chapter in that respect.What it was lacking though was the story side.I had expected more on the missions themselves, more on the events that had occurred during the missions, how they were solved, etc.95% of the book covers the developement of the vehicles and the in-fighting of the soviet space program and it's personalities, not very much on the actual development and any issues that would arise during.It was the ICBM program that kept the soviet space program alive during these times and much of the book is devoted to this.I was expecting more a book on the soviet space program, it's missions, and the people involved including more on the cosmonauts and the race with the US.

If you are looking for an easier, more back-story type read on the soviet space program, this is not for you.If you are heavily into the space program and it's total history, this will definitely fit the bill there.

Epic Sovietic
Great book, which describes the development the entire Soviet space program, its virtues and flaws!
A great book for those who want to know more background on this issue,
and a true story of what happened behind the "iron curtain"! Apology politics aside, but simply a chronic and very interesting history of this nation!

a real history book
A book where every name ,situation,personis based in facts and books.
A book where author knows his sources and have a clear view of achivments and drawbacks of Soviet space programm
An author who can read Ruusian and have of net contact of the sources
I found the style of language difficult but fluid.

The other side of the space race.
Asif Siddiqi covers the first laps of the space race from the Soviet side. This tome goes deeper than just the hardware by covering some of the personalities involved on the Soviet side of the space industry. If you are interested in the history of early space exploration, this book fills in many of the holes that most Western histories leave unexplored. ... Read more

Product Description
First published by NASA in 2000 as Challenge to Apollo, these two volumes are the first comprehensive history of the Soviet-manned space programs covering a period of thirty years, from the end of World War II, when the Soviets captured German rocket technology, to the collapse of their moon program in the mid-1970s.

The spectacular Soviet successes of Sputnik--the first Earth satellite (1957) and Yuri Gagarin--the first man in space (1961) shocked U.S. leaders and prompted President John F. Kennedy to set the goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. The moon race culminated with the historic landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969 (coincidentally the first Soviet unmanned moon probe crashed on its surface while the American astronauts were at Tranquility Base).

The epic story of the Soviet space program remained shrouded in secrecy until the unprecedented opening of top secret documents. Based almost entirely on these Russian-language sources and numerous interviews with veterans, Siddiqi's book breaks through the rumors, hearsay, and speculation that characterized books on the Soviet space program published during the Cold War years. Supplementing the text with dozens of previously classified photographs, he weaves together the technical, political, and personal history of the major Soviet space programs, providing the other side of the history of human space flight. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Outstanding Reference on the Soviet Space Program
For the amateur space enthusiast, Siddiqi's book represents a highly informative, throughly-researched reference on the Soviet/Russian space program.By focusing on the efforts to land cosmonauts on the moon in competition with Apollo, Siddiqi carefully documents the people and reasons why this effort ultimately did not succeed.

It is indeed not a light read in some spots, but reader patience is rewarded. The scope and magnitude of his research is astounding and one comes away with a much better sense of the impact the Soviet space efforts had on the "space race."

There are lots of interesting pieces of information related to the Soyuz 1 and 11 tragedies, the N1/L3 program that are not readily included in other works.The final chapter best summarizes the content of Siddiqi's work and the appendices and tables provide exhaustive information that the space enthusiast would appreciate.

It is indeed a "must have/must read" and belongs in the collection of any space enthusiast!

I agree, but...
The previous reviews are thoughtful and accurate descriptions.I am used to reading technical histories and I think the facts are all here.But compared to the best of the genre, this one could have used better editing for a more sensible and engaging story.A better title would have been "A History of Soviet Manned Lunar Programs". I didn't get the feeling that I was reading about a race at all, even though the facts prove that the Soviets believed they were in one.

This book fills in all the details about the Soviet side of the Moon Race...
This is an excellent and extraordinarily thorough analysis of how the Soviet space program went from the highs of Sputnik and Vostok (covered in the author's first book) to the disappointments of the failed attempts to launch a circumlunar mission or an actual manned lunar landing.If the book is a perhaps excessively detailed and not a light read, I think that's fine, because it also answers the many questions I always had of what REALLY happened during these tense years of the Soviet/American space race.The Soviet efforts were for so long shrouded in mystery and even when revelations came they seemed incomplete.I think this author's strong emphasis on original source material and exhaustive research have been well rewarded. If you want the complete story, this is a must have.

You think you have job stress ?
You think you have job stress? This book,written from Russian source material by a PhD candidate commisioned by NASA, details the huge difficulties Russian engineers had trying to accomplish what they did in the chaotic and Byzantine world of the Soviet space program. Their technical decisions are well described and their personal issues and rivalries dealt with fairly and objectively. I came away with a deep respect for the achievments of the Russians. Their technology base was thin and weak compared to that of the U.S. and they developed many innovative ways to overcome it. The two most interesting aspects to me were the way in which German missile technology was incorporated and then surpassed to start the Russian program and the coverage of the ill-fated but fascinating N1/L1 Moon program. Do be warned - this is a dense, heavily researched, and highly detailed book - not a light read !

Soviet Space Race With Apollo adds flesh to the rumours
For anyone who has an interest in the space race, or the Soviet space program, this book is a must read. It covers the Mishin years as chief designer, and chronicles the downfall of the soviet manned lunar orbital, and lunar landing programs, which were cancelled after the fourth failure of the N1 super booster in 1974. It also covers the Glushko era, and the formation of NPO Energia in the late 1970's.

My only critisizm of the book is that it can be heavy going in places, typical of any official NASA history text. All the known facts are recorded in print, no matter how mundane they may be. However, many of these facts are the details that serious space buffs have thirsted for, for many years. This book adds flesh to the bones of Soviet space history, and shines light into previously shady areas. Topics of particular interest are: the failure of Soyuz 1, the death of Gagarin, the crushing affects of Apollo 8, and the long and continuous string of Proton and N1 launch failures that caused the demise of the Soviet lunar program.

The Soviets eventually turned to their military Almaz program for salvation; which spawned the Salyut space station. This too turned to disater when the first occupants died aboard their Soyuz 11 re-entry vehicle. Some of the books best moments are the eye witness accounts of pivotal events in the program, reproduced from the diaries of General Nikolay Kamanin and the touching story of the N1 booster, which was so close to success before it was ultimately cancelled, dismantled, and completely destoyed by Glushko.

The book is illustrated with small black and white images, but for better photographs, of the N1 and other soviet equipment of this era, I recommend "Rocket and Space Corporation Energia: The Legacy of S. P. Korolev". ... Read more

Product Description
Between 1650 and 1750, four Catholic churches were the best solar observatories in the world. Built to fix an unquestionable date for Easter, they also housed instruments that threw light on the disputed geometry of the solar system, and so, within sight of the altar, subverted Church doctrine about the order of the universe. A tale of politically canny astronomers and cardinals with a taste for mathematics, The Sun in the Church tells how these observatories came to be, how they worked, and what they accomplished. It describes Galileo's political overreaching, his subsequent trial for heresy, and his slow and steady rehabilitation in the eyes of the Catholic Church. And it offers an enlightening perspective on astronomy, Church history, and religious architecture, as well as an analysis of measurements testing the limits of attainable accuracy, undertaken with rudimentary means and extraordinary zeal. Above all, the book illuminates the niches protected and financed by the Catholic Church in which science and mathematics thrived. Combining brilliant writing and deep learning, The Sun in the Church provides a magnificent corrective to long-standing oversimplified accounts of the hostility between science and religion.Amazon.com Review
The Sun in the Church by J.L. Heilbron is a provocative work of scholarship that challenges long-held views of the relationship between science and Christianity. Heilbron's main point is simple enough: "The Roman Catholic Church gave more financial and social support to the study of astronomy for over six centuries, from the recovery of ancient learning during the late Middle Ages into the Enlightenment, than any other, and, probably, all other, institutions." Despite the persecution of Galileo, Heilbron notes, the Church actively supported mathematical and astronomical research--often designing cathedrals that could also function as observatories--in order to set the precise date of Easter (a crucial endeavor for maintaining the unity of the Church). Heilbron's fluid, engaging style brings his detailed reconstructions of 16th- and 17th-century Church politics to life. And his argument that scientific knowledge was deemed both morally neutral and politically useful during the Reformation and beyond yields an unusually interesting, complex, and human understanding of Catholicism in the early Modern period. --Michael Joseph Gross ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Academic, thorough
Sun in the Church by J.L. Heilbron, 2001

If you've ever wondered about the modern history of the development of astronomy (or modern archaeoastronomy), time and calendars, this book is for you. In fact, if you've never thought about this stuff, and are completely ignorant of the matter, this book is for you!

I've long held an interest in archaeoastronomy and astrotheology, and I found this book to be a nice treat for the European history and development of time measurement. I've read several other books in the field of archaeoastronomy by the likes of those such as Dr. Krupp.

As a person who never did very well in math, I was a little taken aback by the amount of technical and mathematical information in this book - above and beyond others I've read. It's a heavy read. But don't let its technological detail and it's mathematical and scientific approach scare you away from this most fascinating read. If you tough it out, you might just come through the other side with a far better understanding of the world around you.

Heilbron starts his study primarily in the 1500's and works forward to the late 1800's, showing the (primarily) Church's development of meridiana, calendars, telescopes, and adjustments thereof.

This book also covers in detail both the suppression and then acceptance of the heliocentric view of the world, and the final acceptance of Copernicus' and Galileo's views on the matter. We learn that the Church didn't exonerate Galileo officially until 1992 - and that Galileo is actually scheduled for sainthood sometime in the next century.

It covers in fascinating detail the players, their history, and developments and errors of these early astronomers.

Another thing that I found most interesting about this book is the history of the Church and cathedrals as institutions of education and science. The Church had a huge influence in the development of science post 1500s (post dark age). This is something that I'd heard of, but never seen outlined in this much detail. Those who argue for Church rather than science, or visa versa, are completely ignorant of these historical truths.

The drawbacks of this book, other than its technical presentation, is that Heilbron does seem to gloss over some of the less rosy history of the Church. He also avoids - circumnavigates - discussions of the sun as a possible axis of the Church's worship. This is something that's been well written about, but is only alluded to in some of the quotes in this book if we read between the lines. Heilbron also seems to have a propensity to play down some of this horrific history of the Church, as well as many of the orders he mentions, and quickly moves on to the next topic. This book, however, is about astronomy, and not about the hideousness of the orders of the Church and its history.

Be prepared to buckle down and learn something! This is Harvard level reading.

Overall, 5 stars!

The Sun in the Church
It's a beautiful book; it's astronomy and history all together.Very well written.

havent read it yet but..
hate to nitpick but looking at the index, it looks like they used the name bianchi where the modern and accepted name is bianchini
(see http://web.romascuola.net/itaer/vaula/geografia/Meridiana/OrigMer.htm )

3 stars for the effort for now.

The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius.....
One does not need a mathematical background to follow the narrative of J.L.Heilbron's THE SUN IN THE CATHEDRAL but a knowledge of high school geometry will probaly help. Dr. Heilbron was aware of the "geometrically challenged" reader when he developed his book and has written the text for the lay person. Heilbron received the Watson Davis Prize for Public Understanding of Science for his work DILEMMAS OF AN UPRIGHT MAN. The average reader without a fear of math should be able to follow the ABCs in the text and link them to the ABCs in the diagrams. It took me several weeks to read the text, not because it is so difficult, but because it is filled with information and I had to take breaks to absorb what I had read.

THE SUN IN THE CATHEDRAL is nothing less than the story of how the Christian Church parented modern science and technology. Although the ignorant will persist in accusing the Church of being a roadblock, the truth is that the impetus and sustenance of scientific exploration in the West came from the church, and although one might call it an unholy alliance, Christian ideology and Science have moved in lockstep ever since. Heilbron predicts that eventually Gallileo, who was sponsored by the Church, will be cannonized a saint.

Why does this happen? Dr. Rock who invented the modern birth control pill was Roman Catholic. He developed the pill to help RC women control their fertility in a manner acceptable to the Church that had to do with the timing of the release of the ova. His method was not accepted by the Church, but nevertheless the use of Rock's pill has led to falling birth rates in the U.S. and other Catholic countries (U.S. is 40 percent RC) and a subsequent decline in the poverty rates. (Economic development is important, but per capita household income is affected by fertility levels.) Maybe he will become a saint someday.

How did the Church become interested in the study of time? The means of communication were slow in the early days of the Church and this slowness led to a requirement for advance knowledge of the moveable feast dates which the Church passed on to its far-flung parishes. The problem of determining when these dates would occur lay with determining when Easter would occur. The moveable feasts of the Church year fall in accordance with Easter (i.e. Chistmas is a fixed date, Pentacost is a moveable feast that follows Easter by 40 days, Good Friday and Lent preceed Easter by a fixed numer of days. Easter is calculated relative to the Spring Equinox which is the point at which the day and the night (solar) are exactly equal.)

To address the problem of measuring the Spring Equinox, the church employed bright young men (like Gallileo) and gave them the resources they needed including church facilities. THE SUN IN THE CHURCH is their story and the story of those who followed them who were sponsored by the Reformed Church and Royalty of both RC and Reformed persuasion.

The book suggests that even as one problem was solved, yet another arose (you need the geometric diagrams to understand the intricacies of these problems as well as their solutions). First there was the problem of finding a structure large enough to create a BIG sundial, since sundials were useful for figuring out the length of the day. This led to the use of cathedrals and other very large public buildings where even today a numer of gnomen (little windows that admit sunlight) and meridians (sun dial like stuctures inside the building) can still be found. Inside these cathedrals, pillars and other obstacles had to be overcome and how this was done is ingenious.

Obstacles to the precision of measurment led to discussions about the height of the terrain where a building was situated, the thickness of the earth under the building (some sank), the shape of the earth (affected the location of the center or apex of the triangle of measurement), the distance of the moon from the earth and the sun, etc., etc.

Most importantly, a discussion ensued about whether or not the world was heliocentric. If you start from a false premise such as the sun revolves around the earth, no matter how carefully you conduct your calculations the results will be wrong. The issue of heliocentricity proved a big stumbling block. In the end, the records of the scientists who said the earth moved about the sun were preserved (else Heilbron couldn't have written his book) but for a long time the Church held that the sun revolved around the earth, and anyone who said differently was speaking heretically. Some really funny compromises occurred, probably because intelligent church men knew they were not necessarily correct (some of the scientists were Jesuits or former clergy). And, at one point England and Italy were on two different calendars because the English refused to accept anything Rome devised, even if it was CORRECT!!.

The study of time led naturally to the study of space and both led to global explorations. The Jesuits (grey friars) traveled the globe and impressed their new converts with the science (magic) of the West. The Domincans came to the New World with the Conquistadors and recorded the science and magic of the inhabitants.

Protestants continued the tradition of exploration which led to the discovery of longitude. Seems the earth is not the same diameter every where. A team measuring the diameter of the earth in Peru was attacked by local Indians who thought the Europeans with sticks were lunatics or socerers. Ditto the Appenines in Italy. "Who would think Italian countymen could behave like savages" remarked one scientist. Geodetic surveys and even the GPS system in use today are descended from this research.

THE SUN IN THE CATHEDRAL is a fabulous book, and one every one who wants to gain a better understanding of the world around us should read. This book cancels the mistaken notion that the church tried to block science. This book is about how science and ideology interacted and framed the world we live in with "Western" ideas. And, as Heilbron points out, even in our so-called advanced state of knowledge censorship is alive and well. "All of which will be unpleasantly familiar to observers of the operation of political correctness in contemporary universities." Reason and science are threatened today by a much more insidious enemy.

Astronomy and the Church
J.L. Heilbron's The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories is a beautifully illustrated, finely written exposition of how the Roman Church used sacred space to perform astronomy.The most sacred day in the Church calendar is Easter, established as the Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.As it turns out, this was an astoundingly difficult day to calculate, especially years in advance.As a result, in the Middle Ages the celebration of Easter "drifted" from the true date; the Church found itself commemorating Christ's resurrection on the "wrong" Sunday, a matter of grave concern.To solve this problem, astronomers determined that large buildings - most ideally churches themselves - could be made into solar observatories with a light opening at the apex and a meridian line placed on the floor.By this device, Church-supported scientists could observe the sun's precise position and movement with reference to the meridian line, and thereby make needed Easter (and other) calculations.

I confess that I am mathematically challenged, and much of this book is devoted to fairly detailed geometric and trigonometric proofs.I had no choice but to "bleep" over these sections.Heilbron's prose and argument are clear, entertaining, and persuasive, and I felt I lost none of his key points by needing to skip the proofs.Everything about Church history and astronomy in the Church - except a chapter about the unfortunate treatment of Galileo - was entirely new to me, and I was absolutely enthralled.For those who have read Dava Sobel's Galileo's Daughter, this is a useful second perspective on the Church and astronomy. ... Read more

Product Description
From the world's most famous science fiction writer, a poignant and vivid story of doomsday and beyond.The countdown to doomsday began with the discovery in 1956 of the neutrino, a particle with no mass and no charge. By the year 2001, the significance of this phantom particle was understood: it was a harbinger. A cosmic event was imminent, and would be close enough to touch. Soon the Sun would go nova; the demolition of Earth was assured. And so it happened in the year 3620.Over the centuries of knowing the end was at hand, humanity pulled together to launch probes into space. Primitive ships, at first, carrying embryos to distant systems, relying on machines to incubate and rear the first people of a virgin land beneath an alien sun. On Thalassa, after a journey of 200 years, a colony blossomed, only to fall silent again.On Earth the Lords of the Last Days lived with no need to care for the future of the world; it was the wildest of times, and the saddest.Last to leave was the Magellan carrying a million homeless; when cataclysm struck, its voyagers witnessed through telescopes the death of Earth and all its wonders, saw the Atlantic boil dry, the pyramids disintegrate, the land of Antarctica briefly bare of ice before fire consumed everything. Then the million slept.Five hundred years later, the Magellan must make planetfall to repair its quantum drive. Its sleepers awake to find themselves visitors to Thalassa, where a cvilization has, in fact, survived. A clash of cultures unlike any before brings danger, despair, and some very tough decisions for two different peoples far from Earth -- and its distant songs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (87)

What is there not to like?
Not his best work but very good book in its own right.I liked everything about it.

Colonists versus refugees- a clash of cultures
This is a classic science fiction story.I found the characterization a little dry but the story of a colony and a vast refugee ship coming in for repairs was intriguing. Each were escaping the destruction of Earth, with the new group having better technology and are recently departed, while the colonists have an established life far separated from Earth. When the ship's personnel become split on whether to go forward or remain, the two divergent society's begin to clash.

Earth is very distant from here.
I bought this book new in 1987 and it has stayed on my bookshelf for more than two decades. It's my favorite type of science fiction--it presents a mostly positive view of the future of humanity. There is no invading alien race that wants to destroy us. There is no evil empire that we must fight to survive. Instead, this is just a story about what might happen when humanity is spread across the galaxy and loses touch with one settlement or another, and what happens when two separately evolving cultures come in contact with one another. The book is not violent. It's ponderous. I do not mean to imply that the plot is boring. It is not. Instead, there are plenty of twists in the plot to keep the reader engaged. Some of the pleasure that comes from reading the book comes from an appreciation for the simple yet desirable Thalassians, a human population that has developed over a couple centuries of isolation on the planet Thalassa. Appropriately, Thalassa is a planet of vast ocean, and its only landmass is a small island chain where these people live. This is an interesting metaphor for humanity as a whole--how we live in one place surounded by a vast ocean of space.

Clarke's Thalassians are mostly naive but a few are politically savvy; all are skilled in one field or another (ranging from art to science) but none are really hard-working; these people remind me of the quirky towns in forgotten places in rural America (or elsewhere) that other authors have come up with--the TV show "Northern Exposure" comes to mind. Even if these people have a small-world mentality, they live a life that any one of us might look for. Thus, the reader can't wait to learn what new challenges will come about and how the Thalassisans endure.

There is an interesting allusion to "intelligent design" on page 256 (Chapter 46). But an interesting twist is that Clarke has described a group of Thalassians as "expounding the wonders of Nature as proof that [creator God] was, if not supremely evil, then utterly indifferent to human standards or morality and goodness." This of course is opposite of what present day people on Earth who support intelligent design are doing. Clarke is an athesist. I am not. I still like the book a lot.

Classic SF by one of the genre's great authors
Humankind has a millenium and more to prepare for Terra's destruction. As scientists learn how to send seedships out to the stars, each generation does that job in better ways. The ship that reaches the world called Thalassa arrives fairly early in the great drive for species survival - early enough to establish contact with Terra, and then lose it two centuries later due to a natural disaster. So when the last starship to leave Terra arrives at Thalassa, a necessary stop on its way to a much farther destination, the few crew members not sleeping the journey away do not know what they will find. The small but thriving Human society there provides both a pleasant surprise, and help in obtaining what the Magellan needs to resume its journey. Some crew members like Thalassa and its people so much that they want the ship to stop there permanently. Hospitable as they are, though, the Thalassans really cannot offer the starship's huge sleeping population a new home because their world is mostly covered by ocean. They do not have enough land to sustain more people.

What the Thalassans don't know is that they are not alone on the planet they have claimed and made into their home. Deep underneath the oceans, another kind of intelligence is on its slow evolutionary way toward sentience. They also do not know the full history of the planet where both the Magellan's crew and their own ancestors were born. How much of that history to give them - in the form of records carried in the ship's library - creates a daunting dilemma for philosopher and Magellan crew member Moses Kaldor. Do the Thalassans, especially Mirissa Leonidas whose family has kept the planet's archives for generations and whose curiosity knows no bounds, deserve the whole truth? Or is protecting them from at least some of that truth his highest duty?

Although I disagree wholeheartedly with at least one of Arthur C. Clarke's most cherished beliefs, which this novel showcases, I thoroughly enjoyed its classic science fiction "feel" as well as its world building and characters. I grew up on this kind of writing. Somehow I missed this one at the time it was published, and reading it now has been a great pleasure. A bit dated? Yes. But for me that didn't matter at all.

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 EPPIE science fiction winner "Regs"

Profoundly Moving
The Distant Future: The human colonists of the planet Thalassa have never known what is to gaze upon the face of the Earth. Originally borne to safe harbour as DNA banks aboard massive "seedships" fleeing a dying Terran sun, they have survived and endured some six hundred years upon the three islands that make up the continental landmass of their idyllic tropical planet, evolving a carefree culture along the lines of the indigenous Polynesians in the process. However, the arrival of "Magellan", a massive starship carrying the last humans to witness the death of the Earth, will have shattering repercussions for both cultures.

That the late Arthur C Clarke was a genius was never open to dispute, but even I was surprised by how profoundly moved I was by the emotional powerhouse that is "Songs Of Distant Earth". In his usual humane, musical, wryly amused prose, Clarke produced an eloquent, elegiac and beautifully subtle rumination on love, loss, desire, courage and redemption that is the equal of any novel in the more self-consciously high-brow literary canon. In many ways, it reminds me of Neville Shute's similarly haunting, On the Beach. There are so many moments of haunting beauty in this novel that it really is impossible to do them justice here - suffice it to say passages such as "the little lion's ascent to the stars" will stay with me for a very long time indeed. For many years now, Clarke's fiction has been my preferred method of transcendence. Some choose narcotics or the rosary, but whenever I need to be swept up in a divine sense of wonder, I reach for my copy of Rendezvous with Rama. No doubt the devoutly atheist Clarke would have been deeply amused by the fact that I, and I'm sure many of his readers, experience something akin to a sense of spiritual communion when they read his books.

I urge you to pick up this stunning novel. Reading it can only make you a better human being.
... Read more

Product Description
Bringing the principles of 12th-century Khmer temple architecture to the modern world, this text finds that the key to understanding the temple lies in the measurement system used by its original builders. By translating metres into cubits, the author uncovered a highly sophisticated system of philosophical and religious principles expressed in the temple measurements themselves. The measurements connect the temple to the stars and the cosmos, bridge the gap between human and divine realms, help unite the king and his deity - in short, they define how time, space, kingship and divinity exist inseparably from each other. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Insightful, scholarly, unorthodox, well written.
This brilliant book looks at the organization of Angkor Wat, as well as the other monuments of the Khymer civilization in terms of mathematics, geography, and distance measurements. Extensive tables, and references to earlier French works. A valuable guide to anyone planning a study or tour of ancient Angkor. I took mine along and retraced the old French tours. Highly recommended for anyone who has an interest in archaeology, Angkor, or astronomical alignments of monuments.

angkor wat time, space and kingship
It seem likes some viewers do not appreciated this book. For me this book is very interesting.It isthebookofthe book to completed what all about angkor mysteries.I strong;y recommended for the academic recherche.

A Detailed Interpretation of Angkor Wat
Eleanor Mannikka's grand idea is that the symbolism of Angkor Wat can be understood by interpreting the most significant measurements on the temple as references to Cambodian astronomical, calendrical, and religious concepts. Thus, for example, she identifies some distances, on the entrance bridge and outer enclosure, as referring to the Four Ages (yugas) of Hindu cosmology. The Churning of the Sea of Milk, at the Western Entrance, symbolizes the annual orbital oscillations of the sun and moon between summer and winter solstices. The third enclosure records, in its dimensions, some important events of Suryavarman's reign, and indicates that the king was symbolically bringing a new "golden age" to mankind. The upper levels of the temple represent Mt. Meru, the home of the gods and especially of Vishnu, who is the supreme deity in this temple. The measurements in this part of the temple include amandala of the gods with lunar and solar astronomical cycles.

In addition to its architectural symbolism, the temple's measurements also provide a great deal of information about the third gallery reliefs, and even help identify which gods would be represented by the (now absent!) statues that were set up in various locations in the temple.

Mannika's book will be accessible to most interested readers, especially now that it has been issued in softcover. While the book does contain (necessarily!) a lot of long and involved calculations, it is possible for the reader to skip over the numerical details and still get a good sense of the author's interpretations and conclusions.

Narrowly focused but compelling analysis of the great temple
Based on a University of Michigan doctoral dissertation, this book provides an astonomical/numerological interpretation of the awe-inspiring temple of Angkor Wat. I would love to have it with me at the temple on an equinox or solstice (though it is a little heavy to carry, and Cambodia is always hot). It has splendid photographs and architectural drawings and makes a convincing case that components of the temple were aligned with the sun and based on measurements and iterations of the sacred numbers of 32 and 12.

Mannikka has interesting things to say about the cult of the devarâja (usually translated as god-king), Sûryavarman II in particular (she believes that the unit of measurement for the temple was the distance between his elbow and outstretched fingertip: 43545 m.

The book is essential for those interested in the architecture. Although well-written, it is dauntingly technical.

Not Recommended for the Traveler
Although the book is well written and shows detailed academic insight into Angkor, it offers little for those interested in a general overview of the temples and their history.

I have also purchased Angkor by Claude Jacques.In terms of preparing for my upcoming trip, I've found this book to be far more beneficial. ... Read more

Product Description
Over recent years there has been marked growth in interest in the study of techniques of cosmic ray physics by astrophysicists and particle physicists. Cosmic radiation is important for the astrophysicist because of the information it can yield about astrophysical processes in the farther reaches of the universe.For particle physicists, it provides the opportunity to study neutrinos and very high energy particles of galactic origin.More importantly, cosmic rays constitute the background, and in some cases possibly the signal, for the more exotic, unconfirmed hypothesized particles, such as monopoles and sparticles.Concentrating on the highest energy cosmic rays, this book describes from where they originate, how they acquire energy, and how they interact in accreting neutron stars, supernova remnants, and large-scale shock waves.It also describes their interactions with the atmosphere and the earth and how they are studied by surface and very large underground detectors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fairly dated by now, but was important in remaking the cosmic ray + particle physics
The early history of particle physics is cosmic ray physics. But after the invention of the cyclotron and generations of accelerator-based particle physics, the two fields had drifted far apart. This well-written little book by Tom Gaisser rebuilt the connections. Now we have "non-accelerator particle physics" and people working in air showers who consider themselves to be doing high energy physics.

It would be great for there to be a new edition of this book. Updated with Auger results, modern neutrino experiments, Askaryan pulse experiments, and the like...

on one equation
I looked at equation (3.22) for other purpose (than counting
cosmic ray particle collisions) and there seems to be a sign mistake in the first equation (integrated mass <25g/cm^2): as
it is, the equation indicates that the mass increases as the
air column gets smaller (or higher altitude).

It seems to be a pretty colorful "fitting formula" and it
could have been more useful if the reference to M. Shibata can
be found in the reference list (p.264: paperback) which may
have information on which "data" (most likely a combination
of measurements/modeling/computations) the formula originates from.

I presume that the next volume will have improved.

** the rating should be dismissed: I did not read through the
book and do not have a judgement. I chose the middle because I did not have choice not to choose.It will affect the
arithmetic statistics and if it matters, it is an unfortunate result of the limited survey method that mandates a choice of rating.

Fills a huge gap
With interest in cosmic rays and particle astrophysics growing, Tom Gaisser's Cosmic Rays and Particle Physics is really the only contemporary introduction to the field suitable for undergraduates as well as beginninggraduate students. There is no attempt to be fully comprehensive - thefield is too broad for that - but processes relating to extensive airshowers and their products (including muons and neutrinos) are covered insome detail. I regularly recommend this book to students who areconsidering research in particle astrophysics. There are a few gaps and afew topics covered in more detail than most people need, as is typical fora first edition. I hope Prof. Gaisser will find the time to prepare arevised and updated edition soon! ... Read more

Product Description
About the book:What is the connection between lost civilizations, ancient cosmic catastrophes, and extraterrestrial visitations in prehistory?Voices from Legendary Times draws together compelling evidence from archaeology, astronomy, geology, myths, and ancient texts to prove that superior beings from outer space genetically engineered several human races on our planet. . Examines the flaws in the theory of evolution.. Proves that giants were an important, yet now forgotten part of our history.. Explains what really caused the destruction of highly advanced civilizations and continents like Atlantis, Lemuria, and Thule.. Reveals that our ancestors were familiar with flying machines and nuclear weapons.. Shows proof of extraterrestrial contact in the Bible. In the search for lost origins of humanity, Ellen Llyod demonstrates that races of men have inhabited Earth for millions of years, but not all of them were human. Ancient sources describe the past ages as world cycles. The mysteries of the forgotten past reveal that the humans and all living beings have not been created once, but are products of a continuous re-creation process performed and guided by alien gods. Learn why our history is more startling than we could ever imagine! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

the study of archeology deepens
Periodically one reads in a scientific journal
that there has been a finding of a skeleton,
or a carved image, perhaps evena village
layout that was far, far older than the usual
carbon dated areas on Planet Earth, and
that this would indicate that there are untold
layers of antiquity beneath our hills, plains,
and forests. We learn that Mankind has
been around this track before and the traces
of his passingwere lost in the debris of
time and the ages. A single tidbit of that sort
can make the mind whirl with new interest,
and the course of evolution we studied
in school needs to be updated to accommodate
the discovered fact. We want more.

We have more!In her brilliantbook,
Voices From Legendary Times,
Ellen Lloyd skillfully plumbs the
deeper cycles oflife on our world
to exploremillions of years of presence,
of extraterrestrial contact, of continuous
creation of the humanbeing. She writes of
a race of giants, and of lost continents such
as Lemuria and Atlantis, and then we read
in our local morning newspaper that archeologists
have found thebody of a mummified giant,
rich in adornment,and that deep sea divers
are detecting submerged urban grid patterns
beneath our oceans.Ellen tells us that sky travel
has long predated our own airplanes and that
appear to be atomic weapons have presented
problems well before we "invented" them.
Gripping stuff!

Rarely have I read a book as rich in well-
documented ancient archeological lore,
enjoyed discovering history with such relish.
So, Ellen, when are you going to give us another book?

A Historical Masterpiece
Voices From Legendary Times by Ellen Lloyd is the most comprehensive and complete review of ancient myths, tales, and texts I have ever read!One can only imagine the time and effort it took to put all of this together.While there may be many deleted words, improper punctuations, and mispellings, one must remember that this is not a Master's Thesis or Term Paper but a paper dealing with Ancient Astronaughts which were thought to be 'Gods' rather than 'Visitors'. For those of you who do not believe in UFOs or 'Little Green Men', I suggest you visit the website CSETI.com and purchase Dr. Steven Greer's, 4-Hour updated DVD of the June, 2001 Disclosure Conference conveniently ignored by the general media and our illustrious politicians. You might get a pleasant, (or unpleasant), suprise, depending on one's point of view. Of course, there are always those who say, "Don't confuse me with the facts! My mind is made up!"

What Part of Our World are we "Doomed to Repeat"?
We, on this planet, are repeatedly told; "He who forgets the Past, is doomed to repeat It; but,if we have already forgotten "it" "or...never even been told "it", where & how do we even start to get "clue one" about what "it"is?Legendary Times definitely gets a person off on the right foot, gets that foot in the door and that toe in the water!The ancient brought to light, & the public.

Legendary Times puts in one place;stories, facts, legends, recovered artifacts, scientific results, & first person accounts of humanity's origins.This compilation is written for the casual reader, yet still contains good clues for a researcher.If Legendary Times has a downside, it can be said to sort of "trail off towards the end" leaving one wishing for more data.

I bought a copy for a friend and find I am always going back to reference a fact.

Are there no editors at iUniverse?
There are a lot of problems with this book but the most glaring are the punctuation, sentence fragments and lack of continuity.If this book was translated from another language into English, where were the proofreaders?I've read lots of books translated from other languages that don't have these irritating mistakes.

With that said, I wonder about the research.Among her many assertions, she states that bones of giants found in CA were re-buried in order to suppress the true history of our origin.How does she know this?Though she has sources listed in the back of the book, there are no footnotes to indicate her source for such conclusions.I would think a mathematician, as the jacket states she is, would be more likely to demand proof.Her off-hand conclusions are not based on any arguments or proof that I found in her writing.

I believe there were civilizations prior to the Egyptian/Mesopotamian civilizations but this book is shallow and offers only wild speculation.

Save your money and eyesight.

Poorly written but worth the read
This book would be excellent if it were better written. My guess is that English is not the author's primary language. But beneath the annoyingly dropped words (especially "the"), incomplete and awkward sentences, and randomly placed commas is a wealth of substance. The author makes an excellent case that scholars should take cultural myths and legends more seriously, that there are important truths within the stories.
The tour of mysterious sites around the world, along with other evidence of long-lost great civilizations in our distant past, is relatively comprehensive and interesting. Yes, the "ancient astronauts" theory has for some time now been an object of merciless ridicule, but the ever growing body of anomalous evidence, in my opinion, continues to call conventional notions of human origins into question. Although this poorly written book would never suffice in an academic setting, it most certainly can serve well to introduce the reader to related theories proposed by the likes of Velikovsky, Alford, Hancock, Sitchen, and of course the controversial and giggle-factor encrusted popularizer, Erich von Daniken. If one is willing and able to push aside the ridicule, approach these theories objectively (and also tolerate annoying grammatical errors and typos) for the sake of understanding content, buy Voices, for it serves as a very good compilation of evidence proposedsupporting ancient astronauts related claims. ... Read more

Product Description
This book presents key documents from the pre-1915 history of the extraterrestrial life debate. Introductions and commentaries accompany each source document, some of which are published here for the first time or in a new translation. Authors included are Aristotle, Lucretius, Aquinas, Nicholas of Cusa, Galileo, Kepler, Pascal, Fontenelle, Huygens, Newton, Pope, Voltaire, Kant, Paine, Chalmers, Darwin, Wallace, Dostoevski, Lowell, and Antoniadi, among others. Michael J. Crowe has compiled an extensive bibliography not available in other sources.

These materials reveal that the extraterrestrial life debate, rather than being a relatively modern phenomenon, has extended throughout nearly all Western history and has involved many of its leading intellectuals. The readings also demonstrate that belief in extraterrestrial life has had major effects on science and society, and that metaphysical and religious views have permeated the debate throughout much of its history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Wonderful Historical Source on the Extraterrestrial Life Debate
Those interested in the history of ideas of extraterrestrial life (ETL)--and especially those who believe speculation on ETL began only in the 20th-century--may be happy to learn they are part of a tradition that goes back to antiquity. Michael J. Crowe, author of `The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, 1750-1900' now provides this primary Source Book containing selections of writings from the ancient Greeks through the beginning of the twentieth century, allowing readers to discover first hand what those in previous eras believed and debated about the possibility of extra-terrestrial intelligent life.

By reading these sources, we learn that notions of ETL were closely tied to contemporary theological, cultural and scientific beliefs. St. Augustine (354-430) for example argued against a notion of innumerable other worlds based solely on the Deity's own infinitude ("...if they imagine infinite spaces of time before the world, during which God could not have been idle, in like manner they may conceive outside the world infinite realms of space, in which...they must adopt Epicurus' dream of innumerable worlds...", p. 16); consider also Galileo (1564-1642), who suggested life on the moon was unlikely ("...the moon is alternately in sunshine and darkness for 15 continuous days of 24 hours...if our plants and animals...were plunged in [similar] cold and darkness, they could not possibly preserve themselves, much less produce and multiply. We must...conclude that, what would be impossible on our earth under the circumstances we have supposed to exist, must be impossible on the moon where those conditions do exist." p.53). Continuing with the moon, we find that William Herschel (1738-1822, discoverer of the planet Uranus) was quite sure it contained life ("...the thought of Forrests or Lawn and Pastures still remains exceedingly probable to me"; Herschel also observed what he thought were "roads, canals, and pyramids." p.179).

The book organizes these primary source selections according to the following chronology:
I.Antiquity to Newton
II. The Eighteenth Century
III. From 1800 to 1860
IV. From 1860 to 1915

In each of these periods, notions of ETL were altered and debated based on contemporary theological, cultural, intellectual, technological, and scientific trends.

In conclusion, this wonderful and nicely illustrated historical resource provides not only a scholarly addition to work already done on the history of the ETL debate, but it also makes for enjoyable browsing for the general reader with an interest in this topic. Crowe brings his own years of research on the history of the ETL debate to bear on his selection of primary sources with his helpful commentary on each source, thereby providing context that makes this Source Book more than just a collection of disparate parts. ... Read more

Product Description
Human beings have always looked at the heavens and asked: Are we alone? Is there life elsewhere in the universe? What is that life like? Unfortunately, people can"t actually travel to other solar systems. Even the closest stars are too far away to visit.
Today, astrophysicists such as Jill Tarter are looking for other ways to search for extraterrestrial life. Jill is the director of Project Phoenix at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.SETI stands for "Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence." Twice a year, Jill and her team travel to the mountains of Puerto Rico where they use the world"s largest radio telescope to examine nearby stars. They search the sky, listening for radio signals that, if found and verified, would provide strong evidence that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe.

Author Ellen Jackson and photographer Nic Bishop introduce us to a dedicated scientist and her thrilling, rigorous, and awe-inspiring work in the field. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

For children who want to be bored to death.
With the exception of books about dinosaurs, you cant cram a whole bunch of facts into a book, use simplified language, and call it a children's book. Why are Children going to care about a lady named Jill or the fact that she found a way to coat a wishbone with quicksilver so it would look different from everybody else'sor the fact that it takes so many bowls of cereal to fill up a telescope?. Why are children going to care about a big signal from space that we only got once and never again, or that we've recieved a lot of false alarms? I've got the answer THEY'RE NOT. This book is not for children unless you want them to fall asleep or die of boredom.

I could see this being used in elementary schools but for children? NO WAY.

Searching, always searching...
Packed with facts, much of the information is presented in terms that youngsters can understand, i.e. "It would take 10 billion bowls of cereal to fill [the telescope's dish] to the brim." Part of the "Scientists in the Field" series and told from a third person perspective, Jill Tarter, director of SETI (Search for ExtraTerrrestrial Intelligence) and the woman whom Contact by Carl Sagan is loosely based on is heavily featured throughout the book. Many of the colorful, clear photographs are taken with a wide angle lens and are distorted in a "bubble" like fashion. An addendum at the end of the book lists related websites for children, additional bibliography and is careful to note that SETI does not work with people who have claimed to be abducted by aliens. This non-fiction piece would be ideal to augment 3rd, 4th and 5th grade astronomy centered lesson plans as well as for any young budding scientist. Additionally, this book could be used as part of a unit on "careers" ... Read more