Product Description
This is the visual history and annecdotal story of the mascots, pets, companions and best friends that have made up a whole side of air history retrieved from legendary archives of the National Air & Space Museum. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Animals Aloft
An excellent and amazing collection of photos and stories about animals involved with early aviation pioneers.

Animals and Aviation Pics
Probably the most unusual book I've ever seen.Who in the world would have thought of searching zillions of airplane related photographs to assemble a collection that also includes animals.

A very unique gift for animal lovers and/or aviation buffs.Definitely not one they are likely to already have in their collection and it is a real first-rate hardback edition --not a cheap photocopied paperback.

A Terrific Book
This book is a beauty. It's a coffee table tome, but slightly smaller, so it fits easily in the hand, and the historic photos, both black & white and color, are crisply reproduced and delightful to study. The text manages to be both learned and droll; the author is evidently a lover of both airplanes and animals, and an elegant, engaging writer. You'll choose your own favorite airborne animal. Mine was Billy, the goat with a parachute, and Kiddo, the airship cat. And there's the Red Baron's flying Great Dane! Not that he's likely to have had a hamster. Highly recommended!

Offbeatfun
Terrific amusement for pet lovers, history buffs, airplane aficionados, etc.A very original approach for pulling selections from the Air and Space Museum's vast photographic collection.

A Wild Collection of Photographs
In addition to their marvelous airplane collection, the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum also has a collection of over a million and a half photographs related to Air and Space.

This book is made up of photographs selected out of that collection by the author who is a museum specialist in he Archives Division. The first pictures come from the earliest days of flight in hot air balloons. They continue through some of the experiments run in space. Inbetween are photographs throughout aircraft history, including Roy Rogers and Gene Autry loading Trigger and Champion onto plances.

It is clear that whatever happens, people regardless of what they are doing will have pets, and they will take these pets along with them wherever they go. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent report on a WW II fighter aircraft restoration
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.I've always been a big fan of World War II fighter aircraft and especially the Luftwaffe fighters (produced and flown under such demanding conditions). I've also always loved the old aircraft stored at the Smithsonian, and especially the restoration work that goes on at Silver Hill, the Smithsonian's restoration site. This book goes into great detail about how the Smithsonian's technicians and artisans restored this historic fighter, and includes much historical information about the aircraft, its development, the different types, etc. An excellent book for the amateur or professional historian who needs technical details about the Focke-Wulf 190. ... Read more

Product Description
A history and exhaustive documentary which examines the architecture and exhibition methods of this type of museum. ... Read more

Product Description
A century ago, the Wright brothers' remarkable flight ushered in a new age and a new world. Artifacts of Flight celebrates the history of air travel-and space travel-by presenting not only some of the most famous but also some of the most intriguing objects in the National Air and Space Museum collection. These relics-ranging from a hand-written letter from George Washington on American ballooning, to personal belongings of Amelia Earhart, to lunar-dust-covered boots worn on the Moon-create an intimate, revealing, and entertaining take on airborne history. Other artifacts of flight include an unbroken teacup and saucer salvaged from the wreckage of the Hindenburg, Waldo Waterman's Aerobile flying car, and the NASA Space Shuttle Enterprise.

Carolyn Russo's precise black-and-white photographs describe the objects with startling clarity, elevating the images to the status of portraits. Each photograph is complemented by the story of the object, bringing to life the history of flight. The book's crisp, cutting-edge design makes reading Artifacts of Flight a lively and satisfying voyage in itself. ... Read more

Product Description
This fascinating book tells, in concise text and abundant illustrations, the story of the fifty-year struggle for dominion of outer space between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The companion volume to a new permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, "Space Race" examines the spectacular, publicly celebrated milestones of the first steps into space, as well as highly secret efforts to spy on adversaries from high above the Earth. More than one hundred photographs document technological advances in spacecraft, spacesuits, and surveillance equipment, while also telling the human story of space flight with pictures of astronauts, notes on their record-breaking journeys, and reproductions of engineers' first thumbnail sketches and rough outlines of what would become state-of-the-art rocketry.

120 pages, 68 color and 34 black-and-white photos. Smythe-sewn paperbound book, with flaps. Size: 8 1/2 x 11". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent Photographic Survey of the Space Race
This relatively short book, a little more than a 100 pages, presents the US-USSR space race in high quality pictures with a small amount of accompanying text.Some of the pictures are the classic photographs from the space race; however, most of the photographs have rarely been publishing and even then only in specialized publications.There is a great presentation of Russian documents and hardware.

The book opens with a section on the German development of the V-2, the race to be the first country to place satellite in orbit, and the development of each countries ICBM arsenal.The next section, which covers more than half the book, is devoted to the race to the moon.This section also contains a great deal about the Russian moon program and has some really nice photographs of the Russian Moon Rocket, the N-1.The final section of the book covers spying from space.

While I doubt this book contains any real new information, the many highly photographs, especially of the Russian hardware, makes this book well worth its price.

Space Race in Pictures
This relatively short book, a little more than a 100 pages, presents the US-USSR space race in high quality pictures with a small amount of accompanying text.Some of the pictures are the classic photographs from the space race; however, most of the photographs have rarely been published and even then only in specialized publications.There is a great presentation of Russian documents and hardware.

The book opens with a section on the German development of the V-2, the race to be the first country to place satellite in orbit, and the development of each countries ICBM arsenal.The next section, which covers more than half the book, is devoted to the race to the moon.This section also contains a great deal about the Russian moon program and has some really nice photographs of the Russian Moon Rocket, the N-1.The final section of the book covers spying from space.

While I doubt this book contains any real new information, the many high quality photographs, especially of the Russian hardware, makes this book well worth its price.

Great book featuring awesome photos
Space Race offers the casual reader a glimpse of the "space race" from its humble beginnings to the triumphant landing on the moon.

Many of the photos presented in the book have never before been published before.

I bought this book for my collection of other books on astronomy, space exploration, etc.

I have not regretted my decision. ... Read more

Product Description
The National Air & Space Museum preserves more than 350 aircraft at its restoration facility in Maryland, many of which are the last of their kind in existence.This magnificent book walks the reader through the restoration and preservation facility and provides photographs and histories of some of its most notable aircraft. ... Read more

Product Description
A spectacular illustrated chronicle that brings to life the entire range of aviation and flight from the first hot air balloons and the Wright Brothers to the exploration of the solar system. Prepared by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, this volume includes over 400 photos and illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Book
A good history of flight coupled with excellent photographs. Recommended.

Air and Space : The National Air and Space Museum Story
Worth it for the photos alone. The writer shares with us his life long love of aviation. He explores the history of aviation in a fashion that will please the expert as well as the curious.

He uses the Smithsoniancollection to make points about the hsitory of aviation. The book is notlimited to a description about the collection, th e history is augmentedwith photos and anecdotes. A great book for enthusiasts, history buffs,fans of photography and readers in general ... Read more

Product Description
Women pilots took to the skies soon after the Wright brothers, but only a handful have ever been recognized for their achievement. Now, with this unique book and an accompanying exhibition, Carolyn Russo and the National Air and Space Museum set the record straight by celebrating aviation's unsung heroines. From Air Force fighter pilots and aerial photographers to airline pilots and skywriters, 36 of today's most notable women aviators are profiled in this magnificent tribute. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

One of the best.
Carolyn Russo has revealed herself as a brilliant fine arts photographer in Women and Flight. Her portraits/landscapes are reminiscent of the finest works of Margaret Bourke-White and of other photographers who worked forLife magazine as hybrid portraitists/journalists during the middle of the20th century. Photography is a form of architecture when done this well.Among Ms. Russo's wares are the ability to perceive immense depth in hersubjects, an unfailing sense of when a stone is a stone (clarity), asurpassing gift of subtle humor and a fine old patience in dealing with hertools of the trade. The prints are flawless. They give us light... and muchmore.

Inspirational!
If you are interested in a career or a lifestyle above the ground somewhere it would do you a great deal of good to pick up this book. I almost missed a flight due to flipping through this book in the gift shop.Every type of "bird" is in this book from private pilot toskywriter to Air Force Captain to astronaut. Its great to read that othersare where I want to be and they didn't have the easiest time getting there.I can't say enough about this book. I will sleep with it under my pillow.And I've only browsed it! Truly a winner. ... Read more

Product Description
Providing a brief introduction to the world of model aeroplanes, Thomas J. Dietz then goes on to present a selection of model aircraft from the National Air and Space Museum, at the Smithsonian Institute. Fourteen years before the Wright brothers' famous 1903 flight, Samuel P. Langley, then Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, acquired a model of John Stringfellow's triplane and began the museum's model aircraft collection. Since then the museum's curators and modellers worked to develop what has become one of the finest collections of model aircraft and spacecraft in the world, exhibited today in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. Most of the 3000 models are hidden away in the museum's research and storage areas but this book will take you on a guided tour of some of the collection's highlights, from the simple wooden flying toys of the nineteenth century to a recent ten foot model of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise which took its modeller more than a decade to complete. Containing over 150 full colour photographs the book offers a fact-filled introduction to the miniature world of aeromodelling. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful introduction to the world of model aircrafts.
I did not know anything about the world of model aircrafts until I picked up this book.This book does a wonderful job of interweaving the history of the Air and Space collection with the role model aircrafts played in thewar effort.I would be remised if I did not strongly encourage the readerto really take the time to look at each picture in the book. Some of thepictures give you up close detail information on the the intricate workinvolved in the models (i.e. maps in the cockpits).This book gives you anew appreciation to a hobby that is finally getting the respect itdeserves. ... Read more

Product Description
A Guggenheim Museum Publication
Rachel Whiteread (b. 1963) creates spare, poetic sculptures that challenge perceptions of the commonplace. Working from everyday domestic items, she casts-in rubber, concrete, plaster, and polyester resin-the negative spaces inside closets and underneath beds, sinks, bathtubs, and chairs. Now, in what may be her most personal project to date, the Turner Prize-winning artist has been commissioned by Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin to make two large-scale casts from distinct spaces in a London building that she recently purchased to become her home and studio. Although the building has a history as both a synagogue and a factory, it is a product of austere postwar architecture, lacking many of the traditional embellishments associated with such structures.

This fully illustrated volume documents Whiteread's process as she creates casts from this religious-cum-industrial-cum-personal space, which blurs boundaries between the spiritual and secular, as well as the public and private.
75 illustrations in full color, 170 pages, 9 x 11" ... Read more

Product Description
In 'American Museums and the Persuasive Impulse', Professor Ragsdale assesses American museums as means of visual persuasion. He demonstrates that museums, their contents, and their manners of display are as capable of influencing visitors as speeches or advertisements are and that an awareness of their social influence provides an insight into the cultural roles of museums. The book considers a diverse array of museums ranging from such national cultural icons as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute to such city museums as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art, and includes separate chapters on museums devoted to modern and contemporary art and to the specialized collections of individual connoisseurs. In addition to these primarily art museums, Professor Ragsdale assesses museums devoted to collections, such as the National Air and Space Museum, and to commemoration and remembrance, such as the National World War II Museum and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. 'American Museums and the Persuasive Impulse' makes an important contribution to the theory of persuasion and to visual communication, art history, and museology. It utilizes a theory of visual signs based on the semiotic theory of C. S. Peirce. In so doing, it demonstrates that museum buildings, the art and other objects contained within them, and the spaces used for display all may be thought of in terms of means of social influence. ... Read more