They All Laughed At Christopher Columbus

This is a classic American tale of dreams and obsession--the suspenseful, brilliantly written account of one eccentric man’s hunger to open space travel to us all: to let us rocket into orbit, return to earth, and soar yet again--thus transforming space travel forever. They All Laughed at Christopher Columbus Gary Hudson was seven years old when Sputnik flew, nineteen when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, and all he ever wanted to do was to travel into space. Between 1970 and 1996 he founded and disbanded five separate rocket-building companies, none meeting with much success. Then, in 1997, at the age of forty-seven, he launched Rotary Rocket. His goal was to develop and build the Roton, the world’s first manned, single-stage-to-orbit, fully reusable spaceship, capable of shuttling ordinary people into orbit and back in a single day. Elizabeth Weil followed Gary for two years, and in this book she brings to vivid life a seductively--perhaps delusionally--optimistic world where science and science fiction meld and fuse, and where imagination and invention collide. In California’s bleak and windswept Mojave Desert, Gary assembled a fanatical, mismatched crew of engineers and technicians, and Weil bears witness to their Roton endeavor, from first conception to final test flight. The cast includes a pyromaniacal engineer, a world expert on composite airframes, two former Navy test pilots, Gary’s infinitely patient wife, a third-generation Mojave motel owner, and an enigmatic and resourceful financier. At their center shines Gary himself, a man eternally reflecting the glow of a better, lighter, higher world--a world that, despite his flaws and failures, he perpetually convinces us we’re all about to reach.

From celebrated entertainer Michael Feinstein comes a beautifully illustrated account of the lives and legacies of the Gershwins—told through stories of twelve of their greatest songs. The “Ambassador of the Great American Songbook” Michael Feinstein was just twenty years old when he got the chance of a lifetime: a job with his hero, Ira Gershwin. During their six-year partnership, the two became close friends. Feinstein blossomed under Gershwin’s mentorship and Gershwin was reinvigorated by the younger man’s zeal for his and his brother George’s legacy. Now, in The Gershwins and Me, the only book of its kind, Michael Feinstein shares unforgettable stories and reminiscences from the music that defined American popular song, along with rare Gershwin memorabilia he’s collected through the years. From “Strike Up the Band” to “Love Is Here to Stay,” each of the twelve chapters highlights one of the Gershwins’ classic songs, exploring the brothers’ lives, illuminating what the music meant to them, and telling the stories of how their iconic tunes came to life. Throughout the star-studded narrative, Feinstein unfolds the moving chronicle of his own life with the Gershwins, describing his vision for their enduring presence today. No other writer could give us such an authoritative inside perspective on these titans of American culture. A timeless classic and the definitive account of the Gershwins and their legacy, The Gershwins and Me will having you humming with every turn of the page.

Were you ever advised to "just relax" before making a big speech? Don’t. From Texas A&M professor and celebrity advisor, Dr. John Eliot, this insightful guide takes a sledgehammer to what most of us think we know about doing our best. Eliot explains how mainstream psychology moves us in the wrong direction when it comes to stress management and performance enhancement; techniques like visualization and goal setting, based on pseudoscience rather than empirical evidence, often get in our way rather than propel us forward. Drawing on field-tested experiments and extensive research in neuropsychology, Eliot shares why these “common sense” strategies tend to come up short for the majority of people—and how, instead, great accomplishments are more likely to result from "Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket", "Thinking Like a Squirrel", and "Embracing Butterflies As a Good Thing". These counterintuitive practices not only trigger your full natural talent, but also teach you how to thrive under pressure, not dread it. OVERACHIEVEMENT incorporates Eliot’s work with Fortune 500 companies, Olympic athletes, renowned surgeons, military pilots, and Grammy-winning musicians, providing you with a powerful combination of inspiring stories and life-changing tools, offering the skills needed to overcome stress and rise above your peers in the boardroom, on the playing field, or in the normal day-to-day of life.

The A–Z of Visual Ideas explains the key ideas, sources of inspiration and visual techniques that have been used throughout design history. Showing where ideas and inspiration come from, the book provides numerous strategies to help unlock the reader’s creativity. Using a dynamic and easy-to-understand A–Z format, the book reveals techniques that can be exploited to deliver ideas with greater impact, each entry offering a different starting point. Looking at everything from, Art to Zeitgeist, Intuition and Instinct to Happy Accidents and Hidden Messages, the book also features a section explaining how to use the idea or technique, providing readers with an infallible ‘tool kit’ of inspiration. Including hundreds of inspirational quotes and packed with great examples of advertising campaigns, posters, book and magazine covers and illustrations, this is an indispensable primer that shows design students and professionals how to solve any creative brief.

Essays discuss Sherlock Holmes, tropical diseases, medical trends, research, the fear of science, inflammation, nouvelle cuisine, and sabbaticals.

Based on the highly acclaimed seventh edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, this new edition includes over 9,000 of the most popular and widely-used quotations old and new, uniquely identified by searching the largest ongoing language research programme in the world, the Oxford English Corpus.

Are tech giants the new robber barons of the digital age? Many governments and ordinary people are increasingly uncomfortable with the monopolistic might a small number of tech companies are amassing, the taxes they are avoiding, the data they are collecting, the privacy they are undermining, and the way they are functioning as “extraterritorial” powers beholden to no state and to no citizen or consumer. All sides of this super-charged debate are represented here—from those of the chieftains of Silicon Valley and EU regulators to FBI counterintelligence agents, scrappy open-source programmers, and ordinary computer users and digital consumers—in an effort to illuminate the digital world we currently inhabit, the limits of its freedoms, and who owns and controls its future.

David Bouchier brings humor and insight to the quirks and puzzles of everyday life, from buying vitamin pills to reading poetry on the subways. These entertaining commentaries were first broadcast on public radio stations in Long Island and Connecticut, where Bouchier's quirky and clever humor has made him the most popular public radio personality in the region. Every week for the past twelve years Bouchier has plucked a topic from the chaos of ordinary life and subjected it to his special brand of ironic scrutiny. Nothing is too small or too vast to attract his attention: stuffed bears, NASCAR racing, reincarnation, the federal tax system, and shopping in Florida all find a place in this spirited and funny collection of astute observations and whimsical opinions. A Few Well Chosen Words is the third collection of Bouchier's public radio commentaries on his life as an immigrant in America. Readers will relish his fresh approach to subjects like time and memory, the rituals that carry us through the year, our obsession with health and fitness, the horrors of travel, and the many annoyances of modern life.

Contemporary Plays by Women of Color is a ground-breaking anthology of eighteen new and recent works by African American, Asian American, Latina American and Native American playwrights. This compelling collection includes works by award-winning and well-known playwrights such as Anna Deavere Smith, Cherrie Moraga, Pearl Cleage, Marga Gomez and Spiderwoman, as well as many exciting newcomers. Contemporary Plays by Women of Color is the first anthology to display such an abundance of talent from such a wide range of today's women playwrights. The plays tackle a variety of topics - from the playful to the painful - and represent numerous different approaches to playmaking. The volume also includes: * an invaluable appendix of published plays by women of color * biographical notes on each writer * the production history of each play Contemporary Plays by Women of Color is a unique resource for practitioners, students and lovers of theatre, and an inspiring addition to any bookshelf.

This is a study of the way in which popular words and music relate to American life. The question of what popular song was, and why it came into existence, as well as how each song fitted within the context of the larger 20th century society are considered and explained clearly and fruitfully. The author also offers insight into why musical styles were seen to change as they did during this time period.