Product Description
Californication is an American comedy-drama that premiered on Showtime on August 13, 2007. The show was created by Tom Kapinos. The protagonist, Hank Moody (David Duchovny), is a troubled novelist whose move to California coupled with his writer's block complicate his relationships with his ex-girlfriend Karen and daughter Becca. Californication's other main characters are Karen van der Beek (Natascha McElhone), Rebecca "Becca" Moody (Madeleine Martin), Charlie Runkle (Evan Handler), Marcy Runkle (Pamela Adlon), and Mia Cross (Madeline Zima). The show has been nominated and won several awards including winning one Emmy Award (nominated for two others) and one Golden Globe Award (nominated for three others). Californication has aired for two seasons. The third season began airing on September 27, 2009 and received a 57% increase in ratings. Due to this rating spike, the show has been renewed early for a fourth season, Showtime announced. ... Read more

Product Description
With this book, for the first time the public can becomeacquainted with the Apollo spacecraft in detail and learn the story ofits design and construction.Full color drawings in exacting detailprovide inside and out views of the Command and Service Modulescompletewith details of construction and fabrication.

The Apollo spacecraft is the most intricate and exacting machine everbuilt, and it had to be as near to perfect as it could be made, everytime.With over 3 million components, a performance record of 99.9%would still leave 3,000 parts that could fail -- any one of whichmight result in the deaths of the crew.With the exception of Apollo13, the spacecraft lived up to expectations on every lunar mission,and even Apollo 13, after a major explosion, managed to circle theMoon and bring its crew home safely.

Virtual Apollo is a book long overdue; the care and completeness withwhich it has been created speak for themselves.Thanks to thededication and hard work that have gone into this book, we can nowtruly appreciate the magnificent machine that was the Apollospacecraft and marvel at the achievements of the many thousands ofengineers and technicians who stayed on Earth but were on the missionevery step of the way. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

One of My Favorite Guides to Apollo
Sullivan's Virtual books (Apollo and LM) are superb.My jaw dropped when I first paged through them.It's too bad that these seem to be out of print, because I'd like to see books like these at museum gift shops.

Detailed drawings, very little additional information
This is a surprisingly small book with detailed but redundant drawings showing essentially the same Apollo components from different perspectives. It's very short on information on how these components function, why the materials were selected over other materials, and how they are used during missions. You end up with a book that has incomplete information on the components and incomplete information on their history.

There are also a number of typographical errors that show it wasn't proofread very well.

Two Engineering Marvels!
The Service Module and Command module are incredibly complex engineering marvels that carried the Apollo astronauts to the moon (and back) in the harsh space environment.The command module also brought the astronauts through the earth's atmosphere safely home. As an engineer by education and experience I find these vehicles breathe taking.

It is fascinating to see the complexity of all the systems on the vehicles.Extremely well illustrated, this book provides an excellent overview into the work that went into developing them.One can see by the sophistication of the vehicles that the training necessary for the astronauts to competently operate them was serious business.Even more amazing is that this is just the high level view of these vehicles.Each of the systems: Radar, propulsions, life support, instrumentation (and more) have many more layers of complexity!

This book and Virtual LM a about the lunar module (also written by Scott Sullivan) are both worth the read for anyone interested in the space program or engineering marvels, or both!

The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking

Virtual LM: A Pictorial Essay of the Engineering and Construction of the Apollo Lunar Module: Apogee Books Space Series 47 (Apogee Books Space Series)

Beautifully made, interesting book
A lot of care and work clearly went into this beautiful book comprising detailed, color engineering diagrams of the Apollo command and service modules. It's fascinating to see how complex the command module is - just looking at it, it looks like a metal shell, really - but there is a much, much more too it!

Although this book is certainly indispensable for people interested in the space program, I was disappointed that a couple of features in which I was interested were missing. Sadly, there was no detailed discussion of the function of each switch and gauge accessible to the astronauts, including its use and wiring. There was no mention of (or diagram for) the "barber-pole" (or gray flag) functionality mentioned in Apollo 13. The famous "SCE" switch, which Pete Conrad couldn't find until co-astronaut Alan Bean located it, saving the Apollo 12 mission, is not pictured. There are four page of panel diagrams, true, on pages 68-71, but some of the switches' functions cannot be read. And just how to use the switches - how to fly the aircraft - isn't described. Also, the wiring of the famous bad thermostatic switch that caused the Apollo 13 fire in the O2 tank is not shown.

In conclusion, despite the minor issues I noted, this is a wonderful book for anyone interested in NASA.

Lacking In Details
The diagrams are well done; however, as with others, I was greatly disappointed that there was not more detail.The drawings are certainly better than the ones found in the old mission media kits, in that they provide more clarity, but they don't provide much more detail.
I can't believe that no one has mentioned the obvious factual errors found in the text.The two most glaring ones are having the Apollo 7 mission in "November" of 1968 and having the first lunar landing (Apollo 11) on July "24," 1969.Come on, give me a break! ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Mal Moore, Pete Rodriguez, Jim Shofner, Tom Lovat, Hank Kuhlmann. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 22. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Mal M. Moore (born December 19, 1939) is the current Director of Athletics for the University of Alabama. On November 23, 1999, he was hired to his current position after spending almost thirty years in other areas with the university. During his time at the university, Moore has been involved with eight National Championship teams between 1961 and 2009. One of seven children, Moore was born into a farm family in Dozier, Alabama. As a scholarship player from 19581962, Moore played as a career backup quarterback for legendary coach Bear Bryant. During his college career at Alabama, Moore earned his bachelor's degree in sociology in 1963 and his master's degree in secondary education in 1964. Moore began his coaching career as a secondary coach, and then moved to coach quarterbacks in 1970. He remained on Alabama's staff until Bryant retired in 1982. He then joined Gerry Faust's staff at Notre Dame as an assistant coach. Moore returned to the University of Alabama in 1990 as quarterbacks coach. In 1994, Moore moved into the UA Athletic Department as one of the many legacy projects placed in assistant athletic director's positions. After an exhaustive search by the UA Board of Trustees, Moore took over as Athletic Director in 1999. Moore was instrumental in the hiring of four head football including Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, Mike Shula, and Nick Saban. He also oversaw various facility improvements: Bryant-Denny Stadium expanded to its current capacity of over 90,000 seats, renovations were made to Coleman Coliseum in 2005, as well as new tennis, soccer, and softball stadiums. In early 2009, Moore turned the day-to-day operations of th...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=17643308 ... Read more

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This acclaimed portrait of heroism and ingenuity captures a watershed moment in human history. The astronauts themselves have called it the definitive account of their missions. On the night of July 20, 1969, our world changed forever when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Based on in-depth interviews with twenty-three of the twenty-four moon voyagers, as well as those who struggled to get the program moving, A Man on the Moon conveys every aspect of the Apollo missions with breathtaking immediacy and stunning detail.Amazon.com Review
A decade in the making, this book is based on hundreds ofhours of in-depth interviews with each of the twenty-four moonvoyagers, as well as those who contributed their brain power, trainingand teamwork on Earth.In his preface Chaikin writes, "Wetouched the face of another world and became a people withoutlimits."

What follows are thrilling accounts of such remarkableexperiences as the rush of a liftoff, the heart-stopping touchdown onthe moon, the final hurdle of re-entry, competition for a seat on amoon flight, the tragic spacecraft fire, and the search for clues tothe origin of the solar system on the slopes of lunar mountains.

Customer Reviews (133)

Interesting. Inspiring. Insightful.
Chakin brings the Apollo to life decades later.

Packed with details of what occurred on the various missions as well as personal
information about the astronauts and their lives, this was a fascinating book.

Highly recommended.

This is the one!
A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to be invited to participate in a NASA-sponsored teaching conference at Kennedy Space Center. We toured the Cape Canaveral Air Station, all the launch sites, and the KSC launch facilities. Along the way, we met a number of engineers, some astronauts, and Andrew Chaikin, the author of this most amazing book. It was a life-changing experience. Those of us who remember Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo take for granted the amazing unity and outright fear and joy the whole nation and world experienced during the voyages to the moon. These events were 40 years ago. Millions upon millions of our fellow citizens have no recollection of these adventures. Many people don't even believe they happened. Well, they did, and this collection of stories tells the story in a wonderfully complete, compelling, and human manner.

The significance of this book becomes more apparent when you have the chance to see Chaikin interact with NASA personnel.Touring the Cape with him, it's clear that he knows just about everybody.Astronauts, engineers, security guards, and bus drivers all greet him by name and feel free to jump in as he talks about NASA history.This guy even teaches NASA history to NASA employees.

Chaikin is an engaging, funny guy who understands the importance of younger people being aware of the events of the middle of the last century.

To anyone who doubts the reality and importance of our voyages into space - read the book.Learn the story.Understand your history.

I was much more satisfied reading about astrotoilets in Mary Roach's book
This is a well researched and interesting book, but for all its weight, I was left unsatisfied on many fronts.I wanted more details about the spacecraft, and I wouldn't have minded more "dirt" on the human side of the story.What I didn't know is that a book was waiting just around the corner for me, and that was Mary Roach's fantabulous "Packing for Mars".

Finally:confirmation that there really are corps of people thinking about crapping in space...

The BEST keepsake 3 book collection on Apollo and men on the moon
The absolute best keepsake 3 book collection of the Apollo program and men on the moon. Andrew Chaikin's 3 book collection is fantastic with many beautiful pictures andsome images I have never seen.The books are large and spread out. This can be a 3 set coffee table book on quality paper beautiful illustrated. Also there is much reading for readers to understand the different missions and the emotions the astronauts had on their missions. You actually feel you are there with them experiencing the awe and mystery they experienced. All 3 books were not difficult to read and not overly technical. There is some info on the Mercury and Gemini programs too. Chaikin interviewed the 12 moon walkers. INMO he deliberately tried to convey to the reader the emotions of the astronauts and what they were thinking during their missions. These books would be great for parents to read to their children and show the many full page color beautiful pictures plus the many interesting black and white pictures.

I have read and have a collection of almost all the individual astronaut books. These individual books have more detailed information about specific astronauts but NONE of them have such a wide range of information on many astronauts in combination with such spectacular pictures and images.

Book 1 was the best. There is some info about the Mercury and Gemini flights. Also the Apollo 1 fire and deaths is discussed and many of the Apollo astronaut missions and the interaction with mission control. I liked Andrew Chaikin's style of getting the astronauts emotions and thoughts on paper. Book 1 ends with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins safely back on earth, off the recovery ship Hornet and out of quarantine with their families.

Book 2 was also 5 star. Its a continuation of book 1 and shows the other Apollo missions and astronauts. I really liked some of the pictures of Al Bean's artwork especially "Helping Hands" showing Pete Conrad and Al Bean on the Apollo 12 moon landing carrying equipment. What a great artist Al Bean is...too bad his paintings are way out of my price range. We see Apollo 12, 13 and 14. All excellent.

Book 3 was also 5 star and the second best showing more about the Apollo missions especially the Moon rovers. We learn manned rovers are essential for long range manned exploration on the moon. WHEN we go back to the moon I'm sure the new rovers will have stronger fenders as Gene Cernan on the last Apollo moon mission Apollo 17 accidentally broke a fender and had to temporarily repair it. It lasted a while but later moon dust was thrown all over the place and the stuff is so fine it clings to almost everything. We see Apollo 15,16 and 17 all excellent.

This is an essential part of our family library. The 3 issue Commemorative boxed collection is so beautiful arranged I'll be proud passing it down to my children and grand children. For those on a limited budget and only wanting tohave 1 set of books on Apollo and the astronaut's missions this is the set to get. This is a masterpiece keepsake to be passed down to your family that shows one of mankind's greatest achievements and a very important part of history that sadly is not taught in schools.Someday I'd like to buy another boxed commemorative set to put on the coffee table when guests come over and be able to pass down a set each to both my children. Thank you Andrew Chaikin for this masterpiece keepsake.

(very) filling but no gourmet food!
This is a well researched book that reads more like a novel but for a nerdish techie space buff like myself it misses the right good stuff.The famous Gene Kranz speech on the night of Apollo 11 landing is omitted as is the reasons why it was so vital (they had flunked the very last simulation, crashing on the moon...).There is no technical information about the systems which is quite remarkable knowing the subject (such as the 1201/1202 alarms during apollo 11 landing and practically nothing about the multiple technical incidents of all the other missions).The only scientific discussion is about geology but some annexes or notes would help clarify the jargon here.There are basically no pictures (some 8 pages of poor quality BW pedestrian shots for a 700p book) nor diagram.It's basically nearly all fat text.It is however a pretty good book when it comes to the human aspects, the personalities, the interaction and the emotions (or lack thereof) of the astronauts.But what do I know? ... Read more

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Biography Magazine July 1998 Tom Hanks cover. Articles include Tom Hanks, James Starrs, Minnie Driver, Chang and Eng, Farrah Fawcett, Judy Garland, Monets Home and more ... Read more

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August 1998 People MagazineTom Hanks CoverFeatures:Nelson Mandela MarriesMonica & Brandy DuetPrincess Stephanie New Baby ... Read more

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What the author of the book "Odysseus's Ithaca: The Discovery" has done.

"I explained the simple meaning of Homer's words, his primitive but correct orientation, connected the relevant episodes and the main story in the "Odyssey" and have located Ithaca- homeland of Odysseus towards the poet's description on the one of the most enchanting and interesting places on earth. I am sure. The home of this ancient mythological hero, one of the best known figures of human history, has finally been located".

Author: Berislav Brckoviæ.

Description: 64 ill. color photographs 31, maps 4, drawing 1 and plan 1. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Review of Odysseus's Ithaca The Discovery
For those that are interested in Homeric Geography Berislav Brckovic's book "Odysseus's Ithaca The Discovery", is a must read. Brckovic's basic premise is that present day Kefalonia is the real Ithaca as described by Homer.This same conclusion came be found in Robert Bittlestone's Book Odysseus Unbound.

In October of 2009 my wife and I traveled to Kefalonia to trace Bittlestone's theory. Being a geologist I focused on the geologic aspects of Bittlestone's theory.Although I found Bittlestone's premise possible, I found it difficult to believe that the present topography that forms the highland above the Zola Valley was formed from mast wasting of the adjacent valley walls.

Although Brckovic's book is brief in comparison to Bittlestone's treatise it provides a great deal of insight into the geography of Kefalonia and Ithaca from a mariner's perspective. As the biography of the back cover notes Brckovic is a sailor himself. Looking at Homeric geography from the prospective of sailor is refreshing and an essential means of interpreting Homer.Since the time of the Euboean sailors who were contemporary's of Homer, the tale of the Odyssey was told by men of the seas.Odysseus Ithaca provides a fresh new perspective and another theory as to where Homer's Ithaca may be found.

My wife and I are planning to visit Kefalonia in the Fall to 2011 to ground proof Brckovic's theory.
Odysseus's Ithaca: The Discovery

Author Offers Proof To End the Controversy Over the Location of Homer's Ithaca
Informed hypothosis, empirical investigation, wishful thinking and sheer fantasy; each researcher has formed his own opinion of the location of Homer's Ithaca. Berislav Brckovic believes he has the proof that is needed to end the controversy and unveil the true location of the legendary Ithaca.

"In their textual analysis of this epic, philologists have so far been unsuccessful in noticing what was most important, that the Odyssey, among other things, also includes facts on the real Ithaca, to which Homer leads us intentionally with the ingenious idea of the return on Odysseus from Troy by ship, and of that of his son Telemachus from Nelean Pylos, to Ithaca by sea at the very end of their travels," wrote Brckovic.

Brckovic studied each line of the Odyssey carefully and provided his interpretation of Homer's epic poem as it pertains to the true location of Ithaca. Brckovic contended that if each aspect of Homer's description of Ithaca were to be taken separately, as its own clue, the precise location could be determined through the characteristics and context within the poem.

"When this is known, it is easy to realize that individual epithets, attributes or indeed any designation of Ithaca in the Odyssey refer to or match a precisely determined aspect, and according to the meaning or sense indicate an actual characteristic of this aspect, that is, of Ithaca," wrote Brckovic. "In short, all the designations of Ithaca precisely match a real characteristic of the given aspect of Ithaca, or rather, the ancient Ithaca."

Brckovic examined the natural characteristics of ancient Ithaca, however changed over time they may have been, and was able to identify a region of the island of Cephallonia as the actual homeland of Odysseus. Included in his study was Homer's knowledge of orientation as was seen in Odysseus's skillful navigation to his home by way of the sky.

"Sailing towards Ithaca at night from the island of the nymph Calypso, on a ship he had constructed himself, Odysseus skillfully steers by following the stars, or more precisely, a characteristic groups of stars," wrote Brckovic.

Of great importance, according to Brckovic, were the instructions Athena gave to Odysseus's son Telemachus about his return trip to Ithaca as pertained to the ambush laid by Penelope's suitors. By using these instructions and interpreting certain events, Brckovic maps out Telemachus's journey as part of his evidence.

"Significant guidelines for this sea voyage are that: it takes place in two opposite directions along the same sea route," wrote Brckovic. "It takes place in a real geographic setting, and proceeds, and this must be taken into consideration, in absolute accordance with the poet's idea of Telemachus's return to Ithaca from Neleian Pylos, particularly with the part of his conception that includes Athena's instruction."

Infused with breathtaking photos and vivid descriptions, anyone who has read the Odyssey will find this book fascinating.The interpretations of the lines of the Odyssey alone are of value, but combined with research on ancient times and geography, this book is an invaluable source for students and academia alike.

Brckovic concluded that if all the parts of the Odyssey were translated correctly, then reconnected and verified, the location of the illusive island home of Odysseus could be pinpointed. Identifying specific lines in the Odyssey and interpreting them as well as using references to groups of islands, the archipelago where these islands were and facts about Ithaca itself, Brckovic believed he had succeeded and put forth his theory in a well written, compelling presentation.
... Read more