The Rocket That Fell To Earth

“Pearlman’s book develops a stark, unsparing picture of Clemens’s life that surpasses anything that’s come before.” —Boston Globe New York Times bestselling author Jeff Pearlman reconstructs pitcher Roger Clemens's life—from his Ohio childhood to the mounds of Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium—to reveal a flawed and troubled man whose rage for baseball immortality took him to superhuman heights before he crashed down to earth. A fearless, hard-nosed Texan with a 98-mph fastball and a propensity to throw at the heads of opposing hitters, Roger “the Rocket” Clemens won 354 games, an unprecedented seven Cy Young Awards, and two World Series trophies over the course of twenty-four seasons. But the statistics and hoopla obscured a far darker story—one of playoff chokes, womanizing (including a long-term affair with a teenage country singer), violent explosions, steroid and human growth hormone use. . . and an especially dark secret that Clemens spent a lifetime trying to hide: a family tragedy involving drugs and, ultimately, death.

At six feet, four inches and more than 220 pounds, Roger Clemens (1962- ) was a major figure in baseball for nearly a quarter century. The best pitcher of his generation, his 4,672 strikeouts rank third all-time. He dominates modern statistical analysis. High strung and temperamental, Clemens got into a barroom brawl during his first semester at University of Texas and once was jailed for punching out a Houston police officer. He endured sports writers heckling his inarticulate English and hostile fans decrying his aggressive pitching style. He retired in 2007 at 45 amid allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. Questioned by a Congressional committee about his alleged use of steroids, Clemens was accused of perjury but later acquitted. This book covers his life and his sensational but controversial career, with anecdotes from such baseball legends as Ted Williams, Casey Stengel and David Ortiz.

In Hitler’s Rockets Norman Longmate tells the story of the V-2, the technically brilliant but hated weapon, the ancestor and forerunner of all subsequent ballistic missiles. He reveals the devious power-play within the German armed forces and the Nazi establishment that so influenced the creation of the rockets. He shows through contemporary documents and protagonists’ accounts how the British intelligence skillfully pieced together often contradictory evidence as it sought to establish the true nature of the threat. Finally he recalls in detail the feel and fears of the time from the viewpoint of those who suffered, and those who were all too conscious tat they were the target.

This book is the first known work in the west dedicated to revealing the full story of the Vostok space missions, and the first fledgling steps off our planet. In Leaving the Planet authors Rex Hall and Dave Shayler review this Soviet demonstration of technological progress. The text examines both the developmental and operational aspects of the missions, which at the time were clouded in secrecy. This fascinating and important text features a significant amount of new material on the spacecraft, as well as the history, design and development of the launch vehicle. It also includes the full story of the men and women who trained for these missions, some of whom never flew.

Astronomy is a science as old as the stars! With The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Astronomy, Second Edition, learn: • Fascinating facts while taking a tour of our solar system, our galaxy, and beyond • Idiot-proof steps for buying and using today’s cutting-edge telescopes • Tips and tricks to guide you when exploring the skies

This timely addition to Civil War history shares the stories of 25 unique military organizations, showing how past and future collided in the first modern war. The Civil War, of course, pitted North against South. It also pitted ancient ways of war against new, technology-inspired weaponry and tactics. In surveying the war's elite fighting units, this work covers both. The book showcases novel weapons and unorthodox strategies, including machine gunners, rocket battalions, chemical corps, the Union balloon corps, and the Confederate submarine service, all of which harnessed new technologies and were forerunners of the modern military. Chapters also cover archaic special forces, such as lancers and pikers, that had their last hurrah during this transformational conflict. Readers will also meet the fighting youth of the North Carolina Junior Reserves, the "Graybeards" of North Carolina, and the female combatants of the Nancy Harts Militia of Georgia. Going where few other studies have gone, the book fills a gap in existing Civil War literature and brings to life the stories of many of the most extraordinary units that ever served in an American army. The tales it tells will prove fascinating to Civil War and weapons buffs and to general readers alike.

Physics, once known as "natural philosophy," is the most basic science, explaining the world we live in, from the largest scale down to the very, very, very smallest, and our understanding of it has changed over many centuries. In Black Bodies and Quantum Cats, science writer Jennifer Ouellette traces key developments in the field, setting descriptions of the fundamentals of physics in their historical context as well as against a broad cultural backdrop. Newton’s laws are illustrated via the film Addams Family Values, while Back to the Future demonstrates the finer points of special relativity. Poe’s "The Purloined Letter" serves to illuminate the mysterious nature of neutrinos, and Jeanette Winterson’s novel Gut Symmetries provides an elegant metaphorical framework for string theory. An enchanting and edifying read, Black Bodies and Quantum Cats shows that physics is not an arcane field of study but a profoundly human endeavor—and a fundamental part of our everyday world.

Introduction to Rocket Science and Engineering, Second Edition, presents the history and basics of rocket science, and examines design, experimentation, testing, and applications. Exploring how rockets work, the book covers the concepts of thrust, momentum, impulse, and the rocket equation, along with the rocket engine, its components, and the physics involved in the generation of the propulsive force. The text also presents several different types of rocket engines and discusses the testing of rocket components, subsystems, systems, and complete products. The final chapter stresses the importance for rocket scientists and engineers to creatively deal with the complexities of rocketry.