In the twenty-first novel in this new series, Tom has defeated the Electricity Vampires and now wants something a bit less diabolical to take up his time. A new X-Prize is announced that intrigues him: fly a solar-powered aircraft, non-stop, around the globe in just 36 hours! That sort of speed will require an electrical powered jet, and that will burn up a lot of electricity. So, how can he manage to make what he needs by day... and still have enough to run at full speed at night? Might his recently discovered cousin in England, Thomasina Swift, be of some assistance? After all, she and her partner, Betty, have come up with an incredible solar cloth! Just as long as nothing ""exotic"" is used like one of Tom's Power Pods. Complicating things is a mysterious woman, and a deadly opponent, seemingly out to keep Tom from winning or perhaps from ever getting back home alive.

In this hardbound edition of book 25 of the new series, Tom Swift is approached by a rich man with a dream of building a city that can float above crowded cities and land without creating more ecological woes. His dream is a flying platform on which such aa dream town might be built, and he believes Tom is just the man to realize it! The inventor struggles with finding a technology to make this happen before he must tell his benefactor it is "impossible." But, a chance discovery on an Internet site devoted to making fun on crackpot inventors and their ideas sets him on the path to an answer. However, nothing runs smoothly in Tom's world and he soon finds an old foe is out to track him down, hurt or kill him and Bud Barclay, and ruin the HoverCity. Who will win in this multi-battle showdown?

In this hardbound edition of novel 23 in this series, Tom must travel to Mars to find out just why the small moon, Phobos, has suddenly begun coming close to the surface. In fact it is coming down to lower and lower orbits that could, within months, endanger the colonists on the planet below. He first tries to use brute force and to push it back into higher orbit, but nearly loses several spacecraft in the attempt. So, he now is faced with finding out the why of it all before he can find a solution that won't mean simply destroying the moon. That, he fears, might backfire and do damage to the colony and the planet. He tries to find some answers with the aid of his Space Friends, but they seem to have disappeared from his life. Without their help he mounts an expedition of Phobos and finds about the last thing he might think of. Now it is a race against time to see if he can rectify the situation and re-place Phobos in its correct orbit.

In the twenty-first novel in this new series, Tom has defeated the Electricity Vampires and now wants something a bit less diabolical to take up his time. A new X-Prize is announced that intrigues him: fly a solar-powered aircraft, non-stop, around the globe in just 36 hours! That sort of speed will require an electrical powered jet, and that will burn up a lot of electricity. So, how can he manage to make what he needs by day... and still have enough to run at full speed at night? Might his recently discovered cousin in England, Thomasina Swift, be of some assistance? Complicating things is a mysterious woman and a deadly opponent out to keep Tom from winning or perhaps from ever getting back home.

From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes incredible stories of science, history, finance, mythology, the arts, medicine, and more, as told by the Periodic Table. Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why is gallium (Ga, 31) the go-to element for laboratory pranksters? The Periodic Table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventure, betrayal, and obsession. These fascinating tales follow every element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, and in the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. The Disappearing Spoon masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, and discovery -- from the Big Bang through the end of time. Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal that melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear.

Annotation Rodgers (U. of Oxford) provides graduate students and other researchers a background to the inverse problem and its solution, with applications relating to atmospheric measurements. He introduces the stages in the reverse order than the usual approach in order to develop the learner's intuition about the nature of the inverse problem. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

"It takes thousands of hours of sailing to get the kind of knowledge contained in this book." -- from the Foreword by Bruce Schwab The ONLY bible for how to sail your boat fast, safe, and alone Solo sailing is within any sailor's grasp with a little forethought--and this essential guide. Got a 35-foot sailboat? No problem. Is the wind blowing 20 knots? No problem. Are you racing offshore overnight? Even better. Singlehander Andrew Evans learned the hard way how to sail and race alone--with lots of mishaps, including broaches and a near tumbling over a waterfall--and in Singlehanded Sailing he shares the techniques, tips, and tactics he has developed to make his solo sailing adventures safe and enriching. Learn everything you need to know to meet any solo challenge, including: Managing the power consumption aboard a boat to feed the electric autopilot Setting and gybing a spinnaker Finding time to sleep Dealing with heavy weather