A spaceship engineer held captive by would-be revolutionaries plots a daring escape in a rocket constructed of odds and ends and powered by beer in this hilarious romp from a master of golden-age speculative fiction The last thing the crew of the Mercury Girl expected to find on the terraformed worldlet known as Grendel was a band of Irish revolutionaries. As far as the ship’s engineer, Knud Axel Syrup, is concerned, being taken prisoner by the more-than-slightly-nutty Shamrock League Irredentist Expeditionary Force could be a lot worse. At least there’s plenty of cold brew available to keep him occupied . . . and more than a little tipsy. But these crazed Fenians are spoiling for a fight, and the last thing Syrup needs is to get caught in the middle of a war between the Shamrocks and their sworn rivals, the Anglians. Luckily Syrup has a plan. With the help of a somewhat-ditzy dancer named Emily and an alien in six-legged lederhosen, he intends to pull off a daring escape from the miniplanet in a spaceship constructed of pretzel boxes, old bicycle parts, and anything else he finds lying around, trusting their liftoff to the considerable propulsive power of beer. Multiple award winner Poul Anderson is one of science fiction’s most respected maestros, and here he displays another side of his creative genius with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. Hilarious, outrageous, and delightfully imaginative, The Makeshift Rocket is a wonderfully wild and wacky romp through a very different cosmos with one of the genre’s best pilots at the controls.

Astrophysicist and space pioneer James Van Allen (1914–2006), for whom the Van Allen radiation belts were named, was among the principal scientific investigators for twenty-four space missions, including Explorer I in 1958, the first successful U.S. satellite; Mariner 2’s 1962 flyby of Venus, the first successful mission to another planet; and the 1970s Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 missions that surveyed Jupiter and Saturn. Although he retired as a University of Iowa professor of physics and astronomy in 1985, he remained an active researcher, using his campus office to monitor data from Pioneer 10—on course to reach the edge of the solar system when its signal was lost in 2003—until a short time before his death at the age of ninety-one. Now Abigail Foerstner blends space science drama, military agendas, cold war politics, and the events of Van Allen’s lengthy career to create the first biography of this highly influential physicist. Drawing on Van Allen’s correspondence and publications, years of interviews with him as well as with more than a hundred other people, and declassified documents from such archives as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Kennedy Space Center, and the Applied Physics Laboratory, Foerstner describes Van Allen’s life from his Iowa childhood to his first experiments at White Sands to the years of Explorer I until his death in 2006. Often called the father of space science, James Van Allen led the way to mapping a new solar system based on the solar wind, massive solar storms, and cosmic rays. Pioneer 10 alone sent him more than thirty years of readings that helped push our recognition of the boundary of the solar system billions of miles past Pluto. Abigail Foerstner’s compelling biography charts the eventful life and time of this trailblazing physicist.

Balcor is an intergalactic police officer who soon finds himself at the center of political intrigue when his government frames him for murder to discredit his father, a revolutionary seeking to overthrow the tyrannical government in an effort to free his people.

In every neighborhood, there's always that one dog. That one dog who is a little more curious, a little more restless, and possesses an undeniable spark in its eyes that makes it impossible to ignore. This is a tale about one such dog - a spirited and intelligent dog named Rex. Rex was unlike any other dog. He was not content with merely chasing his tail, barking at squirrels, or fetching tennis balls. Instead, he dreamed of the stars. Yes, you heard that right. Rex, a humble dog from a quiet neighborhood, had his snout pointed not towards the nearest bone, but towards the vast expanse of the cosmos. This might seem like a fantastical dream, especially for a canine. But as you will soon discover, Rex was not an ordinary canine, and his dream was not just a whimsical whim. It was a burning desire, one that led him on an extraordinary adventure that spanned from the confines of his backyard to the moon's barren landscape. This is a tale that is as heartwarming as it is hilarious, filled with moments that will make you chuckle, gasp, and maybe even shed a tear or two. It's a story about daring to dream, no matter who you are or where you come from. It's about friendship, courage, and the innate curiosity that drives us all to explore and discover. So, sit back, relax, and let us embark on this journey together. Let us follow Rex as he dreams, explores, and achieves what no dog has done before. Welcome to "The Dogstronaut: Rex's Out-of-this-World Adventure."

New fiction anthology of stories abuot childhood.

Given the extensive influence of the 'transport revolution' on the past two centuries (a time when trains, trams, omnibuses, bicycles, cars, airplanes, and so forth were invented), and given science fiction's overall obsession with machines and technologies of all kinds, it is surprising that scholars have not paid more attention to transportation in this increasingly popular genre. Futuristic Cars and Space Bicycles is the first book to examine the history of representations of road transport machines in nineteenth-, twentieth-, and twenty-first-century American science fiction. The focus of this study is on two machines of the road that have been locked in a constant, often bitter, struggle with one another: the automobile and the bicycle. With chapters ranging from the early science fiction of the pulp magazine era in the 1920s and 1930s, to the postcyberpunk of the 1990s and more recent media of the 2000s such as web television, zines, and comics, this book argues that science fiction by and large perceives the car as anything but a marvelous invention of modernity. Rather, the genre often scorns and ridicules the automobile and instead promotes more sustainable, more benign, more restrained technologies of movement such as the bicycle.

Willakaville is full of zany, crazy, and wacky science fiction adventures that occur in an otherwise small town. In each story, young children find themselves in bizarre predicaments with supernatural situations. There are fourteen stories in all that range from monsters to magic to time travel. The book also includes two unique poems that are fun and delightful. An eclectic range of themes abound in the book. Among those are: a detective mystery, a historical adventure, a suspicious janitor, a strange virus, space travel, a magical pencil, an ominous visitor, a battle with a monster, time travel, mass hysteria, an unexpected hero and some peculiar mayonnaise. For most of the tales, young children are at the center and must work together to find interesting solutions to the eminent problems they face. The characters are easy to identify with as they resemble personalities you would find in any mixture of citizens. Each has his or her own individual style, personality and flaws. Willakaville brings a human touch encompassing a broad range of emotional conflict and self-awareness. Willakaville is almost one hundred fifty pages in length and the chapters range from five to twenty five pages. Each chapter begins with a custom illustration of distinctive artwork created by the author. The writing style is simple enough for younger children to understand, yet interesting enough for those who are older. The stories are generally geared for those aged 8-12. It makes a great bedtime read for the little ones. However, it will be enjoyed at any age. The stories are fast-paced and creative with intermittent silliness sprinkled along the way. Each account aims to teach a life lesson, whether it be on manners, self-esteem, censorship, prejudice or ownership. Some of the tales tackle issues of the future, such as artificial intelligence, or epidemics. Willakaville will stir one’s thoughts and curiosity as it meanders through social and personal issues Willakaville is a fun ride that evokes the imagination and tickles the funny bone. If you are someone that is into action, adventure, comedy and creativity, this is the book for you or someone you love.

A biography of the young star of the movie "E.T". who survived her troubled early years and has gone on to become a successful actress and movie producer.

"Throughout time, major wars have defined historical epochs and charted the rise and decline of great powers. The U.S. global war on terror, with Iraq as the Bush administration's chosen centerpiece, is almost certainly destined to do the same. Indeed, the Bush doctrine for conducting the war on terror and the Iraqi Freedom campaign are likely to prove benchmarks in U.S. history precisely because of the many orthodoxies and traditions the administration has purposely challenged. At the same time, fundamental flaws have already appeared in many tenets underlying the Bush transformation of foreign and military affairs. So contends award-winning journalist James Kitfield. As with his critically acclaimed Prodigal Soldiers, the story of how America arrived at this fateful crossroads is a narrative full of drama and personal anecdote, rich in context and detail. War and Destiny is based on interviews with the key players and on Kitfield's personal observation of major events. Like his first book, it may well become the chronicle of a critical period in American history"--Provided by publisher.