几个世纪以来，人类在令人惊叹的科学和技术进步的协助下，通过天文观测对天空进行了虚拟探索。在自1957年发射Sputnik1号以来的60多年中，已有超过6000颗正在运行的卫星被发射到了地球轨道和更远的地方 有的到了太阳系*远的地方 超过540人进入过太空。 本书在时间和地理范围上史无前亻列，详细记录了太空探索的历史 从刚开始的火耀 火箭到登月，再到太空旅游的未来。大量的侧边栏聚焦于那些让我们更接近宇宙*远处的重要人物和发明。本书是概述这场全人类旅程的第1本深入的、经过充分说明的专著，里面充满了来自史密森学会、NASA档案馆和其它国际收藏品的惊人图像。 For centuries humanity has engaged in a virtual exploration of space through astronomical observation, aided by astounding scientific and technological advances. In more than sixty years since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, more than 6,000 f

Churchill's six-volume history of World War II -- the definitivework, remarkable both for its sweep and for its sense of personalinvolvement, universally acknowledged as a magnificent historicalreconstruction and an enduring work of literature. From Britian'sdarkest and finest hour to the great alliance and ultimate victory,the Second World War remains the pivotal event in our century.Churchill was not only its greatest leader, but the free world'smost eloquent voice of defiance in the face of Nazi tyranny. Hisepic account of those times, published in six volumes, won theNobel Prize in 1953.

This highly interdisciplinary book highlights many of the waysin which chemistry plays a crucial role in making life anevolutionary possibility in the universe. Cosmologists and particlephysicists have often explored how the observed laws and constantsof nature lie within a narrow range that allows complexity and lifeto evolve and adapt. Here, these anthropic considerations arediversified in a host of new ways to identify the most sensitivefeatures of biochemistry and astrobiology. Celebrating the classic1913 work of Lawrence J. Henderson, The Fitness of the Environmentfor Life, this book looks at the delicate balance between chemistryand the ambient conditions in the universe that permit complexchemical networks and structures to exist. It will appeal to abroad range of scientists, academics, and others interested in theorigin and existence of life in our universe.

The emergence of observing systems such as acoustically-trackedfloats in the deep ocean, and surface drifters navigating bysatellite has seen renewed interest in Lagrangian fluid dynamics.Starting from the foundations of elementary kinematics and assumingsome familiarity of Eulerian fluid dynamics, this book reviews theclassical and new exact solutions of the Lagrangian framework, andthen addresses the general solvability of the resulting generalequations of motion. A unified account of turbulent diffusion anddispersion is offered, with applications among others to planktonpatchiness in the ocean. Written at graduate level, the bookprovides the first detailed and comprehensive analyticaldevelopment of the Lagrangian formulation of fluid dynamics, ofinterest not only to applied mathematicians but alsooceanographers, meteorologists, mechanical engineers,astrophysicists and indeed all investigators of the dynamics offluids.