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3 Obras 81 Miembros 5 Reseñas

Obras de Brandon R. Brown

Etiquetado

Conocimiento común

Fecha de nacimiento
20th Century
Género
male
Nacionalidad
USA

Miembros

Reseñas

Absolutely fascinating book on a side to the Apollo story that is rarely covered. Instead of telling the story via the Astronauts, this gives a detailed and chronological account of the engineers and designers behind the project. There's loads of technical detail, but never too much. Some of the anecdotes are fascinating, particularly regarding the extremely long hours worked, the resulting effects on families and marriages, and the subsequent reductions in budgets and workforce post Apollo 11. The book ends with some reflections on the whole experience from surviving members of the engineering community.

I already had a high regard for the engineers involved in creating spacecraft from scratch and overcoming a host of problems and difficulties along the way. This book deepened my respect still further.

There's an extensive bibliography which encourages further reading if you are so inclined (I was!)

The OUP book is printed and bound to a high standard.
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Stroudley | otra reseña | Oct 18, 2023 |
This book just wasn't that compellingly written. None of the engineering threads were pulled enough to make them interesting. I feel like I didn't learn anything, and, furthermore, I didn't look forward to picking this up when I had a spare chance to read.
 
Denunciada
lemontwist | otra reseña | May 6, 2023 |
3.5 Stars

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Every now and then I am looking for an interesting book about a famous scientist and this time it was Max Planck, founder of the quantum mechanics. I was pretty unaware about his history except being German and an important physicist. I'm glad I learned about his fascinating life as well.

Told in an interesting format, where basically the last year(s) of the second world war are the starting point from each chapter which is then also looking back at the rest of Planck's long life. This adds a suspense that I haven't encountered a lot in non-fiction. However, there is also a downside. Some facts were repeated a couple of times too much which made it a bit repetitive.

Would recommend though.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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Denunciada
Floratina | 2 reseñas más. | Dec 7, 2019 |
In this biography of Max Planck, Brandon Brown weaves a spellbinding tale of both genius and naivete. Each chapter starts during the war, World War Two, then flashes back to an earlier period as a way of juxtaposing both Planck's drive (from his youth and middle age) and the process of being broken during the war. While this style may initially seem strange it is very effective and after a few chapters it creates a flow of its own. The discussions of science and math are kept at a sufficient level to understand why some of the ideas were considered bizarre if not outright insane but the discussions don't get bogged down in the science or math to the point that the book becomes about Planck's science rather than his life. Those elements, his science and his life, are both highlighted and brought together to create the sum which is Planck's legacy.

I highly recommend this book for those interested in the human side of scientific discovery as well as those interested in World War Two. The writing is strong and keeps the reader interested, so I also believe this would be enjoyable for someone who simply likes reading a good biography.

Reviewed from an ARC made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
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Denunciada
pomo58 | 2 reseñas más. | Jul 29, 2015 |

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Obras
3
Miembros
81
Popularidad
#222,754
Valoración
½ 3.7
Reseñas
5
ISBNs
9
Idiomas
1

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