The Improbable Voyage

Download or read book The Improbable Voyage written by Tristan Jones and published by Sheridan House, Inc.. This book was released on 1998 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Improbable Voyage is the astonishing account of TRistan Jones' 2,307 mile voyage across Europe in Outward Leg. Continuing his round-the-world journey, Tristan traveled from the North Sea to the Black Sea via the rivers Rhine and Danube. Tristan welcomed each difficulty as a challenge to be met and overcome. Battling ice and cold, life-threatening rapids and narrow defiles, German bureaucrats and Romanian frontier police, Tristan made his way through eight countries and emerged triumphant, if battered, bruised and penniless, at the Black Sea. Tristan gives us a vivid glimpse of the quality of life along Europe's oldest water routes and behind the Iron Curtain.

Download or read book Destination Moon written by Richard Maurer and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2019-06-11 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of NASA's Apollo program from Earth orbital missions to lunar landings in a propulsive nonfiction narrative. Only now, it is becoming clear how exceptional and unrepeatable Apollo was. At its height, it employed almost half a million people, many working seven days a week and each determined that “it will not fail because of me.” Beginning with fighter pilots in World War II, Maurer traces the origins of the Apollo program to a few exceptional soldiers, a Nazi engineer, and a young eager man who would become president. Packed with adventure, new stories about familiar people, and undeniable danger, Destination Moon takes an unflinching look at a tumultuous time in American history, told expertly by nonfiction author Richard Maurer.

Download or read book The Monkey's Voyage written by Alan de Queiroz and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2014-01-07 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the world, closely related species are found on landmasses separated by wide stretches of ocean. What explains these far-flung distributions? Why are such species found where they are across the Earth? Since the discovery of plate tectonics, scientists have conjectured that plants and animals were scattered over the globe by riding pieces of ancient supercontinents as they broke up. In the past decade, however, that theory has foundered, as the genomic revolution has made reams of new data available. And the data has revealed an extraordinary, stranger-than-fiction story that has sparked a scientific upheaval. In The Monkey's Voyage, biologist Alan de Queiroz describes the radical new view of how fragmented distributions came into being: frogs and mammals rode on rafts and icebergs, tiny spiders drifted on storm winds, and plant seeds were carried in the plumage of sea-going birds to create the map of life we see today. In other words, these organisms were not simply constrained by continental fate; they were the makers of their own geographic destiny. And as de Queiroz shows, the effects of oceanic dispersal have been crucial in generating the diversity of life on Earth, from monkeys and guinea pigs in South America to beech trees and kiwi birds in New Zealand. By toppling the idea that the slow process of continental drift is the main force behind the odd distributions of organisms, this theory highlights the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the history of life. In the tradition of John McPhee's Basin and Range, The Monkey's Voyage is a beautifully told narrative that strikingly reveals the importance of contingency in history and the nature of scientific discovery.

Download or read book Perfect written by Rachel Joyce and published by Random House. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry comes “a poignant, searing tale” (O: The Oprah Magazine) about a young boy who is thrown into the murky, difficult realities of the adult world. “A powerful book, rich with empathy and charged with beautiful, atmospheric writing.”—Tana French A nice house in a tony neighborhood. A hardworking husband. A private school for the children. From the outside, Diana has a perfect life. But her sensitive and observant young son notices that the other kids’ mothers are not like his own. They dress differently. Byron’s father prefers that his wife dress formally, in slim skirts and pointy heels. He gives Diana a Jaguar so neighbors will sit up and take notice. And they do. Then, one morning, during a shortcut to school through a poor neighborhood, something happens that Byron cannot shake and his mother refuses to acknowledge. Until she has no choice. In the weeks that follow, the façade of a happy family shows signs of distress. Diana makes a questionable friend, and an increasingly tense dance begins—between guilt and resentment, envy and regret—all leading to a tragedy and a shattering revelation.

Download or read book The Improbable Voyage of the Yacht Outward Leg Into, Through, and Out of the Heart of Europe written by Tristan Jones and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Outward Leg written by Tristan Jones and published by Sheridan House, Inc.. This book was released on 1998 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After seven years ashore and after having his left leg amputated, Tristan Jones decided to return to the sea. In October 1983, Jones and his only crew member, Wally Rediske, set out in Outward Leg, a 36-ft trimaran from San Diego, intending to circumnavigate the world from west to east by sail.

Download or read book Island Race written by John McCarthy and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The former hostage, John McCarthy and the comedian, Sandi Toksvig team up for an attempt to sail round Britain in three months. This book and the TV series it accompanies, reveals what it means to sail on British seas, it also affords an insight into John's reacquaintance with his native country.