Mayday! by David Darling
The thrilling stories of those who looked to the skies and dared to dream of flight 'Gripping… dazzling tales of madness and derring do.' Brian Clegg In a world without aircraft, to believe flight might be possible required a certain kind of character. You had to be starry-eyed, a possessor of practical ingenuity, nerves of steel and a level of sanity that would be best described as deficient. In Mayday!, David Darling tells the stories of the unconventional aviators across history who have been willing to risk all to further their craft. Meet Sophie Blanchard, a balloonist of nervous disposition whom Napoleon charged with organizing balloon displays at all major ceremonies in France. Then there’s the daredevil stuntman Lincoln Beachey, the dogfighter aces of WWI, the man who performed the dance of death – switching planes in mid-air, the real 'X-Men' who flew at the edge of space, and the BASE jumpers who want to fly without wings. The cast are eccentric, reckless and extraordinary, and Mayday! is made up of their riveting tales, bizarre contraptions, magnificent achievements and, sometimes, startling folly.“A consummate collection of tales of the fearless and the fecklessDarling treats his subject with an authority tempered by the gentle humour that is the mark of a great story-teller.”
-- Justin Pollard, author of The Interesting Bits: The History You Might Have Missed‘David Darling has cleverly avoided wheeling out all the old familiar names… a rollicking, rip-roaring tale. 4 stars.’
* Popular Science *“Gripping… dazzling tales of madness and derring do.”
-- Brian Clegg, author of Inflight Science“A hugely enjoyable roller-coaster aerial ride in the company of oddballs and heroes, complete with vertiginous frights, dances of death, lonely impulses of delight and acts of mindless masochism in the name of science.”
-- Jonathan Glancey, author of Spitfire: The Biography'Intriguing and entertaining'.
* Daily Mail *“Impressive.”
“A mix of good old-fashioned silliness and some fine science writing.”
* BBC Focus *
David Darling has a Ph.D. in astronomy and has been a full-time freelance science writer for more than twenty years. He is the author of Teleportation: The Impossible Leap, as well as three science encyclopedias: The Universal Book of Mathematics, The Universal Book of Astronomy, and The Complete Book of Spaceflight, all available from Wiley. His other narrative science titles include Deep Time and Equations of Eternity, a New York Times Notable Book. Darling's articles and reviews have appeared in Astronomy, Omni, Penthouse, New Scientist, the New York Times, and the Guardian, among others. He also hosts a major informational Web site, www.daviddarling.info.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781780744094 |
| ISBN 10 | 1780744099 |
| Title | Mayday! |
| Author | David Darling |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Oneworld Publications |
| Year published | 2015-11-10 |
| Number of pages | 224 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |