"Behind every great man (or woman), there's a compulsion" --Provided by the publisher.

A fascinating, one-of-a-kind memoir that takes readers on a journey to the dawn of the jet age'and reveals how technology will shape the world to come. Drawing on engineering breakthroughs achieved during World War II, aviation in the 1950s was an exciting and uplifting sequel to the most destructive conflict in history. It gave birth to the jet age and fostered remarkable social changes. Venture into the Stratosphere is a memoir about the exhilaration...

"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Genius of Birds and The Bird Way, a brilliant scientific exploration of owls, the most elusive group of birds, and an investigation into why these remarkable and yet mysterious animals exert such a hold on human imagination For centuries, owls have captivated and intrigued us. Our fascination with these mysterious birds was first documented over 30,000 years ago, in the Chauvet cave paintings in southern...

"Before John Glenn orbited the Earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of professionals worked as "Human Computers," calculating the flight paths that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Segregated from their white counterparts by Jim Crow laws, these "colored computers," as they were known, used slide rules, adding machines, and pencil and paper to support America's...

""Mystical, magical, and wildly original...If Alice Hoffman and Sara Addison Allen had a witchy love child, she would be Paige Crutcher. Do not miss this beautifully realized debut!"-- JT Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of Her Dark Lies on The Orphan Witch. A deeper magic. A stronger curse. A family lost...and found. Persephone May has been alone her entire life. Abandoned as an infant and dragged through the foster care system, she wants...

"Enthralled with origami from a young age, master designer Michael LaFosse has used those skills to design and perfect paper airplanes for decades. In Planes for Brains, LaFosse presents 28 original models that incorporate innovative functional and aesthetic details--like faceted flaps, ailerons, canards and spoilers that really work. The sense of proportion and balance, and an ingenious nose and fuselage locking system, define these signature models,...

From 1980 to 1988, Iran and Iraq fought the longest conventional war of the twentieth century. The tragedies included the slaughter of child soldiers, the use of chemical weapons, the striking of civilian shipping in the Gulf, and the destruction of cities. The Iran-Iraq War offers an unflinching look at a conflict seared into the region's collective memory but little understood in the West. Pierre Razoux shows why this war remains central to understanding...

"The idea of training rarely crosses cat owners' minds, and we often assume that cats can't and don't need to be trained. But in The Trainable Cat, bestselling anthrozoologist John Bradshaw and cat expert Sarah Ellis show that not only can cats be trained, but they absolutely must be in order to strengthen the bond between pet and owner, reduce their anxiety, and maximize their happiness, "--Amazon.com.

"These thirteen stories brilliantly focus on aspects of contemporary living and unerringly capture a generation, a type, a social class, a pattern of behavior. They give us the small detail that reveals large secrets and summons up the inner stresses of our lives."--P. 2 of cover.