Theory of Ground Vehicles, 3rd Edition

Book Description

An updated edition of the classic reference on the dynamics of road and off-road vehicles

As we enter a new millennium, the vehicle industry faces greater challenges than ever before as it strives to meet the increasing demand for safer, environmentally friendlier, more energy efficient, and lower emissions products. Theory of Ground Vehicles, Third Edition gives aspiring and practicing engineers a fundamental understanding of the critical factors affecting the performance, handling, and ride essential to the development and design of ground vehicles that meet these requirements.

As in previous editions, this book focuses on applying engineering principles to the analysis of vehicle behavior. A large number of practical examples and problems are included throughout to help readers bridge the gap between theory and practice.

Covering a wide range of topics concerning the dynamics of road and off-road vehicles, this Third Edition is filled with up-to-date information, including:

•The Magic Formula for characterizing pneumatic tire behavior from test data for vehicle handling simulations

•Computer-aided methods for performance and design evaluation of off-road vehicles, based on the author's own research

•Updated data on road vehicle transmissions and operating fuel economy

•Fundamentals of road vehicle stability control

•Optimization of the performance of four-wheel-drive off-road vehicles and experimental substantiation, based on the author's own investigations

•A new theory on skid-steering of tracked vehicles, developed by the author.

Customer Reviews:

useful book.......2007-04-11

I recommend every automotive engineer to use this book, It's a good reference.

Handles both road vehicles and tracked vehicles.......2005-07-24

The book covers dynamics of ground vehicles over hard surfaces and unprepared terrain - mechanics of vehicle-terrain interactions, terramechanics. Tracked vehicles such as a military tank or a bulldozer that is propelled by tracks instead of pneumatic tires are also covered in detail in this book. There is also attention to air-cushion vehicles (hovercrafts). However, the guided ground vehicles which are constrained to move along a fixed path, such as railway vehicles and tracked levitated vehicles are not covered in this book.

There is a very good chapter on the mechanics of pneumatic tires, which has both theoretical and practical information. Attention is also given to performance of tires on wet surfaces. This issue is frequently overlooked by the other vehicle dynamics books; however, the behavior of tires on wet surfaces is of considerable interest from a safety point of view, as many accidents occur on slippery roads. The tire is also analyzed as both spring and a damper. There are useful graphs and tables in this chapter, as well as throughout the whole book. The table of damping coefficient of tires shows that the damping coefficient of tire drops with increase of the inflation pressure.

Mechanics of vehicle-terrain interactions studies distribution of stresses in the terrain under vehicular loads, empirical methods for predicting off-road vehicle performance, a computer-aided method for evaluating the performance of vehicles with flexible tracks, and so on.

Performance characteristics are covered separately for road and off-road vehicles. For the road vehicles, the author analyzes equation of motion and maximum tractive effort, aerodynamic forces and moments, vehicle power plant and transmission characteristics, prediction of vehicle performance, operating fuel economy, engine and transmission matching and braking performance. For off-road vehicles, the author examines drawbar performance, fuel economy of cross-country operations, transport productivity and efficiency, mobility map and mobility profile, selection of vehicle configurations for off-road operations.

Handling characteristics of road vehicles and steering of tracked vehicles are also separately analyzed.

There is a very good chapter on vehicle ride characteristics and human response to vibration.

I also recommend "Race Car Vehicle Dynamics" by William F. Milliken and Douglas L. Milliken, which is also a good compromise between theoretical and practical information.

Excellent & Comprehensive.......2001-07-25

It covers various types of ground vehicles and the authors has done a tremendus job to produce such a good book especially on engineering point of view. Well and easy understanding for Engineers with lots of mathematically formulaes and explainations.

It worth to read over and over again.

A book for reference if involving ground vehicle dynamic computations.

Average customer rating:

Inspiring reading for technical leaders of all kinds

a fist hand report of the early NASA years

The best way to learn about spaceflight is through this book

Failure Is Not An Option...

Not a bad book - not a great one either.

Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond
Gene Kranz
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Apollo 13

Flight My Life in Mission Control

A Man on the Moon

Rocketman : Astronaut Pete Conrad's Incredible Ride to the Moon and Beyond

The Last Man on the Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space

ASIN: 0743200799

Amazon.com

In 1957, the Russians launched Sputnik and the ensuing space race. Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure from the ground up. As he says, "Since there were no books written on the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went along."

Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961, launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits. And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the responsibility for the Apollo 1 tragedy, and the leader of the "tiger team" that saved the Apollo 13 astronauts.

Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal of him in Apollo 13, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's perspective in his book Failure Is Not an Option. You see NASA through his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the 1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature. Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing fascination with aeronautics, if you watched Apollo 13 and wanted more, Failure Is Not an Option will fill the bill. --Stephanie Gold

Book Description

Gene Kranz was present at the creation of America's manned space program and was a key player in it for three decades. As a flight director in NASA's Mission Control, Kranz witnessed firsthand the making of history. He participated in the space program from the early days of the Mercury program to the last Apollo mission, and beyond. He endured the disastrous first years when rockets blew up and the United States seemed to fall further behind the Soviet Union in the space race. He helped to launch Alan Shepard and John Glenn, then assumed the flight director's role in the Gemini program, which he guided to fruition. With his teammates, he accepted the challenge to carry out President John F. Kennedy's commitment to land a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960s.

Kranz was flight director for both Apollo 11, the mission in which Neil Armstrong fulfilled President Kennedy's pledge, and Apollo 13. He headed the Tiger Team that had to figure out how to bring the three Apollo 13 astronauts safely back to Earth. (In the film Apollo 13, Kranz was played by the actor Ed Harris, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance.)

In Failure Is Not an Option, Gene Kranz recounts these thrilling historic events and offers new information about the famous flights. What appeared as nearly flawless missions to the Moon were, in fact, a series of hair-raising near misses. When the space technology failed, as it sometimes did, the controllers' only recourse was to rely on their skills and those of their teammates. Kranz takes us inside Mission Control and introduces us to some of the whiz kids -- still in their twenties, only a few years out of college -- who had to figure it all out as they went along, creating a great and daring enterprise. He reveals behind-the-scenes details to demonstrate the leadership, discipline, trust, and teamwork that made the space program a success.

Finally, Kranz reflects on what has happened to the space program and offers his own bold suggestions about what we ought to be doing in space now.

This is a fascinating firsthand account written by a veteran mission controller of one of America's greatest achievements.

Download Description

Perhaps best known through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal in the film Apollo 13, Gene Kranz was a NASA flight controller throughout the entire manned space program. Kranz witnessed everything from Alan Shepard's and John Glenn's early flights in the Mercury program through the triumph of Neil Armstrong's giant leap for mankind in Apollo 11 and the near-disaster of Apollo 13. Kranz headed the "tiger team" that saved the Apollo 13 astronauts, and he provides new details about the urgent and successful improvising that brought the crew safely back to Earth.

Failure Is Not an Option is a thrilling insider's account of Mission Control from the early years of trying to catch the Russians to the end of the manned space program. It is filled with behind-the-scenes stories, including the painful self-examination that took place following the Apollo 1 disaster and the daring decision to schedule an Apollo flight to the moon before NASA had ever launched a manned rocket beyond earth orbit. Kranz's stories about the dedication and resourcefulness of the astronaut corps and Mission Control teams show how an organization dominated by young people only in their twenties could succeed in one of the boldest missions in human history, placing a man on the moon in less than a decade.

Customer Reviews:

Inspiring reading for technical leaders of all kinds.......2007-08-15

While I confess to being a lifelong space buff, this book is the first of many memoirs I have had the pleasure of reading from the actual men and women who participated in one of the greatest adventures in human history. I read it nonstop from the moment I brought it home, and have reread many sections of it numerous times. I believe it is a useful historical record of the golden era of the space program, but also holds many lessons for those who find themselves in formal or de facto positions of technical leadership in all types of organizations - churches, consulting firms, technical contractors, manufacturers, and probably many others with which I am not personally familiar. Thank you Mr. Kranz for all you have shared!

a fist hand report of the early NASA years.......2007-06-30

I highly recommend this book to all the poor men who already believe today that APOLLO is a whole fake
KRANZ tell the truth it is obvious when you read him

The best way to learn about spaceflight is through this book.......2007-05-17

Failure is not an Option

The first time I heard this sentence is when I saw the movie Apollo 13 (Tom Hanks), when I was only 7 years old. I then read the book only when I was 11 years old. Gene Kranz is a great writer as well as a great Flight Director.

The book explains about everything from Mercury, through Gemini, to Apollo in great detail. The book taught me a lot of stuff that I did not know such as that Gemini 7 was before Gemini 6A. The book explains why did it happen and how. It will also explains what they were going to do about it.

The book has 21 pictures and 397 pages of knowledge. I recommend it for everybody

Failure Is Not An Option..........2007-03-15

The book arrived within the scheduled delivery time in excellent condition.

Thank you,

Mark & Francine Keehnel

Not a bad book - not a great one either........2007-01-16

"Failure is Not An Option" is not a bad book, but it is not a great one either. Kranz provides certain insight into the role of NASA Flight Directors and the book is interesting to the extent it serves that function. However, Kranz occasionally gives major events fairly short shrift, while writing at length on an array of banal topics which are of limited interest. The reader is often left wanting greater details about events that shaped the space program and less information on subjects such as Kranz's management style or his trademark vests.

Moreover, Kranz's writing style is a little too compact and terse to make this book a consistently engaging read. Kranz uses the word "crisp" in seemingly every other paragraph. His writing style might be described in the same way. Unfortunately, it can make sections of "Failure Is Not An Option" a bit tedious at times.

Lastly, although a small point, Kranz makes no attempt to hide his political bent. The book is replete with praise for Kennedy and obvious (though unarticulated) disdain for Nixon. Kranz speaks with almost boy-like ardor of Kennedy's far-sightedness and vision for the space program despite the fact that many regard Kennedy's interest in space to have arisen solely out of a political desire to beat the Soviets - not for scientific or human advancement as Kranz would have the reader believe. At times, the political commentary proves irritating and distracting and Kranz's idolatry of Kennedy excessive and simplistic.

That said, this book is worth the read for the information it does impart and to supplement other texts on the space program, but it is not as gripping or engaging as "Lost Moon" or a host of others.

Average customer rating:

Common Ground: The Story of Greenham
David Fairhall
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1845112865
Release Date: 2006-10-03

Book Description

When a small group of women set out to march to Greenham one summer day at the end of August 1981, none of them could have imagined that this outing would change their lives forever. Nor did they dream that their gesture that day would spark off a feminist protest movement that would last for decades spreading its influence across the world. This highly entertaining and evocative history of the common traces the development of the protests from the summer of that year through the climax of the Cold War to the present day. It is a quintessentially English tale in which a disparate group of dedicated and sometimes fractious women confront the full military might of the United States, not only to raise their voices against nuclear weapons but also to safeguard the ancient customs and rights of common ground. As alive to the women’s concerns as to the wider political implications, Fairhall paints a vivid picture of life at Greenham, from the challenges and frustrations of the night time raids and appearances in court to the exuberant self-expression of the camps at the various rainbow-coloured Gates. More recently, he shows how the respectable residents of Newbury, where the women were often given such a hostile reception, have used the same laws exploited by the women in their own fight to restore the ancient rights of public access to the common and protect it as open heathland for future generations. The protests at Greenham Common are a powerful symbol of the 20th century which still arouse strong feelings today. There are many "Greenham women" still around. But what did they really achieve? As public concern focuses both on the proliferation of modern weapons of mass destruction and the need to preserve the threatened British landscape, this is a timely moment to consider their legacy.

Ground control: Conditioned response training program : teaching manual for broke and unbroke horses

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Ground control: Conditioned response training program : teaching manual for broke and unbroke horses
John Lyons
Manufacturer: s.n.]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0006RJ3DM

Practical Handbook of Rock Mass Classification Systems and Modes of Ground Failure

Average customer rating:

A great book

Practical Handbook of Rock Mass Classification Systems and Modes of Ground Failure
Andy Afrouz
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0849337119

Book Description

Practical Handbook of Rock Mass Classification Systems and Modes of Ground Failure is a comprehensive, yet concise, guide to 16 of the most important rock classification systems and their failure modes. The book discusses these systems in relation to the design of excavations and ground reinforcement/support under passive, active, static, and dynamic mining conditions. This includes rock testing assessment, surface and underground site investigation, and any practical activity that deals with the physical and mechanical properties of rocks. The book is an excellent professional reference for geoscientists, technicians, and geological engineers doing research and consulting in mining, geological, civil, and petroleum resource fields.

Customer Reviews:

A great book.......2000-03-27

A GREAT BOOK ON ROCKS! WHAT A LIFE SAVER!

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Ground Control and Improvement
Petros P. Xanthakos , Lee W. Abramson , and Donald A. Bruce
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471552313

Book Description

A comprehensive compilation concerned with a variety of modern methods being used worldwide to improve soil and rock conditions supporting new and remedial construction. Ground water lowering and drainage techniques, soil compaction, excavation support methods, permeation and jet grouting are among the many topics discussed. More than 100 tables and 650 figures illustrate the text.

Virus Ground Zero: Stalking the Killer Viruses with the Centers for Disease Control

Average customer rating:

Boring and tedious
Riveting
Virus Ground Zero scores a big "Zero"
Very Cool
A good read

Virus Ground Zero: Stalking the Killer Viruses with the Centers for Disease Control
Ed Regis
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 067102325X

Customer Reviews:

Boring and tedious.......2001-03-16

It's almost impossible to imagine that an author of a book about stalking killer viruses would spend more time on how the Center for Disease Control (CDC) numbers its buildings and on a CDC water bill from the Zairian government than on the AIDs epidemic, but that's what Ed Regis does in his boring and tedious book.

Virus Ground Zero is filled with details of the bureaucratic ins and outs of the CDC and spliced like an MTV video--the author can't sustain a story line for more than two pages without jumping 10 or 20 or 30 years back into the past. Because of the structure, there is little character development. A painful read.

Do yourself a favor and try Plagues and Peoples by William McNeill instead.

Riveting.......2001-02-02

This book traces the response of the CDC to an Ebola outbreak in Zaire in 1995. Like its predecessor, The Hot Zone, many stories are interwoven throughout the book to give a complete background into what happened. Despite this stylistic similarity, the message of this book is quite different from that of The Hot Zone, as becomes more and more clear by the end of the book.

One of the main story lines is a description of the development of the CDC, from its start as an anti-malaria organization to the multi-faceted behemoth that it is today. After reading the descriptions of the Level 4 labs in The Hot Zone, I never would have guessed at the primitive lab conditions found at the CDC through the 1960s and later.

Regis' core message is that of victory- -victory over this particular outbreak, victory over small pox, and the tremendous success we have had combating infectious illnesses during the twentieth century. He points out that so many infections can be prevented by simple hygiene, like washing one's hands, or by avoiding direct physical contact with infected people by using rubber gloves. Even the much feared Ebola virus doesn't spread easily when people follow standard hygiene protocols common in the developed world. Regis doesn't dismiss the importance of paying attention to communicable diseases and preventing epidemics, but he argues that there is no need to live in fear about new rain forest microbes out to get us.

Virus Ground Zero scores a big "Zero".......2000-12-18

_Virus Ground Zero: Stalking the Killer Viruses with the Centers for Disease Control_ attempts to use the 1995 Kikwit Ebola epidemic as a case study for an examination of humanity's struggle with deadly viral and bacteriological pathogens. Ultimately, however, _Virus Ground Zero_ turns out to be a lightweight read bogged down by two agendas: act as a cheerleader for the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) specifically and science in general, and serve as a polemic against Laurie Garrett's _The Coming Plague_.

Despite the recent (November 2000) announcement of a possible break through in the development of an Ebola vaccine, Regis' `Rah! Rah!' routine for science and its ability to protect us, specifically against threats like Ebola, does not quite ring true. His attack on the near apocalyptic conclusions suggested by viral doomsayer's like Laurie Garrett, for example, is based more on the deconstruction of their semantics than convincing evidence.

Ed Regis brings impressive credentials to what the _Washington Post Book World_ calls "A readable-even fun-book." A philosophy professor and College Fellow at Western Maryland College, Regis has written and reviewed science books for years. One would think that such a background would have produced a more useful text than _Virus Ground Zero_.

Very Cool.......2000-03-02

Mr. Regis writes a fascinating biography of a chilling topic-incurable, deadly killing hemmorrahgic fevers that strike without warning. This book is a Must-read!

A good read.......2000-02-15

An enjoyable book providing entry level information into the topics of viral outbreaks and the CDC. There is a well developed section on the background of the United States' Centers for Disease Control, and a refreshing perspective on the reality of the battle against the "killer microbes." Not an intense review of virology, but a fun easy to understand overview of the Ebola epidemic and other associated viral outbreaks.

Sixteen Acres: Architecture and the Outrageous Struggle for the Future of Ground Zero

Average customer rating:

"Architecture is the art of compromise''
A lip lock with reality
Inexplicable lack of illustrations a major flaw in this book

Sixteen Acres: Architecture and the Outrageous Struggle for the Future of Ground Zero
Philip Nobel
Manufacturer: Metropolitan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805074945
Release Date: 2004-12-23

Book Description

When we stand in downtown Manhattan in the future and look up and ask, 'Why?'-Why is it so strange, so rude, so striving, so right, so wrong?-we will have Sixteen Acres to give us the answers. Tracing the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site from graveyard to playground for high design, insurgent critic Philip Nobel strips away the hyperbole to reveal the secret life of the century's most charged building project. Providing a tally of deceptions and betrayals, a look at the meaning of events beyond the pieties of the moment, and a running bestiary of the main players-developers and bureaucrats, star architects and amateur fantasists, politicians and the well-spun press-Nobel's book bares the crucial moments as factions and institutions converge to create a noisy new culture at Ground Zero. Tragic and comic by turns, full of low dealings and high dud-geon, Sixteen Acres takes us behind the scenes at a site in search of its sanctity, exposing the reconstruction as the flawed product of a complicated city: driven by money, hamstrung by politics, burdened by the wounds it is somehow supposed to heal.

Customer Reviews:

"Architecture is the art of compromise''.......2006-02-05

`'Sixteen Acres. Architecture and the outrageous struggle for the future of Ground Zero'' by Philip Nobel.

`'Architecture is the art of compromise.''
Daniel Liebeskind
One of the top architecture critics , Philip Nobel takes the readers of his book on an amazing trip, deep into the world of `' the outrageous struggle'' among architects, politicians, developers and businessmen responsible for the rebuilding of Ground Zero in order to fill in the void that has been created at those sixteen acres. It has been an enriching and at the same time interesting experience to read it. This non- fictional account of what has been happening behind the scenes at Lower Manhattan among some crucial players in this game like Larry
Silverstein, Port Authority, the LMDC, Governor George Pataki and other politicians or members of families who lost their loved ones in the tragedy, in fact reads like an extraordinary novel. With his in- depth analysis and an incredibly realistic style of writing, his work can be easily understood not only by professionals but those who know nothing about architecture as well. The book artfully blends some historical information about architecture together with real dramatic life events and very often shocking, hair-rising gossip. As Liebeskind puts it, you need compromise in order to design and create new buildings, ones that will `' speak the unspeakable'' and fairly fill in the void, and at the same time satisfy everyone's needs and wishes. Can this actually be achieved in real life? With so many players involved it might turn out to be a pretty difficult task. Who is the winner and who looses? The book written by Nobel is a great eye-opener shedding new lights on this controversial issue of rebuilding Ground Zero.
To put the message across the author decided to divide the book into twelve chapters devoting extra space for prologue and epilogue. Starting with the description on Ground Zero, touches upon some architectural streams in the past. The plot is expanded with every chapter, rising climax in middle chapters speaking of the competition and actual struggle.
At first it seems almost incredible how by chance the star architects like Gehry or Koolhaans just happen to be in New York when the attack happens. Many designers make numerous trips to the site in order to understand, contemplate, explain, search for reasons and answers. Was the void indeed fixable? Or maybe it should remain intact. Questions were piling up. As Giedion puts it buildings are `' human landmarks which men have created as symbols for their ideals , their aims, and for their actions''. The commercial buildings of WTC represented so many ideals, standing symbolic and triumphant in the skyline of the city. `'Buildings bear silent witness to what we do'' Nobel suggests, they are our immortality on the earth and they are our landmarks. Now that they are torn down mankind looses witness to humanity. How can one rebuild those lost landmarks? The meaning is lost, now it was left to architects to find it back.
The competition for the new design was certainly a controversial and time consuming task. The author presents us with an in- depth report of what actually happened, all the intrigues and insurmountable questions being asked by a wide cast of characters involved. Money driven developers together with architects loose themselves in searching for meaning. With every single page flipped over the plot shifts its pace, competition gets more and more dramatic, most of all due to that convoluted bureaucratic processes. Finally at its peak Daniel Liebeskind appears with the answer, and his `' Memory Foundations'' win the contest. This Jewish immigrant from Poland happens to know the answer, which is freedom, democracy and independence. His soaring Freedom Tower is going to reach up till 1,777 feet high in order to make a connection with Declaration of Independence. At the end of his presentation he says: `'Life victorious!''. Soon after that he is chosen to be the master planner for the reconstruction of the site. Time will show that this will not be the end, but an offset for another struggle, this time with the powerful Port Authority and LMDC. Before the developers intrude and start influencing Libeskind` s vision, eventually forcing him to cooperate with David Childs, the milk is spilled and gossip enters the media. The media takes its part in it `' tarring the Liebeskinds as alien- worshipping cloners'' Just how far one can go with the intrigues of the century` s most decisive and charged building project. For some players it seemed that George Pataki was the final decision maker in the game. Many questions still remain unanswered. The author tells the story proper with minute details and indeed is meticulous in recording it. At times it almost reads like a soap opera.
In my opinion, what the book lacks is the images or pictures of the designs mentioned. That would help a lot to envision what was being said at times.
The final chapter of the book deals with another contest, this time for the memorial design, which eventually is won by Arad and his `' Reflecting Absence''. Libeskind` s vision is changed from the original one, money wins again, in the end, like all politics, the final decisions for the site were created by a compromise. Again I will quote the master planner: `'Architecture is the art of compromise''. To reach that is definitely difficult, `'to build Art with a capital A'' (Steve Cuozzo) is as well difficult those days, especially when politics and business gets involved in the process.

by Joanna Pszczola, Poland

A lip lock with reality.......2005-08-28

Sixteen Acres is a gripping read for any architect or citizen who hopes that a monumental building in this era can be transcendent. No where have I seen such a thorough accounting of the forces that come to bear on the form of a building. Sixteen Acres is the record of how the desire of the American people to find an expression for the loss they suffered-or the telling off they wished to do-was shaped by the many powerful forces that acted on the site: Governor Pataki's aspirations, the widows', the mayor's, the LMDC, the Port Authority, Larry Silverman's 99 year lease. The book is truly about the profession of "architecture and the outrageous struggle for the future of Ground Zero."

As Mr. Nobel says "...architecture remains the most prominent and most culturally engaged of all the arts. It is also the most contingent-an art that is neither high nor low, an art that gets to art only after locking lips with reality: satisfying a client, securing funds and permits and insurance, getting built." This book paints the lip lock in glowing detail. He has the wisdom to recognize that at the end of the day "...when the politicians line up to cut their ribbons, whatever [building] shades the dais that day will be at once stranger and more fitting than anything they had imagined when they set about to govern its birth. In a way it will be perfect."

For young architects and those who think design is about the power of their vision, this eye-opener will help them see that in addition to having their vision, they must also design the process; that is, they must so understand the interests of the various parties that they can target the area of the overlap. In that area, on any particular job, will be the perfect solution.

Inexplicable lack of illustrations a major flaw in this book.......2005-03-10

Several months ago I read the James Glanz and Eric Lipton book "City In The Sky: The Rise and Fall of The World Trade Center". That book, authored by a pair of New York Times reporters, chronicled the long history of the project from the germ of an idea at the 1939 World's Fair, to the design and planning of a project unlike any other in the history of mankind, to the cataclysmic events of September 11th, 2001. Since I enjoyed that book so much I was very excited when I came across "Sixteen Acres". It seemed to me the perfect sequel to "City In The Sky". Author Philip Nobel writes about architecture for the New York Times and set about the business of documenting the incredibly complicated and sometimes acrimonious process of redeveloping the World Trade Center site.
As one might well imagine, the job of designing a replacement for the WTC was an almost impossible task. There were pressures from so many stakeholders including the families of the victims, the politicians, the various bureaucracies, the tenants as well as from Larry Silverstein, who just six weeks before the attack, had signed a 99 year lease to operate the WTC. Then there was the epic struggle between the competing architects and their visions of what the real estate should look like when all was said and done.
I found that Nobel did a pretty fair job in describing the process and introducing the reader to the various players involved in this drama. But I also found that the author frequently seemed to forget that many readers have absolutely no training in design and architecture. While I thought I was getting the gist of what he was trying to convey, I often felt I was missing something in the translation. And that is why illustrations would have been so helpful. Had I been able to turn to refer to drawings of the proposals Nobel was discussing, I feel I could have gotten a great deal more from this book. It is really too bad and for this reason "Sixteen Acres" is not a book that I can enthusiastically recommend.

Average customer rating:

Disappointing for Ideas in Protection
A misleading title for a not-very-useful book

Squirrel Proofing Your Home & Garden
Rhonda Massingham Hart
Manufacturer: Storey Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1580171915

Book Description

This practical guide is filled with effective tips for keeping squirrels and their relatives from destroying gardens and birdfeeders, and invading attics, garages, and basements.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing for Ideas in Protection.......2006-08-07

Ms. Poe clearly has a thorough understanding of squirrels. In fact, you can sense a great appreciation for the smart litter critters which comes across in the book. Unfortunately, if you are a gardener looking for new and inventive ways to protect your investment from being ravaged by squirrels, this book definitely falls short. If you want to learn all about squirrels and identify just which species is attacking your flowers, then this book is for you. (In fact over half the book is dedicated to just this subject.) And unless you want the same, tired, ineffective tips and advice freely available on the internet, this book is not worth the investment.

A misleading title for a not-very-useful book.......2004-04-17

I have a serious squirrel problem at home and thought this book would help. All it did was tell me how nice, brave, smart and resourceful squirrels are. In fact, the first 3/4 of the book is devoted to very complete descriptions of various breeds of squirrels. If you want to learn about squirrels, this is actually a good resource. The 'squirrel proofing' advice, when it does come, is restricted to a few pages at the end of the book -- and really doesnt tell you anything common sense or a 10 minute search of the web will. It didn't help my situation at all.

The Critter Control Handbook: Pro Secrets for Stopping Sneaky Squirrels and Other Crafty Critters in Their Tracks

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The testimony of an expert with 20 years of experience

The Critter Control Handbook: Pro Secrets for Stopping Sneaky Squirrels and Other Crafty Critters in Their Tracks
Dan Hershey
Manufacturer: Voyageur Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0896585883

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Sometimes, says Dan Hershey, author of The Critter Control Handbook, you just have to face up to it: it's them or us. Sure, bats are singularly interesting and do their helpful bit in the food chain by dining on pesky insects. Unfortunately, they can also roost in attics and chimneys, leave parasite-infested guano around and, incredibly, even do widespread vehicle damage at car dealerships. Cottontail rabbits damage gardens and fruit trees, snapping turtles gobble ducklings, deer destroy entire commercial crops. Then, of course, there are vermin....

What to do? Hershey acknowledges the full range of practical, ethical, and legal considerations when it comes to repelling or killing pests of all kinds, and his recommendations range from the conservative (grow plants unappealing to specific animals) to common sense measures (don't put "islands" in the middle of your pond if you don't want waterfowl there) to the extreme (get a hunting permit). The author isn't shy about suggesting controversial deterrents, e.g., toxic chemicals or leg traps; he does, however, caution the reader to be fully aware of wildlife protections and environmental laws peculiar to one's community. Though packed with information, the Handbook's content is streamlined and accessible, with concise guides, bite-size tips, helpful photos, and no-nonsense text. Dealing with pests is an uncomfortable fact of life; Hershey helps us shoulder the burden with the benefit of his experience. --Tom Keogh

Book Description

Who hasn’t been frustrated trying to outwit a daring deer, a roaming raccoon, a pesky pigeon or a sneaky squirrel? The best offense is a good defense, so arm yourself with "Controlling Crafty Critters"! Author Dan "The Critter Man" Hershey, who has 20 years of experience as a licensed Nuisance Wildlife Control Officer, shares his professional secrets that are guaranteed to help you control critters--from bees to beavers; from squirrels to snakes--no matter where you live. Hershey presents the most current, effective, and humane methods for controlling more than 20 nuisance animals. His time-tested techniques include using common nontoxic household items, setting traps, and when necessary, resorting to more drastic solutions. "Controlling Crafty Critters" is packed with pro tips such as: -Why hanging a mousetrap will catch twice as many mice -Which popular bar soap will repel deer -Which sliced fruit is the best bait for woodchucks -Which fruit drink will repel geese and ducks Reclaim your yard and home! Eliminate headache and frustration by putting Hershey’s advice to use today . . . for a critter-free home tomorrow.

Customer Reviews:

The testimony of an expert with 20 years of experience.......2002-05-07

The Critter Control Handbook: Pro Secrets For Stopping Sneaky Squirrels & Other Crafty Critters In Their Tracks by Dan "The Critter Man" Hershey is the testimony of an expert with 20 years of experience as a licensed Nuisance Wildlife Control Officer. Individual chapters address how to identify a creature control problem, evaluating whether or not a contractor is necessary, and a wide variety of means to keep animals at bay from fencing and repellents to lethal traps and hunting. Of particular interest is the lengthy and informative section devoted to a long list of pest animals ranging from bees and wasps to squirrels and woodchucks. If you have a problem with nuisance creatures, The Critter Control Handbook is a "must" to learn about practical, effective (and sometimes surprising) solutions!

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