Book Review: "To Rise From Earth" -- 5 of 10 stars

[willpittenger]

I just finished a book called <i>To Rise From Earth: An Easy-to-Understand Guide to Spaceflight</i>. I give it 5 of 10 stars. Since my copy is 11 years old, you might check for a newer copy.<br /><br />Author: Wayne Lee<br />Pub Date: 1995<br />Listed series website: www.factsonfile.com (I looked, but could not find this book listed)<br /><br />ISBN: 0-8160-3363-6<br />Dewey Decimal: 629.4 Lee<br />bar code: 9 780815 033539 90000<br /><br />Review Summary: ***** (5 of 10)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Review:<br /><br /><br />This book does help many users out. I did see some useful information in there myself. However, it does need help.<br /><br />* Photos are black and white only. Most give the appearance of underexposure even though the actual photo was probably normal. Color would have helped here big time. Since it was so hard to understand what the captions of those photos were refering to due to the underexposure effect, I deducted two full stars for that alone.<br /><br />* It did not affect the score, but readers should remember the last few chapters (which cover Shuttle history and interplanetary exploration) are 11 years out of date.<br /><br />* I found somethings confusing. Not sure if they are correct or not. The book claims objects in higher orbits move slower than those in low orbits. That is true in terms of angular velocity. But the book quotes linear numbers. Suppose you are transferring to a high orbit with a Hohmann transfer orbit. As you complete the transfer, you have to speed up. So why does the book claim you are moving slower than if you staying in the transfer orbit. Sure, the transfer orbit would have you picking up speed as you fell, but you would lose that again as you went back up.<br /><br />* The book does show the before and after orbits for a spacecraft doing a flyby of Jupiter. However, it does not attempt to do that for actual probes. Seeing all the orbits that Voyager 2 took pri <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[thalion]

I've flipped through this book before. I really like it's format, but if I had one minor issue, I'd want a few more mathematical details for the calculation-inclined, while still keeping the book at a beginner's level.