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 Customer Reviews
A Big Book About a Big Man, 17 Oct 2008
In two hundred years time very few people now alive will be routinely known and their names and deeds recalled. Only historians will be be familiar with the names of pygmies such as Bush and Blair. However, we live in a culture which immortalises great explorers - Magellan, Columbus, Cook, Amundsen, Hillary & Tenzing Norgay and many others. In our time Neil Armstrong joined this exclusive group along with Yuri Gagarin.
I would go so far as to say that the Apollo mission to the moon was the defining cultural statement of identity made by mankind in the second half of the twentieth century. It was our equivalent of building stonehenge, the great wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, the great mediaeval cathedrals, the voyages of discovery in small wooden ships and the great Victorian engineering achievements. It set down a mark for future generations to get a measure of us. It was as if we were saying to posterity 'look at this and wonder at us that we could do this in our time. This is the most difficult thing we can do at this time. Judge us by this.'
Whilst Apollo was an immense engineering and scientific project it was also one of the greatest human adventures of modern times. And at the centre of this adventure was an enigma, Neil Armstrong. Armstrong is a quiet man from Ohio who developed an early interest in aviation that takes him into the military and the Korean war. Later he becomes a brilliant test pilot and this leads to his involvement with the space programme. It is extraordinary that this is the first full biography that has been written about Armstrong with his co-operation. It is quite amusing that in an extrovert nation such as the US, which seems to like its super heroes to be big, loud, brash and in your face, Armstrong comes across as introverted and self-contained with no interest at all in celebrity or fame. He has spent most of his post Apollo life living quietly on a farm in Ohio.
I admire the author's perseverance in persuading Armstrong to co-operate in the first place as this was evidently not easy. Despite all the difficulties he has produced a big and worthy book. It's clear, reading between the lines, that Armstrong was not the easiest man to work with and his co-operation was less than total. Nevertheless, this is the best book you're ever going to get about Neil Armstrong. If you are interested in his life and remarkable achievements this is the one to buy.
Good but perhaps not perfect, 17 Oct 2007
Having looked forward to a 'life of Neil Armstrong book' for most of my life being a real Apollo fan. I did enjoy reading First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong. This book is well researched, has some good pictures and for the first time the reader can learn about the 'real Neil Armstrong'. There is much more to Mr.Armstrong than being the first man on the moon.
A great read - will be liked by space buffs, maybe a little dry for those who are not!
This should be a fascinating book..., 08 Aug 2007
...but is by far and way the worst written book I have read in years. I cannot fathom how anyone can make the story of travelling and landing on the moon so uninteresting. There is page after page after page of irrelevant data which leaves you feeling cheated of precious time.
I have no doubt this is an incredibly well researched book, but so is an encyclopedia and I have no interest in reading one from cover to cover.
Award Winning!, 30 Dec 2006
This book has just earned the title of "Outstanding Academic Book" of 2006, awarded by CHOICE magazine and the American Library Association. It has also won the top book award of the American Astronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. As Walter Cronkite says on the cover of the book, it is "a book for all time."
Plane Spotter's Delight, 09 Dec 2006
Neil's forebears came from Scotland, but none was William Wallace or Robert the Bruce, or Bonny Prince Charley.
When Neil was at Primary school it is thought that, on occasions, he may have got a gold star. But there is no documentation on the matter.
A nasty man called Yeager wrote some stories about Neil but they were probably not what occurred.
A chap called Wolfe wrote a book which exaggerated a lot of things and some of them weren't how Neil remembers them.
Neil flew a lot of state of the art planes, sometimes for hours on end, and he did a lot of take offs and landings, and all his bosses thought he was an OK guy, most of the time.
If you are a plane spotter or an insomniac you will love this book.
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Customer Reviews
A Big Book About a Big Man, 17 Oct 2008
In two hundred years time very few people now alive will be routinely known and their names and deeds recalled. Only historians will be be familiar with the names of pygmies such as Bush and Blair. However, we live in a culture which immortalises great explorers - Magellan, Columbus, Cook, Amundsen, Hillary & Tenzing Norgay and many others. In our time Neil Armstrong joined this exclusive group along with Yuri Gagarin.
I would go so far as to say that the Apollo mission to the moon was the defining cultural statement of identity made by mankind in the second half of the twentieth century. It was our equivalent of building stonehenge, the great wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, the great mediaeval cathedrals, the voyages of discovery in small wooden ships and the great Victorian engineering achievements. It set down a mark for future generations to get a measure of us. It was as if we were saying to posterity 'look at this and wonder at us that we could do this in our time. This is the most difficult thing we can do at this time. Judge us by this.'
Whilst Apollo was an immense engineering and scientific project it was also one of the greatest human adventures of modern times. And at the centre of this adventure was an enigma, Neil Armstrong. Armstrong is a quiet man from Ohio who developed an early interest in aviation that takes him into the military and the Korean war. Later he becomes a brilliant test pilot and this leads to his involvement with the space programme. It is extraordinary that this is the first full biography that has been written about Armstrong with his co-operation. It is quite amusing that in an extrovert nation such as the US, which seems to like its super heroes to be big, loud, brash and in your face, Armstrong comes across as introverted and self-contained with no interest at all in celebrity or fame. He has spent most of his post Apollo life living quietly on a farm in Ohio.
I admire the author's perseverance in persuading Armstrong to co-operate in the first place as this was evidently not easy. Despite all the difficulties he has produced a big and worthy book. It's clear, reading between the lines, that Armstrong was not the easiest man to work with and his co-operation was less than total. Nevertheless, this is the best book you're ever going to get about Neil Armstrong. If you are interested in his life and remarkable achievements this is the one to buy. Good but perhaps not perfect, 17 Oct 2007
Having looked forward to a 'life of Neil Armstrong book' for most of my life being a real Apollo fan. I did enjoy reading First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong. This book is well researched, has some good pictures and for the first time the reader can learn about the 'real Neil Armstrong'. There is much more to Mr.Armstrong than being the first man on the moon.
A great read - will be liked by space buffs, maybe a little dry for those who are not!
This should be a fascinating book..., 08 Aug 2007
...but is by far and way the worst written book I have read in years. I cannot fathom how anyone can make the story of travelling and landing on the moon so uninteresting. There is page after page after page of irrelevant data which leaves you feeling cheated of precious time.
I have no doubt this is an incredibly well researched book, but so is an encyclopedia and I have no interest in reading one from cover to cover. Award Winning!, 30 Dec 2006
This book has just earned the title of "Outstanding Academic Book" of 2006, awarded by CHOICE magazine and the American Library Association. It has also won the top book award of the American Astronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. As Walter Cronkite says on the cover of the book, it is "a book for all time." Plane Spotter's Delight, 09 Dec 2006
Neil's forebears came from Scotland, but none was William Wallace or Robert the Bruce, or Bonny Prince Charley.
When Neil was at Primary school it is thought that, on occasions, he may have got a gold star. But there is no documentation on the matter.
A nasty man called Yeager wrote some stories about Neil but they were probably not what occurred.
A chap called Wolfe wrote a book which exaggerated a lot of things and some of them weren't how Neil remembers them.
Neil flew a lot of state of the art planes, sometimes for hours on end, and he did a lot of take offs and landings, and all his bosses thought he was an OK guy, most of the time.
If you are a plane spotter or an insomniac you will love this book.
A great introduction to the genius of Tesla, 26 Aug 2002
This is a well written biography of Tesla which gives a factual account of his unbelievable career. It shows that he was an engineer; his inventions worked because he did the theory to ensure they did. He was way ahead of his contemporaries, including Marconi and Edison, and this books should be in every degree course. Sure you want this book!, 22 Jul 2002
If you like biographies about great persons, this book has its natural place side by side with "Genius" (James Gleich about Richard Feynman). And when you have read it, you'll become amazed why Tesla isn't as famous as Einstein (or Feynman). Unlike many books about Tesla, this is about facts - and what facts! There are no place to myths about Tesla, the facts are enough - and this is the book where you'll find them. A reliable and well written book about a true wizard of science - a wizard that made life easier to billions - and "how" and "why" he did it. The Best Tesla Biography to Date, 12 May 2002
A factual, academic Tesla biography, without any of the usual sensationalism of his being sent from other planets! Extremely well written, the book reads like a novel and also acts as an excellent reference work. The Margaret Cheney and Robert Lomas books make a good introduction to a man who was a rather complex subject, but this book really does add so many layers to his character that to any serious student of Tesla or his work this should be an essential part of their library.
Fabulous book on the genious of N. Tesla, a MUST READ, 04 Feb 1999
I read the 1998 softcover edition and LOVED IT! I first saw the name "TESLA" as a "brand" name on the television sets in eastern Europe. My curiosity up, I searched Amazon.com and found this book. I became a TESLA fan immediately! TESLA had the greatest inventive genius of the 20th century, and most of his key patents were filed in the 1890's !! HE WAS SO FAR AHEAD OF HIS TIME that some of his work is still labeled "TOP SECRET" by the U.S. government today. This book is a lesson in history, conspiracy, industrial espionage, science, corporate power and the sheer awesome genius of TESLA, whose name SHOULD be taught to every school child....before that of EDISON !!!
The best Tesla Biography to date, 21 Dec 1998
This book is without a shadow of doubt the BEST book on Tesla ever written. If you're looking for non-technical Tesla information, this is the book to buy!
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Customer Reviews
A Big Book About a Big Man, 17 Oct 2008
In two hundred years time very few people now alive will be routinely known and their names and deeds recalled. Only historians will be be familiar with the names of pygmies such as Bush and Blair. However, we live in a culture which immortalises great explorers - Magellan, Columbus, Cook, Amundsen, Hillary & Tenzing Norgay and many others. In our time Neil Armstrong joined this exclusive group along with Yuri Gagarin.
I would go so far as to say that the Apollo mission to the moon was the defining cultural statement of identity made by mankind in the second half of the twentieth century. It was our equivalent of building stonehenge, the great wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, the great mediaeval cathedrals, the voyages of discovery in small wooden ships and the great Victorian engineering achievements. It set down a mark for future generations to get a measure of us. It was as if we were saying to posterity 'look at this and wonder at us that we could do this in our time. This is the most difficult thing we can do at this time. Judge us by this.'
Whilst Apollo was an immense engineering and scientific project it was also one of the greatest human adventures of modern times. And at the centre of this adventure was an enigma, Neil Armstrong. Armstrong is a quiet man from Ohio who developed an early interest in aviation that takes him into the military and the Korean war. Later he becomes a brilliant test pilot and this leads to his involvement with the space programme. It is extraordinary that this is the first full biography that has been written about Armstrong with his co-operation. It is quite amusing that in an extrovert nation such as the US, which seems to like its super heroes to be big, loud, brash and in your face, Armstrong comes across as introverted and self-contained with no interest at all in celebrity or fame. He has spent most of his post Apollo life living quietly on a farm in Ohio.
I admire the author's perseverance in persuading Armstrong to co-operate in the first place as this was evidently not easy. Despite all the difficulties he has produced a big and worthy book. It's clear, reading between the lines, that Armstrong was not the easiest man to work with and his co-operation was less than total. Nevertheless, this is the best book you're ever going to get about Neil Armstrong. If you are interested in his life and remarkable achievements this is the one to buy. Good but perhaps not perfect, 17 Oct 2007
Having looked forward to a 'life of Neil Armstrong book' for most of my life being a real Apollo fan. I did enjoy reading First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong. This book is well researched, has some good pictures and for the first time the reader can learn about the 'real Neil Armstrong'. There is much more to Mr.Armstrong than being the first man on the moon.
A great read - will be liked by space buffs, maybe a little dry for those who are not!
This should be a fascinating book..., 08 Aug 2007
...but is by far and way the worst written book I have read in years. I cannot fathom how anyone can make the story of travelling and landing on the moon so uninteresting. There is page after page after page of irrelevant data which leaves you feeling cheated of precious time.
I have no doubt this is an incredibly well researched book, but so is an encyclopedia and I have no interest in reading one from cover to cover. Award Winning!, 30 Dec 2006
This book has just earned the title of "Outstanding Academic Book" of 2006, awarded by CHOICE magazine and the American Library Association. It has also won the top book award of the American Astronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. As Walter Cronkite says on the cover of the book, it is "a book for all time." Plane Spotter's Delight, 09 Dec 2006
Neil's forebears came from Scotland, but none was William Wallace or Robert the Bruce, or Bonny Prince Charley.
When Neil was at Primary school it is thought that, on occasions, he may have got a gold star. But there is no documentation on the matter.
A nasty man called Yeager wrote some stories about Neil but they were probably not what occurred.
A chap called Wolfe wrote a book which exaggerated a lot of things and some of them weren't how Neil remembers them.
Neil flew a lot of state of the art planes, sometimes for hours on end, and he did a lot of take offs and landings, and all his bosses thought he was an OK guy, most of the time.
If you are a plane spotter or an insomniac you will love this book.
A great introduction to the genius of Tesla, 26 Aug 2002
This is a well written biography of Tesla which gives a factual account of his unbelievable career. It shows that he was an engineer; his inventions worked because he did the theory to ensure they did. He was way ahead of his contemporaries, including Marconi and Edison, and this books should be in every degree course. Sure you want this book!, 22 Jul 2002
If you like biographies about great persons, this book has its natural place side by side with "Genius" (James Gleich about Richard Feynman). And when you have read it, you'll become amazed why Tesla isn't as famous as Einstein (or Feynman). Unlike many books about Tesla, this is about facts - and what facts! There are no place to myths about Tesla, the facts are enough - and this is the book where you'll find them. A reliable and well written book about a true wizard of science - a wizard that made life easier to billions - and "how" and "why" he did it. The Best Tesla Biography to Date, 12 May 2002
A factual, academic Tesla biography, without any of the usual sensationalism of his being sent from other planets! Extremely well written, the book reads like a novel and also acts as an excellent reference work. The Margaret Cheney and Robert Lomas books make a good introduction to a man who was a rather complex subject, but this book really does add so many layers to his character that to any serious student of Tesla or his work this should be an essential part of their library.
Fabulous book on the genious of N. Tesla, a MUST READ, 04 Feb 1999
I read the 1998 softcover edition and LOVED IT! I first saw the name "TESLA" as a "brand" name on the television sets in eastern Europe. My curiosity up, I searched Amazon.com and found this book. I became a TESLA fan immediately! TESLA had the greatest inventive genius of the 20th century, and most of his key patents were filed in the 1890's !! HE WAS SO FAR AHEAD OF HIS TIME that some of his work is still labeled "TOP SECRET" by the U.S. government today. This book is a lesson in history, conspiracy, industrial espionage, science, corporate power and the sheer awesome genius of TESLA, whose name SHOULD be taught to every school child....before that of EDISON !!!
The best Tesla Biography to date, 21 Dec 1998
This book is without a shadow of doubt the BEST book on Tesla ever written. If you're looking for non-technical Tesla information, this is the book to buy!
The Harleys and The Davidsons behind Harley-Davidson, 01 Apr 2004
Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album is a great gift for anyone who wants to know more about Harley-Davidsons. While most books about these wonderful motorcycles focus on the bikes and their impact on the culture, the Family Album describes the effect of the motorcycle on the founders and their families . . . and vice versa. It's a dimension of Harley-Davidson that I knew nothing about . . . and found to be fascinating. Jean Davidson is the granddaughter of Walter Davidson, the first president of the company, and her father was Gordon Davidson, a company vice president. She is a former dealer. She teams up with Sara Ann Harley-O'Hearn to add comments about both families. About half of the photographs were new to me, and the captions were priceless. The book opens with family trees of Davidsons and Harleys who are in the book so you can keep track of who's who. Then the book turns to how the families emigrated from Europe to Wisconsin in the late 1800s. Within five pages of photographs, you begin to see motorcycle images. The first classic is of Arthur Davidson with a friend holding up the fish they caught while sitting on a motorcycle and in a sidecar. The original idea behind the motorcycle was to help make it easier to go fishing. Go figure! The text is also interesting . . . including an explanation of why the company is called Harley-Davidson rather than Davidson-Harley. The family connections are interesting. The model called "Silent Grey Fellow" in 1914 employed the nickname for William Sylvester Harley. There's also a nice page on the first motorcycle and what happened to it through 1912. It wasn't all easy. In 1904 a household maid raided the company's cash jar, and left the company broke. The Davidson brothers' uncle, James McLay, came to the rescue. His photograph is included. Interspaced with the family materials are examples of motorcycles, advertisements and motion picture stills featuring motorcycles. One of my favorite family photographs shows the chauffeur who was used to drive the founder's wives around in a sidecar. Even though the family was prospering, they preferred their bikes! There are also photographs of the male founders working on bikes and even testing them. The book also describes the company's attitude toward having women work at the company (single women only in the early days). Just after I finished this book, I happened to see an advertisement for S.C. Johnson where the fourth generation and fifth generation members talked about how the company is the family and vice versa. I couldn't help but think that this observation is equally true of Harley-Davidson after enjoying this fine album. Photography fans should be warned, however, that like most family albums, these images are often not professional grade. They are often just like the snaps that your grandparents and parents took when they were young. To me, that aspect just added to the charm of the book. I was encouraged to take out our family album after looking at this one. I hope you will do the same.
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Customer Reviews
A Big Book About a Big Man, 17 Oct 2008
In two hundred years time very few people now alive will be routinely known and their names and deeds recalled. Only historians will be be familiar with the names of pygmies such as Bush and Blair. However, we live in a culture which immortalises great explorers - Magellan, Columbus, Cook, Amundsen, Hillary & Tenzing Norgay and many others. In our time Neil Armstrong joined this exclusive group along with Yuri Gagarin.
I would go so far as to say that the Apollo mission to the moon was the defining cultural statement of identity made by mankind in the second half of the twentieth century. It was our equivalent of building stonehenge, the great wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, the great mediaeval cathedrals, the voyages of discovery in small wooden ships and the great Victorian engineering achievements. It set down a mark for future generations to get a measure of us. It was as if we were saying to posterity 'look at this and wonder at us that we could do this in our time. This is the most difficult thing we can do at this time. Judge us by this.'
Whilst Apollo was an immense engineering and scientific project it was also one of the greatest human adventures of modern times. And at the centre of this adventure was an enigma, Neil Armstrong. Armstrong is a quiet man from Ohio who developed an early interest in aviation that takes him into the military and the Korean war. Later he becomes a brilliant test pilot and this leads to his involvement with the space programme. It is extraordinary that this is the first full biography that has been written about Armstrong with his co-operation. It is quite amusing that in an extrovert nation such as the US, which seems to like its super heroes to be big, loud, brash and in your face, Armstrong comes across as introverted and self-contained with no interest at all in celebrity or fame. He has spent most of his post Apollo life living quietly on a farm in Ohio.
I admire the author's perseverance in persuading Armstrong to co-operate in the first place as this was evidently not easy. Despite all the difficulties he has produced a big and worthy book. It's clear, reading between the lines, that Armstrong was not the easiest man to work with and his co-operation was less than total. Nevertheless, this is the best book you're ever going to get about Neil Armstrong. If you are interested in his life and remarkable achievements this is the one to buy. Good but perhaps not perfect, 17 Oct 2007
Having looked forward to a 'life of Neil Armstrong book' for most of my life being a real Apollo fan. I did enjoy reading First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong. This book is well researched, has some good pictures and for the first time the reader can learn about the 'real Neil Armstrong'. There is much more to Mr.Armstrong than being the first man on the moon.
A great read - will be liked by space buffs, maybe a little dry for those who are not!
This should be a fascinating book..., 08 Aug 2007
...but is by far and way the worst written book I have read in years. I cannot fathom how anyone can make the story of travelling and landing on the moon so uninteresting. There is page after page after page of irrelevant data which leaves you feeling cheated of precious time.
I have no doubt this is an incredibly well researched book, but so is an encyclopedia and I have no interest in reading one from cover to cover. Award Winning!, 30 Dec 2006
This book has just earned the title of "Outstanding Academic Book" of 2006, awarded by CHOICE magazine and the American Library Association. It has also won the top book award of the American Astronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. As Walter Cronkite says on the cover of the book, it is "a book for all time." Plane Spotter's Delight, 09 Dec 2006
Neil's forebears came from Scotland, but none was William Wallace or Robert the Bruce, or Bonny Prince Charley.
When Neil was at Primary school it is thought that, on occasions, he may have got a gold star. But there is no documentation on the matter.
A nasty man called Yeager wrote some stories about Neil but they were probably not what occurred.
A chap called Wolfe wrote a book which exaggerated a lot of things and some of them weren't how Neil remembers them.
Neil flew a lot of state of the art planes, sometimes for hours on end, and he did a lot of take offs and landings, and all his bosses thought he was an OK guy, most of the time.
If you are a plane spotter or an insomniac you will love this book.
A great introduction to the genius of Tesla, 26 Aug 2002
This is a well written biography of Tesla which gives a factual account of his unbelievable career. It shows that he was an engineer; his inventions worked because he did the theory to ensure they did. He was way ahead of his contemporaries, including Marconi and Edison, and this books should be in every degree course. Sure you want this book!, 22 Jul 2002
If you like biographies about great persons, this book has its natural place side by side with "Genius" (James Gleich about Richard Feynman). And when you have read it, you'll become amazed why Tesla isn't as famous as Einstein (or Feynman). Unlike many books about Tesla, this is about facts - and what facts! There are no place to myths about Tesla, the facts are enough - and this is the book where you'll find them. A reliable and well written book about a true wizard of science - a wizard that made life easier to billions - and "how" and "why" he did it. The Best Tesla Biography to Date, 12 May 2002
A factual, academic Tesla biography, without any of the usual sensationalism of his being sent from other planets! Extremely well written, the book reads like a novel and also acts as an excellent reference work. The Margaret Cheney and Robert Lomas books make a good introduction to a man who was a rather complex subject, but this book really does add so many layers to his character that to any serious student of Tesla or his work this should be an essential part of their library.
Fabulous book on the genious of N. Tesla, a MUST READ, 04 Feb 1999
I read the 1998 softcover edition and LOVED IT! I first saw the name "TESLA" as a "brand" name on the television sets in eastern Europe. My curiosity up, I searched Amazon.com and found this book. I became a TESLA fan immediately! TESLA had the greatest inventive genius of the 20th century, and most of his key patents were filed in the 1890's !! HE WAS SO FAR AHEAD OF HIS TIME that some of his work is still labeled "TOP SECRET" by the U.S. government today. This book is a lesson in history, conspiracy, industrial espionage, science, corporate power and the sheer awesome genius of TESLA, whose name SHOULD be taught to every school child....before that of EDISON !!!
The best Tesla Biography to date, 21 Dec 1998
This book is without a shadow of doubt the BEST book on Tesla ever written. If you're looking for non-technical Tesla information, this is the book to buy!
The Harleys and The Davidsons behind Harley-Davidson, 01 Apr 2004
Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album is a great gift for anyone who wants to know more about Harley-Davidsons. While most books about these wonderful motorcycles focus on the bikes and their impact on the culture, the Family Album describes the effect of the motorcycle on the founders and their families . . . and vice versa. It's a dimension of Harley-Davidson that I knew nothing about . . . and found to be fascinating. Jean Davidson is the granddaughter of Walter Davidson, the first president of the company, and her father was Gordon Davidson, a company vice president. She is a former dealer. She teams up with Sara Ann Harley-O'Hearn to add comments about both families. About half of the photographs were new to me, and the captions were priceless. The book opens with family trees of Davidsons and Harleys who are in the book so you can keep track of who's who. Then the book turns to how the families emigrated from Europe to Wisconsin in the late 1800s. Within five pages of photographs, you begin to see motorcycle images. The first classic is of Arthur Davidson with a friend holding up the fish they caught while sitting on a motorcycle and in a sidecar. The original idea behind the motorcycle was to help make it easier to go fishing. Go figure! The text is also interesting . . . including an explanation of why the company is called Harley-Davidson rather than Davidson-Harley. The family connections are interesting. The model called "Silent Grey Fellow" in 1914 employed the nickname for William Sylvester Harley. There's also a nice page on the first motorcycle and what happened to it through 1912. It wasn't all easy. In 1904 a household maid raided the company's cash jar, and left the company broke. The Davidson brothers' uncle, James McLay, came to the rescue. His photograph is included. Interspaced with the family materials are examples of motorcycles, advertisements and motion picture stills featuring motorcycles. One of my favorite family photographs shows the chauffeur who was used to drive the founder's wives around in a sidecar. Even though the family was prospering, they preferred their bikes! There are also photographs of the male founders working on bikes and even testing them. The book also describes the company's attitude toward having women work at the company (single women only in the early days). Just after I finished this book, I happened to see an advertisement for S.C. Johnson where the fourth generation and fifth generation members talked about how the company is the family and vice versa. I couldn't help but think that this observation is equally true of Harley-Davidson after enjoying this fine album. Photography fans should be warned, however, that like most family albums, these images are often not professional grade. They are often just like the snaps that your grandparents and parents took when they were young. To me, that aspect just added to the charm of the book. I was encouraged to take out our family album after looking at this one. I hope you will do the same.
Very Readable, 29 Aug 2006
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and once into it found it very hard to put down. Whilst an entertaining read I like other reviewers wonder whether we have been given a caricature of Steve Jobs as opposed to the real man. There are lots of relationships that I wished I knew more about such as his interaction with Woz.
Certainly worth looking at.
Fascinating Person, Good Book, 07 Aug 2006
Being in my early thirties and working in technology, I've always had an interest in the early computing gang (Jobs, Woz, Gates etc.). Much has already been written about the early years in the Valley and this book recounts those times in great detail, maybe at the expense of more recent events. The last two years of events in the book seem added as an afterthought (I realise that this is an updated version but ..) and the research doesn't seem as thorough or the story as well told. All told, a good book about a fascinating person.
The story from college dropout to billionaire businessman., 08 Mar 2006
The book tells a comprehensive story of the history of Steve Jobs business dealings. It says the subject is a driven, selfish sometimes rude person. I still do not feel that I know what Steve Jobs is like everyday as a person. I still do not know why an Apple computer is diferent from a PC. The last 20 percent of the book is about Disney. The book is a story of Steve Jobs amazing business career but not a personal biography of the man.
Jobs: The Good, the bad and the ugly, plus the great!, 19 Jan 2006
I have to declare I love Mac's, I love Ipods and I love every movie that Pixar have made - that should make me a fan of Steve Jobs. This book tells the story of his life so far, from birth, through education and right up to the present day, it pulls no punches about both his personal flaws and his corporate failures - it is a real page-turner and left me as thrilled as I have been by any fiction by the likes of Clancy or Grisham. If you love Jobs then read the book, if you hate him then read it, if you haven't heard of Jobs, Macs, Ipods or even Pixar, then read the book! It should be compulsory reading for any business studies student and any would-be entraprenour. Why, becuase it shows the reality of what real business is like in the real world - even if this version of reality is larger than life!
An account Steve Jobs may not want to read, 06 Jan 2006
It's what an unauthorised biography should be, honest and as accurate as is "possibly" allowed without legal repercussions. I found myself at points wondering “is this stuff too good to be true?” The answer is yes and no, the authors have done a fantastic job in researching Steve Jobs’ life and have been tactful in his most private life, however I felt that they were sometimes too biased towards the Steve Jobs ideology or rather "jobsian" attitude the authors refer to all the time. They almost seem too convinced of what they were writing was the truth, and how Steve Jobs would want it to be written rather than some of the raw and underlying truths of his personal and more publicised business life. Overall the book was well written and as mentioned well researched, but beware, I am now convinced that I should save up for an iPod after reading how great and how revolutionary it has been to the music world.
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Customer Reviews
A Big Book About a Big Man, 17 Oct 2008
In two hundred years time very few people now alive will be routinely known and their names and deeds recalled. Only historians will be be familiar with the names of pygmies such as Bush and Blair. However, we live in a culture which immortalises great explorers - Magellan, Columbus, Cook, Amundsen, Hillary & Tenzing Norgay and many others. In our time Neil Armstrong joined this exclusive group along with Yuri Gagarin.
I would go so far as to say that the Apollo mission to the moon was the defining cultural statement of identity made by mankind in the second half of the twentieth century. It was our equivalent of building stonehenge, the great wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, the great mediaeval cathedrals, the voyages of discovery in small wooden ships and the great Victorian engineering achievements. It set down a mark for future generations to get a measure of us. It was as if we were saying to posterity 'look at this and wonder at us that we could do this in our time. This is the most difficult thing we can do at this time. Judge us by this.'
Whilst Apollo was an immense engineering and scientific project it was also one of the greatest human adventures of modern times. And at the centre of this adventure was an enigma, Neil Armstrong. Armstrong is a quiet man from Ohio who developed an early interest in aviation that takes him into the military and the Korean war. Later he becomes a brilliant test pilot and this leads to his involvement with the space programme. It is extraordinary that this is the first full biography that has been written about Armstrong with his co-operation. It is quite amusing that in an extrovert nation such as the US, which seems to like its super heroes to be big, loud, brash and in your face, Armstrong comes across as introverted and self-contained with no interest at all in celebrity or fame. He has spent most of his post Apollo life living quietly on a farm in Ohio.
I admire the author's perseverance in persuading Armstrong to co-operate in the first place as this was evidently not easy. Despite all the difficulties he has produced a big and worthy book. It's clear, reading between the lines, that Armstrong was not the easiest man to work with and his co-operation was less than total. Nevertheless, this is the best book you're ever going to get about Neil Armstrong. If you are interested in his life and remarkable achievements this is the one to buy. Good but perhaps not perfect, 17 Oct 2007
Having looked forward to a 'life of Neil Armstrong book' for most of my life being a real Apollo fan. I did enjoy reading First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong. This book is well researched, has some good pictures and for the first time the reader can learn about the 'real Neil Armstrong'. There is much more to Mr.Armstrong than being the first man on the moon.
A great read - will be liked by space buffs, maybe a little dry for those who are not!
This should be a fascinating book..., 08 Aug 2007
...but is by far and way the worst written book I have read in years. I cannot fathom how anyone can make the story of travelling and landing on the moon so uninteresting. There is page after page after page of irrelevant data which leaves you feeling cheated of precious time.
I have no doubt this is an incredibly well researched book, but so is an encyclopedia and I have no interest in reading one from cover to cover. Award Winning!, 30 Dec 2006
This book has just earned the title of "Outstanding Academic Book" of 2006, awarded by CHOICE magazine and the American Library Association. It has also won the top book award of the American Astronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. As Walter Cronkite says on the cover of the book, it is "a book for all time." Plane Spotter's Delight, 09 Dec 2006
Neil's forebears came from Scotland, but none was William Wallace or Robert the Bruce, or Bonny Prince Charley.
When Neil was at Primary school it is thought that, on occasions, he may have got a gold star. But there is no documentation on the matter.
A nasty man called Yeager wrote some stories about Neil but they were probably not what occurred.
A chap called Wolfe wrote a book which exaggerated a lot of things and some of them weren't how Neil remembers them.
Neil flew a lot of state of the art planes, sometimes for hours on end, and he did a lot of take offs and landings, and all his bosses thought he was an OK guy, most of the time.
If you are a plane spotter or an insomniac you will love this book.
A great introduction to the genius of Tesla, 26 Aug 2002
This is a well written biography of Tesla which gives a factual account of his unbelievable career. It shows that he was an engineer; his inventions worked because he did the theory to ensure they did. He was way ahead of his contemporaries, including Marconi and Edison, and this books should be in every degree course. Sure you want this book!, 22 Jul 2002
If you like biographies about great persons, this book has its natural place side by side with "Genius" (James Gleich about Richard Feynman). And when you have read it, you'll become amazed why Tesla isn't as famous as Einstein (or Feynman). Unlike many books about Tesla, this is about facts - and what facts! There are no place to myths about Tesla, the facts are enough - and this is the book where you'll find them. A reliable and well written book about a true wizard of science - a wizard that made life easier to billions - and "how" and "why" he did it. The Best Tesla Biography to Date, 12 May 2002
A factual, academic Tesla biography, without any of the usual sensationalism of his being sent from other planets! Extremely well written, the book reads like a novel and also acts as an excellent reference work. The Margaret Cheney and Robert Lomas books make a good introduction to a man who was a rather complex subject, but this book really does add so many layers to his character that to any serious student of Tesla or his work this should be an essential part of their library.
Fabulous book on the genious of N. Tesla, a MUST READ, 04 Feb 1999
I read the 1998 softcover edition and LOVED IT! I first saw the name "TESLA" as a "brand" name on the television sets in eastern Europe. My curiosity up, I searched Amazon.com and found this book. I became a TESLA fan immediately! TESLA had the greatest inventive genius of the 20th century, and most of his key patents were filed in the 1890's !! HE WAS SO FAR AHEAD OF HIS TIME that some of his work is still labeled "TOP SECRET" by the U.S. government today. This book is a lesson in history, conspiracy, industrial espionage, science, corporate power and the sheer awesome genius of TESLA, whose name SHOULD be taught to every school child....before that of EDISON !!!
The best Tesla Biography to date, 21 Dec 1998
This book is without a shadow of doubt the BEST book on Tesla ever written. If you're looking for non-technical Tesla information, this is the book to buy!
The Harleys and The Davidsons behind Harley-Davidson, 01 Apr 2004
Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album is a great gift for anyone who wants to know more about Harley-Davidsons. While most books about these wonderful motorcycles focus on the bikes and their impact on the culture, the Family Album describes the effect of the motorcycle on the founders and their families . . . and vice versa. It's a dimension of Harley-Davidson that I knew nothing about . . . and found to be fascinating. Jean Davidson is the granddaughter of Walter Davidson, the first president of the company, and her father was Gordon Davidson, a company vice president. She is a former dealer. She teams up with Sara Ann Harley-O'Hearn to add comments about both families. About half of the photographs were new to me, and the captions were priceless. The book opens with family trees of Davidsons and Harleys who are in the book so you can keep track of who's who. Then the book turns to how the families emigrated from Europe to Wisconsin in the late 1800s. Within five pages of photographs, you begin to see motorcycle images. The first classic is of Arthur Davidson with a friend holding up the fish they caught while sitting on a motorcycle and in a sidecar. The original idea behind the motorcycle was to help make it easier to go fishing. Go figure! The text is also interesting . . . including an explanation of why the company is called Harley-Davidson rather than Davidson-Harley. The family connections are interesting. The model called "Silent Grey Fellow" in 1914 employed the nickname for William Sylvester Harley. There's also a nice page on the first motorcycle and what happened to it through 1912. It wasn't all easy. In 1904 a household maid raided the company's cash jar, and left the company broke. The Davidson brothers' uncle, James McLay, came to the rescue. His photograph is included. Interspaced with the family materials are examples of motorcycles, advertisements and motion picture stills featuring motorcycles. One of my favorite family photographs shows the chauffeur who was used to drive the founder's wives around in a sidecar. Even though the family was prospering, they preferred their bikes! There are also photographs of the male founders working on bikes and even testing them. The book also describes the company's attitude toward having women work at the company (single women only in the early days). Just after I finished this book, I happened to see an advertisement for S.C. Johnson where the fourth generation and fifth generation members talked about how the company is the family and vice versa. I couldn't help but think that this observation is equally true of Harley-Davidson after enjoying this fine album. Photography fans should be warned, however, that like most family albums, these images are often not professional grade. They are often just like the snaps that your grandparents and parents took when they were young. To me, that aspect just added to the charm of the book. I was encouraged to take out our family album after looking at this one. I hope you will do the same.
Very Readable, 29 Aug 2006
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and once into it found it very hard to put down. Whilst an entertaining read I like other reviewers wonder whether we have been given a caricature of Steve Jobs as opposed to the real man. There are lots of relationships that I wished I knew more about such as his interaction with Woz.
Certainly worth looking at.
Fascinating Person, Good Book, 07 Aug 2006
Being in my early thirties and working in technology, I've always had an interest in the early computing gang (Jobs, Woz, Gates etc.). Much has already been written about the early years in the Valley and this book recounts those times in great detail, maybe at the expense of more recent events. The last two years of events in the book seem added as an afterthought (I realise that this is an updated version but ..) and the research doesn't seem as thorough or the story as well told. All told, a good book about a fascinating person.
The story from college dropout to billionaire businessman., 08 Mar 2006
The book tells a comprehensive story of the history of Steve Jobs business dealings. It says the subject is a driven, selfish sometimes rude person. I still do not feel that I know what Steve Jobs is like everyday as a person. I still do not know why an Apple computer is diferent from a PC. The last 20 percent of the book is about Disney. The book is a story of Steve Jobs amazing business career but not a personal biography of the man.
Jobs: The Good, the bad and the ugly, plus the great!, 19 Jan 2006
I have to declare I love Mac's, I love Ipods and I love every movie that Pixar have made - that should make me a fan of Steve Jobs. This book tells the story of his life so far, from birth, through education and right up to the present day, it pulls no punches about both his personal flaws and his corporate failures - it is a real page-turner and left me as thrilled as I have been by any fiction by the likes of Clancy or Grisham. If you love Jobs then read the book, if you hate him then read it, if you haven't heard of Jobs, Macs, Ipods or even Pixar, then read the book! It should be compulsory reading for any business studies student and any would-be entraprenour. Why, becuase it shows the reality of what real business is like in the real world - even if this version of reality is larger than life!
An account Steve Jobs may not want to read, 06 Jan 2006
It's what an unauthorised biography should be, honest and as accurate as is "possibly" allowed without legal repercussions. I found myself at points wondering “is this stuff too good to be true?” The answer is yes and no, the authors have done a fantastic job in researching Steve Jobs’ life and have been tactful in his most private life, however I felt that they were sometimes too biased towards the Steve Jobs ideology or rather "jobsian" attitude the authors refer to all the time. They almost seem too convinced of what they were writing was the truth, and how Steve Jobs would want it to be written rather than some of the raw and underlying truths of his personal and more publicised business life. Overall the book was well written and as mentioned well researched, but beware, I am now convinced that I should save up for an iPod after reading how great and how revolutionary it has been to the music world.
A excellent book, 08 Oct 2006
Here is every detail you would want to have in a book which is also very readable. It will suit Spitfire nuts and general history reader. A very good read.
Excellent from both a technical and personal point of view, 24 Jul 2000
Jeffrey Quill captures the spirit of the spitfire as only one whio was so intimately responsible for its birth and success can. Extremely readable personel account of Quill's life is backed by the engrossing technical defects and remedies the he and his team at Supermarine encountered and were able to correct to produce this greatest of air fighters.
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Customer Reviews
A Big Book About a Big Man, 17 Oct 2008
In two hundred years time very few people now alive will be routinely known and their names and deeds recalled. Only historians will be be familiar with the names of pygmies such as Bush and Blair. However, we live in a culture which immortalises great explorers - Magellan, Columbus, Cook, Amundsen, Hillary & Tenzing Norgay and many others. In our time Neil Armstrong joined this exclusive group along with Yuri Gagarin.
I would go so far as to say that the Apollo mission to the moon was the defining cultural statement of identity made by mankind in the second half of the twentieth century. It was our equivalent of building stonehenge, the great wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, the great mediaeval cathedrals, the voyages of discovery in small wooden ships and the great Victorian engineering achievements. It set down a mark for future generations to get a measure of us. It was as if we were saying to posterity 'look at this and wonder at us that we could do this in our time. This is the most difficult thing we can do at this time. Judge us by this.'
Whilst Apollo was an immense engineering and scientific project it was also one of the greatest human adventures of modern times. And at the centre of this adventure was an enigma, Neil Armstrong. Armstrong is a quiet man from Ohio who developed an early interest in aviation that takes him into the military and the Korean war. Later he becomes a brilliant test pilot and this leads to his involvement with the space programme. It is extraordinary that this is the first full biography that has been written about Armstrong with his co-operation. It is quite amusing that in an extrovert nation such as the US, which seems to like its super heroes to be big, loud, brash and in your face, Armstrong comes across as introverted and self-contained with no interest at all in celebrity or fame. He has spent most of his post Apollo life living quietly on a farm in Ohio.
I admire the author's perseverance in persuading Armstrong to co-operate in the first place as this was evidently not easy. Despite all the difficulties he has produced a big and worthy book. It's clear, reading between the lines, that Armstrong was not the easiest man to work with and his co-operation was less than total. Nevertheless, this is the best book you're ever going to get about Neil Armstrong. If you are interested in his life and remarkable achievements this is the one to buy. Good but perhaps not perfect, 17 Oct 2007
Having looked forward to a 'life of Neil Armstrong book' for most of my life being a real Apollo fan. I did enjoy reading First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong. This book is well researched, has some good pictures and for the first time the reader can learn about the 'real Neil Armstrong'. There is much more to Mr.Armstrong than being the first man on the moon.
A great read - will be liked by space buffs, maybe a little dry for those who are not!
This should be a fascinating book..., 08 Aug 2007
...but is by far and way the worst written book I have read in years. I cannot fathom how anyone can make the story of travelling and landing on the moon so uninteresting. There is page after page after page of irrelevant data which leaves you feeling cheated of precious time.
I have no doubt this is an incredibly well researched book, but so is an encyclopedia and I have no interest in reading one from cover to cover. Award Winning!, 30 Dec 2006
This book has just earned the title of "Outstanding Academic Book" of 2006, awarded by CHOICE magazine and the American Library Association. It has also won the top book award of the American Astronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. As Walter Cronkite says on the cover of the book, it is "a book for all time." Plane Spotter's Delight, 09 Dec 2006
Neil's forebears came from Scotland, but none was William Wallace or Robert the Bruce, or Bonny Prince Charley.
When Neil was at Primary school it is thought that, on occasions, he may have got a gold star. But there is no documentation on the matter.
A nasty man called Yeager wrote some stories about Neil but they were probably not what occurred.
A chap called Wolfe wrote a book which exaggerated a lot of things and some of them weren't how Neil remembers them.
Neil flew a lot of state of the art planes, sometimes for hours on end, and he did a lot of take offs and landings, and all his bosses thought he was an OK guy, most of the time.
If you are a plane spotter or an insomniac you will love this book.
A great introduction to the genius of Tesla, 26 Aug 2002
This is a well written biography of Tesla which gives a factual account of his unbelievable career. It shows that he was an engineer; his inventions worked because he did the theory to ensure they did. He was way ahead of his contemporaries, including Marconi and Edison, and this books should be in every degree course. Sure you want this book!, 22 Jul 2002
If you like biographies about great persons, this book has its natural place side by side with "Genius" (James Gleich about Richard Feynman). And when you have read it, you'll become amazed why Tesla isn't as famous as Einstein (or Feynman). Unlike many books about Tesla, this is about facts - and what facts! There are no place to myths about Tesla, the facts are enough - and this is the book where you'll find them. A reliable and well written book about a true wizard of science - a wizard that made life easier to billions - and "how" and "why" he did it. The Best Tesla Biography to Date, 12 May 2002
A factual, academic Tesla biography, without any of the usual sensationalism of his being sent from other planets! Extremely well written, the book reads like a novel and also acts as an excellent reference work. The Margaret Cheney and Robert Lomas books make a good introduction to a man who was a rather complex subject, but this book really does add so many layers to his character that to any serious student of Tesla or his work this should be an essential part of their library.
Fabulous book on the genious of N. Tesla, a MUST READ, 04 Feb 1999
I read the 1998 softcover edition and LOVED IT! I first saw the name "TESLA" as a "brand" name on the television sets in eastern Europe. My curiosity up, I searched Amazon.com and found this book. I became a TESLA fan immediately! TESLA had the greatest inventive genius of the 20th century, and most of his key patents were filed in the 1890's !! HE WAS SO FAR AHEAD OF HIS TIME that some of his work is still labeled "TOP SECRET" by the U.S. government today. This book is a lesson in history, conspiracy, industrial espionage, science, corporate power and the sheer awesome genius of TESLA, whose name SHOULD be taught to every school child....before that of EDISON !!!
The best Tesla Biography to date, 21 Dec 1998
This book is without a shadow of doubt the BEST book on Tesla ever written. If you're looking for non-technical Tesla information, this is the book to buy!
The Harleys and The Davidsons behind Harley-Davidson, 01 Apr 2004
Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album is a great gift for anyone who wants to know more about Harley-Davidsons. While most books about these wonderful motorcycles focus on the bikes and their impact on the culture, the Family Album describes the effect of the motorcycle on the founders and their families . . . and vice versa. It's a dimension of Harley-Davidson that I knew nothing about . . . and found to be fascinating. Jean Davidson is the granddaughter of Walter Davidson, the first president of the company, and her father was Gordon Davidson, a company vice president. She is a former dealer. She teams up with Sara Ann Harley-O'Hearn to add comments about both families. About half of the photographs were new to me, and the captions were priceless. The book opens with family trees of Davidsons and Harleys who are in the book so you can keep track of who's who. Then the book turns to how the families emigrated from Europe to Wisconsin in the late 1800s. Within five pages of photographs, you begin to see motorcycle images. The first classic is of Arthur Davidson with a friend holding up the fish they caught while sitting on a motorcycle and in a sidecar. The original idea behind the motorcycle was to help make it easier to go fishing. Go figure! The text is also interesting . . . including an explanation of why the company is called Harley-Davidson rather than Davidson-Harley. The family connections are interesting. The model called "Silent Grey Fellow" in 1914 employed the nickname for William Sylvester Harley. There's also a nice page on the first motorcycle and what happened to it through 1912. It wasn't all easy. In 1904 a household maid raided the company's cash jar, and left the company broke. The Davidson brothers' uncle, James McLay, came to the rescue. His photograph is included. Interspaced with the family materials are examples of motorcycles, advertisements and motion picture stills featuring motorcycles. One of my favorite family photographs shows the chauffeur who was used to drive the founder's wives around in a sidecar. Even though the family was prospering, they preferred their bikes! There are also photographs of the male founders working on bikes and even testing them. The book also describes the company's attitude toward having women work at the company (single women only in the early days). Just after I finished this book, I happened to see an advertisement for S.C. Johnson where the fourth generation and fifth generation members talked about how the company is the family and vice versa. I couldn't help but think that this observation is equally true of Harley-Davidson after enjoying this fine album. Photography fans should be warned, however, that like most family albums, these images are often not professional grade. They are often just like the snaps that your grandparents and parents took when they were young. To me, that aspect just added to the charm of the book. I was encouraged to take out our family album after looking at this one. I hope you will do the same.
Very Readable, 29 Aug 2006
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and once into it found it very hard to put down. Whilst an entertaining read I like other reviewers wonder whether we have been given a caricature of Steve Jobs as opposed to the real man. There are lots of relationships that I wished I knew more about such as his interaction with Woz.
Certainly worth looking at.
Fascinating Person, Good Book, 07 Aug 2006
Being in my early thirties and working in technology, I've always had an interest in the early computing gang (Jobs, Woz, Gates etc.). Much has already been written about the early years in the Valley and this book recounts those times in great detail, maybe at the expense of more recent events. The last two years of events in the book seem added as an afterthought (I realise that this is an updated version but ..) and the research doesn't seem as thorough or the story as well told. All told, a good book about a fascinating person.
The story from college dropout to billionaire businessman., 08 Mar 2006
The book tells a comprehensive story of the history of Steve Jobs business dealings. It says the subject is a driven, selfish sometimes rude person. I still do not feel that I know what Steve Jobs is like everyday as a person. I still do not know why an Apple computer is diferent from a PC. The last 20 percent of the book is about Disney. The book is a story of Steve Jobs amazing business career but not a personal biography of the man.
Jobs: The Good, the bad and the ugly, plus the great!, 19 Jan 2006
I have to declare I love Mac's, I love Ipods and I love every movie that Pixar have made - that should make me a fan of Steve Jobs. This book tells the story of his life so far, from birth, through education and right up to the present day, it pulls no punches about both his personal flaws and his corporate failures - it is a real page-turner and left me as thrilled as I have been by any fiction by the likes of Clancy or Grisham. If you love Jobs then read the book, if you hate him then read it, if you haven't heard of Jobs, Macs, Ipods or even Pixar, then read the book! It should be compulsory reading for any business studies student and any would-be entraprenour. Why, becuase it shows the reality of what real business is like in the real world - even if this version of reality is larger than life!
An account Steve Jobs may not want to read, 06 Jan 2006
It's what an unauthorised biography should be, honest and as accurate as is "possibly" allowed without legal repercussions. I found myself at points wondering “is this stuff too good to be true?” The answer is yes and no, the authors have done a fantastic job in researching Steve Jobs’ life and have been tactful in his most private life, however I felt that they were sometimes too biased towards the Steve Jobs ideology or rather "jobsian" attitude the authors refer to all the time. They almost seem too convinced of what they were writing was the truth, and how Steve Jobs would want it to be written rather than some of the raw and underlying truths of his personal and more publicised business life. Overall the book was well written and as mentioned well researched, but beware, I am now convinced that I should save up for an iPod after reading how great and how revolutionary it has been to the music world.
A excellent book, 08 Oct 2006
Here is every detail you would want to have in a book which is also very readable. It will suit Spitfire nuts and general history reader. A very good read.
Excellent from both a technical and personal point of view, 24 Jul 2000
Jeffrey Quill captures the spirit of the spitfire as only one whio was so intimately responsible for its birth and success can. Extremely readable personel account of Quill's life is backed by the engrossing technical defects and remedies the he and his team at Supermarine encountered and were able to correct to produce this greatest of air fighters.
Complementing "Surely you're Joking", 17 Feb 2007
This book is not as amusing as the "Surely you're joking" books. The book is a collection of letters and provides a good complement to the other books as they tell Mr. Feynman's thoughts in the moment and not in retrospect.
One amusing coincidence is that Mr. Feynman wrote from Greece about an ancient machine that nobody knew what was. It is known as the Antikythera Mechanism, and the mystery was solved the same week as I read that letter. It is an astronomical clock.
Another Feynman gem!, 22 Feb 2006
Anyone who has ever read any Feynman before will know to expect his letters to be filled with humour, wit, genius and above all a passion for what he did, and they will not be disappointed! Although being Feynman the theme of the book never strays too far from science, being a collaboration of letters to everyone and anyone from personal correspondence with family and friends, to letters to journalists, colleagues and devoted fans, this book I think gives more of a picture of what Feynman was really like in what he thought about many different topics and his approach to difficult decisions and situations. I revelled in the chapter about his Nobel Prize - hearing about the modesty and anti-honours attitude of such a genius was humbling to say the least. Along with the usual stories of safe - cracking for fun, playing the bongos and generally being a down to earth yet amazing person, as with anything Feynman, this book is utterly inspiring and impossibly hard to put down.
Feynman in his own words, 26 Jun 2005
A must for Feynman fans!
An excellent book despite its appearance! It is fascinating to watch the development of R.P.F.s personality and confidence (compare his early letters to his 1st wife with his letters to his last). Having said that there are two letters to Arline (1st wife)that brought tears to this reviewers eye.
It is also an insight into the sort of demands on a famous scientist, with many and varying people and organisations wanting your opinion and approval / sanction. The letters after his receiving the Nobel prize are worth the price of the book alone.
Although the corespondence has been edited by his daughter it doesn't always strive to put R.P.F. in a good light.(But letters from his other amours are missing.)
Altogether a really enjoyable read and has altered my perception of R.P.F. (in his favour!)
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Customer Reviews
A Big Book About a Big Man, 17 Oct 2008
In two hundred years time very few people now alive will be routinely known and their names and deeds recalled. Only historians will be be familiar with the names of pygmies such as Bush and Blair. However, we live in a culture which immortalises great explorers - Magellan, Columbus, Cook, Amundsen, Hillary & Tenzing Norgay and many others. In our time Neil Armstrong joined this exclusive group along with Yuri Gagarin.
I would go so far as to say that the Apollo mission to the moon was the defining cultural statement of identity made by mankind in the second half of the twentieth century. It was our equivalent of building stonehenge, the great wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, the great mediaeval cathedrals, the voyages of discovery in small wooden ships and the great Victorian engineering achievements. It set down a mark for future generations to get a measure of us. It was as if we were saying to posterity 'look at this and wonder at us that we could do this in our time. This is the most difficult thing we can do at this time. Judge us by this.'
Whilst Apollo was an immense engineering and scientific project it was also one of the greatest human adventures of modern times. And at the centre of this adventure was an enigma, Neil Armstrong. Armstrong is a quiet man from Ohio who developed an early interest in aviation that takes him into the military and the Korean war. Later he becomes a brilliant test pilot and this leads to his involvement with the space programme. It is extraordinary that this is the first full biography that has been written about Armstrong with his co-operation. It is quite amusing that in an extrovert nation such as the US, which seems to like its super heroes to be big, loud, brash and in your face, Armstrong comes across as introverted and self-contained with no interest at all in celebrity or fame. He has spent most of his post Apollo life living quietly on a farm in Ohio.
I admire the author's perseverance in persuading Armstrong to co-operate in the first place as this was evidently not easy. Despite all the difficulties he has produced a big and worthy book. It's clear, reading between the lines, that Armstrong was not the easiest man to work with and his co-operation was less than total. Nevertheless, this is the best book you're ever going to get about Neil Armstrong. If you are interested in his life and remarkable achievements this is the one to buy. Good but perhaps not perfect, 17 Oct 2007
Having looked forward to a 'life of Neil Armstrong book' for most of my life being a real Apollo fan. I did enjoy reading First Man: The Life of Neil Armstrong. This book is well researched, has some good pictures and for the first time the reader can learn about the 'real Neil Armstrong'. There is much more to Mr.Armstrong than being the first man on the moon.
A great read - will be liked by space buffs, maybe a little dry for those who are not!
This should be a fascinating book..., 08 Aug 2007
...but is by far and way the worst written book I have read in years. I cannot fathom how anyone can make the story of travelling and landing on the moon so uninteresting. There is page after page after page of irrelevant data which leaves you feeling cheated of precious time.
I have no doubt this is an incredibly well researched book, but so is an encyclopedia and I have no interest in reading one from cover to cover. Award Winning!, 30 Dec 2006
This book has just earned the title of "Outstanding Academic Book" of 2006, awarded by CHOICE magazine and the American Library Association. It has also won the top book award of the American Astronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. As Walter Cronkite says on the cover of the book, it is "a book for all time." Plane Spotter's Delight, 09 Dec 2006
Neil's forebears came from Scotland, but none was William Wallace or Robert the Bruce, or Bonny Prince Charley.
When Neil was at Primary school it is thought that, on occasions, he may have got a gold star. But there is no documentation on the matter.
A nasty man called Yeager wrote some stories about Neil but they were probably not what occurred.
A chap called Wolfe wrote a book which exaggerated a lot of things and some of them weren't how Neil remembers them.
Neil flew a lot of state of the art planes, sometimes for hours on end, and he did a lot of take offs and landings, and all his bosses thought he was an OK guy, most of the time.
If you are a plane spotter or an insomniac you will love this book.
A great introduction to the genius of Tesla, 26 Aug 2002
This is a well written biography of Tesla which gives a factual account of his unbelievable career. It shows that he was an engineer; his inventions worked because he did the theory to ensure they did. He was way ahead of his contemporaries, including Marconi and Edison, and this books should be in every degree course. Sure you want this book!, 22 Jul 2002
If you like biographies about great persons, this book has its natural place side by side with "Genius" (James Gleich about Richard Feynman). And when you have read it, you'll become amazed why Tesla isn't as famous as Einstein (or Feynman). Unlike many books about Tesla, this is about facts - and what facts! There are no place to myths about Tesla, the facts are enough - and this is the book where you'll find them. A reliable and well written book about a true wizard of science - a wizard that made life easier to billions - and "how" and "why" he did it. The Best Tesla Biography to Date, 12 May 2002
A factual, academic Tesla biography, without any of the usual sensationalism of his being sent from other planets! Extremely well written, the book reads like a novel and also acts as an excellent reference work. The Margaret Cheney and Robert Lomas books make a good introduction to a man who was a rather complex subject, but this book really does add so many layers to his character that to any serious student of Tesla or his work this should be an essential part of their library.
Fabulous book on the genious of N. Tesla, a MUST READ, 04 Feb 1999
I read the 1998 softcover edition and LOVED IT! I first saw the name "TESLA" as a "brand" name on the television sets in eastern Europe. My curiosity up, I searched Amazon.com and found this book. I became a TESLA fan immediately! TESLA had the greatest inventive genius of the 20th century, and most of his key patents were filed in the 1890's !! HE WAS SO FAR AHEAD OF HIS TIME that some of his work is still labeled "TOP SECRET" by the U.S. government today. This book is a lesson in history, conspiracy, industrial espionage, science, corporate power and the sheer awesome genius of TESLA, whose name SHOULD be taught to every school child....before that of EDISON !!!
The best Tesla Biography to date, 21 Dec 1998
This book is without a shadow of doubt the BEST book on Tesla ever written. If you're looking for non-technical Tesla information, this is the book to buy!
The Harleys and The Davidsons behind Harley-Davidson, 01 Apr 2004
Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album is a great gift for anyone who wants to know more about Harley-Davidsons. While most books about these wonderful motorcycles focus on the bikes and their impact on the culture, the Family Album describes the effect of the motorcycle on the founders and their families . . . and vice versa. It's a dimension of Harley-Davidson that I knew nothing about . . . and found to be fascinating. Jean Davidson is the granddaughter of Walter Davidson, the first president of the company, and her father was Gordon Davidson, a company vice president. She is a former dealer. She teams up with Sara Ann Harley-O'Hearn to add comments about both families. About half of the photographs were new to me, and the captions were priceless. The book opens with family trees of Davidsons and Harleys who are in the book so you can keep track of who's who. Then the book turns to how the families emigrated from Europe to Wisconsin in the late 1800s. Within five pages of photographs, you begin to see motorcycle images. The first classic is of Arthur Davidson with a friend holding up the fish they caught while sitting on a motorcycle and in a sidecar. The original idea behind the motorcycle was to help make it easier to go fishing. Go figure! The text is also interesting . . . including an explanation of why the company is called Harley-Davidson rather than Davidson-Harley. The family connections are interesting. The model called "Silent Grey Fellow" in 1914 employed the nickname for William Sylvester Harley. There's also a nice page on the first motorcycle and what happened to it through 1912. It wasn't all easy. In 1904 a household maid raided the company's cash jar, and left the company broke. The Davidson brothers' uncle, James McLay, came to the rescue. His photograph is included. Interspaced with the family materials are examples of motorcycles, advertisements and motion picture stills featuring motorcycles. One of my favorite family photographs shows the chauffeur who was used to drive the founder's wives around in a sidecar. Even though the family was prospering, they preferred their bikes! There are also photographs of the male founders working on bikes and even testing them. The book also describes the company's attitude toward having women work at the company (single women only in the early days). Just after I finished this book, I happened to see an advertisement for S.C. Johnson where the fourth generation and fifth generation members talked about how the company is the family and vice versa. I couldn't help but think that this observation is equally true of Harley-Davidson after enjoying this fine album. Photography fans should be warned, however, that like most family albums, these images are often not professional grade. They are often just like the snaps that your grandparents and parents took when they were young. To me, that aspect just added to the charm of the book. I was encouraged to take out our family album after looking at this one. I hope you will do the same.
Very Readable, 29 Aug 2006
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and once into it found it very hard to put down. Whilst an entertaining read I like other reviewers wonder whether we have been given a caricature of Steve Jobs as opposed to the real man. There are lots of relationships that I wished I knew more about such as his interaction with Woz.
Certainly worth looking at.
Fascinating Person, Good Book, 07 Aug 2006
Being in my early thirties and working in technology, I've always had an interest in the early computing gang (Jobs, Woz, Gates etc.). Much has already been written about the early years in the Valley and this book recounts those times in great detail, maybe at the expense of more recent events. The last two years of events in the book seem added as an afterthought (I realise that this is an updated version but ..) and the research doesn't seem as thorough or the story as well told. All told, a good book about a fascinating person.
The story from college dropout to billionaire businessman., 08 Mar 2006
The book tells a comprehensive story of the history of Steve Jobs business dealings. It says the subject is a driven, selfish sometimes rude person. I still do not feel that I know what Steve Jobs is like everyday as a person. I still do not know why an Apple computer is diferent from a PC. The last 20 percent of the book is about Disney. The book is a story of Steve Jobs amazing business career but not a personal biography of the man.
Jobs: The Good, the bad and the ugly, plus the great!, 19 Jan 2006
I have to declare I love Mac's, I love Ipods and I love every movie that Pixar have made - that should make me a fan of Steve Jobs. This book tells the story of his life so far, from birth, through education and right up to the present day, it pulls no punches about both his personal flaws and his corporate failures - it is a real page-turner and left me as thrilled as I have been by any fiction by the likes of Clancy or Grisham. If you love Jobs then read the book, if you hate him then read it, if you haven't heard of Jobs, Macs, Ipods or even Pixar, then read the book! It should be compulsory reading for any business studies student and any would-be entraprenour. Why, becuase it shows the reality of what real business is like in the real world - even if this version of reality is larger than life!
An account Steve Jobs may not want to read, 06 Jan 2006
It's what an unauthorised biography should be, honest and as accurate as is "possibly" allowed without legal repercussions. I found myself at points wondering “is this stuff too good to be true?” The answer is yes and no, the authors have done a fantastic job in researching Steve Jobs’ life and have been tactful in his most private life, however I felt that they were sometimes too biased towards the Steve Jobs ideology or rather "jobsian" attitude the authors refer to all the time. They almost seem too convinced of what they were writing was the truth, and how Steve Jobs would want it to be written rather than some of the raw and underlying truths of his personal and more publicised business life. Overall the book was well written and as mentioned well researched, but beware, I am now convinced that I should save up for an iPod after reading how great and how revolutionary it has been to the music world.
A excellent book, 08 Oct 2006
Here is every detail you would want to have in a book which is also very readable. It will suit Spitfire nuts and general history reader. A very good read.
Excellent from both a technical and personal point of view, 24 Jul 2000
Jeffrey Quill captures the spirit of the spitfire as only one whio was so intimately responsible for its birth and success can. Extremely readable personel account of Quill's life is backed by the engrossing technical defects and remedies the he and his team at Supermarine encountered and were able to correct to produce this greatest of air fighters.
Complementing "Surely you're Joking", 17 Feb 2007
This book is not as amusing as the "Surely you're joking" books. The book is a collection of letters and provides a good complement to the other books as they tell Mr. Feynman's thoughts in the moment and not in retrospect.
One amusing coincidence is that Mr. Feynman wrote from Greece about an ancient machine that nobody knew what was. It is known as the Antikythera Mechanism, and the mystery was solved the same week as I read that letter. It is an astronomical clock.
Another Feynman gem!, 22 Feb 2006
Anyone who has ever read any Feynman before will know to expect his letters to be filled with humour, wit, genius and above all a passion for what he did, and they will not be disappointed! Although being Feynman the theme of the book never strays too far from science, being a collaboration of letters to everyone and anyone from personal correspondence with family and friends, to letters to journalists, colleagues and devoted fans, this book I think gives more of a picture of what Feynman was really like in what he thought about many different topics and his approach to difficult decisions and situations. I revelled in the chapter about his Nobel Prize - hearing about the modesty and anti-honours attitude of such a genius was humbling to say the least. Along with the usual stories of safe - cracking for fun, playing the bongos and generally being a down to earth yet amazing person, as with anything Feynman, this book is utterly inspiring and impossibly hard to put down.
Feynman in his own words, 26 Jun 2005
A must for Feynman fans!
An excellent book despite its appearance! It is fascinating to watch the development of R.P.F.s personality and confidence (compare his early letters to his 1st wife with his letters to his last). Having said that there are two letters to Arline (1st wife)that brought tears to this reviewers eye.
It is also an insight into the sort of demands on a famous scientist, with many and varying people and organisations wanting your opinion and approval / sanction. The letters after his receiving the Nobel prize are worth the price of the book alone.
Although the corespondence has been edited by his daughter it doesn't always strive to put R.P.F. in a good light.(But letters from his other amours are missing.)
Altogether a really enjoyable read and has altered my perception of R.P.F. (in his favour!)
giggling;y good, 07 Oct 2008
I bought this to read on a flight, and it was a delightful book. Chas had me giggling so much! If you enjoyed Urban Dreams, Rural Realities then give this book a try, it's not in chronological order, but it flows nicely from one subject to another.
Also pick up more scenes from a smallholding!
Great Read!, 05 Oct 2008
What a great read!! Funny and quite informative if you are thinking of starting a smallholding... couldn't put it down until I finished it and wanted more... fancy finding a book that helps you see what difficulties you might face if you start a new life in the country, gives you helpful hints AND is such a good read that even if you weren't thinking of a move it is just so funny.
Scenes from a smallholding , 16 Jan 2008
This was a most entertaining book. Once you are used the chronological layout, it is humourous, touching and inspiring. I urge you to read it
Best book I've read in a long time, 05 Jun 2007
Scenes from a Smallholding is one of best books I've ever read, simple as that. Incredibly funny, perceptive, thought provoking and motivational. What more could you want?
Learn about one man and his family's life changing experience and have an absolute whale of time to boot!
An Original Downshifter....., 16 Aug 2005
Chas Griffin had an 'Epiphany'in Urban Birmingham and that was that. Chas, wife & children soon swapped grey for green, fumes for fertiliser (organic of course) and a self- sufficient lifestyle in rural Wales soon becoming Organic Garlic Growers to provide a small income. Things ain't easy for the Griffins but despite the hard work and set backs, their ability to view their lives with humour and Chas's ability to contemplate the bizarre make this book truley different from others. I liked the writing style, intelligent, quirky, informative, gentle but passionate- above all its a great human story and the ending will have you wanting the author to write book 2- right away.....
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Customer Reviews
A Big Book About a Big Man, 17 Oct 2008
In two hundred years time very few people now alive will be routinely known and their names and deeds recalled. Only historians will be be familiar with the names of pygmies such as Bush and Blair. However, we live in a culture which immortalises great explorers - Magellan, Columbus, Cook, Amundsen, Hillary & Tenzing Norgay and many others. In our time Neil Armstrong joined this exclusive group along with Yuri Gagarin.
I would go so far as to say that the Apollo mission to the moon was the defining cultural statement of identity made by mankind in the second half of the twentieth century. It was our equivalent of building stonehenge, the great wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, the great mediaeval cathedrals, the voyages of discovery in small wooden ships and the great Victorian engineering achievements. It set down a mark for future generations to get a measure of us. It was as if we were saying to posterity 'look at this and wonder at us that we could do this in our time. This is the most difficult thing we can do at this time. Judge us by this.'
Whilst Apollo was an immense engineering and scientific project it was also one of the greatest human adventures of modern times. And at the centre of this adventure was an enigma, Neil Armstrong. Armstrong is a quiet man from Ohio who developed an early interest in aviation that takes him into the military and the Korean war. Later he becomes a brilliant test pilot and this leads to his involvement with the space programme. It is extraordinary that this is the first full biography that has been written about Armstrong with his co-operation. It is quite amusing that in an extrovert nation such as the US, which seems to like its super heroes to be big, loud, brash and in your face, Armstrong comes across as introverted and self-contained with no interest at all in celebrity or fame. He has spent most of his post Apollo life living quietly on a farm in Ohio.
I admire the author's perseverance in persuading Armstrong to co-operate in the first place as this was evidently not easy. Despite all the difficulties he has produced a big and worthy book. It's clear, reading between the lines, that Armstrong was not the easiest man to work with and his co-operation was less than total. Nevertheless, this is the best book you're ever going to get about Neil Armstrong. If you are interested in his life and remarkable achievements this is the one to buy.
Good but perhaps not perfect, 17 Oct 2007
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