Books by "Robert J. Serling"
4 books found
Flying in the early 20th Century was dangerous business. Aircraft were made of sticks and cloth and engines failed at alarming rates. Those who flew risked both accidents and death. However, some saw this stumbling attempt to master the skies as an opportunity to bring the human race forward. They had a vision of stylish travel in the skies combining comfort, speed and profit. Such was the vision of Transcontinental Air Transport's Lindbergh Line that began the first scheduled coast-to-coast airline passenger service in 1929. Relive the adventure of that time and travel with the author as he flies what remains today of the "Lindbergh Line."
Harder Than I Thought
by Robert Daniel Austin, Richard L. Nolan, Shannon O'Donnell
2013 · Harvard Business Press
Today’s CEO must be a global leader who also understands that parts of the business must be managed locally. Someone who sets a strategic vision, though industry and technology disruptions will surely threaten that vision. Someone who must live in the future to go to the future, while continuously creating economic and social value. Not an easy task. Harder Than I Thought is a fictional narrative that puts this increasingly complex job in context—by enabling you to walk alongside Jim Barton, the new CEO of Santa Monica Aerospace, as he steps into the role. Barton’s story, developed in consultation with seasoned, reallife CEOs, contains crucial lessons for all leaders hoping to master the new skills required to move into the Csuite.
The building of an airport in 1929 was not just developing a design and bringing together concrete and steel. It needed a radical design idea of how to safely bring heavier than air flying machines together with people as passengers. The questions involved defied answers. Such as how far can an aircraft safely fly? How many people can make up a safe flight? What should the design of an airport look like and how can man and machine fit together in a way that moved both forward? There were a thousand questions with few known answers. It took brave, intelligent, far sighted individuals to push the limits of imagination, machines, human stamina and vision to bring all of the needed elements together. These elements would build a great airport with a successful design for people and machines of flight. The thinkers realized that air was much like water and as such the skies could be like rivers or oceans that served major cities with commerce. The building of a great airport could become a “Giant Air Harbor” that could serve as a mighty air center of commerce. Such was the beginning of Port Columbus, the “Nation’s Greatest Air Harbor.”
JFK issued the historic moon landing challenge. These are the stories of the visionaries who helped America complete his vision with the first lunar landing fifty years ago. A Companion Book to the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE® Film on PBS® Going in depth to explore their stories beyond the PBS series, writer/producer Robert Stone—called “one of our most important documentary filmmakers” by Entertainment Weekly—brings these important figures to brilliant life. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy proposed the nation spend twenty billion dollars to land a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. Based on eyewitness accounts and newly discovered archival material, Chasing the Moon reveals for the first time the unknown stories of the fascinating individuals whose imaginative work across several decades culminated in America’s momentous achievement. More than a story of engineers and astronauts, the moon landing—now celebrating its fiftieth anniversary—grew out of the dreams of science fiction writers, filmmakers, military geniuses, and rule-breaking scientists. They include • Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, whose writing inspired some of the key players in the Moon race. A scientific paper he wrote in his twenties led to the U.S. beating Russia in one area of space: communications satellites. • Wernher von Braun, the former Nazi military genius who oversaw Hitler's rocket weapons program. After working on ballistic missiles for the U.S. Army, he was recruited by NASA to manage the creation of the Saturn V moon rocket. • Astronaut Frank Borman, commander of the first mission to circumnavigate the Moon, whose powerful testimony before Congress in 1967 decisively saved the U.S. lunar program from being cancelled. • Poppy Northcutt, a young mathematician who was the first woman to work in Mission Control. Her media exposure as a unique presence in this all-male world allowed her the freedom to stand up for equal rights for women and minorities. • Edward Dwight, an African American astronaut candidate, recruited at the urging of the Kennedy White House to further the administration’s civil rights agenda—but not everyone welcomed his inclusion. Setting these key players in the political, social, and cultural climate of the time, and including captivating photographs throughout, Chasing the Moon focuses on the science and the history, but most important, the extraordinary individuals behind what was undoubtedly the greatest human achievement of the twentieth century.