Publishers Weekly Review
| Film lovers shudder when they think about the scene in Goldfinger where James Bond is strapped to a metal table as a laser slowly cutting it in two inches toward him. As physics professor Parker (The Isaac Newton School of Driving) reminds us, however, you can't see a laser beam. Bond is always sent out with the ultimate boy toys: a wristwatch with a built-in buzz saw, a pen with metal-dissolving acid, even a spin controller that can stop a slot machine right on the jackpot. Parker explains in layperson's terms the physics behind many of Bond's stunts and devices: the basic principles of motion as he out-skis an avalanche in On Her Majesty's Secret Service; how the hologram works in The World Is Not Enough; the science underlying the villain Blofield's voice changer in Diamonds Are Forever. When Parker gets away from the physics, however, his writing is plodding, and there are too many blow-by-blows. All in all, it's neither as exciting nor as much fun as a Bond movie. 90 b&w illus. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved |
CHOICE Review
| Lewis (Auburn Univ.) has provided a definitive, detailed biography of Rickenbacker, the Swiss immigrants' son who became the leading American air ace of WW I after having been a famed automobile race driver during the decade preceding the war. After the war, Rickenbacker's fame for his daring deeds on the race courses and in the air did not lead to satisfying, remunerative employment until Eastern Airlines hired him as an executive during the mid-1930s; he soon became its CEO. By the time that the industry stabilized, the US was involved in WW II. During that conflict, Rickenbacker carried out various missions for the federal government. On one such mission in 1942, the aircraft carrying him crashed into the Pacific Ocean. All aboard survived the crash and endured a 21-day adventure aboard a life raft with scant supplies until they were rescued. After the war Rickenbacker returned to Eastern Airlines, retiring in the 1960s. Aviation historians and buffs will feel indebted to Lewis for his book, which he worked on, among other activities, over a period of 15 years. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through professionals. M. Levinson formerly, University of Washington |
Booklist Review
| Historian Lewis grew up in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, one of Eddie Rickenbacker's stops when he was flying the air mail, and developed a lifelong interest in the aviator that flowers in this fine biography of the World War I ace (26 kills) and aviation hero. Rickenbacker early showed mechanical aptitude and was a successful auto-racing driver before taking to the air. A national icon after WWI, he failed to make a successful career in aviation until he joined Eastern Airlines in 1934. During World War II, he made headlines again, first by going missing in the southwest Pacific and three weeks later by being rescued from a rubber raft. After the war he became president of Eastern. Forced out in 1964 by younger men whose aviation experience was a generation and a war more recent, he died almost forgotten in 1973. Lewis is comprehensive about his subject, who was obviously more at home in the cockpit than anywhere else, and nearly comprehensive about the process by which interwar America chose its heroes. --Roland Green Copyright 2005 Booklist |
Kirkus Review
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