Inflight Science: A Guide to the World from Your Airplane Window (PAPERBACK)

Brian Clegg

UK £12.99,Canada $26.00,USA $17.95,
UK Publication April 2011
ISBN 9781848312418
Paperback
Page Extent 224

Buy: | Amazon UK| Amazon US| Waterstones| Book Depository

 

There are few times that science is so immediate as when you're in a plane.

Acclaimed science writer Brian Clegg shows how you stay up there – but that’s only the beginning.

Inflight Science explains the ever-changing view, whether it’s crop circles or clouds, mountains or river deltas, and describes easy-to-do experiments, from showing how a wing provides lift to calculating the population of the towns you fly over. You’ll learn why the coastline is infi nite in length, the cause ofthunderstorms and the true impact of volcanic ash on aircraft engines.

Fascinating facts to discover include:

The jet stream winds are so fast that a plane travelling west to east within them can fly beyond the speed of sound. 

The wingspan of a 747 is around twice the distance flown by the Wright Flyer on its maiden flight.

With good visibility and total darkness, the human eye is so sensitive that you could see a single candle from the cruising height of a plane.

Packed full of amazing insights from physics, chemistry, engineering, geography and more, Inflight Science is a voyage of scientific discovery perfect for any journey – even if it’s just in your armchair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--------------

Brian Clegg is a science writer. He runs www.popularscience.co.uk and his most recent book was Armageddon Science (St Martin’s Press, 2010)

See more books by: Brian Clegg


--------------

Tags: spring 2011, LBF Rights 2011