There is a huge lapse in time since my last book report. Not because I didn’t read any books, nor because I didn’t find any of them worth reviewing, but because I had no desire to write articles for my blog. Call it blog overload or blog-o-phobia whatever, it is a loss in interest in the stuff of life. One expert has told me it is a sign of depression. Who me? No!
On Ash Wednesday I began a walking routine which I have maintained for ten days straight. The exercise gurus will tell me that is wrong. I should have had a rest day in there. My idea is that if I don’t establish a habit I’d never make it past the first rest day. Tomorrow will tell the story. The point of this lame tale is that ever since I began walking my spirits have risen, my energy level is higher, my interests are returning, and I feel better.
The book I am reviewing is titled How To Make A Spaceship by Julian Guthrie. The story is true and has an interesting flow. Julian chronicles the lives of several men from the time they were young, very young in most cases, until they achieve goals set early in life. If there is one word to describe these men it is “passion.” None of them let go of the dream, and directed their lives in ways that would give them the tools they needed to reach success.
Here is a short list of the men involved, Peter Diamandis is the central character. Most people have never heard of him unless they are space nuts. In Peter’s course to reach space he runs into men like Burt Rutan a builder of airplanes and a man who flew his design around the world on a single tank of gas. Another is Erik Lindbergh grandson of Charles Lindbergh the first man to solo fly across the Atlantic ocean non-stop from Long Island, New York to Paris. Erik attributes his recovery from debilitating rheumatoid arthritis to inspiration acquired from Diamandis’s enthusiasm to reach space. Paul Allen co-founder of Microsoft, Elon Musk inventor of PayPal, Richard Branson who earned a fortune off Virgin Records and today heads over four hundred company’s under the Virgin Group. Marion Blakey second lady administrator of the FAA, and a gaggle of others who worked to launch the first citizen initiated sub-orbital flight into space.
Authoress Julian did an amazing job of telling a highly charged story of a technical nature into a fascinating spell binding read. This is one book I did not put down, and when I did, I could not wait to start it again. If you are into stories about flight, space, or passionately driven people this is one for you.
Filed under: Book Review, Education, Science | Tagged: Diamandis, Rutan, Spaceship1, White Knight | Leave a comment »
