Percival Lowell's Big Red Car


Book Description

This is the story of one car --a 1911 Stevens-Duryea Model Y "Big Six" -- and its famous owner, Percival Lowell, the American astronomer best known for his studies of Mars and mathematical prediction of the discovery of Pluto. The narrative follows the vehicle, a product of Frank Duryea -- of the pioneering Duryea brothers -- through its time with Lowell and through subsequent owners to its present status as a moving landmark of history. Important developments in the early history of the gasoline-powered automobile are traced to establish the context in which this remarkable vehicle was created. The community in which the Duryea brothers labored, in short-lived teamwork, and their role in the evolution of the automobile industry are discussed. The text also provides an intimate look at the life of one of America's most important astronomers.




Percival Lowell's Big Red Car


Book Description

This is the story of one car--a 1911 Stevens-Duryea Model Y "Big Six"--and its famous owner Percival Lowell, the American astronomer best known for his studies of Mars and mathematical prediction of the discovery of Pluto. The narrative follows the vehicle, a product of Frank Duryea--of the pioneering Duryea brothers--through its time with Lowell and through subsequent owners to its present status as a moving landmark of history. This automobile made its debut in Flagstaff, which was at that time a frontier logging and cow town of Arizona with unpaved streets in what was not yet even one of the United States. It survived the years from 1911 when delivered to Lowell, through his death in 1916, through occasional use until 1938 when it was "abandoned," then through sixty subsequent years of neglect before being restored to its original form and condition and finally returning to Lowell Observatory on Mars Hill overlooking Flagstaff. Many of the important developments in the early history of the gasoline-powered automobile are traced to establish the context in which this remarkable vehicle was created. The community in which the Duryea brothers labored, in short lived teamwork, and their role in the evolution of the automobile industry are discussed. The text also provides an intimate look at the life of one of America's most important astronomers.




The Puritan Ice Companies


Book Description

The rise and fall of a California business in an era of rapid technological change—includes historic photos. The Puritan Ice Companies operated at Santa Barbara, California, from 1922 to 1986, opening the vegetable markets in the Santa Maria and Lompoc Valleys to wide distribution by pioneering the use of refrigerated railcars. Puritan ran the world’s largest poultry plant and, during the World War II homefront era of the 1940s, was pivotal in facilitating Mexican labor in California, expanding vegetable and melon markets at Blythe, and providing ice for General Patton’s Army Desert Training Center near Indio. The rise and fall of one company parallels stories of domestic ice usage and the impact of ice on the rail business, which declined with the rise of interstate refrigerated trucking. Join Santa Barbara historian David Petry as he examines the history of one unique Central Coast corporation’s impact on the national scene.




The Lowells of Massachusetts


Book Description

“[A] stirring saga...Vivid and intimate, Ms. Sankovitch’s account entertains us with Puritans and preachers, Tories and rebels, abolitionists and industrialists, lecturers and poets ... Ms. Sankovitch has made a compelling contribution to Massachusetts and American History.”—Roger Lowenstein, The Wall Street Journal "Sankovitch has searched out these letters to write the powerful story of one of America’s most extraordinary families, a family that helped shape the course of American history in dramatic and decisive ways...By the final pages of this volume, one feels deeply attached to the individual Lowells, while also exhilarated at having experienced this grand sweep of American history." —Charlotte Gordon, Washington Post The Lowells of Massachusetts were a remarkable family. They were settlers in the New World in the 1600s, revolutionaries creating a new nation in the 1700s, merchants and manufacturers building prosperity in the 1800s, and scientists and artists flourishing in the 1900s. For the first time, Nina Sankovitch tells the story of this fascinating and powerful dynasty in The Lowells of Massachusetts. Though not without scoundrels and certainly no strangers to controversy, the family boasted some of the most astonishing individuals in America’s history: Percival Lowle, the patriarch who arrived in America in the seventeenth to plant the roots of the family tree; Reverend John Lowell, the preacher; Judge John Lowell, a member of the Continental Congress; Francis Cabot Lowell, manufacturer and, some say, founder of the Industrial Revolution in the US; James Russell Lowell, American Romantic poet; Lawrence Lowell, one of Harvard’s longest-serving and most controversial presidents; and Amy Lowell, the twentieth century poet who lived openly in a Boston Marriage with the actress Ada Dwyer Russell. The Lowells realized the promise of America as the land of opportunity by uniting Puritan values of hard work, community service, and individual responsibility with a deep-seated optimism that became a well-known family trait. Long before the Kennedys put their stamp on Massachusetts, the Lowells claimed the bedrock.




A Tale of Two Passes


Book Description

A Tale of Two Passes, An Inquiry into Certain Alpine Literature, Light Technology Publishing's newest title, is devoted to treasuring the history of Mont Cenis and the Great Saint Bernard passages. Both of these passes were prominently and frequently used by the Romans in establishing and maintaining their empire. It is surmised that Hannibal and his troops found elephant-friendly passages through the Mont Cenis corridor. Both passes were adorned with hospices/shelters near their crest and both now have been by passed by modern tunnels. Despite these similarities, their historic prominence derives from distinctly different events and factors.




The Mountaineer?s Pontiff


Book Description

ÿThe Mountaineer?s Pontiff by William Lowell Putnam




The Great Glacier and Its House


Book Description

Spanning forty years, this book recreates the spirit of a golden age of exploration and travel when adventure-seeking men and women made grand tours into an unknown wilderness and alpinists, scientists, photographers, and tourists discovered for the first time the secrets of a great and varied land. In the mighty Selkirk Mountains of Canada lies Rogers Pass which was the scene of three major events in the history of North America: in 1884, it presented an enormous obstacle to the Canadian Pacific Railway in its drive to connect the new nation coast-to-coast; it became the site of the first modern, European-style resort hotel in the mountains; and it was the first locality to attract the attention of serious mountaineers from around the world. Putnam blends these three events and weaves them into an accurate early history of the region. He shares with us the heroic, often tragic, tale of the Canadian Pacific Railway. He takes us into the magnificent surroundings of the Great Glacier and we see the modest Glacier House develop through the years into a world- famous luxury hotel. And as the Rogers Pass Glacier area becomes the focal point in the fledgling sport of alpinism in North America, we join the earliest expeditions undertaken in the Selkirk Range. The focus of the book, however, is on the people whose paths cross at Glacier House -- and the author lets them tell their own stories. The personalities of the railroad executives and the hotel staff emerge from correspondence and reports. As a basis of much of the book, Putnam has included many firsthand accounts from the Glacier House register. Known as "The Scrapbook," it contains the handwritten accounts of virtually every notable climber and mountain explorer of the early era. Magnificent historical photographs, many of them never before published, exquisitely illustrate the book. The forty-year saga is vividly retold through these rare photographs of the scenes those early adventurers witnessed when they first visited the Great Glacier and its house.




The Case for Pluto


Book Description

In support of Pluto-the cutest and most unfairly treated planet Pity poor Pluto: It's a planet that was discovered because of a mistake, a planet that turned out not to be a planet at all, thanks to a still-disputed decision made in 2006. And yet, Pluto is the planet best-loved by Americans, especially children, one that may have contained the building blocks of life billions of years ago and may well serve as life's last redoubt billions of years from now. In The Case for Pluto, award-winning science writer Alan Boyle traces the tiny planet's ups and downs, its strange appeal, the reasons behind its demotion, and the reasons why it should be set back in the planetary pantheon. Tells the compelling story of Pluto's discovery and how it became a cultural icon Makes the case for Pluto as planet, countering the books that argue against it Comes in a small, friendly package — just like Pluto — and features a handsome design, making it a great gift The Case for Pluto is the must-read tale of a cosmic underdog that has captured the hearts of millions: an endearing little planet that is changing the way we see the universe beyond our backyard. Alan Boyle is MSNBC.com’s science editor and the award-winning blogger behind Cosmic Log. He’s been a talking head on NBC’s The Today Show and the MSNBC cable channel, holding forth on scientific subjects ranging from the chances of an asteroid Armageddon to the 3-D wizardry behind the “Harry Potter” movies. But he writes better than he talks.




Torquemada Revisited


Book Description

This book traces the origin of the forces and personalities that brought about the Spanish Inquisition and its impact on the larger world. It dwells extensively on the causes and principal figures of the Protestant Reformation and explains how those attitudes came to influence the evolution of modern American politics and bigotry. A careful reading of this narrative explains how political and religious leaders, often being somewhat interchangeable, have been able to devise "enemies" that can be used to convince sufficient of the populace to elect or retain in high office whose who portray themselves as opposed to such "enemies"; ignoring, in so doing, the sage advice of Benjamin Franklin that "those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary security, deserve neither liberty nor security."




K2 and the 1939 Tragedy


Book Description

The story of the 1939 American K2 expedition is well known among mountaineers: world-class German-born climber Fritz Wiessner and Pasang Dawa Lama came within 800 feet of attaining the world's second-highest unclimbed summit before turning back for more supplies. Rejoining them on the descent was Dudley Wolfe, who had stayed not far below. Upon reaching the lower camps, the party found them stripped of supplies and deserted. Wiessner decided to descend further to investigate, and left Wolfe behind -- alone. Later, unable to descend solo, Wolfe had to be rescued; but the attempt failed, and Wolfe and Sherpas Pasang Kikuli, Pasang Kitar, and Phinsoo died. Initially, Wiessner was held responsible, but in time the blame shifted to climber Jack Durrance and another Sherpa. The disaster was considered one of the worst accidents in the climbing history of the Himalaya. It was also the subject of much speculation for years afterward. For some historians, the speculation would not rest. There were too many missing pieces, inconsistencies, and unanswered questions for a disaster of this scale. Unfortunately, reliable documentation was scarce. So was the cooperation of the remaining expedition members, who did not want to rekindle the controversy that arose from the expedition's failure. They echoed the neutral statement issued by the investigating committee of the American Alpine Club in 1940, which said, in effect, let sleeping dogs lie. When Andrew J. Kauffman and William L. Putnam later began work on Wiessner's biography, they found discrepancies in the account of the K2 incident. Intrigued, they dug deeper and began to uncover a larger tangle of events than had been previously suspected. The recent availability of Jack Durrance's own trip diary further enabled them to unravel the events of the ill-fated adventure on K2. K2: The 1939 Tragedy retraces the expedition's key elements -- the debilitating weather, the personalities and weaknesses of party members, Wiessner's "romantic vision" uncharacteristic of the climbing era --and reveals the steps that led toward catastrophe. K2: The 1939 Tragedy attempts to balance the accounts of this fifty-year-old saga.