| Subcategories |
 |
Science Fiction & Fantasy |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Space Travel (Science Fiction Writing Series)
written by Ben Bova, Anthony R. Lewis
Studio : Writers Digest Books
by Writers Digest Books
Publisher : Writers Digest Books
Released : 1997-03
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
EAN : 9780898797473
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 9 reviews)
List Price : $16.99
Our Price : $14.99
|
|
| |
|
Don't waste your money |
|
You can learn more off the internet than what's in this book. The premise is basically make up your own stardrive and call it a day. The stuff in this book is fluff. Sorry Ben Bova ! |
| |
|
Another Excellent Book in the "Sci-Fi Writing Series". |
|
This is another of the books in this series that was put together by Ben Bova and a host of others. Mr. Bova has written a ton of Sci-Fi, and he is definitely an authority on the subject. This book covers the science behind spacecraft, and delves into the history of spaceflight, both manned and unmanned. It also covers the technology, even going into the math of calculating thrust, impulse, etc. I have used the section on theoretical spacecraft design in a novel that I am currently writing. I have found the information it includes to be very valuable. |
| |
|
Prepares you for more advanced works |
|
This is, for the most part, a good book. Although it does have some errors of style (METRIC UNITS! PLEASE!) and a few errors of fact, as noted by other reviews, it covers a wide scope in adequate detail. This books gives the basics of space science. From these basics, you should be able to branch out to more advanced tomes (Example books: The Starflight Handbook, The Third Industrial Revolution, etc.) Use this book to get started, but don't trust its entirety. |
| |
|
Prepares you for more advanced works |
|
This is, for the most part, a good book. Although it does have some errors of style (METRIC UNITS! PLEASE!) and a few errors of fact, as noted by other reviews, it covers a wide scope in adequate detail. This books gives the basics of space science. From these basics, you should be able to branch out to more advanced tomes (Example books: The Starflight Handbook, The Third Industrial Revolution, etc.) Use this book to get started, but don't trust its entirety. |
| |
|
Basic, narrow, flawed. |
|
I have to agree with the other negative review on this site--if you know so little about the mechanics of current and near-future space flight, it's hard to imagine what business you have trying to _write_ science fiction. The book focuses heavily on the technology we have _today_, and maybe extrapolating 50 years or so into the future, which terribly limits its scope. Even so, the presentation of this material is at such a simplistic, primitive level that it's hard to derive a lot of value from it. The other reviewer noted serious flaws in the presentation of the material (no metric units!), and, indeed, flat-out factual errors. The time-dialation miscalculation is a real howler. Even the presentation of the history of real-world space travel leaves much to be desired (Bova calls the cancellation of the Apollo program "short-sighted" on the part of the administration...without considering how many tens of billions of (adjusted) dollars were pouring into a national prestige program to bring back the world's most expensive dirt and gravel.) A shallow work of marginal value. Learn everything in here, and more, with a book or two explicitly on _real-world_ space travel, the solar system, and a few astronomy magazines. |
| |
|
|
|
