JPL Picks: JPLer Recommended Reading: Print Books

An inside look at NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission chronicles the evolution of the project, from its conception in 1995 to successful landing on the planet Mars in 2004, covering the politics, mistakes, and technological innovation involved.

The leader of the team that created the revolutionary Mars Sojourner rover chronicles her trailblazing career in space exploration and tells the fascinating, behind-the-scenes story of the celebrated Mars Pathfinder mission.

This story behind the brilliant success of the Cassini-Huygens mission to the planet Saturn and its moon Titan details a monumental achievement that took scientists, engineers and government agencies from eighteen countries over 25 years to accomplish. The book tells it like it was and offers profound meaning not only for those interested in planetary exploration, but in general for all global leaders and professionals in business and government. The authors present this extraordinary feat of cross-cultural teamwork through the lens of paradoxical logic, demonstrating how a group of highly diverse people can excel globally if inspired by a unifying super ordinate goal and by discovering how success can be attained though the unity of diversity (be it disciplinary or cultural). Titans of Saturn is full of paradoxes: we travel to the far end of the solar system to discover new truths about ourselves. By reaching for the stars, cross-disciplinary and global teams can transform themselves and shape their own culture. The authors draw several important lessons of importance to dealing with the complexity of any large international or multi-disciplinary undertaking.

Why do we make mistakes? Are there certain errors common to failure, whether in a complex enterprise or daily life? In this truly indispensable book, Dietrich Dörner identifies what he calls the?logic of failure??certain tendencies in our patterns of thought that, while appropriate to an older, simpler world, prove disastrous for the complex world we live in now. Working with imaginative and often hilarious computer simulations, he analyzes the roots of catastrophe, showing city planners in the very act of creating gridlock and disaster, or public health authorities setting the scene for starvation. The Logic of Failure is a compass for intelligent planning and decision-making that can sharpen the skills of managers, policymakers and everyone involved in the daily challenge of getting from point A to point B.

In each of the six Apollo landings, the astronaunt in command seized control from the computer and landed with his hand on the stick. Here, Mindell recounts the story of these astronauts' desire to control their spacecraft in parallel with the Apollo Guidance Computer, and muses on human-computer interaction.

The author describes how scientists studying the growth of complexity in nature are discovering order and pattern in chaos. He explains concepts such as nonlinearity, the Butterfly Effect, universal constants, fractals, and strange attractors, and examines the work of scientists such as Mitchell J. Feigenbaum, Edward Lorenz, and Benoit Mandelbrot.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this book applies Godel's seminal contribution to modern mathematics to the study of the human mind and the development of artificial intelligence.

This book must be requested through "beacon express" Interlibrary Loan

Ranulph Fiennes has traveled to the most dangerous and inaccessible places on earth. In the process he nearly died on several occasions, lost nearly half his fingers to frostbite, and raised millions for charity. He discovered the lost city of Ubar in Oman and attempted to walk solo and unsupported to the South Pole. He was the first man to reach both poles by surface travel and the first to cross the Antarctic Continent unsupported. In 1993, Her Majesty the Queen awarded him the Order of the British Empire for "human endeavor and charitable services." An elite soldier, an athlete, a mountaineer, and a renowned explorer, Fiennes describes here in his own words his incredible journey through life.

This book must be requested through "beacon express" Interlibrary Loan

The best-selling author of The Tipping Point and Blink identifies the qualities of successful people, posing theories about the cultural, family, and idiosyncratic factors that shape high achievers, in a resource that covers such topics as the secrets of software billionaires, why certain cultures are associated with better academic performance, and why the Beatles earned their fame."In this provocative and inspiring book, Malcolm Gladwell examines everyone from business giants to scientific geniuses, sports stars to musicians, and reveals what they have in common. He looks behind the spectacular results, the myths and the legends to show what really explains exceptionally successful people." "Gladwell argues that, when we try to understand success, we normally start with the wrong question. We ask 'what is this person like?' when we should really be asking 'where are they from?' The real secret of success turns out to be surprisingly simple, and it hinges on a few crucial twists in people's life stories - on the culture they grow up in and the way they spend their time.

This book must be requested through "beacon express" Interlibrary Loan

Thinking in Systems is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute's Diana Wright, this primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world, showing readers how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life."--Jacket."In the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth--the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet-- Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001. Thinking in Systems, is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute's Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world, showing readers how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life. Some of the biggest problems facing the world--war, hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation--are essentially system failures. They cannot be solved by fixing one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have enormous power to undermine the best efforts of too-narrow thinking. While readers will learn the conceptual tools and methods of systems thinking, the heart of the book is grander than methodology. Donella Meadows was known as much for nurturing positive outcomes as she was for delving into the science behind global dilemmas. She reminds readers to pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable, to stay humble, and to stay a learner

This book must be requested through "beacon express" Interlibrary Loan

The story of the world's first supersonic car and the entangled human emotions behind this great engineering achievement. It is the tale of Richard Noble's obsession with speed, from his early days with the crude self-built Thrust 1 jet car to the Thrust SSC - the fastest car in the world.

This book must be requested through "beacon express" Interlibrary Loan

A leading climatologist and a science writer chronicle Earth's climate history--from the primeval tempests that saw the beginnings of life to the crucial environmental problems confronting the planet today--and demonstrate how life and weather evolved together.

This book must be requested through "beacon express" Interlibrary Loan

A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions on how to live. The narrator's relationship with his son leads to a powerful self-reckoning; the craft of motorcycle maintenance leads to an austerely beautiful process for reconciling science, religion, and humanism. Resonant with the confusions of existence, this classic is a touching and transcendent book of life.

This book must be requested through "beacon express" Interlibrary Loan

Daring Greatly is not about winning or losing. It’s about courage. In a world where “never enough” dominates and feeling afraid has become second nature, vulnerability is subversive. Uncomfortable. It’s even a little dangerous at times. And, without question, putting ourselves out there means there’s a far greater risk of getting criticized or feeling hurt. But when we step back and examine our lives, we will find that nothing is as uncomfortable, dangerous, and hurtful as standing on the outside of our lives looking in and wondering what it would be like if we had the courage to step into the arena—whether it’s a new relationship, an important meeting, the creative process, or a difficult family conversation. Daring Greatly is a practice and a powerful new vision for letting ourselves be seen.

This book must be requested through "beacon express" Interlibrary Loan

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger? Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final "class": lessons in how to live.

This book must be requested through "beacon express" Interlibrary Loan

Over the last three decades, the Santa Fe Institute and its network of researchers have been pursuing a revolution in science. Ignoring the boundaries of disciplines and schools and searching for novel fundamental ideas, theories, and practices, this international community integrates the full range of scientific inquiries that will help us to understand and survive on a complex planet. This volume collects essays from the past thirty years of research, in which contributors explain in clear and accessible language many of the deepest challenges and insights of complexity science. Explore the evolution of complex systems science with chapters from Nobel Laureates Murray Gell-Mann and Kenneth Arrow, aswell as numerous pioneering complexity researchers, including John Holland, Brian Arthur, Robert May, Richard Lewontin, Jennifer Dunne, and Geoffrey West.