The Enigma Of The Aerofoil

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The Enigma of the Aerofoil

Author : David Bloor
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226060934
Total Pages : 562 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (26 download)

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Book Synopsis The Enigma of the Aerofoil by : David Bloor

Download or read book The Enigma of the Aerofoil written by David Bloor and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-10-03 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do aircraft fly? How do their wings support them? In the early years of aviation, there was an intense dispute between British and German experts over the question of why and how an aircraft wing provides lift. The British, under the leadership of the great Cambridge mathematical physicist Lord Rayleigh, produced highly elaborate investigations of the nature of discontinuous flow, while the Germans, following Ludwig Prandtl in Göttingen, relied on the tradition called “technical mechanics” to explain the flow of air around a wing. Much of the basis of modern aerodynamics emerged from this remarkable episode, yet it has never been subject to a detailed historical and sociological analysis. In The Enigma of the Aerofoil, David Bloor probes a neglected aspect of this important period in the history of aviation. Bloor draws upon papers by the participants—their restricted technical reports, meeting minutes, and personal correspondence, much of which has never before been published—and reveals the impact that the divergent mathematical traditions of Cambridge and Göttingen had on this great debate. Bloor also addresses why the British, even after discovering the failings of their own theory, remained resistant to the German circulation theory for more than a decade. The result is essential reading for anyone studying the history, philosophy, or sociology of science or technology—and for all those intrigued by flight.

Why Is There Philosophy of Mathematics At All?

Author : Ian Hacking
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107729823
Total Pages : 307 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (77 download)

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Book Synopsis Why Is There Philosophy of Mathematics At All? by : Ian Hacking

Download or read book Why Is There Philosophy of Mathematics At All? written by Ian Hacking and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-01-30 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This truly philosophical book takes us back to fundamentals - the sheer experience of proof, and the enigmatic relation of mathematics to nature. It asks unexpected questions, such as 'what makes mathematics mathematics?', 'where did proof come from and how did it evolve?', and 'how did the distinction between pure and applied mathematics come into being?' In a wide-ranging discussion that is both immersed in the past and unusually attuned to the competing philosophical ideas of contemporary mathematicians, it shows that proof and other forms of mathematical exploration continue to be living, evolving practices - responsive to new technologies, yet embedded in permanent (and astonishing) facts about human beings. It distinguishes several distinct types of application of mathematics, and shows how each leads to a different philosophical conundrum. Here is a remarkable body of new philosophical thinking about proofs, applications, and other mathematical activities.

Separated and Vortical Flow in Aircraft Wing Aerodynamics

Author : Ernst Heinrich Hirschel
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 366261328X
Total Pages : 458 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (626 download)

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Book Synopsis Separated and Vortical Flow in Aircraft Wing Aerodynamics by : Ernst Heinrich Hirschel

Download or read book Separated and Vortical Flow in Aircraft Wing Aerodynamics written by Ernst Heinrich Hirschel and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-10-04 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fluid mechanical aspects of separated and vortical flow in aircraft wing aerodynamics are treated. The focus is on two wing classes: (1) large aspect-ratio wings and (2) small aspect-ratio delta-type wings. Aerodynamic design issues in general are not dealt with. Discrete numerical simulation methods play a progressively larger role in aircraft design and development. Accordingly, in the introduction to the book the different mathematical models are considered, which underlie the aerodynamic computation methods (panel methods, RANS and scale-resolving methods). Special methods are the Euler methods, which as rather inexpensive methods embrace compressibility effects and also permit to describe lifting-wing flow. The concept of the kinematically active and inactive vorticity content of shear layers gives insight into many flow phenomena, but also, with the second break of symmetry---the first one is due to the Kutta condition---an explanation of lifting-wing flow fields. The prerequisite is an extended definition of separation: “flow-off separation” at sharp trailing edges of class (1) wings and at sharp leading edges of class (2) wings. The vorticity-content concept, with a compatibility condition for flow-off separation at sharp edges, permits to understand the properties of the evolving trailing vortex layer and the resulting pair of trailing vortices of class (1) wings. The concept also shows that Euler methods at sharp delta or strake leading edges of class (2) wings can give reliable results. Three main topics are treated: 1) Basic Principles are considered first: boundary-layer flow, vortex theory, the vorticity content of shear layers, Euler solutions for lifting wings, the Kutta condition in reality and the topology of skin-friction and velocity fields. 2) Unit Problems treat isolated flow phenomena of the two wing classes. Capabilities of panel and Euler methods are investigated. One Unit Problem is the flow past the wing of the NASA Common Research Model. Other Unit Problems concern the lee-side vortex system appearing at the Vortex-Flow Experiment 1 and 2 sharp- and blunt-edged delta configurations, at a delta wing with partly round leading edges, and also at the Blunt Delta Wing at hypersonic speed. 3) Selected Flow Problems of the two wing classes. In short sections practical design problems are discussed. The treatment of flow past fuselages, although desirable, was not possible in the frame of this book.

German Fighter Aircraft in World War I

Author : Mark C. Wilkins
Publisher : Casemate
ISBN 13 : 1612006205
Total Pages : 194 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (12 download)

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Book Synopsis German Fighter Aircraft in World War I by : Mark C. Wilkins

Download or read book German Fighter Aircraft in World War I written by Mark C. Wilkins and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2019-11-19 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fully illustrated volume explores German military aviation during WWI through archival photographs and authentically detailed replicas. Fighter aircraft were developed during World War I at an unprecedented rate, as nascent air forces sought to achieve and maintain air supremacy. German manufacturers innovated at top speed, while constantly scrutinizing the development of new enemy aircraft. The Germans also utilized the concept of modular engineering, which allowed them to disassembled or reassembled their aircraft quickly in the field. The pinnacle of their aeronautical innovations was the iconic Fokker D VII—the only aircraft specifically mentioned in the Treaty of Versailles, which forbade Germany from building it after the war. German Fighter Aircraft in World War I explores how German fighter aircraft were developed during the war, the advancements and trials that made the Fokker D VII possible, and the different makes and types of aircraft. Using unpublished images including photographs of surviving aircraft, archive images, and models and replicas, this volume shows details of aircraft that were kept top secret during the war. Extensively illustrated with 140 photos and ten color profiles, this is will be essential reading for all WWI aviation enthusiasts and modelers.

Empires of the Sky

Author : Alexander Rose
Publisher : Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN 13 : 0812989988
Total Pages : 657 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (129 download)

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Book Synopsis Empires of the Sky by : Alexander Rose

Download or read book Empires of the Sky written by Alexander Rose and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Golden Age of Aviation is brought to life in this story of the giant Zeppelin airships that once roamed the sky—a story that ended with the fiery destruction of the Hindenburg. “Genius . . . a definitive tale of an incredible time when mere mortals learned to fly.”—Keith O’Brien, The New York Times At the dawn of the twentieth century, when human flight was still considered an impossibility, Germany’s Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin vied with the Wright Brothers to build the world’s first successful flying machine. As the Wrights labored to invent the airplane, Zeppelin fathered the remarkable airship, sparking a bitter rivalry between the two types of aircraft and their innovators that would last for decades, in the quest to control one of humanity’s most inspiring achievements. And it was the airship—not the airplane—that led the way. In the glittery 1920s, the count’s brilliant protégé, Hugo Eckener, achieved undreamed-of feats of daring and skill, including the extraordinary Round-the-World voyage of the Graf Zeppelin. At a time when America’s airplanes—rickety deathtraps held together by glue, screws, and luck—could barely make it from New York to Washington, D.C., Eckener’s airships serenely traversed oceans without a single crash, fatality, or injury. What Charles Lindbergh almost died doing—crossing the Atlantic in 1927—Eckener had effortlessly accomplished three years before the Spirit of St. Louis even took off. Even as the Nazis sought to exploit Zeppelins for their own nefarious purposes, Eckener built his masterwork, the behemoth Hindenburg—a marvel of design and engineering. Determined to forge an airline empire under the new flagship, Eckener met his match in Juan Trippe, the ruthlessly ambitious king of Pan American Airways, who believed his fleet of next-generation planes would vanquish Eckener’s coming airship armada. It was a fight only one man—and one technology—could win. Countering each other’s moves on the global chessboard, each seeking to wrest the advantage from his rival, the struggle for mastery of the air was a clash not only of technologies but of business, diplomacy, politics, personalities, and the two men’s vastly different dreams of the future. Empires of the Sky is the sweeping, untold tale of the duel that transfixed the world and helped create our modern age.

Social Networks in the History of Innovation and Invention

Author : Francis C. Moon
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9400775288
Total Pages : 206 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis Social Networks in the History of Innovation and Invention by : Francis C. Moon

Download or read book Social Networks in the History of Innovation and Invention written by Francis C. Moon and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-19 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book integrates history of science and technology with modern social network theory. Using examples from the history of machines, as well as case studies from wireless, radio and chaos theory, the author challenges the genius model of invention. Network analysis concepts are presented to demonstrate the societal nature of invention in areas such as steam power, internal combustion engines, early aviation, air conditioning and more. Using modern measures of network theory, the author demonstrates that the social networks of invention from the 19th and early 20th centuries have similar characteristics to modern 21st C networks such as the World Wide Web. The book provides evidence that exponential growth in technical innovation is linked to the growth of historical innovation networks.

The Flying Mathematicians of World War I

Author : Tony Royle
Publisher : McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
ISBN 13 : 0228005108
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (28 download)

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Book Synopsis The Flying Mathematicians of World War I by : Tony Royle

Download or read book The Flying Mathematicians of World War I written by Tony Royle and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2020-10-22 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Keith Lucas was killed instantly when his BE2 biplane collided with that of a colleague over Salisbury Plain on 5 October 1916. As a captain in the Royal Flying Corps, Lucas would have known that his death was a very real risk of the work he was doing in support of Britain's war effort. But Lucas wasn't a career pilot - he was a scientist. The Flying Mathematicians of World War I details the advances and sacrifices of a select group of pioneers who left the safety of their laboratories to drive aeronautics forward at a critical moment in history. These mathematicians and scientists, including Lucas, took up the challenge to advance British aviation during the war and soon realized that they would need to learn how to fly themselves if they were to complete their mission. Set in the context of a new field of engineering, driven apace by conflict, the book follows Lucas and his colleagues as they endured freezing cockpits and engaged in aerial versions of Russian roulette in order to expand our understanding of aeronautics. Tony Royle deftly navigates this fascinating history of technical achievement, imagination, and ingenuity punctuated by bravery, persistence, and tragedy. As a result, The Flying Mathematicians of World War I makes accessible the mathematics and the personal stories that forever changed the course of aviation.

Civilization and the Culture of Science

Author : Stephen Gaukroger
Publisher : Science and the Shaping of Mod
ISBN 13 : 0198849079
Total Pages : 534 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (988 download)

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Book Synopsis Civilization and the Culture of Science by : Stephen Gaukroger

Download or read book Civilization and the Culture of Science written by Stephen Gaukroger and published by Science and the Shaping of Mod. This book was released on 2020 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did science come to have such a central place in Western culture? How did our ways of thinking, and our moral, political, and social values, come to be modelled around scientific values? Stephen Gaukroger traces the story of how these values developed, and how they influenced society and culture from the 19th to the mid-20th century.

Jet Web

Author : Dietrich Eckardt
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3658385316
Total Pages : 748 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (583 download)

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Book Synopsis Jet Web by : Dietrich Eckardt

Download or read book Jet Web written by Dietrich Eckardt and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-02-03 with total page 748 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present book describes the development history of turbojet engines, mainly in the web-type triangle Great Britain (USA) - Germany - Switzerland from early beginnings in the 1920s up to the first practical usage in the 1950s, before the still unbroken, grand impact of aero propulsion technology on global air traffic started. interconnections are highlighted, including the considerable impact of axial-flow compressor design know-how of the Swiss/German company BBC Brown Boveri & Cie. on both sides. The author reveals significant undercurrents which led to a considerable exchange, and thus change in understanding of the technical-historical perspective, especially in the decisive years before WWII, and thus closes gaps in the unilateral views of this ground-breaking technical advancement. The old ‘Whittle vs. von Ohain Saga’ is not repeated in full, but addressed in sufficient detail to understand the considerably enlarged narrative scope.

The War of Guns and Mathematics

Author : David Aubin
Publisher : American Mathematical Society
ISBN 13 : 1470414694
Total Pages : 414 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis The War of Guns and Mathematics by : David Aubin

Download or read book The War of Guns and Mathematics written by David Aubin and published by American Mathematical Society. This book was released on 2014-10-07 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For a long time, World War I has been shortchanged by the historiography of science. Until recently, World War II was usually considered as the defining event for the formation of the modern relationship between science and society. In this context, the effects of the First World War, by contrast, were often limited to the massive deaths of promising young scientists. By focusing on a few key places (Paris, Cambridge, Rome, Chicago, and others), the present book gathers studies representing a broad spectrum of positions adopted by mathematicians about the conflict, from militant pacifism to military, scientific, or ideological mobilization. The use of mathematics for war is thoroughly examined. This book suggests a new vision of the long-term influence of World War I on mathematics and mathematicians. Continuities and discontinuities in the structure and organization of the mathematical sciences are discussed, as well as their images in various milieux. Topics of research and the values with which they were defended are scrutinized. This book, in particular, proposes a more in-depth evaluation of the issue of modernity and modernization in mathematics. The issue of scientific international relations after the war is revisited by a close look at the situation in a few Allied countries (France, Britain, Italy, and the USA). The historiography has emphasized the place of Germany as the leading mathematical country before WWI and the absurdity of its postwar ostracism by the Allies. The studies presented here help explain how dramatically different prewar situations, prolonged interaction during the war, and new international postwar organizations led to attempts at redrafting models for mathematical developments.

Making Jet Engines in World War II

Author : Hermione Giffard
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022638862X
Total Pages : 362 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (263 download)

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Book Synopsis Making Jet Engines in World War II by : Hermione Giffard

Download or read book Making Jet Engines in World War II written by Hermione Giffard and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-10-10 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our stories of industrial innovation tend to focus on individual initiative and breakthroughs. With Making Jet Enginesin World War II, Hermione Giffard uses the case of the development of jet engines to offer a different way of understanding technological innovation, revealing the complicated mix of factors that go into any decision to pursue an innovative, and therefore risky technology. Giffard compares the approaches of Britain, Germany, and the United States. Each approached jet engines in different ways because of its own war aims and industrial expertise. Germany, which produced more jet engines than the others, did so largely as replacements for more expensive piston engines. Britain, on the other hand, produced relatively few engines—but, by shifting emphasis to design rather than production, found itself at war's end holding an unrivaled range of designs. The US emphasis on development, meanwhile, built an institutional basis for postwar production. Taken together, Giffard's work makes a powerful case for a more nuanced understanding of technological innovation, one that takes into account the influence of the many organizational factors that play a part in the journey from idea to finished product.

Deconstruction After All

Author : Christopher Norris
Publisher : Liverpool University Press
ISBN 13 : 1782842772
Total Pages : 372 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (828 download)

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Book Synopsis Deconstruction After All by : Christopher Norris

Download or read book Deconstruction After All written by Christopher Norris and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2015-10-01 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of interviews, reflections, and creative criticism presents Christopher Norris's vigorous polemics with Hayden White, Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard, Jean-Francois Lyotard, Thomas Kuhn, Emmanuel Levinas, Pierre Bourdieu, Richard Rorty, and Stanley Fish. Alongside Norris's uncompromising critiques there emerge passages of close and careful reading of Jacques Derrida's texts, as he cites and reiterates Derrida's philosophical contexts in the works of Immanuel Kant, Gaston Bachelard, and Georges Canguilhem, and in the current discursive fields of epistemology and philosophy of science. The book also offers a coda of essays on Frank Kermode, Terry Eagleton, and Terence Hawkes. This collection, prefaced with the author's own academic memoir, provides an accessible and provocative introduction to Norris's critical thought, and highlights the wide range of his interests and philosophical engagements.

Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines

Author : Sven Schmitz
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1119405610
Total Pages : 334 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (194 download)

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Book Synopsis Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines by : Sven Schmitz

Download or read book Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines written by Sven Schmitz and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2020-01-28 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A review of the aerodynamics, design and analysis, and optimization of wind turbines, combined with the author’s unique software Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines is a comprehensive introduction to the aerodynamics, scaled design and analysis, and optimization of horizontal-axis wind turbines. The author –a noted expert on the topic – reviews the fundamentals and basic physics of wind turbines operating in the atmospheric boundary layer. He then explores more complex models that help in the aerodynamic analysis and design of turbine models. The text contains unique chapters on blade element momentum theory, airfoil aerodynamics, rotational augmentation, vortex-wake methods, actuator-line modeling, and designing aerodynamically scaled turbines for model-scale experiments. The author clearly demonstrates how effective analysis and design principles can be used in a wide variety of applications and operating conditions. The book integrates the easy-to-use, hands-on XTurb design and analysis software that is available on a companion website for facilitating individual analyses and future studies. This component enhances the learning experience and helps with a deeper and more complete understanding of the subject matter. This important book: Covers aerodynamics, design and analysis and optimization of wind turbines Offers the author’s XTurb design and analysis software that is available on a companion website for individual analyses and future studies Includes unique chapters on blade element momentum theory, airfoil aerodynamics, rotational augmentation, vortex-wake methods, actuator-line modeling, and designing aerodynamically scaled turbines for model-scale experiments Demonstrates how design principles can be applied to a variety of applications and operating conditions Written for senior undergraduate and graduate students in wind energy as well as practicing engineers and scientists, Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines is an authoritative text that offers a guide to the fundamental principles, design and analysis of wind turbines.

Science as Social Existence

Author : Jeff Kochan
Publisher : Open Book Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1783744138
Total Pages : 262 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (837 download)

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Book Synopsis Science as Social Existence by : Jeff Kochan

Download or read book Science as Social Existence written by Jeff Kochan and published by Open Book Publishers. This book was released on 2017-12-18 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this bold and original study, Jeff Kochan constructively combines the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) with Martin Heidegger’s early existential conception of science. Kochan shows convincingly that these apparently quite different approaches to science are, in fact, largely compatible, even mutually reinforcing. By combining Heidegger with SSK, Kochan argues, we can explicate, elaborate, and empirically ground Heidegger’s philosophy of science in a way that makes it more accessible and useful for social scientists and historians of science. Likewise, incorporating Heideggerian phenomenology into SSK renders SKK a more robust and attractive methodology for use by scholars in the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies (STS). Kochan’s ground-breaking reinterpretation of Heidegger also enables STS scholars to sustain a principled analytical focus on scientific subjectivity, without running afoul of the orthodox subject-object distinction they often reject. Science as Social Existence is the first book of its kind, unfurling its argument through a range of topics relevant to contemporary STS research. These include the epistemology and metaphysics of scientific practice, as well as the methods of explanation appropriate to social scientific and historical studies of science. Science as Social Existence puts concentrated emphasis on the compatibility of Heidegger’s existential conception of science with the historical sociology of scientific knowledge, pursuing this combination at both macro- and micro-historical levels. Beautifully written and accessible, Science as Social Existence puts new and powerful tools into the hands of sociologists and historians of science, cultural theorists of science, Heidegger scholars, and pluralist philosophers of science.

Essential Mathematics for Engineers and Scientists

Author : Thomas J. Pence
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108425445
Total Pages : 757 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (84 download)

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Book Synopsis Essential Mathematics for Engineers and Scientists by : Thomas J. Pence

Download or read book Essential Mathematics for Engineers and Scientists written by Thomas J. Pence and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-05-21 with total page 757 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Clear and engaging introduction for graduate students in engineering and the physical sciences to essential topics of applied mathematics.

Why Trust Science?

Author : Naomi Oreskes
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691212260
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (912 download)

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Book Synopsis Why Trust Science? by : Naomi Oreskes

Download or read book Why Trust Science? written by Naomi Oreskes and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why the social character of scientific knowledge makes it trustworthy Are doctors right when they tell us vaccines are safe? Should we take climate experts at their word when they warn us about the perils of global warming? Why should we trust science when so many of our political leaders don't? Naomi Oreskes offers a bold and compelling defense of science, revealing why the social character of scientific knowledge is its greatest strength—and the greatest reason we can trust it. Tracing the history and philosophy of science from the late nineteenth century to today, this timely and provocative book features a new preface by Oreskes and critical responses by climate experts Ottmar Edenhofer and Martin Kowarsch, political scientist Jon Krosnick, philosopher of science Marc Lange, and science historian Susan Lindee, as well as a foreword by political theorist Stephen Macedo.

Stealth

Author : Peter J. Westwick
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 0190677449
Total Pages : 270 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (96 download)

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Book Synopsis Stealth by : Peter J. Westwick

Download or read book Stealth written by Peter J. Westwick and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story behind the technology that revolutionized both aeronautics, and the course of history On a moonless night in January 1991, a dozen airplanes appeared in the skies over Baghdad. Or, rather, didn't appear. They arrived in the dark, their black outlines cloaking them from sight. More importantly, their odd, angular shapes, which made them look like flying origami, rendered them undetectable to Iraq's formidable air defenses. Stealth technology, developed during the decades before Desert Storm, had arrived. To American planners and strategists at the outset of the Cold War, this seemingly ultimate way to gain ascendance over the USSR was only a question. What if the United States could defend its airspace while at the same time send a plane through Soviet skies undetected? A craft with such capacity would have to be essentially invisible to radar - an apparently miraculous feat of physics and engineering. In Stealth, Peter Westwick unveils the process by which the impossible was achieved. At heart, Stealth is a tale of two aerospace companies, Lockheed and Northrop, and their fierce competition - with each other and with themselves - to obtain what was estimated one of the largest procurement contracts in history. Westwick's book fully explores the individual and collective ingenuity and determination required to make these planes and in the process provides a fresh view of the period leading up to the end of the Soviet Union. Taking into account the role of technology, as well as the art and science of physics and engineering, Westwick offers an engaging narrative, one that immerses readers in the race to produce a weapon that some thought might save the world, and which certainly changed it.