Test Gods

Test Gods
Author: Nicholas Schmidle
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2021-05-04
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 125022974X

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice In the spirit of The Right Stuff, updated for the 21st century, Test Gods is an epic story about extreme bravery and sacrifice, about the thin line between lunacy and genius. Most of all, it is a story about the pursuit of meaning in our lives—and the fulfillment of our dreams. Working from exclusive inside reporting, New Yorker writer Nicholas Schmidle tells the remarkable story of the test pilots, engineers, and visionaries behind Virgin Galactic’s campaign to build a space tourism company. Schmidle follows a handful of characters—Mark Stucky, Virgin’s lead test pilot; Richard Branson, the eccentric billionaire funding the venture; Mike Moses, the grounded, unflappable president; Mike Alsbury, the test pilot killed in a fatal crash; and others—through personal and professional dramas, in pursuit of their collective goal: to make space tourism a reality. Along the way, Schmidle weaves his relationship with his father—a former fighter pilot and decorated war hero—into the tragedies and triumphs that Branson’s team confronts out in the Mojave desert as they design, build, and test-fly their private rocket ship. Gripping and novelistic, Test Gods leads us, through human drama, into a previously unseen world—and beyond.

Study Gods

Study Gods
Author: Yi-Lin Chiang
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2022-08-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0691210489

How privileged adolescents in China acquire status and why this helps them succeed Study Gods offers a rare look at the ways privileged youth in China prepare themselves to join the ranks of the global elite. Yi-Lin Chiang shows how these competitive Chinese high schoolers first become “study gods” (xueshen), a term describing academically high-performing students. Constant studying, however, is not what explains their success, for these young people appear god-like in their effortless abilities to excel. Instead, Chiang explores how elite adolescents achieve by absorbing and implementing the rules surrounding status. Drawing from eight years of fieldwork and extensive interviews, Chiang reveals the important lessons that Chinese youth learn in their pursuit of elite status. They understand the hierarchy of the status system, recognizing and acquiring the characteristics that are prized, while avoiding those that are not. They maintain status by expecting differential treatment and performing status-based behaviors, which guide their daily interactions with peers, teachers, and parents. Lastly, with the help of resourceful parents, they rely on external assistance in the face of potential obstacles and failures. Chiang looks at how students hone these skills, applying them as they head to colleges and careers around the world, and in their relationships with colleagues and supervisors. Highlighting another facet of China’s rising power, Study Gods announces the arrival of a new generation to the realm of global competition.

The Language of God

The Language of God
Author: Francis Collins
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2008-09-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1847396151

Dr Francis S. Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading scientists, working at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God. How does he reconcile the seemingly unreconcilable? In THE LANGUAGE OF GOD he explains his own journey from atheism to faith, and then takes the reader on a stunning tour of modern science to show that physics, chemistry and biology -- indeed, reason itself -- are not incompatible with belief. His book is essential reading for anyone who wonders about the deepest questions of all: why are we here? How did we get here? And what does life mean?

Test Gods

Test Gods
Author: Nicholas Schmidle
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-05-19
Genre: Astronauts
ISBN: 9781529157420

'Masterly' New York Times 'Riveting' Scott Kelly 'Remarkable' The Times When Richard Branson founded Virgin Galactic in 2004, his goal was simple: to offer paying customers a trip to space by the end of the decade. Seventeen years, countless delays, and one catastrophic crash later, his space tourism dream may finally be on the verge of reality. Now, a New Yorker journalist offers the definitive portrait of the adventurers leading the way to the stars. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews with Virgin's lead test pilot, Mark Stucky, Test Gods describes the making of a modern astronaut: from starry-eyed youth to NASA, the Air Force, and Virgin Galactic; and through dozens of gruelling test flights to his first successful trip beyond the earth's atmosphere. The result is the most vivid exploration of an astronaut's inner life since Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff. It offers an intimate and unique insight into the new space race.

Gods of Olympus

Gods of Olympus
Author: Eva Pohler
Publisher: Green Press/Eva Pohler
Total Pages: 437
Release: 2019-12-04
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN:

The sound of nearby footsteps in the grass startles you awake. You blink rapidly as your eyes adjust to the sunlight and you become aware of a formidable figure standing over you. He is wearing golden armor—a breast plate and knee guards, along with a sword sheathed at his hip. Beside the figure is a golden chariot and horses that seem plucked right out of a fairy tale. You blink again, but the formidable figure and his exotic chariot remain. “Hello,” the figure says. “My name is [choose one] Zeus.” Poseidon.” Hades.” You are the main character in this encounter with the Olympians. Throughout the narrative, you make choices that change the course of the story. Which god or goddess will Cupid make your love interest? You decide. Then, to prove you're worthy to become immortal, so that you can remain with your love interest, will you face Cerberus or the Hydra? Will you offer cakes or strike with the sword loaned to you by Athena? How will you steal a golden apple from the garden of the Hesperides, and who will help you through the Minotaur's labyrinth, and which god or goddess will comfort you if you fail? Enjoy dozens of adventures in a single book! Although this choose-your-own-adventure story shares the world of The UnderworldSaga, it can be enjoyed before, after, or without reading the saga. Related authors: C. Gockel, Anthea Sharp, Susan Kaye Quinn, Cassandra Clare, Chanda Hahn, Quinn Loftis, Kim Richardson, S.T. Bende, Karen Lynch. Kimberly Loth, Richelle Mead, M. Lynn, Allie Burton, Ashley McLeo, Frost Kay, Cameo Renea, Elise Kova, Nicole Zoltack, A.L. Knorr, Kay L. Moody, Melissa Craven, Laura Thalassa, Rose Garcia, Holly Hook, Robin D. Mahle, Elle Madison, Raye Wagner, Elisa S. Amore, and Rick Riordan. Search terms: Greek mythology, Greek mythology romance, mythology, Greek gods and goddesses, paranormal romance, young adult fiction, teen fiction, clean young adult fiction, the Underworld, Hades and Persephone, teen fiction books, urban fantasy, myth retellings, fantasy, young adult fantasy, gods and monsters, mythological beasts, swords and sorcery, magic, adventure.

Of Gods and Mortals

Of Gods and Mortals
Author: Andrea Sfiligoi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 66
Release: 2013-10-20
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 1780968507

Two armies prepare for war. Thor, surrounded by crackling lightning, leads the assault of a horde of Viking berserkers. Preparing to receive this charge stands a wall of grim-faced, determined Spartan hoplites, commanded by Ares himself... Of Gods and Mortals is a skirmish wargame that gives players the opportunity to command the greatest heroes, warriors and monsters of legend – and the gods and goddesses that ruled over them. Whether you want to lead the forces of Greek, Egyptian, Celtic or Norse mythology to battle, or build your own pantheon, Of Gods and Mortals presents everything you need. Each player takes control of a god, a handful of legendary characters and a number of mortal troops, forming a warband that must work in harmony to succeed. Although the gods are incredibly powerful, they are only as strong as the faith of the mortals who follow them – if their worshippers are cut down, gods become weaker, and if a deity is vanquished in combat, its followers may flee the field of battle. Success lies in employing a strategy that uses all your troops, from the mightiest to the most humble, as effectively as possible.

A Year with God

A Year with God
Author: R. P. Nettelhorst
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2010-11-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0849946980

A 365-day devotional featuring the actual spoken words of God as presented in the Bible. Too many times the impact and grandness of the actual words God spoke, as recorded in the Bible, are lost in the telling of the story. In A Year with God the primary focus is to allow the scriptures that contain God's dialogue and the revelations of himself to uniquely speak to the reader. The author follows each reading with insights and applications to help explain the context and nuances of the text. The unique titling of each meditation and the nontraditional themes and organization help bring God to our daily lives. Topics include: Hope and Fear Love and Hate Perseverance and Quitting Faith and Doubt Loyalty and Betrayal Companionship and Isolation Mercy and Judgment Forgiveness and Anger Joy and Sadness Peace and Conflict

Slave Species of the Gods

Slave Species of the Gods
Author: Michael Tellinger
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 529
Release: 2012-09-10
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1591438071

Our origins as a slave species and the Anunnaki legacy in our DNA • Reveals compelling new archaeological and genetic evidence for the engineered origins of the human species, first proposed by Zecharia Sitchin in The 12th Planet • Shows how the Anunnaki created us using pieces of their own DNA, controlling our physical and mental capabilities by inactivating their more advanced DNA • Identifies a recently discovered complex of sophisticated ruins in South Africa as the city of the Anunnaki leader Enki Scholars have long believed that the first civilization on Earth emerged in Sumer some 6,000 years ago. However, as Michael Tellinger reveals, the Sumerians and Egyptians inherited their knowledge from an earlier civilization that lived at the southern tip of Africa and began with the arrival of the Anunnaki more than 200,000 years ago. Sent to Earth in search of life-saving gold, these ancient Anunnaki astronauts from the planet Nibiru created the first humans as a slave race to mine gold--thus beginning our global traditions of gold obsession, slavery, and god as dominating master. Revealing new archaeological and genetic evidence in support of Zecharia Sitchin’s revolutionary work with pre-biblical clay tablets, Tellinger shows how the Anunnaki created us using pieces of their own DNA, controlling our physical and mental capabilities by inactivating their more advanced DNA--which explains why less than 3 percent of our DNA is active. He identifies a recently discovered complex of sophisticated ruins in South Africa, complete with thousands of mines, as the city of Anunnaki leader Enki and explains their lost technologies that used the power of sound as a source of energy. Matching key mythologies of the world’s religions to the Sumerian clay tablet stories on which they are based, he details the actual events behind these tales of direct physical interactions with “god,” concluding with the epic flood--a perennial theme of ancient myth--that wiped out the Anunnaki mining operations. Tellinger shows that, as humanity awakens to the truth about our origins, we can overcome our programmed animalistic and slave-like nature, tap in to our dormant Anunnaki DNA, and realize the longevity and intelligence of our creators as well as learn the difference between the gods of myth and the true loving God of our universe.

Faceless Gods

Faceless Gods
Author: Sandeep Dahiya
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 456
Release: 2014-02-22
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1312040246

It is a long story, slowly moving like a broad river in its journey through the plains. It is just an effort to highlight some sober facts like the true meaning of nationalism, religion, politics, and humanism. The work has very sharp political connotations. But I would like to clarify that while espousing the cause of clean politics, I have taken very dagger-sharp cuts at certain political forces whose brand of politics results in reversing the basic meanings of religion and nationalism. But it is for sure that all such literary efforts from my side are just a battle cry against bad politics, rather than going against any particular political force. By having creative cuts at the razor-sharp edges of most of the political blocks in India, I have tried to carve out a straight-faced deity whom people have in mind when they envision their interests in the safe hands of the state.

The Goddess Test

The Goddess Test
Author: Aimée Carter
Publisher: Harlequin
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2011-05-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1459201698

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall. Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests. Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.