The House Beautiful columnist and designer behind such leading textile and home furnishings companies as Pine Cone Hill and Dash & Albert Rug Company instructs readers on how to use fabrics, patterns, colors, furnishings and accents to create specific aesthetic effects in the home.
This study examines how the concept of conversion and specifically the legacy of the doctrine of preparation, as articulated in Puritan Reform theology as transplanted to the Massachusetts Bay colony, remained a vital cultural force shaping developments in American literature and philosophy. It begins by discussing the testimonies of conversion collected by the Puritan minister Thomas Shepard, which reveal an active pursuit of belief by prospective church members occurring at the intersection of experience, perception, doctrine, affections, and intellect. This pursuit of belief, codified in the morphology of conversion, and originally undertaken by the Puritans as a way to conceptualize redemption in a fallen state, established the epistemological contours for what Jonathan Edwards, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and William James would theorize as a conductive imaginary-consciousness imagined as a space organized or that self-organizes around the dynamics and tensions between abstract truth and concrete realities, certainty and uncertainty, and perception and objects perceived. Each writer offers a picture of consciousness as both a receptive and active force responsible for translating the effects of experience and generating original relations with self, community, and God. This study demonstrates that each writer "ministered" to their audiences by articulating a method or habit of mind in order to foster an individual's continual efforts at regeneration, conceived by all the subjects of this study as a matter of converting semantics, that is, a dedicated willingness to seeking out personal and cultural renewal through the continual process of attaching new meaning and value to ordinary contexts.
In Cormac McCarthy and the Writing of American Spaces Andrew Estes examines ideas about the land as they emerge in the later fiction of this important contemporary author. McCarthy's texts are shown to be part of larger narratives about American environments. Against the backdrop of the emerging discipline of environmental criticism, Estes investigates the way space has been constructed in U.S. American writing. Cormac McCarthy is found to be heir to diametrically opposed concepts of space: as something Americans embraced as either overwhelmingly positive and reinvigorating or as rather negative and threatening. McCarthy's texts both replicate this binary thinking about American environments and challenge readers to reconceive traditional ways of seeing space. Breaking new ground as to how literary landscapes and spaces are critically assessed this study seeks to examine the many detailed descriptions of the physical world in McCarthy on their own terms. Adding to so-called 'second wave' environmental criticism, it reaches beyond an earlier, limited understanding of the environment as 'nature' to consider both natural landscapes and built environments. Chapter one discusses the field of environmental criticism in reference to McCarthy while chapter two offers a brief narrative of conceptions of space in the U.S. Chapter three highlights trends in McCarthy criticism. Chapters four through eight provide close readings of McCarthy's later novels, from Blood Meridian to The Road.
Detailed history of the American Space Shuttle Program from award-winning NASA insider Each mission is reviewed from its early inception to delivering the remaining vehicles to their final display sites Covers the history of reusable winged spacecraft from the 1920s throughout the final mission of the American space shuttle
"This is a delightful book, a small gem replete with insightful, provocative pieces about both American culture and Jewish life. I think that Stephen Whitfield is one of the most original essayists on these two topics. Few other scholars combine the density of his knowledge with the verve of his prose". -- Hasia R. Diner, New York University
American Space/American Place offers geographical perspectives on the condition of the United States at the outset of the twenty-first century. It compares the American ideal of liberty, equality, individual opportunity and social improvement with the contemporary condition of the regions, states and localities--the ideal American space with its reality as a place. It uses the public standard provided by the official ideology of the United States to see how well things are really going. Agnew and Smith consider the contrast between ideal and reality at local, state and national levels in education, health, and welfare, in community, race, gender, and calss relations, in economic and industrial development, and in the use and exploitation of America's landscape. American Space/American Place provides a series of compelling insights into the current condition of American Society, its natural environment and its place within the world.
Meet the Rocket City Rednecks. They're five "backwoods" guys from the rocket city: Huntsville, Alabama, home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the birthplace of the U.S. space program. Sure, they love to shoot stuff and drink beer, and one of 'em lives in a trailer, but with a family tree full of NASA rocket scientists (not to mention their own PhDs and advanced degrees), they aim a little higher¾like using homemade moonshine to fuel a rocket! Now, in typical laidback style, Dr. Travis S. Taylor, leader of the crew, delivers the goods on how America can return to space exploration and manned space flight. What's needed is a good old "try anything" attitude, a bit of gumption, and the spectacularly entertaining backyard science that's the Rocket City Redneck specialty. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
"“The most realistic look yet at astronaut life.” —Chicago Sun-Times “The best of all the astronaut books...” —Los Angeles Times The All-American Boys is a no-holds-barred candid memoir by a former Marine jet jockey and physicist who became NASA's second civilian astronaut. Walter Cunningham presents the astronauts in all their glory in this dramatically revised and updated edition that was considered an instant classic in its first edition over two decades ago. From its insider's view of the pervasive ""astropolitics"" that guided the functioning of the astronaut corps to its thoughtful discussion of the Columbia tragedy, The All-American Boys resonates with Cunningham's passion for humanity's destiny in space which endures today. This is a story of the triumph of American heroes. Cunningham brings us into NASA's training program and reveals what it takes to be an astronaut. He poignantly relates the story of the devastating Apollo 1 fire that took the lives of three astronauts and his own later successful flight on Apollo 7. This new edition includes an update of the manned space program and his ""tell it like it is"" observation of NASA's successes and failures. It also includes commentary on the Shuttle disasters of Challenger and Columbia and his views on what NASA should be doing to get back on track and to regain public support.
Increasing evidence of the irreparable damage humans have inflicted on the planet has caused many to adopt a defeatist attitude toward the future of the global environment. Local Environmental Movements: A Comparative Study of the United States and Japan analyzes how local groups in both Japan and the United States refuse to surrender the Earth to a depleted and polluted fate. Drawing on numerous case studies, scholars from around the world discuss efforts by grassroots organizations and movements to protect the environment and to preserve the landscapes they love and depend upon. The authors examine citizen campaigns protesting nuclear radiation and chemical weapons disposal. Other groups have organized to protect farmlands and urban landscapes to groups that organize to preserve steams, wildlife habitats, tidal flats, coral reefs, National Parks, and biodiversity. These small groups of determined citizens are occasionally successful, demonstrating the power of democracy against seemingly insurmountable odds. In other cases, the groups failed to bring about the desired change. This book explores the distinctive leaders, the relevant laws and regulations, local politics, and the historical and cultural contexts that influenced the goals and successes of the various groups. The contributors conclude that there is no one single environmental movement but many, and the volume emphasizes grassroots movements and advocacy groups that represent local constituencies. By studying these groups and their respective challenges, Local Environmental Movements highlights the common themes as well as the distinctive features of environmental advocates in the United States and Japan. Over decades, these groupsÕ have nurtured environmental awareness and promoted the concept of sustainable development that respects the need for both environmental protection and cultural preservation.