The first Priscilla Hutchins novel from Jack McDevitt, hailed by Stephen King as “the logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.” Humans call them the Monument-Makers. An unknown race, they left stunning alien statues on distant planets in the galaxy. Each relic is different. Each inscription defies translation. Yet all are heartbreakingly beautiful. And for planet Earth, on the brink of disaster, they may hold the only key to survival for the entire human race.
Born in 1842, Camille Flammarion was a French astronomer who wrote many popular books about science and astronomy, together with a number of novels which we would now consider to be science fiction. He was a contemporary of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, though his works never achieved their level of popularity. Omega: The Last Days of the World is an English translation of Flammarion’s novel La Fin du Monde, published in 1893. The book’s fictional premise is the discovery of a comet on a collision course with the Earth in the 25th century. However, this is mostly a pretext on which Flammarion can hang his interesting scientific speculations about how the world will end, together with philosophical thoughts about war and religion. Much of the scientific description he uses in the book, while accurately representing the knowledge and thinking of his time, has today been superseded by modern discoveries. For example, we now know the source of the Sun’s energy to be nuclear fusion rather than being due to gravitational contraction and the constant infall of meteorites. When talking about the ills of society, however, Flammarion could well be talking about today’s world. For example, he excoriates the vast waste of society’s resources on war, and demonstrates how much more productive each nation’s economy would be without it. He also depicts the media of his future world as having been entirely taken over by commercial interests, publishing only what will excite the greatest number of readers rather than serving the public interest. Omega ranges over a vast period of time, from prehistory through to millions of years in the future when mankind has been reduced to the last two doomed individuals. Nevertheless, the book ends on a hopeful and inspiring note. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.
On a routine survey mission studying a neutron star, an Academy starship receives a transmission in an unknown language. Before leaving the area, the starship launches a series of satellites to find the signal—and perhaps discover its origins. Five years later, a satellite finally encounters the signal—which is believed to be of extraterrestrial origin by the Contact Society, a wealthy group of enthusiasts who fund research into the existence of alien life. Providing a starship to the Academy to be piloted by Captain Priscilla “Hutch” Hutchins, the Contact Society embarks on a mission to find the source of the transmission. Across a myriad of stars, from world to world, Hutch and her crew follow the signal, but find only puzzles and lethal surprises. Then, in a planetary system far beyond the bounds of previous exploration, they discover an object. It is immense, ominous, and mysterious. And it may hold the answer not only to the questions of the Contact Society, but to those of every person who has ever looked to the sky and wondered if we were alone...
It turned up in a North Dakota wheat field: a triangle, like a shark's fin, sticking up from the black loam. Tom Lasker did what any farmer would have done. He dug it up. And discovered a boat, made of a fiberglass-like material with an utterly impossible atomic number. What it was doing buried under a dozen feet of prairie soil two thousand miles from any ocean, no one knew. True, Tom Lasker's wheat field had once been on the shoreline of a great inland sea, but that was a long time ago -- ten thousand years ago. A return to science fiction on a grand scale, reminiscent of the best of Heinlein, Simak, and Clarke, Ancient Shores is the most ambitious and exciting SF triumph of the decade, a bold speculative adventure that does not shrink from the big questions -- and the big answers.
This book explores the nature of creativity in engineering and technology, and how it relates to creativity in art or science. Lienhard has for ten years done a twice-weekly radio show, carried on about 35 NPR stations, consisting of 3-minute essays on technology. He uses the substance of selected segments of his radio program to create a continuous narrative presenting his insights on technological creativity. This book has the same title as his radio program, to further draw the attention of his one million listeners.
I am an ordinary man, used very powerfully by an extraordinary God. If you are an ordinary believer and you desire to be used by God in such a way, then this book will help you walk in the supernatural realms that are your natural abode.
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines! is a manual on inspiration, goal-pursuit and purposeful living. It clearly explains the christian worldview and how it forms a basis for human existence. The author provides Biblical answers to common existential questions beginning with the concept of God. In a thought-provoking style, the book prompts the reader to ask basic philosophical questions. This questioning approach creates a depth of discussion that will stimulate and engage an open-mind. The book transition into a set of latter chapters that are meant to activate and propel. The author postulates that the realization of God-given purpose must lead on to the urgent pursuit of vision. Men are particularly challenged to locate themselves in their strategic role in God's Grand Plan.
Many Christians suffer because they don’t fully understand who God is. People who are not Christians understand Him even less. If we knew what God expects of us and what He wants us to know and understand, then we would experience His blessings instead of suffering as we sometimes do. The author has been a dedicated Christian for 30 years. This book offers basic truths about God that he believes are needed by every Christian (and non-Christian) who wants to reduce the amount of suffering in their lives. The book begins with the most fundamental truths, then builds on those truths to assist readers in increasing their understanding. The truth of the Gospel has not changed in 2000 years. However, our understanding of the Gospel has grown, as each generation of Christians understands more than the previous generation. The author believes this book contains the next steps in increasing our knowledge, as we draw deeper wisdom from the scriptures to reduce our suffering. God offers us eternal life in a heaven filled with His mercy and goodness, and He offers us the same here on earth. There is no future other than the future that God offers us, through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ on the Cross. Jesus died on the Cross, so we can live our lives full of grace and peace. We should also experience many of God’s miracles as we live out our lives here on earth. This will happen if we choose to listen to His Word and believe and follow His Word. God looks closely at the quality of our decision making, since our decision making will determine the contentment of our lives. The author has entered God’s rest and so can you.
