See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

Ready to Buy?
fairandfast1
Price: £0.01
In stock

25 used & new from £0.01

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Giant Leap: Mankind Heads for the Stars
 
See larger image
 

The Giant Leap: Mankind Heads for the Stars (Paperback)

by Adrian Berry (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Available from these sellers.


9 new from £0.01 16 used from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (First Edition) 22 used & new from £0.02
Paperback Order it used

Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Headline Book Publishing; New edition edition (6 Jan 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747257248
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747257240
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,093,805 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
Official Mankind Website
   www.Mankind.co.uk/MensGrooming    Buy Mens Grooming Brands Online, Buy NOW online + 24hr Dispatch! 
Huge Stars
   www.Ask.com    Find the Best Results for Huge Stars 
  
 

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Even if you don't believe it is ever going to happen, the idea of humanity's colonisation of far planets and persistence until the latter cold days of the universe has a certain attractive mad arrogance to it. Adrian Berry is a strong believer in a lot of things--dogmatism is perhaps an odd fault in one so determined to remind us of the martyrdoms of Galileo and Giordano Bruno--and the vast enterprise of galaxy-wide travel is one of the things he believes in. He takes us through the problems of travel--the speed of light has to be lived with or got around--and colonisation. Life on the frontier is tough and expresses considerable optimism about all of it; there are better explanations of topics such as relativity and cryogenic suspension--so-called "cold sleep"--but he is never less than fluent and clear. What is perhaps less convincing are his extended diatribes against government--he believes, thus far against the evidence, that private enterprise will take us to the planets and beyond--and his belief that computer games will keep people happy as they travel through infinite silent space. And when the universe ends, at least we will have tried. --Roz Kaveney

Product Description
Andrew Berry's vision of the future - interstellar journeys that will carry people from our solar system to explore and colonise other planets. He writes with lucidity and humour but his ideas are firmly rooted in scientific fact.

See all Product Description

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 

 

Customer Reviews

1 Review
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A good read on a fascinating subject, 14 Dec 2001
By A Customer
An enjoyable light read which can be achieved at near light speed! This is journalism close to its best, addressing a complex subject from multiple angles. Where it succeeds is in the subject matter. How many of us have wondered what the step beyond exploring our solar system will mean? It's pretty much all here, though there are a few caveats needed. This is not reference material and is almost totally derivative of previously published books and papers.
The coverage is also rather wide and some may feel short-changed by Mr Berry not following through on some of the topics covered.
Some may find the topic of politics not addressed to their satisfaction - in chapters 'Starships and Politicians' and 'Twilight of the State'.

Elsewhere, the detail is reminiscent of a newspaper article: when it comes to detail within ones area of expertise there are real howlers. This may be to some the weakest part of the book, challenging the authority that Mr Berry assumes by writing this book. Another reviewer has spotted the error in the timeline for 1965, which has Ed White being the first spacewalker instead of Alexei Leonov. A minor slip, but not solitary. The author fails to flag that civilisations are unlikely from first generation stars (no heavy elements from which life can appear) (ref p61 etc). The discussion of navigational errors getting the crew 'lost' is unlikely as we have 3-D info on every star within 100 light years of the Sun and computers even today can create star maps from anywhere in the vicinity of the Sun.

There are some throw-away lines that need that - to be thrown away. The author occasionally uses too wide a paint-brush for his canvas, notably p182, "the modern electronics industry" is supposedly based on the Apollo lunar module descent computer. An almighty howler is (p29 and p258) that the Managing Director in JVC invented videorecorders in 1975. The first practical video recorder was first demonstrated in 1956. Even John Logie Baird made video recordings in 1927! Of course he means domestic videos, but even then 'invention' is too much.

But these are simply where technical proof-reading has been inadequate. The book remains enjoyable despite the above comments.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums


Look for similar items by category


Feedback


Fun for Everyone

Christmas Gifts
Achieve over 15,000 RPM with our great range of Powerballs.

Shop the Powerball store

 

Up to 75% off Shoes

Shoe Clearance - 75% off Shoes
Save up to 75% on shoes for the whole family.

Shop clearance shoes

 

A Close Shave

Philips Nivea Coolskin HS8060 Moisturizing Rotary Shaving System
For all types of hair removal, stay smooth with Amazon.co.uk.

Discover Shaving & Hair Removal

 

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

Learn more about Gift Certificates

 
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue Shopping: Top Sellers
The Girl Who Played with Fire
Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Host
The Host by Stephenie Meyer

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates