Abstract: Abstract In 1801, Richard Trevithick built a steam-powered carriage, opening the era of horseless transportation. After tolerating over 30 years of noise and dirtiness due to steam engines, the first battery-powered electric vehicle (EV) was built in 1834. Over 50 years later, the first petrol-powered internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) was built in 1885. So, the EV is not new and is already over 166 years old. It was better than the ICEV in the early 1900s. Having slept for almost 70 years, it began to recover in the 1970s. Now, the EV intends to strike back (Daniels, 2000). Detailed history of the development of EVs can be found in Wakefield (1994, 1998) and Shacket (1979).

Abstract: American politicians have long been troubled by the question of whether or not to deploy a national missile defense system. The argument has focused upon the questions of cost, both political and fiscal, plus the reliability of the technologies. This study places that debate within the context of an ongoing controversy over the direction of American foreign and defense policy since the 1950s. Since that time several distinct worldviews (labeled Believers, Pragmatists, and Wilsonians) have been articulated, views which predetermine decision-makers' positions on national missile defense. Those worldviews structure how technology tests and costs are evaluated regardless of outcomes. Politics, not technological proficiency, drives policy decisions. In effect, the debate has been a dialogue of the deaf and blind wherein each perceives only that which fits their predetermined views. This controversy raises questions regarding the use of deterrence as the basis for national policy and the role of technology in making such decisions. Handberg places this debate within the historical flow of events, dating back to the first inkling that national missile defense might be possible. The arrival of the George W. Bush administration moves national missile defense to the forefront with the question of deployment now considered a near reality.

Abstract: Subject Contract Law Private International Law and Conflict of Laws Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online

Abstract: Distinguished African Americans in Aviation and Space Scienceoffers brief, readable entries that describe the lives and careers of 80 men and 20 women who defied poverty and prejudice to excel in the fields of aviation and space exploration. Each essay begins with birth and death dates, educational institutions attended and degrees earned, positions held, and awards won. A short summary of the individual's contribution to aviation or space science is followed by a biographical narrative divided into three sections: Early Years, Higher Education, and Career Highlights. Often based on the authors' correspondence with the subjects themselves, or with family members, this illustrated volume provides the fullest and most accessible biographical information available for many of these figures.

Abstract: Abstract A professional airplane pilot sits in a simulator, the kind used to check the abilities of the men and women who fly for the military and the airlines. The task is to bring an aircraft safely down onto a runway through clouds or fog without being able to see anything outside. As the aircraft descends, the pilot has to watch for the smallest deviations of instruments on the panel, and correct for them quickly with more or less power or with slight movements of the control yoke. A continuous scan of instruments is required to make sure that all aircraft systems are operating correctly. The pilot must consult an approach chart continuously without interrupting the other tasks to which he or she is attending. And while all this is going on, the pilot has to communicate by radio with a controller on the ground and must be prepared to carry out unexpected instructions. Furthermore, if in the pilot’s judgment anything at all seems wrong, an immediate climb must be initiated, rather than gamble on reaching the runway safely.

Abstract: Abstract During this battle most of the infantrymen carried muzzleloading smoothbore muskets with percussion ignition. A few regiments, however, shouldered the newer muzzle-loading rifles. To load both weapons the tactical manuals specified nine steps.

Abstract: The Time of Flight (TOF) system of the AMS experiment provides the fast trigger to the detector and measures the crossing particle direction, velocity and charge. AMS was operated aboard of the shuttle Discovery on June 1998 (NASA STS-91 mission) and will be upgraded and installed on the International Space Station at the end of 2003, for 3 years of data taking. The performances of the TOF during the precursor flight and modifications needed in the final version of the detector are presented.