Download or read book Fire in the Night written by Stephen McGinty and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-11-23 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fire was visible from seventy miles away and the heat generated was so intense that a helicopter could only circle the rig at a perimeter of one mile. On the surface of the sea, a converted fishing trawler inched as close as possible, but the paint on the vessel’s hull blistered and burnt. In the water surrounding the inferno, men’s heads could be seen bobbing like apples as their yellow hard hats melted with the heat. On 6 July 1988 a series of explosions ripped through the Piper Alpha oil platform, 110 miles north-east of Aberdeen in the North Sea. Ablaze with 226 men on board, the searing temperatures caused the platform to collapse in just two hours. Only sixty-one would survive by leaping over 100 feet into the water below. Newly updated for the thirtieth year since the tragedy, Fire in the Night by journalist Stephen McGinty tells in gripping detail the devastating story of that summer evening. Combining interviews with survivors, witness statements and transcripts from the official inquiry into the disaster, this is the moving and vivid tale of what remains the worst offshore oil-rig disaster to date.

Download or read book Fire in the Sky written by Gordon L. Dillow and published by Scribner. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This “accessible and always entertaining” (Booklist) combination of history, pop science, and in-depth reporting offers a fascinating account of the asteroids that hit Earth long ago and those streaming toward us now, as well as how prepared we are against asteroid-caused catastrophe. One of these days, warns Gordon Dillow, the Earth will be hit by a comet or asteroid of potentially catastrophic size. The only question is when. In the meantime, we need to get much better at finding objects hurtling our way, and if they’re large enough to penetrate the atmosphere without burning up, figure out what to do about them. We owe many of science’s most important discoveries to the famed Meteor Crater, a mile-wide dimple on the Colorado Plateau created by an asteroid hit 50,000 years ago. In his masterfully researched Fire in the Sky, Dillow unpacks what the Crater has to tell us. Prior to the early 1900s, the world believed that all craters—on the Earth and Moon—were formed by volcanic activity. Not so. The revelation that Meteor Crater and others like it were formed by impacts with space objects has led to a now accepted theory about what killed off the dinosaurs, and it has opened up a new field of asteroid observation that is brimming with urgency. Dillow looks at great asteroid hits of the past and modern-day asteroid hunters and defense planning experts, including America’s first Planetary Defense Officer. Satellite sensors confirm that a Hiroshima-scale blast occurs in the atmosphere every year, and a smaller, one-kiloton blast every month. While Dillow makes clear that the objects above can be deadly, he consistently inspires awe with his descriptions of their size, makeup, and origins. Both a riveting work of popular science and a warning to not take for granted the space objects hurtling overhead, Fire in the Sky is, ultimately, a testament to our universe’s celestial wonders.

Download or read book The Stars Are Fire written by Anita Shreve and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2017-04-18 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of The Weight of Water and The Pilot's Wife: an exquisitely suspenseful novel about an extraordinary young woman tested by a catastrophic event—based on the true story of the largest fire in Maine's history. “Long before Liane Moriarty was spinning her 'Big Little Lies,' Shreve was spicing up domestic doings in beachfront settings with terrible husbands and third-act twists. She still is, as effectively as ever.” —New York Times Book Review In October 1947, Grace Holland is experiencing two simultaneous droughts. An unseasonably hot, dry summer has turned the state of Maine into a tinderbox, and Grace and her husband, Gene, have fallen out of love and barely speak. Five months pregnant and caring for two toddlers, Grace has resigned herself to a life of loneliness and domestic chores. One night she awakes to find that wildfires are racing down the coast, closer and closer to her house. Forced to pull her children into the ocean to escape the flames, Grace watches helplessly as everything she knows burns to the ground. By morning, her life is forever changed: she is homeless, penniless, awaiting news of her husband's fate, and left to face an uncertain future in a town that no longer exists. With courage and stoicism, Grace overcomes devastating loss and, through the smoke, is able to glimpse the opportunity to rewrite her own story.

Download or read book Seekers 5 Fire in the Sky written by Erin Hunter and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-05-24 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The spirits dance like fire in the sky. . . . The three cubs—Kallik, Toklo, and Lusa—along with their shape-shifting companion, Ujurak, stand on the edge of the sea-ice under the blazing Northern Lights. The land has come to an end, but the bears' journey is far from over. Now they must put their trust in Kallik's paws, as she feels the ice pulling her out toward the ocean. Life on the ice is more difficult than the bears imagined. While Kallik struggles to remember her polar bear roots, Toklo bristles in the unfamiliar territory and Lusa gets weaker by the day; black and brown bears don't belong on the ice. Meanwhile, Ujurak learns firsthand what lurks beneath the whorls and bubbles of the ice, and what he discovers will change everything. Just when it seems like they'll never survive in the frozen wilderness, a mystical encounter with a bear spirit assures them that all will be well. But this strange vision leads to even more questions, and ultimately it might tear the bears apart—this time for good—as the next steps of their journey come into focus.

Download or read book The Night the Sky Turned Red written by Allan Levinsky and published by . This book was released on 2014-08-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was July 4th, 1866, and Portland, Maine's population was just beginning to unwind after the Civil War. The weather had been very warm and dry but everyone was looking forward to celebrating. There were many activities scheduled to keep the celebrants entertained, everything from a parade to the best fireworks display ever. The city was overflowing with visitors from all around the state and business was brisk. Little did the crowds know what fate had planned on that festive day. Late that afternoon, a young boy casually lit a firecracker in front of a woodworker's shop and not thinking, tossed the explosive into the shop's yard that was covered with dry wood shavings. The result was the largest urban fire in the history of the United States to that time. The Night the Sky Turned Red tells the story of this great conflagration through the eyes and voices of those who lived through one of the country's greatest disasters.

Download or read book Fire in the Stars written by Barbara Fradkin and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2016-09-03 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A former aid worker returns home haunted by her time in Africa and channels her pain into a murder investigation that’s all too personal. After surviving a horrific trauma in Nigeria, international aid worker Amanda Doucette returns to Canada to rebuild her life and her shaken ideals. There, the once-passionate, adventurous woman needs all her strength and ingenuity when a friend and fellow survivor goes missing along with his son. A trained first-aid and crisis responder, Doucette — always accompanied by her beloved dog Kaylee — joins forces with RCMP officer Chris Tymko to discover the truth about the disappearance. Their search leads them to the Great Northern Peninsula, a rugged landscape of Viking history, icebergs, whales, and fierce ocean storms. Elsewhere, a body gets hauled up in a fisherman’s net, and evidence is mounting of an unsettling connection with Amanda’s search for her friend. Fradkin writes evocatively of the beautiful, often hostile, Newfoundland landscape where Amanda soon finds herself fighting for her very survival.

Download or read book Fire in the Sky written by Travis Walton and published by Marlowe. This book was released on 1996 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author recounts his abduction by a UFO in the mountains of Arizona in 1975, describing life aboard an alien spacecraft in an account that became the basis for the major motion picture of the same name. 25,000 first printing. IP.

Download or read book Fire in the Stars written by Barbara Fradkin and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2016-09-03 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Former aid worker Amanda Doucette returns from Nigeria to rebuild her life in Newfoundland after a shocking experience drove her from the field. Seeking a new purpose in life, she soon finds herself putting her crisis-response training to full effect when she’s wrapped up in a murder and missing-persons case and a social media storm.

Download or read book Under a Flaming Sky written by Daniel Brown and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-02-01 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On September 1, 1894 two forest fires converged on the town of Hinckley, Minnesota, trapping over 2,000 people. Daniel J. Brown recounts the events surrounding the fire in the first and only book on to chronicle the dramatic story that unfolded. Whereas Oregon's famous "Biscuit" fire in 2002 burned 350,000 acres in one week, the Hinckley fire did the same damage in five hours. The fire created its own weather, including hurricane-strength winds, bubbles of plasma-like glowing gas, and 200-foot-tall flames. In some instances, "fire whirls," or tornadoes of fire, danced out from the main body of the fire to knock down buildings and carry flaming debris into the sky. Temperatures reached 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit--the melting point of steel. As the fire surrounded the town, two railroads became the only means of escape. Two trains ran the gauntlet of fire. One train caught on fire from one end to the other. The heroic young African-American porter ran up and down the length of the train, reassuring the passengers even as the flames tore at their clothes. On the other train, the engineer refused to back his locomotive out of town until the last possible minute of escape. In all, more than 400 people died, leading to a revolution in forestry management practices and federal agencies that monitor and fight wildfires today. Author Daniel Brown has woven together numerous survivors' stories, historical sources, and interviews with forest fire experts in a gripping narrative that tells the fascinating story of one of North America's most devastating fires and how it changed the nation.

Download or read book Auroras written by Dan Bortolotti and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published in hardcover in 2011 by Firefly Books.

Download or read book Fire in the Star written by Kamilla Benko and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2020-02-18 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The enchanting Unicorn Quest series reaches its thrilling conclusion as two sisters fight to save a magical land from destruction. * "Those who love Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time . . . [or] Neil Gaiman's Coraline, can't miss this debut.” - Booklist, starred review, on The Unicorn Quest "An adventure-quest brimming with magic and heart." - Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author, on The Unicorn Quest After a lifetime of being the younger sister--of letting Sophie fight her battles, of following her on countless Experiences and through a fireplace into a magical land--it's finally Claire Martinson's turn to lead. And she'll do anything to keep her big sister safe: resist the wraiths' cold shadows, experiment with new and dangerous magic, become a thief in disguise. When Claire discovers that "only a queen can defeat a queen," she knows she must steal and reforge the ancient Crown of Arden to stand a chance against the darkness that threatens the world and her family. Because Queen Estelle d'Astora, desperate to reclaim her power, will stop at nothing to gain the support of the four guilds--even if it means killing the last unicorn. Claire will need every friend she's made to help her as the fate of Arden hangs in the balance . . . But the secrets of the unicorns are deeper than anyone could have ever imagined. Does Claire have what it takes to ignite the long-buried magic of this world and wake the fire in the stars? Or will the true salvation of Arden rest on one final and heartbreaking sacrifice?

Download or read book Fire in the Mind written by George Johnson and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2010-10-06 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are there really laws governing the universe? Or is the order we see a mere artifact of the way evolution wired the brain? And is what we call science only a set of myths in which quarks, DNA, and information fill the role once occupied by gods? These questions lie at the heart of George Johnson's audacious exploration of the border between science and religion, cosmic accident and timeless law. Northern New Mexico is home both to the most provocative new enterprises in quantum physics, information science, and the evolution of complexity and to the cosmologies of the Tewa Indians and the Catholic Penitentes. As it draws the reader into this landscape, juxtaposing the systems of belief that have taken root there, Fire in the Mind into a gripping intellectual adventure story that compels us to ask where science ends and religion begins. "A must for all those seriously interested in the key ideas at the frontier of scientific discourse."--Paul Davies

Download or read book Fire On High written by Peter David and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2002-08-04 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lieutenant Robin Lefler's mother died in a shuttle explosion ten years ago. So is the woman being held prisoner in Thallonian space really her? If it is, what is her connection to the mysterious woman holding a weapon that could doom entire worlds? With the lives of billions at stake, Robin Lefler, Captain Calhoun and the crew of the U.S.S. Excalibur must find the answers before time runs out for them and for the struggling remnants of the once-great Thallonian Empire.

Download or read book Fire in the Dark written by and published by Michael Oldham. This book was released on with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Tipiskawi Kisik written by Wilfred Buck and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "View the night sky through an Indigenous perspective with this collection of Ininew (Cree) constellations and mythologies. These stories present a brief glimpse of the knowledge held by Indigenous people prior to first contact. Fly inside the Milky Way with Niska (the Goose). Chase Mista Muskwa (the Great Bear) along with Tepahkoop Pinesisuk (the Seven Birds). Above all else, pass these stories on to the next generation, so they will know the rich history, science and culture of the Ininew people."--

Download or read book Fire in the Night Sky written by M. D. Cooper and published by . This book was released on 2022-04-30 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Night Sky written by Richard Grossinger and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 841 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since Homo sapiens first looked up at the stars, we as a species have been looking for meaning in the mysteries of the night sky. Over the millennia, as our knowledge, science, and technology developed, the stories we told ourselves about the universe and our place in it developed as well. In The Night Sky, Richard Grossinger traces those developments, covering multiple aspects of humanity's complex relationship to the cosmos. Covering not only astronomy but also cosmology, cosmogony, astrology, and science fiction, he offers us a revelatory look at the firmament through his own telescope, fitted with an anthropological lens. Throughout his explorations, Grossinger continually reflects on the deeper meaning of our changing concepts about the universe and creation, offering insight into how each new discovery causes us to redefine the values, moralities, and aesthetics by which we live. He also calls into question the self-aggrandizing notion that humanity can and will conquer all, and injects our strident confidence in science with a healthy dose of humility and wonder. Filled with poetic observation and profound questions, The Night Sky is a brilliant reflection of humanity's relationship with the cosmos--a relationship fed by longing, doubt, and awe.