I’m not quite sure how I got the idea to write about rockets and books;  it had something to do with a Spanish carousel and an antique store.  That combination led to a few interesting facts and thoughts.

The Martian Chronicles are a collection of short stories from the famous science fiction master, Ray Bradbury. They propelled him (pun intended) into popularity in 1950.  Image: marsmet521

The top book has absolutely nothing to do with rockets, but I liked the picture. You can probably tell from the context of the other books that Rocket Surgery Made Easy has something to do with web sites, specifically usability testing.  If you want to know what that is, visit the author’s site,  Advanced Common Sense.  Image: Jason Alley

A rocket enthusiast and his son blew up Principles of Scientific Management at Snow Ranch as a symbolic gesture for those that disagree with the book’s advice.  At first, I thought that was odd, until I read Steve Jurvetson’s bio and realized he was qualified to write his own book.  Not to mention that he owns the first Tesla Model S.  Image: Steve Jurvetson

For serious rocket science, you can visit the engineering floor at the Texas A&M University Library to learn about rockets in the middle of the last century.

This is the book I found in an antique store that started this post.  I like the way Rockets and Jets are written in bright red letters, as if they’ll grab a young reader’s attention faster than Guided Missiles and Space Ships.

If you don’t want to build a rocket, but just want to ride one, how about a carousel ride in Segovia, Spain.  How many carousels in the world have a Roman aqueduct for a backdrop?  This aqueduct carried water about 10 miles and was built in the mid first century or early second century.

The carousel features dinosaurs, balloons, space ships, and rockets.

Carousels are not normally found in the shadows of ancient aqueducts, but this one was visiting as part of the annual puppet festival held in May.

Enjoy,

JT