Appledesign - Paul Kunkel, Rick English

My father gave this to me for Xmas (thanks Dad!). It is a wonderful coffee-table book of the history of Apple's industrial design, with excellent photographs throughout, from the Apple I through the Lisa, Mac, Powerbooks, many prototypes, concept designs, peripherals, through to the last line of PowerMacs and the 20th Anniversary Mac, before the iMac showed up.
9/10 January 2001

The Terrible Hours - Peter Maas

This account of the world's first major submarine rescue in 1939, and the man behind it, Charles "Swede" Momsen, captures quite well both the human story, and the engineering difficulties involved. Momsen was responsible for the development of most early submarine rescue technologies, and despite political difficulties within the US Navy, managed to develop an artificial lung to allow submariners to ascend to the surface in a desperate situation, a rescue diving bell, and improved diving technologies to allow deeper & longer dives. The author, Maas, is a journalist who managed to interview many of the people involved, and while at first his writing style is a little over-dramatic, he finds his pace and tells the story well, while also illustrating the fascinating technical challenges faced in the early days of submarine warfare. Momsen is painted, probably deservedly, as a modern navy hero, and the book should be a good read for anyone interested in submarine history.
8/10 November 2000

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