Flying Car

This is one book that lives up to the seemingly hyperbolic claims of its subtitle. Blatner, the author of books on mathematics, digital imaging, and virtual reality, is also a pilot who has logged hundreds of hours in the air. Concentrating on commercial aviation, he offers a compendium of fascinating facts. Chapters zero in on specific aspects of flight: what keeps planes in the air, for example, or how a jet engine functions, or the workings of air-traffic control, or airplane maintenance, or the often-bewildering universe of ticket prices. In addition to technological facts, he also covers the human side of air travel: fear of flying and how to control it, what the pilots are up to in the cockpit, even the horrors of airline food. There are little boxed nuggets on nearly every page: we learn that our bodies briefly become heavier at takeoff and that the blast from a jet engine can flip a car into the air and send it flying over three other vehicles. A wonderful treat for aviation aficionados.