FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ROCKET SCIENTIST INVENTS TIME MACHINE
A
noted scientist at the leading edge of space exploration has established a way to
transport people into the past, and to see their children's future. Dr. Jack Bacon,
a key contributor to the International Space Station program, has created a journey
through a thousand years of Anglo-American history with the publication of My
Grandfathers' Clock. A remarkable blend of genealogy, history, technology,
and of raw human spirit, My Grandfathers' Clock propels the reader
through a millennium of progress as lived by a real continuous line of 28 generations.
The depth of Bacon's genealogy is astounding enough, but his family saga is merely
a framework for his sweeping exploration of Anglo-American history, culture, values,
and technology.
The journey begins with a knight in the Norman invasion of
England in 1066. It ends (for now…) in the permanent migration of our species into
space. Along the way, hundreds of technical and social changes mark the human ascent.
The reader gains an overwhelming appreciation of our progress and of our human spirit.
Most importantly, the reader swells with joy in anticipation of our children's unlimited
future.
Simple math reveals that over a billion other people descend from
the patriarch of Bacon's line. Therefore, most Anglo-Americans will find the lives
of many of their own ancestors detailed in the pages of this astounding book. Bacon
treats the reader to just one day in the life of "everyman" as the torch
passes from father to son. The twenty-eight episodes of My Grandfathers' Clock
are rich in the details of clothing, technology, customs, and beliefs of each generation.
Together, they form a mesmerizing tour of the millennium. Unlike the histories of
kings, generals, and adventurers, My Grandfathers' Clock is the history
of real, unsung men and women, whose ordinary lives depict the extraordinary human
journey from the Dark Age to the Space Age.
What could induce ordinary men
to leave their families and marginal livelihoods to go on a crusade? What changes
did the Magna Carta have on the peasants of the land? How could you as a medieval
student reconcile your education with the growing evidence that everything you held
to be "true" was wrong, and that to say so was heresy? What was it like
to see the plague enter your household? How would you survive the ruined economy
in America, between the Revolution and the Constitutional Convention? What lesson
would you teach to your students the day after Sputnik changed their
future? These and other real-life issues confront the reader, as each father builds
a better world for his son. Just in time for Fathers' Day, My Grandfathers'
Clock is a poignant study of the fatherly bond, spanning a thousand years
of human drama.
A foreword by noted historian and technologist Dr. John Lienhard
(host of Engines of our Ingenuity, heard
daily on National Public Radio) sets the stage for the journey through time and space.
Over four thousand entries in eight hundred indexed topics provide a valuable resource
for the serious student of history. Four hundred fifty notes amplify the historical
detail, without detracting from the gripping story line. My Grandfathers' Clock
is indeed a time machine that will transport readers back to their earliest roots,
and will rocket them through the ages towards their children's future in the stars.
Author Profile:
Dr. Jack Bacon has an extensive background as an
educator, engineer, and worldwide public speaker for the nation's space program.
He is also fortunate to descend from one of the world's deepest-known genealogical
lines. In My Grandfathers' Clock, he blends and shares both remarkable
facets of his life. A graduate of Caltech and of the University of Rochester, he
is a NASA engineer working on the design, assembly, and operation of the International
Space Station- the most complicated and expensive undertaking in human history. Dr.
Bacon has been a featured spokesperson in dozens of TV and radio interviews around
the word. He has presented to over 300 live audiences across the US, as well as in
Australia, Canada, Continental Europe, England, Japan, New Zealand, Panama, and Russia.
He is one of the world's leading authorities on mankind's technological history,
and on our ultimate destiny together in space.
My Grandfathers' Clock
is available in hardback for $31.97 from:
Normandy House Publishing
P.O.
Box 59-1066
Houston, TX 77259-1066
Toll Free: (866) 447-4622
(www.normandyhousepublishers.com).
Note
editors:
A copy of this release, digital images of the book cover and of the author,
and additional information are available at www.normandyhousepublishers.com
-30-