Monsters: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Birth of Pathological Technology

266 Pages·2015·2.58 MB·English

by  Ed Regis

MONSTERS
ALSO BY ED REGIS
Regenesis (with George M. Church)
What Is Life?
The Info Mesa
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Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition
Who Got Einstein’s Office?

Copyright © 2015 by Ed Regis Published by Basic Books,
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Designed by Trish Wilkinson
Set in 11.5 point Fairfield LT Std Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Regis, Edward,
1944– Monsters: the Hindenburg disaster and the birth of pathological technology / Ed Regis.
pagescm Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-465-06160-0 (e-book) 1. Hindenburg (Airship) 2. Aircraft accidents. 3. Technological
innovations—Social aspects. 4. Technology—History. 5. Technology—Risk assessment. I. Title.
TL659.H5R44 2015
303.48'30904—dc23
2015022692
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Hindenburg over Manhattan, May 6, 1937, three hours before its
destruction.
To Pam
CONTENTS
The Pathology
Prologue: “Up Ship!”
PART I
BEGINNINGS
1. The Man in the Sky
2. The Philosopher’s Stone of Flight
3. The Flying Bomb
4. The Delirium
5. Demystifying Gargantua
6. A Technological Anomaly
7. Death Rattle of a Leviathan
8. From Hubris to Horror in Thirty-Four Seconds
PART II
PATHOLOGICAL TECHNOLOGY’S CHAMBER OF HORRORS
9. Progress Through H-Bombs
10. The Godzilla of Physics
11. Stardate 90305.55
PART III
ENDINGS
12. The Six Hindenburgs
13. The Pathology of Delirium
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Selected Sources
Index