If human error only starts to explain how accidents happen in complex, adaptive systems, what does the rest of the explanation look like? And what can be done as a result? If complex systems are fundamentally different from merely complicated ones, what does this mean for us – the people who have to live and work in them?Through a re-analysis of real events, this book integrates recent thinking from psychology, resilience engineering, complexity theory and cybernetics.Intimidated? Don’t be...

'Goodbye Miss Young. Good luck to you and don't forget to remember me to the folks back home.'Major Archibald Butt (1865-1912)The sinking of the Titanic on her maiden voyage in 1912 is one of the most dramatic stories in maritime history. The largest passenger steamship in the world, fitted with more advanced safety features than any of her rivals, she was proclaimed to be virtually unsinkable.More than 1,500 people perished when th...

The development of the Avro Arrow was a remarkable Canadian achievement. Its mysterious cancellation in February 1959 prompted questions that have long gone unanswered. What role did the Central Intelligence Agency play in the scrapping of the project? Who in Canada's government was involved in that decision? What, if anything, did Canada get in return? Who ordered the blowtorching of all the prototypes? And did Arrow technology find its way into the American Stealth fighter/bomber program...

This official U.S. government guide to piloting aircraft-created by the Federal Aviation Administration-is the essential resource for finding the knowledge and skills to fly all types of planes. It includes an introduction to flight training and official information on ground operations, basic flight maneuvers, slow flight, stalls and spins, takeoff and departure climbs, ground reference maneuvers, airport traffic patterns, approaches and landings, performance maneuvers, and night operatio...

Ninety-five years ago, as the Titanic slowly sank, a 'mystery' ship was seen as she slipped below the waves. Thinking it would be their salvation, rockets were fired from Titanic to attract the 'mystery' ship, but to no avail. With 1,500 souls on board, Titanic foundered, but what of the mystery ship? At the subsequent inquiries in both the USA and UK, Captain Stanley Lord and his vessel, the Californian, were accused of ignoring Titanic's plight. This is the story of the Californian and o...

When she set sail from Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York on 10 April 1912, RMS Titanic, the pride of the White Star fleet, was the largest ocean liner in the world. Deemed 'practically unsinkable' because of her double-bottomed hull and watertight compartments, she carried over 2,000 passengers and crew, although only sufficient lifeboats for just over half that number. Four days out of Southampton, on the night of 14 April, she struck an iceberg in the North At...

A devastating disaster at sea . . . an officer who refuses to hide the truth. . . a courtroom confrontation with far-reaching implications . . . The Perfect Storm meets A Civil Action in a gripping account of one of the most significant shipwrecks of the twentieth century.In 1983 the Marine Electric, a “reconditioned” World War II vessel, was on a routine voyage thirty miles off the East Coast of the United States when disaster struck. As the old coal car...

Delving deep into Titanic's legacy, Allen Gibson presents a comprehensive history with a refreshing argument, that Titanic represented a considerable achievement in maritime architecture. He determines the true causes of the disaster, telling the story of the 'unsinkable' ship against a backdrop of a tumultuous and rapidly emerging technological world. The book exposes the true interests of the people involved in the operation, regulation and investigatio...

Although the answer appears obvious, there is far more to the sinking of the Titanic than is popularly understood. On 10 April 1912 Titanic - the largest and most luxurious ocean liner in the world - left Southampton on her maiden voyage. The only headlines she expected to make were on her triumphant arrival in New York. But just five days later, she was a wreck at the bottom of the North Atlantic, taking over 1500 lives with her. Why? The answer to this question is a set of circumstances ...

For more than two hundred years, thousands of giant sailing ships traversed the Great Lakes carrying cargo and passengers. The memory of the romance and elegance of these beautiful ships has almost been forgotten in the search for greater efficiency and speed in our modern world.C.H.J. Snider (1879-1971) chronicled this era in his 1,303 "Schooner Days" columns for Toronto's The Evening Telegram between 1931 and 1954. A great marine researcher and artist, Snider himself wor...

Charles I's authoritative and intolerant rule as monarch, and the unpopular Ship Money tax which he initiated, were instrumental in creating the most splendid and controversial warship in English history. She was the grandest venture hitherto created, remarkable for her size, beauty and heavy armament. Even her name, the Sovereign of the Seas, suggested pride and pomp. Designed and built by Phineas Pett, and ably assisted by his son Peter as Master Builder, her keel was laid in December 16...

What fascinates most people are the conspiracy theories that abound about her. Was she switched for her damaged sister Olympic, did Captain Smith really ignore the ice warnings that flooded into her wireless room, or was there some fabled treasure on board when she went down? Perhaps one of the most enduring tales of Titanic is the mystery ship, the fabled vessel seen in the distance that could have saved all her passengers from freezing or drowning. But what was the mystery ship, and was ...