Humanity has thrown everything we have at implacable luck-novel theologies, entire philosophical movements, fresh branches of mathematics-and yet we seem to have gained only the smallest edge on the power of fortune. The Myth of Luck tells us why we have been fighting an unconquerable foe. Taking us on a guided tour of one of our oldest concepts, we begin in ancient Greece and Rome, considering how Plato, Plutarch, and the Stoics understood luck, before entering the theoretical world of probability and exploring how luck relates to theology, sports, ethics, gambling, knowledge, and present-day psychology. As we travel across traditions, times and cultures, we come to realize that it's not that as soon as we solve one philosophical problem with luck that two more appear, like heads on a hydra, but rather that the monster is altogether mythological. We cannot master luck because there is nothing to defeat: luck is no more than a persistent and troubling illusion. By introducing us to compelling arguments and convincing reasons that explain why there is no such thing as luck, we finally see why in a very real sense we make our own luck, that luck is our own doing. The Myth of Luck helps us to regain our own agency in the world - telling the entertaining story of the philosophy and history of luck along the way.
This collection of fascinating biographies of outstanding women athletes past and present including superstars such as Nadia Comaneci, Mia Hamm, Jackie-Joyner Kersee, Danica Patrick, and Serena and Venus Williams. Icons of Women's Sport identifies and examines the individuals who have impacted history, challenged the status quo, influenced sport culture, and garnered wide public interest. Including stars from the past and present, ranging from Babe Didrikson Zaharias and Billie Jean King to Dara Torres and Venus and Serena Williams, the featured athletes are iconic not only because of their achievements in the sports arena, but also because of their contributions to society: advancing cultural diversity and gender equity, breaking class barriers, and transcending stereotypes. The book contains biographies of 36 women athletes—American and international—who excelled in competitive sports from the post-World War I era through the modern era in a dozen different sports. Icons of Women's Sport spotlights athletes across a wide range of women's sports, with appropriate attention given to the major sports. Readers will enjoy learning about stars from both amateur and professional sports arenas, including Olympic athletes, as well as female competitors who have reached the top of their game in newer arenas such as golf and snowboarding.
Challenging problems both attract and repel us. They frustrate us, accelerate our pulses, cause ulcers, and perhaps even curtail our lifespans. On the other hand, the knotty problems of life offer us food for thought, sustaining our creativity, and adding emotional spice to the human experience. We encounter difficult tasks day in and day out. The solutions to these problems must be sought with resourcefulness and creativity, for until now we have had little insight into the nature of these tasks, and even less into methods for resolving them. This unique book explores the nature of challenging problems in all walks of life, and describes the creative techniques for addressing them. It is particularly relevant for problems that admit no obvious solution, whether they concern scientific knowledge, technology, the arts, or social situations. By understanding the dynamics of problem solving in general, the author argues, we can better organize the pursuit of specific projects. The initial phase involves crystallizing our objectives and developing a coherent plan. The next step is to evaluate the results and determine whether the work should be concluded, begun anew, or given up altogether. With this general strategy, even seemingly overwhelming problems can be approached systematically and efficiently. The author goes beyond the normal distinction between routine and innovative activities, defining the role of creativity in novel decision-making. In addition, he distills the existing literature on creativity, innovation, and project management to present a concise set of strategies and practices that can be applied in a myriad of settings ranging from university laboratories to corporate planning centers. For the sake of concreteness, a number of examples from research and development environments demonstrate the book's basic principles in action, showing how even the most difficult problems can yield to knowledgeable ingenuity. Written in a clear, readable style, Essence of Creativity will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers: engineers, business managers, computer scientists, executives, cognitive psychologists, and educators in many fields, as well as general readers seeking effective ways to handle difficult problems.
“Offers a useful reminder of the role of modern science in fundamentally transforming all of our lives.” —President Barack Obama (on Twitter) “An important book.” —Steven Pinker, The New York Times Book Review The surprising and important story of how humans gained what amounts to an extra life, from the bestselling author of How We Got to Now and Where Good Ideas Come From In 1920, at the end of the last major pandemic, global life expectancy was just over forty years. Today, in many parts of the world, human beings can expect to live more than eighty years. As a species we have doubled our life expectancy in just one century. There are few measures of human progress more astonishing than this increased longevity. Extra Life is Steven Johnson’s attempt to understand where that progress came from, telling the epic story of one of humanity’s greatest achievements. How many of those extra years came from vaccines, or the decrease in famines, or seatbelts? What are the forces that now keep us alive longer? Behind each breakthrough lies an inspiring story of cooperative innovation, of brilliant thinkers bolstered by strong systems of public support and collaborative networks, and of dedicated activists fighting for meaningful reform. But for all its focus on positive change, this book is also a reminder that meaningful gaps in life expectancy still exist, and that new threats loom on the horizon, as the COVID-19 pandemic has made clear. How do we avoid decreases in life expectancy as our public health systems face unprecedented challenges? What current technologies or interventions that could reduce the impact of future crises are we somehow ignoring? A study in how meaningful change happens in society, Extra Life celebrates the enduring power of common goals and public resources, and the heroes of public health and medicine too often ignored in popular accounts of our history. This is the sweeping story of a revolution with immense public and personal consequences: the doubling of the human life span.
Nobody does 007 encyclopedias better than Bond historian Steven Jay Rubin. Buy this one. M's orders." —George Lazenby, James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service Packed with behind-the-scenes information, fascinating facts, trivia, bloopers, classic quotes, character bios, cast and filmmaker bios, and hundreds of rare and unusual photographs of those in front of and behind the camera Ian Fleming's James Bond character has entertained motion picture audiences for nearly sixty years, and the filmmakers have come a long way since they spent $1 million producing the very first James Bond movie, Dr. No, in 1962. The 2015 Bond title, Spectre, cost $250 million and grossed $881 million worldwide—and 2021's No Time to Die is certain to become another global blockbuster. The James Bond Movie Encyclopedia is the completely up-to-date edition of author Steven Jay Rubin's seminal work on the James Bond film series. It covers the entire series through No Time to Die and showcases the type of exhaustive research that has been a hallmark of Rubin's work in film history. From the bios of Bond girls in front of the camera to rare and unusual photographs of those behind it, no detail of the Bond legacy is left uncovered.
Four of the world's greatest murders took place within a square mile of Glasgow's city centre during the latter part of Queen Victoria's rein. These horrific murders were committed not in the East End as expected, but in the fashionable and respectable West End of Glasgow. Madeline Smith was accused and found not guilty of lacing her doomed lover's late-night cocoa with arsenic; an eighty-three year old woman was brutally battered to death, and Jessie McPherson was brutally struck forty times with a meat cleaver, in a case considered by some authorities to be the finest in the world. However, by far the most chilling crimes are those of Dr Edward William Pritchard, "The Human Crocodile", who had the coffin lid unscrewed so that he could kiss the lips of the wife he had calculatingly murdered by slow poisoning. Glasgow is a city renowned for its crime and violence, but little has been documented about Victorian crime. This timely new edition of a classic best-seller, is the first of its kind, and is as valid today as ever.
Thornton's writings are central to the history of the "Laws of Supply and Demand" and seminal in understanding the rise of neoclassical economics. Thornton has been cast as a minor player in John Stuart Mill's recantation of the wages fund doctrine. This text should show how he played a major role.
A young readers adaptation of Steven Johnson's Extra Life, the story of how humans have doubled our lifespan in less than a century—and what to do with the extra life we now have. Humans live longer now than they ever have in their more than three hundred thousand years of existence on earth. And most (if not all) of the advances that have permitted the human lifespan to double have happened in living memory. Extra Life looks at vaccines, seat belts, pesticides, and more, and how each of our scientific advancements have prolonged human life. This book is a deep dive into the sciences--perfect for younger readers who enjoy modern history as well as scientific advances.
How American industries rose to dominate the economic landscape in the twentieth century For much of the twentieth century, American corporations led the world in terms of technological progress. Why did certain industries have such great success? Experimental Capitalism examines six key industries—automobiles, pneumatic tires, television receivers, semiconductors, lasers, and penicillin—and tracks the highs and lows of American high-tech capitalism and the resulting innovation landscape. Employing "nanoeconomics"—a deep dive into the formation and functioning of companies—Steven Klepper determines how specific companies emerged to become the undisputed leaders that altered the course of their industry's evolution. Klepper delves into why a small number of firms came to dominate their industries for many years after an initial period of tumult, including General Motors, Firestone, and Intel. Even though capitalism is built on the idea of competition among many, he shows how the innovation process naturally led to such dominance. Klepper explores how this domination influenced the search for further innovations. He also considers why industries cluster in specific geographical areas, such as semiconductors in northern California, cars in Detroit, and tires in Akron. He finds that early leading firms serve as involuntary training grounds for the next generation of entrepreneurs who spin off new firms into the surrounding region. Klepper concludes his study with a discussion of the impact of government and the potential for policy to enhance a nation’s high-tech industrial base. A culmination of a lifetime of research and thought, Experimental Capitalism takes a dynamic look at how new ideas and innovations led to America’s economic primacy.
An epic drama of world-changing events revealed through the visionary consciousness of Tatiana, one of the four daughters of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra. This is Tatiana's story, told through her diary: from idyllic childhood in the last royal family of Russia, to brutal imprisonment at the hands of the revolutionaries; from her last-minute escape and secret exile in England - for which there exists actual historical and documentary evidence - to her fulfilment in love and eventual tragic fate as she disappears from history under an assumed name. Within the storyline of history, Tatiana's passionate and impressionistic diary entries are set against the gathering storm of the revolution and the ominous indicators of the Romanov family's impending doom - and against the machinations of the British establishment which decided her fate. ,
The author of more than 50 books--125 million copies in print--Clive Cussler is the current grandmaster of adventure literature. Dirk Pitt, the sea-loving protagonist of 22 of Cussler's novels, remains among the most popular and influential adventure series heroes of the past half-century. This first critical review of Cussler's work features an overview of Pitt and the supporting characters and other heroes, an examination of Cussler's themes and influences, a review of his most important adventures, such as Raise the Titanic! and Iceberg, and a look at adaptations of his work in other media. Cussler joins the pantheon of such as Rudyard Kipling, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Ian Fleming, and this overdue volume demonstrates that beneath Cussler's immense popularity lies a literary depth that well merits scholarly attention.
An in-depth history of Rosicrucianism, its key members, and their roles in the formation and settling of America • Explores Sir Francis Bacon and Dr. John Dee’s deep influence on England’s colonization of America as well as the Rosicrucian influence on the Founding Fathers and on cities such as Philadelphia and Williamsburg • Explains how Bacon was the author of many anonymous Rosicrucian texts and how he envisioned America as the “New Atlantis” • Reveals the connections of the Order of the Rosy Cross to the Knights of the Golden Circle and to the Georgia Guidestones Dr. John Dee and his polymath protégé Sir Francis Bacon were the most influential men in the court of Queen Elizabeth I, part of an elite group with invisible control throughout Europe. And, as Steven Sora reveals, not only were they key members of the Rosicrucians, they were the driving force behind England’s colonization of the New World and the eventual establishment of the United States. From Avalon in Newfoundland to New England to Pennsylvania and Virginia, Sora shows how Bacon and Dee’s Rosicrucian impact is felt throughout North America. He details Bacon’s possible authorship of the anonymous Rosicrucian texts of the early 1600s, his connections with Sir Walter Raleigh’s School of Night, and the origins of Rosicrucianism in Bacon’s Order of the Helmet. He explains how Bacon envisioned America as the New Atlantis, a utopia where liberty and freedom of learning prevailed--a key tenet of the “Invisible College” of the Rosicrucian Order--and how Dee convinced the Queen that England had rightful claims in the New World by drawing on legends of both King Arthur and Welsh Prince Madoc voyaging West to America. Sora looks at Rosicrucian influences on the Founding Fathers and earliest settlers of America, such as Washington, Franklin, and William Penn of Pennsylvania, on the American Revolution, and on American colonies, such as the Williamsburg colony. He details how Penn invited Rosicrucians to Philadelphia and how the city’s layout follows esoteric principles, including a direct reference to Bacon’s New Atlantis. Moving into the 1800s and beyond, he reveals how a handful of Rosicrucians served as the Inner Sanctum of the Knights of the Golden Circle and how Rosicrucians are behind the Georgia Guidestones, carved granite monoliths with messages in ancient languages. Providing a thorough and expansive view of Rosicrucianism, its occult origins, and its deep imprint on America, Sora shows how this secret society still continues to exert invisible influence on the modern world.
James VI and I was arguably the most successful ruler of the Stewart Dynasty in Scotland, and the first king of a united Great Britain. His ableness as a monarch, it has been argued, stemmed largely from his Scottish upbringing. This book is the first in-depth scholarly study of those formative years. It tries to understand exactly when in James' 'long apprenticeship' he seized political power and retraces the incremental steps he took along the way. It also poses new answers to key questions about this process. What relationship did he have with his mother Mary Queen of Scots? Why did he favour his kinsman Esmé Stuart, ultimately Duke of Lennox, to such an extent that it endangered his own throne? And was there a discernible pattern of intent to the alliances he made with the various factions at court between 1578 and 1585? This book also analyses James' early reign as an important case study of the impact of the Reformation on the monarchy of early modern Europe, and examines the cultural activity at James' early court.
Winner of the Christian Gauss Award for excellence in literary scholarship from the Phi Beta Kappa Society Having excavated the world's earliest novels in his previous book, literary historian Steven Moore explores in this sequel the remarkable flowering of the novel between the years 1600 and 1800-from Don Quixote to America's first big novel, an homage to Cervantes entitled Modern Chivalry. This is the period of such classic novels as Tom Jones, Candide, and Dangerous Liaisons, but beyond the dozen or so recognized classics there are hundreds of other interesting novels that appeared then, known only to specialists: Spanish picaresques, French heroic romances, massive Chinese novels, Japanese graphic novels, eccentric English novels, and the earliest American novels. These minor novels are not only interesting in their own right, but also provide the context needed to appreciate why the major novels were major breakthroughs. The novel experienced an explosive growth spurt during these centuries as novelists experimented with different forms and genres: epistolary novels, romances, Gothic thrillers, novels in verse, parodies, science fiction, episodic road trips, and family sagas, along with quirky, unclassifiable experiments in fiction that resemble contemporary, avant-garde works. As in his previous volume, Moore privileges the innovators and outriders, those who kept the novel novel. In the most comprehensive history of this period ever written, Moore examines over 400 novels from around the world in a lively style that is as entertaining as it is informative. Though written for a general audience, The Novel, An Alternative History also provides the scholarly apparatus required by the serious student of the period. This sequel, like its predecessor, is a “zestfully encyclopedic, avidly opinionated, and dazzlingly fresh history of the most 'elastic' of literary forms” (Booklist).
This book was written largely for the benefit of the writers children and grandchildren so they would know something of the life and hardships faced by their pioneering ancestors. It was inspired by their questions about our childhood and youth and their own memories of many visits to the Kansas farms of their grandparents and great grandparents. However, we think many other readers will enjoy learning something about what it was like growing up on a midwestern farm in the 1940s and 50s. A time that was in many ways much simpler but certainly not easy. We had the privilege of knowing personally grandparents and great grandparents who had lived through the many profound changes that occurred around the change of the century. Automobiles, tractors and telephones had only arrived on the farm about 30 years earlier and the grandparents’ barns and garages were still filled with horse-drawn equipment and harnesses from an earlier era. Electricity and graveled roads only occurred after WWII in our memory and running water and indoor bathrooms were still not common on many farms as late as 1955. It was a different and changing world of which we were privileged to be a part. Almost all our relatives lived nearby, and neighbors all knew us and didn’t hesitate to let our parents know if we were up to any mischief. We were expected to take responsibility, work hard, always be truthful, stay out of trouble, study hard and plant straight rows. All are excellent traits that unfortunately are not as valued today as they were then. In the book we have shared some history of the area and some stories of incidents from our lives that were not uncommon among farm families. We hope readers enjoy learning about us and our families.
Our ancestors began arriving in eastern Kansas about 1855. Few white people were in Kansas at that time as it was illegal to settle in Indian Territory until the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. But soon thousands of newcomers began arriving, especially after the Civil War, and by 1900 the area was fully settled. But life remained largely unchanged from that experienced by people for thousands of years previously. Automobiles, telephones, television, tractors, air travel, electricity and good roads did not exist on the farm in 1900 much less in 1855. The United States was still an agrarian society dependent on horse power supplemented by a few railroads and steam engines. Things were about to change dramatically! Between 1900 and 1920 widespread introduction of tractors, automobiles, airplanes, radio and telephones changed life on the farm forever. Our grandparents and great grandparents not only lived through and adapted to these profound changes, they fought and won WWI. Drought and depression followed in the 1930s and then they won WWII in the 1940s. We came along about that time as the sixth generation of Lindseys in the area and the first post WWII generation. Much of the life our ancestors knew on the frontier had already passed, but remnants still existed. Most importantly, many of our ancestors who had lived through and experienced these times were still around and were eager to share their life stories with us. We soaked it up and have now tried to pass it on. We think you will enjoy learning something of what it was like growing up on the farm in the 1940s and 50s and hearing of our ancestors lives in early Kansas. In many ways it was a simpler life then but it certainly wasnt easy. Marvin and Steven Lindsey
Electrical Trade Principles is a theoretical text that addresses the three key qualifications in the UE11 Electrotechnology Training Package; Certificate II in Electrotechnology (Career Start), Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician; and Certificate IV in Electrotechnology – Systems Electrician. The text helps students progress through the course and satisfactorily complete the Capstone Assessment, making them eligible to apply for an electrician’s licence. Premium online teaching and learning tools are available on the MindTap platform. Learn more about the online tools cengage.com.au/learning-solutions
Presents elements of clinical trial methods that are essential in planning, designing, conducting, analyzing, and interpreting clinical trials with the goal of improving the evidence derived from these important studies This Third Edition builds on the text’s reputation as a straightforward, detailed, and authoritative presentation of quantitative methods for clinical trials. Readers will encounter the principles of design for various types of clinical trials, and are then skillfully guided through the complete process of planning the experiment, assembling a study cohort, assessing data, and reporting results. Throughout the process, the author alerts readers to problems that may arise during the course of the trial and provides common sense solutions. All stages of therapeutic development are discussed in detail, and the methods are not restricted to a single clinical application area. The authors bases current revisions and updates on his own experience, classroom instruction, and feedback from teachers and medical and statistical professionals involved in clinical trials. The Third Edition greatly expands its coverage, ranging from statistical principles to new and provocative topics, including alternative medicine and ethics, middle development, comparative studies, and adaptive designs. At the same time, it offers more pragmatic advice for issues such as selecting outcomes, sample size, analysis, reporting, and handling allegations of misconduct. Readers familiar with the First and Second Editions will discover revamped exercise sets; an updated and extensive reference section; new material on endpoints and the developmental pipeline, among others; and revisions of numerous sections. In addition, this book: • Features accessible and broad coverage of statistical design methods—the crucial building blocks of clinical trials and medical research -- now complete with new chapters on overall development, middle development, comparative studies, and adaptive designs • Teaches readers to design clinical trials that produce valid qualitative results backed by rigorous statistical methods • Contains an introduction and summary in each chapter to reinforce key points • Includes discussion questions to stimulate critical thinking and help readers understand how they can apply their newfound knowledge • Provides extensive references to direct readers to the most recent literature, and there are numerous new or revised exercises throughout the book Clinical Trials: A Methodologic Perspective, Third Edition is a textbook accessible to advanced undergraduate students in the quantitative sciences, graduate students in public health and the life sciences, physicians training in clinical research methods, and biostatisticians and epidemiologists. This book is accompanied by downloadable files available below under the DOWNLOADS tab. These files include: MATHEMATICA program – A set of downloadable files that tracks the chapters, containing code pertaining to each. SAS PROGRAMS and DATA FILES used in the book. The following software programs, included in the downloadables, were developed by the author, Steven Piantadosi, M.D., Ph.D: RANDOMIZATION – This program generates treatment assignments for a clinical trial using blocked stratified randomization. CRM – Implements the continual reassessment methods for dose finding clinical trials. OPTIMAL – Calculates two-stage optimal phase II designs using the Simon method. POWER – This is a power and sample size program for clinical trials. Executables for installing these programs can also be found at https://risccweb.csmc.edu/biostats/. Steven Piantadosi, MD, PhD, is the Phase One Foundation Distinguished Chair and Director of the Samuel Oschin Cancer Institute, and Professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Piantadosi is one of the world’s leading experts in the design and analysis of clinical trials for cancer research. He has taught clinical trials methods extensively in formal courses and short venues. He has advised numerous academic programs and collaborations nationally regarding clinical trial design and conduct, and has served on external advisory boards for the National Institutes of Health and other prominent cancer programs and centers. The author of more than 260 peer-reviewed scientific articles, Dr. Piantadosi has published extensively on research results, clinical applications, and trial methodology. While his papers have contributed to many areas of oncology, he has also collaborated on diverse studies outside oncology including lung disease and degenerative neurological disease.
For the young woman kidnapped on her way home from the pub, the nightmare is about to begin... Weeks after Caitlin Kinnear goes missing, the police are unable to break her case. Worse they are not even certain harm has come to her. But determined to pursue all leads, DI Damen Brook and his team begin to trawl through the murky world of cheap migrant labour. Convinced that the answers lie hidden within its depths, Brook soon begins to realise Caitlin is in terrible danger. When the body of another young girl turns up it becomes clear that Caitlin's abduction might not be an isolated incident and the race is on to save her. But with time running out, can Brook put the pieces together and find Caitlin before it's too late?
This book tackles some of the common and difficult problems encountered by the clinical neurologist by providing practical guidance. The contributors approach the clinical challenges presented from their own points of view. Up-to-date references support the claims for preferred therapeutical and surgical treatments.
This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. A State of Play explores how the British have imagined their politics, from the parliament worship of Anthony Trollope to the cynicism of The Thick of It. In an account that mixes historical with political analysis, Steven Fielding argues that fictional depictions of politics have played an important but insidious part in shaping how the British think about their democracy and have helped ventilate their many frustrations with Westminster. He shows that dramas and fictions have also performed a significant role in the battle of ideas, in a way undreamt of by those who draft party manifestos. The book examines the work of overtly political writers have treated the subject, discussing the novels of H.G. Wells, the comedy series Yes, Minister and the plays of David Hare. However, it also assesses how less obvious sources, such as the films of George Formby, the novels of Agatha Christie, the Just William stories and situation comedies like Steptoe and Son, have reflected on representative democracy. A State of Play is an invaluable, distinctive and engaging guide to a new way of thinking about Britain's political past and present.
Examines England's Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689 through a broad geographical and chronological framework, discussing its repercussions at home and abroad and why the subsequent ideological break with the past makes it the first modern revolution.
In The Moderns, we meet the men and women who invented and shaped Midcentury Modern graphic design in America. The book is made up of generously illustrated profiles, many based on interviews, of more than 60 designers whose magazine, book, and record covers; advertisements and package designs; posters; and other projects created the visual aesthetics of postwar modernity. Some were émigrés from Europe; others were homegrown—all were intoxicated by elemental typography, primary colors, photography, and geometric or biomorphic forms. Some are well-known, others are honored in this volume for the first time, and together they comprised a movement that changed our design world.
Understanding Toxicology is a comprehensive study of toxicants and their impact on all levels of biology--from cell, to complex organism, to ecosystem. Unlike other texts of its kind, this text is uniquely structured by biological system, making it easy for readers to understand the impact of toxins on each system. Common mechanisms are explored in the cellular and complex organ system chapters to approach a systems biology perspective that is more applicable to modern computational toxicology risk assessment. Understanding Toxicology begins with three research questions that challenge the reader to discover what information is needed to solve controversies at the level of the cell, the complex organism, and the ecosystem. The book continues with a cellular, complex organism, and ecosystem analysis of toxicology principles including risk assessment. The cellular section follows common mechanisms from the outside to the inside of cells and individual organelles. A forensic approach analyzes complex organisms from outside to inside. The ecosystem section starts with a dispersion approach to determine environmental concentration and addresses toxicants in divisions similar to how the EPA determines impacts. Key Features • Uses lively, engaging examples making the text fun and easy to read and understand • Allows the reader to approach the subject from a research perspective as well as a public policy perspective • Covers biological toxicants including venoms, poisons, as well as microbial and fungal toxins, and plant toxins • Thoroughly covers all organisms including fish, plants, and microbes • Includes outlines and review questions in each chapter
The complete operational history of an outstanding Marine fighter squadron throughout the Cold War. The Thunderbolts of VMFA-251 were reactivated as a Marine Air Reserve squadron in 1946. Their Cold War only included a few weeks of traditional combat operations—in Korea—but they would undertake constant training exercises and deployments from 1946 to 1991 as they prepared for a potential war against the USSR or China, the two giants of Communism. From South Korea to Norway to Turkey and points in between, the Thunderbolts found themselves defending the free world and living up to their motto, Custos Caelorum. Following the end of the Korean War, the squadron remained in the Far East until 1956. Back in the States it began flying the FJ-3 Fury, a jet fighter, before converting to its first supersonic fighter, the F-8U “Crusader.” In early 1962, it was the first Marine F-8 squadron to deploy aboard an aircraft carrier, as part of CVW-10 (Carrier Air Wing) aboard the USS Shangri-La. During deployment in the Mediterranean Sea, the squadron set a record for the most flight time in one month for a Sixth Fleet-based F-8 squadron by flying over 500 hours. In 1964, the Thunderbolts were the first Marine squadron in 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing to transition to the F-4B “Phantom II,” which they would fly for 21 years and 80,000 flight hours, until transitioning to the F/A-18 “Hornet” in 1987. These deployments and exercises, while not “at war,” were not without dangers. The Thunderbolts lost many personnel and aircraft, but they persevered as the armed forces of freedom-loving nations faced the ongoing threat of communism for over four decades. Compiled from archive records and interviews by a veteran of VMFA-251, this account narrates how the Thunderbolts worked hard to maintain the peace. They were indeed Custodians of the Sky.
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