{"product_id":"rings-of-fire-how-an-unlikely-team-of-scientists-ex-cons-women-and-native-americans-helped-win-world-war-ii-9780811773898","title":"Rings of Fire: How an Unlikely Team of Scientists, Ex-Cons, Women, and Native Americans Helped Win World War II","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"An epic story, filled with an unfolding array of evocatively described landscapes and sharply drawn, unforgettable people.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Dayton Duncan\u003c\/b\u003e, writer and producer for Ken Burns documentary films and author of fourteen books on American history and national parks\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEdwin Land had barely settled into his seat on the plane when the flash went off. An idea for an innovative WWII technology that might help eradicate the fascist cancer devouring the free world. It was Polaroid's Optical Ring Sight, which magically projected a bullseye of brilliantly colored rings onto the sky--like rings of fire--to aim American antiaircraft guns that previously \"couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eRings of Fire\u003c\/i\u003e is the compelling story of American ingenuity, determination, and grit--told through the personal stories of the amazing people who transformed insight into gunsight. From scientists to ordinary Americans to drifters and ex-cons characterized as \"the underbelly of America,\" they crossed cultural barriers to tackle a shared crisis: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCalifornia \"desert rat\" artist, John Hilton, whose mining claim supplied the calcite crystals desperately needed for the device, assisted by Gen. George S. Patton.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMiners Steve Modesto and John Owens, a Cahuilla Indian ranch hand and a white meat-cutter from Kansas, whose friendship led to an astonishing discovery.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMoonshiner Al Hansen, whose calcite prospecting in Montana started with a lucky strike but cascaded into a wild-west vigilante showdown.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\"Crystal Crackin' Mama\" Irene Frederick, whose calcite-crystal processing skills silenced male skeptics and helped rescue the Polaroid project from disaster.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEdwin Stanton, whose hubris led to a fat FBI dossier and tragedy while prospecting in Mexico.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCecil Kegans, a rough Oklahoman with a huge smile, starting his Marine career by fetching groceries for calcite miners and ending it in a bloody pool on Saipan.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAnd miner Harry Sikkenga, whose fist fight with a shift boss packed him off to the army artillery, just in time to invade Germany and encounter the horror of Dachau. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eTeamed together, they overcame enormous personal obstacles to produce ring sights for Navy ships, aircraft, and Army bazookas. And afterwards, their product went from aiming the guns of war to the cameras of peacetime--for television and on the helmets of skydiving videographers. And then, all the way to the moon, aiming NASA's space cameras, culminating with perhaps the most influential photograph of all time, \u003ci\u003eEarthrise\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLarry Hughes unfolds this gripping, never-told story with accessible explanations of the science and the art behind the project, but always lets the colorful characters drive a warm and vivid adventure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Larry J. Hughes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Stackpole Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/18\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 600\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.06lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.47h x 6.20w x 1.36d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780811773898","brand":"Stackpole Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42707413401737,"sku":"9780811773898","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_baf4a495-475e-418d-96f7-58cebdbf8bf9.jpg?v=1719485379","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/rings-of-fire-how-an-unlikely-team-of-scientists-ex-cons-women-and-native-americans-helped-win-world-war-ii-9780811773898","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}