A Nation Adrift The 1944-1945 Wartime Diaries of Miksa Fenyő

Miksa Fenyő (1877-1972) a Hungarian writer and intellectual served as member of parliament and briefly was a member of the Hungarian cabinet. He was targeted by the Hungarian fascists and Hitler and had to go into hiding in 1944 after Hungary was occupied by its German allies. This memoir is his diary of the ten months in which he was in hiding. Written by an erudite, well-informed man who, while moving from safe haven to safe haven, nevertheless is able to look at the events of this period with his intellect, who was aware of what was happening in his country and the atrocities being perpetuated in its name, but who never lost his spirit and his hope. Fenyő's fear was never for himself but for his family and for his life long friends. This is a powerful diary and a "real time" recounting of one of the most devastating and shameful periods of Hungarian history. Translated by his son, Mario Fenyő a well known historian and translator, this book which is a valuable recounting of the period that has long deserved to be made available to the Anglophone reader is at last available in English. There is no doubt that it will take its place amongst the most powerful diaries written about the Holocaust.

This challenging collection of problems is organized into seven carefully crafted, thoughtful chapters on the Sun and the nature of the solar system; the motion of the planets; the Sun, Earth, and Moon; the sky as observed from the rotating, revolving Earth; other planets, their satellites, their rings; asteroids, comets, and meteoroids; and the radiations and telescopes. From question 1, "List characteristics of the solar system that are major clues in devising a hypothesis of its origin and evolution, " through question 924, "Give a brief list of the contributions of radio and radar technologies in lunar and planetary astronomy, " the problems range in difficulty from ones requiring only simple knowledge to ones requiring significant understanding and analysis. Many of the answers, in turn, illuminate the questions by providing basic explanations of the concepts involved.

Pioneer 10 and 11 are now halfway to the edge of the solar system. All beginning and advanced students of astronomy and their instructors as well as all dedicated amateurs can join James Van Allen on this journey by exploring the questions and answers in this stimulating book.