Author Archives: Brian C. Kaufman

My award-winning Civil War novel, Dread Tribunal of Last Resort (Black Rose Writing), is available for purchase in softback, Kindle, and audiobook editions. The novel was originally published in hardback by Five Star (a Cengage company), but was a casualty … Continue reading →

“The Earth is the cradle of mankind, but mankind can’t stay in the cradle forever.” — K. E. Tsiolkovsky In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers designed a hot air balloon. Unmanned test flights were relatively successful, so on the 19th of … Continue reading →

One of the more intriguing rocketry legends involves reports of a two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket fired at Washington D.C. in the twilight of the Civil War. According to the story, Confederate agents enlisted overseas help from Lord Kelvin to deliver liquid … Continue reading →

Rocketry failed to impact the Civil War in any meaningful way. Much of that failure can be traced to funding and supply issues. Other failures can be tied directly to lack of expertise. But one high-profile failure is more difficult … Continue reading →

My father, Harold Kaufman, is in the NASA Hall of Fame for his work on ion rocket engines. Ion propulsion uses vaporized, ionized mercury fired through charged grids. The actual mass of ionized particles is small, so the engine can’t … Continue reading →

Writers compose in a vacuum. The voices they hear are in their heads. Imagination has benefits, both for mental health and creative purposes. According to neuroscientists, people have “default networks” in their brains that become active (and are exercised) when … Continue reading →

A PERSISTENT ECHO is now available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and selected bookstores. The book comes in hardcover, softcover, Kindle, and audiobook versions. No more pre-order…it’s alive! August Simms-explorer, soldier, world traveler-returns to Rhome, Texas in 1897 … Continue reading →

Some call the event the “Texas Roswell.” According to a newspaper account, a UFO crashed and burned on Judge Proctor’s farm near Aurora, Texas on April 17th, 1897. Experts claimed that the pilot, who died in the crash, was not … Continue reading →