During a 25-year career in technical information at China Lake, Liz Babcock specialized in breathing life into complex technical subjects for a nontechnical audiences. As she worked on the history of the Navy at China Lake she fell in love with the creative iconoclasts populating her book. She has included numerous hair-raising, often hilarious memories from the maverick China Lakers whose innovations are still important to today's national defense and space explorations.The book also traces the leadership philosophy of the Navy and civilian team at China Lake, with some important lessons for today's R&D planners.A history curator, photographer, and newspaper editor, Liz is the proud mother of two and grandmother of two. A 1960 graduate of Kalamazoo College, she holds a master's in public administration from California State University Bakersfield.