Apollo; The Race to the Moon

Murray, Charles, and Cox, Catherine Bly

ISBN 10: 0671611011 / ISBN 13: 9780671611019

Edité par Simon and Schuster, New York, 1989

A propos de cet article

506, [6] pages. Illustrations. Epilogue. Note., Index. DJ has slight wear and soiling. Charles Alan Murray (born January 8, 1943) is an American political scientist, sociologist, and writer. His book Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-1980 (1984), which discussed the American welfare system, was widely read and discussed, and influenced government policy. He wrote the controversial book The Bell Curve (1994), written with Richard Herrnstein, in which he argues that intelligence is a better predictor than parental socio-economic status or education level of many individual outcomes including income, job performance, pregnancy out of wedlock, and crime, and that social welfare programs and education efforts to improve social outcomes for the disadvantaged are largely wasted. Catherine Cox was educated at William and Mary, Oxford University, and Yale University, where she received a Ph.D. She taught at Rutgers University for years, and co authored this book (Apollo) with her husband, Charles Murray. The story of the Apollo space program from the perspective of the men and women behind the scenes who accomplished the extraordinary feat of landing a man on the moon in less than ten years. Apollo is the behind-the-scenes story of an epic achievement. Based on exhaustive research that included many exclusive interviews, Apollo tells how America went from a standing start to a landing on the moon at a speed that now seems impossible. It describes the unprecedented engineering challenges that had to be overcome to create the mammoth Saturn V and the facilities to launch it. It takes you onto the gantries at Cape Canaveral and behind the consoles of Houston's Mission Control as it relives the tragedy of the fire on Apollo 1, the first descent to the lunar surface, and the rescue of Apollo 13. It is a book for those who were part of Apollo and want to recapture the experience and for those of a new generation who want to know how it was done. It is an opinion shared by many Apollo veterans. Derived from a Kirkus review: Just in time for the 20th anniversary of the Apollo II moon landing, Charles Murray and his wife, Catherine Bly Cox, have produced a fast-paced and perceptive look at the people behind one of the most daunting technological feats of the 20th century. Though space travel had long been the dream of physicists the world over, it was not until fortuitous political forces converged (i.e., America's need for distraction from the launching of Sputnik) that the dream became a realistic possibility. When President Kennedy announced in 1961 that America would beat Russia to the moon, America's space program switched from neutral to fifth gear, sweeping up many of the world's most brilliant minds in its path. Murray and Cox detail the evolution of this gargantuan effort through the eyes of the engineers who designed and operated the program's equipment with computers hardly more powerful than today's IBM PCs. Harrowing descriptions of life-or-death crises in space, solved by two dozen engineers frantically scribbling equations in a back room, keep readers on the edge of their seats, as does the recollection of the Apollo 13 disaster and the triumphant account of humanity's first steps on the moon. Moreover, the authors excel in emphasizing the necessity of individual dedication and selflessness for social achievement--so much so that when an engineer leaving ground control in 1969 notices for the first time the existence of long-haired student demonstrators, we understand perfectly how he came to miss out on the contemporary world for the sake of a future in space. An inspiring and informative chronicle.

N° de réf. du vendeur 53350

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Apollo; The Race to the Moon
• Éditeur: Simon and Schuster, New York
• Date de parution: 1989
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0671611011
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780671611019
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Édition: First Printing [Stated].
• État de l'article: Very good
• État de la jaquette: Very good
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Space
  • Moon
  • NASA
  • Astronauts

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Book by Murray Charles Cox Catherine Bly