Rockets and revolution : a cultural history of early spaceflight / Michael G. Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Michael G., 1960- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Astronautics--History.

Astronautics.

History.

Astronautics and state.

Astronautics--Social aspects.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

431 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2014]

Summary:

"Rockets and Revolution offers a multifaceted study of the race toward space in the first half of the twentieth century, examining how the Russian, European, and American pioneers competed against one another in the early years to acquire the fundamentals of rocket science, engineer simple rockets, and ultimately prepare the path for human spaceflight. Between 1903 and 1953, Russia matured in radical and dramatic ways as the tensions and expectations of the Russian revolution drew it both westward and spaceward. European and American industrial capacities became the models to imitate and to surpass. The burden was always on Soviet Russia to catch up--enough to achieve a number of remarkable "firsts" in these years, from the first national rocket society to the first comprehensive surveys of spaceflight. Russia rose to the challenges of its Western rivals time and again, transcending the arenas of science and technology and adapting rocket science to popular culture, science fiction, political ideology, and military programs. While that race seemed well on its way to achieving the goal of space travel and exploring life on other planets, during the second half of the twentieth century these scientific advances turned back on humankind with the development of the intercontinental ballistic missile and the coming of the Cold War"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

List of illustrations

List of tables

Introduction

Part One. The Surveillance of Outer Space and the Russian Empire. 1. Envisioning the biological universe ; 2. Mystical economies of earth and space ; 3. The mechanics of interplanetary travel

Part Two. The Mastery of Time and the Bolshevik Revolution. 4. Lyrical cosmism of the Russian Revolution ; 5. The pioneers and the spaceflight imperative ; 6. Rocket spaceships as science fictions ; 7. The origins and ends of life on earth

Part Three. The Rise of Rocket Science and the Soviet Union. 8. The first foundations of astronautics ; 9. A race into the stratosphere ; 10. Stalinism and the genesis of cosmonautics

Conclusion

Notes

Selected bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780803255227

0803255225

OCLC:

877370485