SPACE: A New Direction for Mankind

This is a hopeful hodgepodge of thoughts on the scientific and societal implications of the Space Age, in a wrapping of cosmic cliches. Lindaman is best when he's off in outer space -- explaining recent developments in astronomy, examining the technical and economic reasons that justified a moon landing, detailing the next steps in the space program -- but when he comes in for an earth landing there's a dismal thud: ""We are struck by the contrast between our godliness in Space and our selfish squalor on Earth."" The forecast for our globe is naive-optimistic and simplistic, as if the sight of the earth as a tiny ball will automatically breed brotherly love and planetary harmony. The historical comparisons with the earlier Age of Exploration are edifying but inexact. The chapters on the environmental troubles of our ""cluttered Space Ship Earth"" are threaded with Christian theology and moral invectives. As our spaceships head for the stars, ""we must look for the star within and try to determine whether we are truly angels as well as beasts."" Scientific speculation glutted with earth-bound bombast.