2000 YEARS OF SPACE TRAVEL

This original and well-integrated volume combines the exciting and imaginative nature of science fiction neatly with descriptions of the history/scientific backgrounds that spawned the great classics of this genre. The author succinctly traces the history of stories having to do with getting to the moon— starting with the Greek satrist; Lucian's A Great Country in the Air, and including tales by Kepler (1634), Godwin (1638), de Bergerac (1665), Defoe (1705), Poe (1835), Verne (1865), to Wells' First Men on the Moon (1901), and such incidents of interest as the great lunar hoax of the 1830's. With detailed plot descriptions and generous quotation, the author explains modern theory, showing where each of the above authors went astray, or guessed right, about some of the techniques that are only now being worked out by NASA'S scientists concerned with project Apollo — gauged to get man to the moon within this decade. An excellent addition to background books on space for this age level.