Product Description

T. A. Heppenheimer′s acclaimed chronicle of rockets, politics, and the pioneers who dared to reach beyond humanity′s limits.

"The most comprehensive, up–to–date, and best written history of space flight there is."–The Times (London)

"A lively account of the development of space activities in the U.S. and the Soviet Union . . . as good a one–volume overview of space as exists."–Scientific American.

"Countdown is by far the best history of space flight I have ever read. It is detailed, lucidly written for the layman, and full of fascinating stories.–Adrian Berry, Daily Telegraph.

"Science writer Heppenheimer′s readable account provides a timely historical overview of the early visionaries, the engineers, and the geopolitical forces that placed men on the moon and created today′s aerospace industry. . . . A thoughtful analysis that is highly recommended.–Library Journal.

"By far the most significant and technically insightful account of the ventures into the space environment I have seen. . . . [Heppenheimer] concentrates unerringly on key elements, both technical and managerial, in this account of man′s initial space ventures."–Lee Atwood, Former president and chairman, North American Aviation Corporation.

"Like a skilled artisan, Heppenheimer weaves social, political, scientific, technological, military, and economic threads of the history of space flight into a tapestry that reveals fascinating patterns and themes."–Publishers Weekly

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #934129 in Books
• Published on: 1999-04-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 420 pages

Review
"A lively account of the development of space activities in the U.S. and the Soviet Union . . . as good a one–volume overview of space as exists."–Scientific American

"If you′ve already got loads of books on the history of space flight, great news: you can give them all to Oxfam . . . All you need now is this, the most comprehensive, up–to–date and best written history of space flight there is."–The Times (London)

"By far the most significant and technically insightful account of the ventures into the space environment I have seen."–Lee Atwood, former president and chairman, North American Aviation

"By far the best history of space flight I have ever read. It is detailed, lucidly written for the layman, and full of fascinating stories."–Adrian Berry, Daily Telegraph

Angewandte Chemie, Volume 38, Number 18, 1999
"...this is a book that specialists will read with pleasure, and that others will gladly use as a source of information..."

Scientific American
"A lively account of the development of space activities in the U.S. and the Soviet Union . . . as good a one-volume overview of space as exists."--Scientific American

Customer Reviews

Too much important history is missing
I found the book a little difficult to follow, with so many people being introduced there needed to be a separate reference section to aid looking up a name and finding out who they are, what they did, etc.

The omissions are glaring; no coverage of the programmes outside of Germany, USA, USSR, and very little coverage of important aspects of the Apollo moon missions.

This book is not about spaceflight, it's about rockets.

a Great Book
Perhaps the best treatise on Space History. It would be better if we could have more pictures.

Superb summary of the broader history of the space programme
This treatment of the race for the moon will probabaly tread new ground for many readers. Extremely well written, lively and exciting, the book is an excellent summary of the longer view of the history of the space programme. Soundly researched, the book deals less with the gung-ho apsects of events that have been recounted by many participants and more with the stream of events that brought the space programme abou; the relationship between the military development of rocketry and the space programme is particularly well drawn. For setting the space programme in context, this book cannot be bettered.