Synopses & Reviews
More famous in his day than Einstein or Edison, the troubled, solitary genius Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945) was the American father of rocketry and space flight, launching the world's first liquid-fuel rockets and the first powered vehicles to break the sound barrier. Supported by Charles Lindbergh and Harry Guggenheim, through fiery, often explosive, experiments at Roswell, New Mexico, he invented the methods that carried men to the moon. Today, no rocket or jet plane can fly without using his inventions. Yet he is the "forgotten man" of the space age. His own government ignored his rocketryuntil the Germans demonstrated its principles in the V-2 missiles of World War II. The American government usurped his 214 patents, while suppressing his contributions in the name of national security, until it was forced to pay one million dollars for patent infringement. Goddard became famous again, monuments and medals raining upon his memory. But his renewed fame soon faded, and Goddard's pivotal role in launching the Space Age has been largely forgotten.
Review
"This well-researched portrait cements Goddards status as a hero in the history of space technology." Booklist
Review
"Rocket Man is a long overdue tribute to one of the greatest engineers of the 20th Centurywhose work helped change the future of this and many other worlds." Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey
Review
"Robert Goddard was the visionary who laid the path for America's ventures into space and Rocket Man is the story of his dream." Captain James A. Lovell
Review
"Goddard's stick-to-itiveness nature is evident in the biography by David Clary and is an important reminder of what it takes to persevere and to make a significant contribution to science." Chris Kraft, Retired Director, Johnson Space Center
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. [299]-315) and index.
About the Author
David A. Clary, former Chief Historian of the U.S. Forest Service, is the author of numerous books and other publications on military and scientific history. He has served as consultant to several government agencies, and teaches history at Eastern New Mexico University at Roswell, where he resides.