Space Gimmick Library - Book Collection and Reviews - The Great Galactic Space Gimmick

Welcome to the Space Gimmick Library!

This is a new column here at The Great Galactic Space Gimmick which is a listed collection of books, articles, and other literature I’ve personally read and reviewed to compose a “virtual library” of recommended reading for the following purposes:

Instruct and guide readers to greater knowledge of the characteristics of Outer Space including planets, stars, nebulas, light-speed travel, black holes, and related Science (e.g. physics, chemistry, astrophysics, environments, etc).
Educate readers about the Space Program including travel, technology, manned and unmanned spacecraft, and others.
Present the Space Program’s history, the people, the achievements, and the lessons learned.
Current state of the Space Program including the near and future goals.
Critique and review related science-fiction from the past, present, and future as a means of inspiring others to advance the Space Program through concepts in the form of stories and literature.
Earth’s efforts to conquer space travel and colonization.

These purposes are very much in line with my ongoing quest for The Great Galactic Space Gimmick, and in this case it’s to review and comment about the literary efforts to support the purposes noted above.

The following is the first entries into the Space Gimmick Library . . .

The Clockwork Universe – Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World

Book by Edward Dolnick

This book takes both a light biographical and heavy documentary approach to describing the high-end of the Scientific Revolution that took place in the mid to late 1600’s in Europe. The need for this was dire, given the socioeconomic, cultural, health, and technological deficits seen before this time. The threat of disease and life expectancy were at unacceptable levels, medical practices were more barbaric and off-mark than the ailments they were supposed to treat, and effective sanitation was non-existent. But out of this, scientific revolutionaries including astronomers, physicists, inventors, chemists, and others rose to provide new comprehensible ways of seeing the universe, the world, and the unseen microscopic world. Names such as Newton, Halley, Leibniz, Hooke, Descartes, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Boyle set in motion the changes that ultimately led to developments that raised the world out of the dire straits known before. Many of them were driven by a common faith in God and that the natural world was governed by His simple mathematical and physical scientific rules that He left for humanity to “fill and subdue” as read from Genesis. While the scientific community of today may be governed by differing views of faith or lack thereof, this narrative is meant to present what these particular revolutionaries believed and their motivations for doing so. I highly recommend this book as an overview of the Scientific Revolution which could serve as an introduction into learning more about the details of the theories, developments, inventions, and the people behind this movement.

Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon

Book by Alan Shepard, Deke Slayton, and Jay Barbree

An autobiographical account of the Mercury to Apollo space programs from the first and last of the original “Mercury 7” astronauts Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton. Besides historic details on the technical and personal-side of these programs, Moon Shot covers some of the personal health struggles that both Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton faced to get to space. Shepard suffered from an inner-ear issue that caused dizziness and nausea that threatened to keep him from flying in space past the first Mercury mission Freedom 7, until an experimental surgery remedied the issue and allowed him to take command of Apollo 14 and become the 5th man to set foot on the Moon. Deke Slayton suffered from a heart arrhythmia which kept him from flying on Mercury but gained a second life as a NASA astronaut director, until he took some vitamins for a routine illness that miraculously made the arrhythmia diminish, enough to finally earn his astronaut wings during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) in 1975 which was the final flight of Apollo. This book is good at presenting some high-level detail of the space mission activities at Mission Control from Director Gene Krantz, Pad Leader Guenther Wendt, the CAPCOM’s (or active astronaut providing ground-radio support to the active flight crew), and many of the astronauts of legend. It also covered in detail the efforts of Dr. Werner Von Braun, the German scientist that developed the Moon Shot also did an effective job of covering the Soviet Space Program’s successes as the first to fly a man in space, a woman in space, various animals in space, take the first space-walk, and ultimately launch the first manned space station. Though the US “won” in making it to the Moon, the book did not play down overlook, or downplay (due to capitalist versus communist politics) the great successes that the Soviets achieved in furthering mankind’s quest for space. I highly recommend this book for those interested in learning the intricate history of our Space successes from some legendary names in the Program.

Failure Is Not an Option

Book by Gene Kranz

This book by Gene Krantz is similar to Moon Shot, but from his autobiographical standpoint. From his days as a military pilot to heading NASA Mission Control, Gene covers the in and out details of the US Space Program from his vantage point, down to personal impacts, reflections, lessons learned, and others. One great takeaway his stress on professional and technical excellence, competence, toughness, accountability, and teamwork some of which he deemed as “the price of admission to Mission Control”. I believe these are applicable also to the ranks of NASA and any company/individual that works in the Space Program as well. For another vantage point to the lessons of Shepard and Slayton’s “Moon Shot”, I highly recommend this book.

Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration

Book by Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin presents some recent and present-day strategies for aiding and abetting Earth’s efforts to go to Mars. This involves not only answering technical and company challenges but also political challenges to providing support for Earth’s efforts to travel back to the Moon and on to Mars (our most-distant “rocky” planet). Buzz makes a strong case for the development of commercial space companies to take over developing and nurturing the demand for Space travel, with implications that involve greater technologies and methods that would be applicable to those living on Earth as well as in Space. Technologies such as efficient/faster travel methods (nuclear, solar, and electric-propulsion), medical developments (to support long-term living in space and inhospitable planets and moons), terraforming, and many others. Although some ideas are now outdated and/or not being pursued, they are still worthy of mention due to potential implications and questions that can further Space Systems development down the road. I highly recommend this book.

My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla

Book by Ben Johnston and Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla is widely recognized as one of the greatest electrical engineers and theorists in history. Considered the father of RF transmission and a pioneer of electrical generators, he dedicated his career to understanding the practical uses of electricity and how they could be used to further human society. Like many inventors and revolutionaries, he was beset by illnesses as a child which kept him from gaining a normal school-attended education but compensated through study during periods of being invalid. He also developed abilities that others might consider “super-human” to a degree such as the ability to clearly hear and interpret sound from many miles away among others which he details further in his book. Besides discussing his inventions, he discusses philosophical reasoning and pros/cons behind each of his inventions and how they could be used for both good and harm. As a Systems Engineer myself, it is good to think of these things as you develop systems and technologies to ensure that customers are satisfied, safe, and have their objectives met. I recommend this book especially to electrical engineers and physicists as it has sparked my curiosity into further details of Tesla’s contributions to the world of electrical engineering through literature that covers them in deeper detail.

Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed

Book by Ben Rich and Leo Janos

This is an autobiographical account of Lockheed Skunk Works’ development of the first stealth aircraft, the F-117 Nighthawk. Ben Rich was director of this semi self-governing, specialized engineering-project organization that is tasked with developing secret, cutting-edge aircraft that maintain the United States’ military dominance. To its credit, Skunk Works has developed notable craft such as the P-80 Shooting Star, the F-104 Starfighter, the U-2 (America’s first dedicated secret spy plane), the SR-71 Blackbird (the supersonic spy-plane and fastest operational aircraft in the world), the F-117 Nighthawk, and others not yet known. Greatest benefit is not only knowing the personal and professional histories of Skunk Works’ major players such as Clarence “Kelly” Johnson and Ben Rich, but also the detailed successes and failures in the history of this advanced engineering organization. There’s also tremendous inspiration for technical businesses inside aerospace and the Space Program to develop and invest in their own Internal Research and Development (IRAD) divisions to not only develop new technologies but mature them through test and revision.

Talking with Planets

Book by Nikola Tesla

This brief narrative is from Tesla talking about the possibility of other societies beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Mostly this lies in the unproven and theoretical realm, but nonetheless is a question of many a science fiction writer over the years that includes H.G. Wells, Gene Roddenbery, and many others. This is also a question of many common people with the question of whether we are truly alone in the universe if and if not, are they trying to communicate with us. It’s an interesting read which I found fascinating just to learn more about a different viewpoint/take on this theory.

Wonders of The Future

Book by Nikola Tesla

This is another brief narrative from Tesla about the potential of electricity to change the world, namely via the means of mass-communication methods that we take for granted now. Much of the descriptions he gives describes what is now known as HAM radio which permitted communication around the globe prior to the introduction of the cellphone and satellite broadcasts and communication. I read this to compare to what was theoretical then and how it is applied now and/or differs. I found this to be a fascinating read and I highly recommend it for historical and technical insight into past theories that may be partly or fully realized now.

Summary

These readings are available through Amazon, Audible, Scribd, and other sources. It’s desired that you consider reading among these recommended literary works and learn for yourself about the wonders of space, the science, the engineering, the successes, the trials, and the people that have and will make this effort a success.

For The Great Galactic Space Gimmick, I’m Gimmick Commander Ben Faltinowski. 📚 📖 🔭 🚀 🧪 🧮 💫

© Ben Faltinowski and The Great Galactic Space Gimmick, 2020, authorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Ben Faltinowski and The Great Galactic Space Gimmick with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

DISCLAIMER: The books and/or literature herein came from various sources and are cited and summarized here strictly for discussion, educational purposes, and for promotion of the Space Program and related science. No royalties were collected or sought for this article, and this article is free to the public. It is believed that this constitutes fair use.

Space Gimmick Library – Book Collection and Reviews

The Clockwork Universe – Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World