Rocket Man: Robert H. Goddard and the Birth of the Space Age

Too often, the great inventors of history get lost in a cloud of myth which hides their essential humanity. Such is the case with Robert Goddard, the "father" of modern rocketry. He was a man of great vision and persistence, who substantially contributed to the development of rocket technology. After his death, his widow Esther and powerful patrons Charles Lindbergh and Harry Guggenheim fostered the image of Goddard as a solitary genius who single-handedly created the liquid fueled rocket. But he had his flaws. Greatly concerned with establishing the priority of his work, possessive of his field of research, and with a tendency to lose focus and dilute his effort, he nonetheless made more theoretical and experimental contributions to the development of rocketry than anyone else of the early twentieth century. Author Clary does a wonderful job of stripping away the myth and letting us discover the man who, as much as any individual, made spaceflight possible. Clary's book also brings out two of the essential features of technological development. It is rare that an invention is created in isolation. In the first half of the twentieth century, the idea of spaceflight was in the air. Rocketry clubs were popping up in Germany and the United States. The British Interplanetary Society was formed. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in the Soviet Union, Hermann Oberth in Germany, and Robert Esnault-Pelterie in France, among others, were laying the foundations of rocketry. Had Goddard not lived, the development of the liquid fueled rocket would have occured nonetheless, and within the same time frame. The other point is that in such a complex task as the development of the rocket, there are limits to what one person, no matter how inspired or creative, can do. Indeed, any difficult research project is greatly enhanced by the combined efforts of many bright minds. Anyone who has had the pleasure of a successful scientific collaboration can affirm how much more productive are two minds than one. Working in isolation, it is easy to follow unproductive paths or to become the victim of erroneous thinking. With another person to challenge assumptions and with whom to argue critically, great progress can be made. After reading Clary's book, one can't help but wonder how much more Goddard could have achieved had he been less concerned with priority and been willing to work with others as peers. The sad part of his story is that at the end of his life, he was no longer in the van of rocket development. Von Braun in Germany, Malina and von Karman at GALCIT, were forging ahead, while Goddard's work was becoming a backwater. Clary writes with clarity and insight, bringing the essential Goddard to light. The portrait that emerges is sympathetic, but not at all hagiographic. Clary's discussions of Goddard's flaws provide illumination, not condemnation. This book is neither a history of Goddard's technical contributions, nor a detailed discussion of his ro

This biography is heightened by the great number of illustrations and understandable descriptions of what Goddard accomplished and what it means. It has received high praise from Booklist, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, the Baltimore Sun, and many others around the country. I dont know what the agenda of the preceding comment was, but it ought to be balanced. No less than Arthur C. Clarke says it is "a long overdue tribute to one of the greatest engineers..."

I really enjoyed this book, and I don't like technical stuff. Goddard's just one of those fascinating geniuses, like the guy in A Beautiful Mind. (Hmmm . . . maybe Jennifer Connelly can play Mrs. Goddard in the movie. I'm there!) All I knew about him was that he was the father of rocketry, but this was a real eye-opener. He was so far ahead of his time that the New York Times (and just about everyone else) ridiculed him in 1920 for his "loony ideas"--he said rockets could reach the moon--though they issued a formal apology in 1969 (25 years after Goddard died), when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Talk about ironic. Bottom line, it's an inspiring story about a sickly kid who would climb a tree in his backyard to gaze at the stars and dream about reaching them--and grew up to do some thing about it. Man, did he--he pretty much invented rocketry and the basics of the US space program. And of course, he was the inspiration for generations of "rocket boys." I was one of them . . . if you know who Estes Industries is, you'll know exactly what I mean!

I picked up Rocket Man because of its connection with Charles Lindbergh, a favorite subject of mine. And this book definitely makes me want to read more about the early days of rockets and science. Those old characters were amazing. Robert Goddard was the secretive, solitary genius who inspired countless "Rocket Boys," and if you've seen that movie or read that book you know what I mean. Inspired by Jules Verne, as a boy Goddard would climb a tree in his backyard and stay up there for hours looking up at the stars. When he became the first person to publish a basic theory claiming rocket propulsion and flight was possible, he was ridiculed by the press (even the New York Times!) Goddard went on to further triumphs (supported by Lindbergh), but he became more and more secretive after that. When he died in 1945 he was virtually unknown.Clary's book is a vivid, exciting look at the early days of rocketry and the space race. But mostly it's the great story of a brilliant, driven visionary--and his determined wife--who changed our world forever. We've been shooting people into space for about forty years now, all because of him. Definitely a great read.