My Account Wish List
Advanced Search
Print - Close Window
www.greenwood.com/catalog/GR2795.aspx
All Greenwood Products
Rockets and Missiles The Life Story of a Technology
A. Bowdoin Van Riper
Book Code: GR2795
ISBN: 0-313-32795-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-32795-7
200 pages, figures; photos
Greenwood Press
Publication: 10/30/2004
List Price: $49.95 (UK Sterling Price: £27.95)
Discount Price: $34.97 Greenwood Press Fall 2008 Backlist Sale. Use code 0826. Save 30%. Ends 12/31/2008.
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Series Title: Greenwood Technographies
Awards:
  • SB&F Best Books 2005
Reviews:
  • This hard cover text provides clear explanations of what is often thought of as almost incomprehensiblerocket science. It covers aspects of technological, social, governmental development and control, and the political implications of rockets and missiles....Rockets and Missiles: The Life Story of a Technology is recommended for public and academic libraries. Whether one is interested in rockets, missiles, sociology, technology or history, this book will be an asset.
    —E-Streams     June/July 2005
  • Especially well done is the balanced and relatively unbiased account of the arms race and space race of the 1950s and 1960s.
    —SB&F     May/June 2005
Description: Beginning with World War II, missiles transformed the art of war. For the first time, cities of warring nations were vulnerable to sudden, unannounced, long-distance destruction. At the same time, rockets made possible one of the great triumphs of the modern age--the exploration of space. Rockets and Missiles traces the history of the technology that led to both the great fear of global warfare, and the great excitement of the Space Age. Beginning with the origins of rocketry in medieval and early modern Asia, the volume focuses on rocketry in late-20th-century Western Europe, Russia, and the United States, and also covers the spread of rocket technology in East Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Rockets and Missiles covers everything any student or interested layperson would need to understand the history of rocketry:
  • The introduction reviews basic principles of physics and basic elements of chemical rocket technology.
  • Chapters trace the history of rockets from their origins to the present day, with a particular emphasis on the years since World War II.
  • All three principal uses of rocket technology are covered in detail: missiles as long-range strategic weapons and short-range tactical weapons, and rockets as launch vehicles for sending payloads into space
  • The book concludes with a survey of several types of non-chemical rockets now under development for use in outer space.
  • While Rockets and Missiles covers the development of the technology, including how rockets improved in performance, reliability, and versatility. The book also stresses the impact of rocket technology--both military and civilian--on everyday life.
    • Table of Contents:
    • Acknowledgements
    • Timeline
    • Introduction
    • The Age of Black Powder, 1000-1900
    • The Birth of Modern Rocketry, 1900-1942
    • Rockets in World War II, 1939-1945
    • Rockets for Research, 1945-1960
    • Ballistic Missiles and the Cold War, 1945-1990
    • Rockets to the Moon, 1960-1975
    • Tactical Missiles in the Cold War, 1945-1960
    • Space Travel Becomes Routine, 1970-present
    • Missiles After the Cold War, 1990-present
    • What Next?
    • Glossary
    • Further Reading
    LC Card Number: 2004053045
    LCC Class: TL781
    Dewey Class: 621
    All rights reserved. Copyright © 1999-2008 Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
    88 Post Road West, Westport CT 06881, (203) 226-3571