The Dream of Spaceflight : Essays on the Near Edge of Infinity

First time in paperback: In the tradition of Loren Eisley-"[A] beautifully written book" (Sir Arthur C. Clarke) on the human drive to explore space. One of few truly gifted essayists who have turned their talents to science, Wyn Wachhorst here fashions a luminous meditation on the meaning of space exploration from a montage of images and reflections on humanity's dream of spaceflight. In a survey of major figures from Johannes Kepler to Wernher von Braun, he sees in the rise of spaceflight a metaphor of modern history as a recurrent story of transformation and rebirth. Other essays offer new perspectives on the nature of wonder, recall the romantic vision of the decades prior to Sputnik ("nostalgia for a bygone future"), and look at the larger meaning of the moon landing, seeing in spaceflight not only a spiritual quest in the broadest sense of the word, but a cure for the withered capacity for wonder that afflicts the postmodern mind. In the tradition of Loren Eiseley, Arthur Koestler and Lewis Thomas, Wyn Wachhorst is a great rarity: an author of truly lyrical essays on science and technology. In his hands, the drive to explore space becomes a mirror on humanity's profoundest aspirations and noblest urges. "The dream of spaceflight" is a luminous mediation on the meaning of space exploration. The five chapters present a montage of images and reflections on the dream of spaceflight and its historical meaning. The first essay, a survey of major figures from Johannes Kepler to Wernher von Braun, sees in the rise of spaceflight a metaphor of modern history as a recurrent story of transformation and rebirth. The second essay recalls the romantic vision of the decades before Sputnik, when a balance of fantasy and reality generated new artistic forms that transformed the dream of spaceflight. The third essay looks at the moon landing as the signature event of our century -the one that our descendants, a thousand years from now, will see as our greatest achievement - and the fourth offers new perspectives on the nature of wonder, suggesting that evolution and exploration are inseparable. A final essay returns to the themes of transformation and rebirth, seeing spaceflight as a cure for the withered capacity for wonder that afflicts the postmodern mind In the tradition of Loren Eiseley, Arthur Koestler, and Lewis Thomas, Wynn Wachhorst is a great rarity: an author of truly lyrical essays on science and technology. In his hands, the drive to explore space is a mirror of humanity's profoundest aspirations and noblest urges.Each of the book's four essays is a montage of images and reflections on the dream of spaceflight and its historical meaning. The opening essay, a survey of major figures from Johannes Kepler to Werner von Braun, sees in the rise of spaceflight a metaphor of modern history as a recurrent story of transformation and rebirth. The second essay recalls the romantic vision of the decades prior to Sputnik, and sets our own nostalgia for those days against that era's nostalgia for the future. The third essay looks at the moon landing as the signature event of our centurythe one that our descendants, a thousand years from now, will see as our greatest achievementand the fourth returns to the themes of transformation and rebirth, offering spaceflight as a cure for the withered capacity for wonder that afflicts the postmodern mind. "The Dream of Spaceflight is a meditation on the meaning of space exploration. The five chapters present a montage of images and reflections on the dream of spaceflight and its historical meaning. The first essay, a survey of major figures from Johannes Kepler to Wernher von Braun, sees in the rise of spaceflight a metaphor of modern history as a recurrent story of transformation and rebirth. The second essay recalls the romantic vision of the decades before Sputnik, when a balance of fantasy and reality generated new artistic forms that transformed the dream of spaceflight. The third essay looks at the moon landing as the signature event of our century - the one that our descendants, a thousand years from now, will see as our greatest achievement - and the fourth offers new perspectives on the nature of wonder, suggesting that evolution and exploration and inseparable. A final essay returns to the themes of transformation and rebirth, seeing spaceflight as a cure for the withered capacity for wonder that afflicts the postmodern mind."--BOOK JACKET.

One of few truly gifted essayists who have turned their talents to science, Wyn Wachhorst here fashions a luminous meditation on the meaning of space exploration from a montage of images and reflections on humanity's dream of spaceflight. In a survey of major figures from Johannes Kepler to Wernher von Braun, he sees in the rise of spaceflight a metaphor of modern history as a recurrent story of transformation and rebirth. Other essays offer new perspectives on the nature of wonder, recall the romantic vision of the decades prior to Sputnik ("nostalgia for a bygone future"), and look at the larger meaning of the moon landing, seeing in spaceflight not only a spiritual quest in the broadest sense of the word, but a cure for the withered capacity for wonder that afflicts the postmodern mind.

Featuring a foreword by astronaut Buzz Aldrin, this series of essays discusses space flight as the embodiment of humanity's finest aspirations, using its rise as a metaphor of modern history in a recurrent story of transformation and rebirth. Wyn Wachhorst. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.