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Old January 10th 06, 02:30 PM posted to sci.space.history
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Default Reprint of "lost" spaceflight classic...

I've just this week made available a reprint of a "lost" classic
spaceflight novel, "The Moon-Maker", by Arthur Train and Robert
Williams Wood.

It's plot about a nuclear-powered rocket on a mission to divert an
asteroid from an imminent collision with the earth might not sound
exactly like ground-breaking science fiction...except that this book
was written in 1916.

The science in the novel is extraordinary...it is probably the most
accurate description of a spacecraft and spaceflight until the latter
part of the 20th century...indeed, there is very little wrong even by
today's standards. Moreover, it is the first time that the threat of an
asteroid impact was ever made in literature...and the solution to the
problem is precisely that being advocated by Jay Melosh and others.

The story is fast-paced and filled with humor and adventure (to say
nothing of featuring a heroine who was at least 50 years ahead of her
time)---and is as readable now as it was 90 years ago.

The two authors were Arthur Train---one of the best-selling mystery
writers of his time---and Robert Williams Wood---one of the premiere
physicists of the past century.

This is the first time the book has been made available in half a
century. The reprint can be found he

http://www.lulu.com/content/215456

Ron