Book on Goddard

Has anyone read the new book on Robert Goddard? Wondering whether or not to
pick it up.

Thanks

Howard

"Howard Carter" wrote in message
...
Has anyone read the new book on Robert Goddard? Wondering whether or not
to
pick it up.

Thanks

Howard


I assume you mean "Rocket Man" by David Clary. If so, I just
finished it. It is somewhat anti-Goddard and paints him in a rather
negative light. The author claims Goddard was a liar who didn't
accomplish most of what he said he had and who was primarily
motivated by publicity and money. It's very much the antithesis
of the hagiography of the Lehman biography.

BTW, the book is short on technical details. The author states that he
is writing about the man, not the man's scientific work. If you are
primarily interested in Goddard's designs of rockets you'll be disappointed,
there's practically nothing there except some vague descriptions and a
few pictures.


--
WSG
"principio obstate"

Thanks...

I think I might pass on it. You mentioned the Lehman biography. Do you
recommend that?


"WSG" wrote in message
...

"Howard Carter" wrote in message
...
Has anyone read the new book on Robert Goddard? Wondering whether or
not
to
pick it up.

Thanks

Howard


I assume you mean "Rocket Man" by David Clary. If so, I just
finished it. It is somewhat anti-Goddard and paints him in a rather
negative light. The author claims Goddard was a liar who didn't
accomplish most of what he said he had and who was primarily
motivated by publicity and money. It's very much the antithesis
of the hagiography of the Lehman biography.

BTW, the book is short on technical details. The author states that he
is writing about the man, not the man's scientific work. If you are
primarily interested in Goddard's designs of rockets you'll be
disappointed,
there's practically nothing there except some vague descriptions and a
few pictures.


--
WSG
"principio obstate"

"Howard Carter" wrote in message
news
Thanks...

I think I might pass on it. You mentioned the Lehman biography. Do you
recommend that?


No, I don't. It was written by Milton Lehman in 1963 and titled "This High
Man: The Life of Robert H. Goddard". It was republished in 1988 under
the title of "Robert H. Goddard: Pioneer of Space Research".

Lehman had been a publicist for the Motion Picture Association of America
and
was hired to write a biography to be published by Farrar, Straus, and Young.
Roger Straus, head of that publishing house, was the nephew of Harry
Guggenheim. Guggenheim had been a close personal friend of Bob Goddard.
Esther Goddard, the widow, controlled access to the personal papers,
choosing
which documents Lehman could see. She also had control over the final
product. What you get is a very edited and glowing account of a man that
makes him bigger than life.

Again it depends on your interest. If you're interested in the technical
aspects
of his rockets, which I am, you'll be disappointed in both the Lehman and
the
Clary books. Both were written by men who were not engineers or
scientists. One was a publicist for movies, the other a tree expert who
worked
for the U.S. Forest Service. And both were writing on the character of the
man,
one to glorify, the other to bring him down a bit.

I don't know of a good single source discussing Goddard's technical
achievements. Articles and books written by Goddard himself are vague
and consist mainly of prognostications concerning the future of space
flight.

Maybe some of the readers of the group know of some works addressing
what Goddard actually built.

--
WSG
"principio obstate"

Maybe some of the readers of the group know of some works addressing
what Goddard actually built. BRBR

Goddard's own works, brief but very interesting, are collected in "Rockets,"
just republished by AIAA.

Without question, the definitive Goddard biography has yet to be written.





Matt Bille
)
OPINIONS IN ALL POSTS ARE SOLELY THOSE OF THE AUTHOR