Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon

by David West Reynolds

Book Overview

NASA's Apollo answered President Kennedy's 1961 directive to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth by the end of the decade. The astronauts, scientists, and mission control operators... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0151009643
• ISBN13: 9780151009640
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 3.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 10.4" x 9.9"

Customer Reviews

Gem for Space Nerds

I am a space nerd - majored in space physics, minored in space studies, worked in the space industry. Am enthralled with the Apollo program and have studied it extensively. This book does have a few minor errors, but they in no way detract from the thorough examination of the Apollo program. The book is worth its weight in charts, maps, diagrams and photographs alone. For example, I had never seen maps of the tracks of where each Apollo mission did its EVAs on the moon. I refute the claim that this book is aimed at children - I doubt any standard kid would understand Delta V and Isp and hypergolic fuels and translunar insertions. I think having a background in rocketry helped me enjoy the book more, not less.

Wow!

If you are wondering if there are any pictures, diagrams or info from the Apollo program that we haven't seen yet, the answer is in this book: and the answer is yes,and then some! I agree with the other reviews. This book is beautiful visually and informatively. So glad that it was published. We need to keep showing the world what we did, and why we should still be doing it, with books like this. Thanks Mr. Reynolds!

Very, very good

There have been many colourful large format books on the Apollo missions published over the years, and by now most of them must have made their way to the secondhand stalls, but David West Reynolds' book is sure to became a treasured momento. In addition to a lucid and very informative commentary, it contains carefully drawn illustrations and exquisitely produced pictures, including some specifically assembled lunar panoramas. It is like Michael Light's 'Full Moon', but in colour!

A must-have for every space enthusiast

I just received an advance copy of "Apollo: The Epic Journey to the Moon" by David Reynolds (Tehabi Books, San Diego). It's really, by far, one of the most spectacular visual histories of the Apollo program I've ever seen. 272 pp, hundreds of full-color illustrations, including several fold-out pages (such as a four-page fold-out cutaway of the Saturn V), and an authoritative text, the book is a gorgeous package. Unlike most other histories of the program, "Apollo" discusses the lunar landings within the larger social and scientific context. In fact, the first 100 pages are devoted to the events that led up to Apollo, including a beautifully illustrated history of rocketry and space exploration (featuring 6 pages on the Collier's series, with full-color Bonestell art, and the Disney TV space shows). There is a section on the origins and geology of the moon--with great specially-commissioned diagrams--and several pages about the Soviet moon program.All in all a spectacular volume that I cannot recommend too highly.

Apollo - Out of this world

The quest to reach the moon was indeed an epic journey involving, as I learned, hundreds of thousands of men and women to make the dream a reality. As a person not previously acquainted with the lengthy cast of characters responsible for taking this idea from drawing board to reality, I nevertheless found this account to be readily accessible and extremely engaging. The author has clearly taken pains to distill volumes of research down to a flowing narrative that reveals insights into the lives of those behind the scenes, as well as the astronauts themselves, who worked tirelessly to achieve their goal of landing a man on the moon. The beautiful illustrations and breathtaking photographs will not be lost on anyone, but do not overlook the useful descriptions of scientific hardware relayed in laymans terms, which are, thankfully, free of scientific lingo that only an engineer could love, or at least understand. I found particularly interesting the final section of the book, which describes planned future missions of the Apollo program that never came to pass. While the public in the 1970s may have lost interest in such missions, the public in the 21st century can only look back with envy. The fascinating explorations that would have been so easy to undertake decades ago, today seem impossible to imagine for decades to come. Thanks to this book, however, the reader can relive for a time the sense of wonder and excitement that surrounded this epic journey. We can only hope that one day we can continue the voyage of discovery where the previous generation left off.