Reach for the Moon
Hendrickson
1962
I am very entertained by this book. It uses the future tense about going to the moon, like “The United States is planning several ways of getting man to the moon and back. Whichever turns out to be the best will be the one we’ll use” (um…good plan, rocket scientist!). The last page of the book talks about how some day people “will be able to see all the cities and towns, and make out their outlines.” Google Earth, anyone?
This book is still on the shelf in a public library! They inter-library loaned it to me. Will it go back on the shelf when I send it back?
14 responses so far ↓
Jeff // June 9, 2009 at 11:55 am |
I *hope* it goes back on the shelf! I love old books about the future — they have significant historical value, too, I think. Maybe not in a smaller public library, but certainly somewhere.. Maybe it’s just a nostalgia thing for me, since I used to take these kinds of books out of the library all the time when I was a kid..
Madigan // June 9, 2009 at 3:41 pm |
Perfect for an archive, or historical selection.
Sad for a school library without anything newer on the shelves, that’s for sure.
Chuck Fellows // June 10, 2009 at 11:59 am |
I am certain there are several Luddites out there that would be thoroughly entertained by this publication!
Historically it is a hoot, but, anything this old on the shelves should come with a disclaimer. Such as, “Man has already been to the moon, is living in a space station and is planning on going to Mars.”
Jules Verne might object.
Daniel // June 17, 2009 at 7:01 pm |
I’d like to read it, but it should definitely not be out on a shelf where a child might pick it up and not understand what it is.
Rob Little // June 30, 2009 at 10:36 pm |
Not is this book dated, but by 1962, it was dated; NASA had a pretty good idea which method they’d use and even the spacecraft design were well underway.
Must have been heady times. Think about it; you think you’re writing a timely book, and it hits the shelves obsolete. Kind of like software today…
Rob Little // June 30, 2009 at 10:38 pm |
First sentence should read “Not only is this book dated…”
Need to slow down… less caffeine…
publius // July 2, 2009 at 4:26 am |
Having read a number of books of this general character, I find that they can actually be quite useful. Books on space topics after the middle 1960s tend to concentrate on approaches actually taken, rather than other valid ones which were not selected (for any number of reasons). Now that we are faced with the problem of restarting space effort as part of the broader solution of humanity’s problems, those concepts left by the wayside are valuable again.
In other words, if it doesn’t go back on the shelf, I want it!
Moopus Falarney // July 6, 2009 at 9:07 pm |
Books like that were among the first I borrowed and read. They inspired me to excel in math and science: this is something I can be a part of! If they are taken off the shelf, I hope they will be replaced by something that inspires the next generation of kids.
Ye Cats! // July 11, 2009 at 6:13 pm |
I love those rocket ships on the cover. What did they model those on? Flashlights or microphones? Microphones, I think: you can see where to plug in the cables!
Katherine // July 11, 2009 at 7:44 pm |
Put it in the history sections – old books like that are great!
Sara // July 21, 2009 at 7:32 pm |
I remember weeding one like this out of a middle school library when my mom started working there around 1994. The collection was ancient, but the only other great one I can clearly remember was titled “Milk Goats and How To Raise Them”
evilibrarian // July 31, 2009 at 11:14 am |
This is awesome. However, I wouldn’t fault the library for still having it on their shelves. I can clearly see what happened here. Their library was caught in a rift in the space-time continuum, and they have only just emerged. They are probably wondering about all of these technological gadgets and the strange manner of dress all around them. Great title AND the cover art! Nice phallic rocketship artwork there. Obviously we will put a MAN on the moon in a genitalia shaped ship! Loving it…..
Ladidah // August 3, 2009 at 3:35 am |
I think I took this book out as a child! If not this one, something very similar, a children’s nonfiction title about space exploration. I showed my parents, and my mother complained to the librarian when returning the book. I’m not sure what happened to it after that, if it was weeded or returned to the shelf…
Eliza // August 21, 2009 at 1:48 pm |
Well, it’s nice to know we didn’t choose the third-best way.