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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

This volume contains the papers presented at the Twentieth and Twenty-First History Symposia of the International Academy of Astronautics, with some notable exceptions. Subotowicz's contribution, The Scientific Foundations of Space Flight in Newton's 'Principia' (1687), replaces two cancellations. Another contribution, the one by Frederick I. Ordway III, on Schiaparelli and Lowell, is a combination of two papers, the first delivered in October 1984 at the Eighteenth IAA History Symposium in Lausanne, Switzerland; the second presented two years later in October 1986 at the Twentieth IAA History Symposium in Innsbruck, Austria. Rather than split these presentations between two volumes, the author and the editor agreed that a better appreciation of the material could be achieved by combining them in this edition.

(Extracted form the Preface, written by Lloyd H. Cornett, Jr.).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Foreword. R. Cargill Hall.

-Preface. Lloyd H. Cornett, Jr.

-Part I: Early Solid Propellant Rocketry.

-1- The 'Boun Bang Fai' Rockets of Thailand and Laos: Possible Key to Determining the Spred of Rocketry in the Orient.
-2- Congreve Rocketry Revisited.

-Part II: Rocketry and Astronautics: Concepts, Theories and Analyses.

-3- The Legacy of Schiaparelli and Lowell.
-4- Analysis of K.E. Tsiolkovsky's Ideas on Space Industrial Development and Exploitation.
-5- Scientific and Technological Prerequisites for the First Manned Spacecraft.
-6- Project Horizon: An Early Study of a Lunar Outpost.
-7- Using Mathematical Models in Researching the History of Rocket Space Technology.
-8- Speculative Spacecraft, 1610-1957.
-9- The Scientific Foundations of Space Flight in Newton's "Principia" (1687).
-10- The Development of Space Flight Theory by Soviet Scientists.
-11- Development of the Theory of Correction Maneuvers for the First Transfer Trajectories to Mars and Venus.
-12- K.E. Tsiolkovsky and the Development of Twentieth Century Anthropocosmism.

-Part III: Liquid- and Solid-Propellants Rockets, 1880-1945.

-13- Camera Rockets and Space Photography Concepts Before World War II - Part II.
-14- The Construction of a Replica of Robert H. Goddard's First Succesful Liquid-Propellant Rocket.
-15- An Analysis of Yu. A. Pobedonostsev's Scientific and Technical Activity.

-Part IV: Rocketry and Astronautics since 1945.

-16- The Propellant Chemists' Contribution to Modern Rocket Flight: A Memoir.
-17- The Beginning of the U.S. Space Program: A Memoir.
-18- The Apollo Generation: A Profile of NASA's First Engineers.
-19- Wernher von Braun and Collier Magazine's Man in Space Series.
-20- Apollo Scientific Exploration of the Moon.
-21- Lunar Surface Photography: A Study of Apollo 11.
-22- International Geophysical Year to International Space Year.
-23- Project Manhigh: A Balloon-Borne Predecessor for Project Mercury.
-24- From HF Radio to Unified S-Band: An Historical Review of the Development of Communications in the Space Age.
-25- Brennschluss Over the Desert: V-2 Operations at White Sands Missile Range, 1946-1952.
-26- Thirty Years of Astronautics with McDonnell and Douglas.
-27- Peenemünde and Los Alamos: Two Studies.
-28- The French SE 1900 and SE 1910 Rocket Sleds.

-Part V: Pioneers of Rocketry and Astronautics.

-29- Georgy Nikolaevich Babakin's Contribution tothe Develoment of Automatic Space Stations.
-30- Yuriy Alexeyevich Gagarin: His Uniqueness, Typicalness and Wealth of Personality.
-31- Personal Recollections of Theodore von Kármán.

-Numerical Index and Author Index.

OUR REVIEW

As is already typical of the articles stemming from lectures held at international symposia, these vary in depth and length. Despite this fact, most of them will be extremely interesting for those people who feel curious about the history of rocketry and astronautics.

The contents, just as the compiler himself says, range from very precise descriptions of programs and projects, to personal memories, to works of pure research and synthesis. The variety in themes and the diversity in viewpoints, often very particular ones, enrich this volume, one more in a collection which intends to give the average reader the facts that constitute a more or less important part of the history of astronautics and the men who made it possible.

Reviewing the names of some of the authors of these papers will suffice to show the great quality enriching this book: let's consider then, among them, Frank H. Winter, Frederick I. Ordway III, Mitchell R. Sharpe, Ron Miller, William H. Pickering, Wm. D. Compton and Charles D. Walker. A treasure in information, occasionally unavailable in divulgative popular literature, this book must belong to the library of true space lovers.