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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

With the end of the Cold War, will the space race become a cooperative venture? This book, which tells the story of the European Space Agency, shows how such a cooperative enterprise has worked over the past three decades and how it might apply to future space science.

Illustrated with pictures and diagrams, enlivened with anecdotes involving key world players in space science, this book provides a rich blend of factual information and personal recollection, history and interpretation. A timely contribution to the study of the politics of science and technology, it points the way to future international cooperation. Roger M. Bonnet is Director of the Scientific program of the European Space Agency. Vittorio Manno is Scientific Attaché at the Embassy of Italy in Austria.

(Extracted from the dust jacket).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Acknowledgments.

-Contents.

-Introduction.

-1- The Birth of ESA.

-2- Governing Principles.

-3- The Agency and Its Member States.

-4- International Connections.

-5- Two Cases of International Cooperation.

-6- The New Context.

-Conclusion.

-Notes.

-Bibliography of Works in English.

-ESRO and ESA Spacecraft.

-The Horizon 2000 Long-Term Plan.

-List of Illustrations.

-Index.

OUR REVIEW

Mr. Bonnet has good reasons to praise the cooperation among the peoples all over the world with respect to the scientific exploration of space. We are in an era where the ESA has launched numerous satellites whose results are astonishing even the researchers themselves, vehicles that otherwise, without the collaboration of other countries, would never have seen the light. Bonnet and Vittorio Manno vindicate the model of the European Space Agency, with a brief description and a listing of the achievements it has succeeded in getting, up till our days, and what it will get at in the future.

This is a not too extensive work yet it certainly is a complete one, described from within the different events by people who have a first-hand experience of everything we are told. Therefore, it is not surprising that we may find some curious episodes (that will increase its value as a unique work) reflected in its pages. The book has been written by two well-known personalities in the European space universe. Led by them, we will review the history of ESA, the difficulties found during its creation and its coming of age, its maturity, as well as its current, noteworthy position with respect to the scientific activities. All in all, this volume will make a valuable addition to our library, not only for those who are interested in astronautics but also for those who want to learn some more about the political and economical relationships amongst very different nations in such a visible environment as space is.