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BarkellWH -> RE: The Tao of Physics (May 1 2019 14:47:44)
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quote:
Despite our knowledge of relativity, Newtonian mechanics was accurate enough to get the astronauts safely to the moon and back.
Speaking of which, July 20 this year will mark the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. I am currently reading a recently published book entitled "American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race." by the historian Douglas Brinkley. It is very good, and begins with Robert Goddard and initial rocketry, carries on through World War II with Kennedy in the Pacific and Wernher von Braun developing the V-1 and V-2, the post-war Cold War, Sputnik, and a concentration on the Kennedy presidency and the decision (and internal US government debate) to land a man on the moon within ten years time.
Brinkley is especially interesting when he discusses Wernher von Braun. Von Braun and the Nazi scientists brought over under "Operation Paperclip" were of course instrumental in developing our program. It was known from the very beginning that von Braun and the others were hardly angels. Brinkley is especially hard on von Braun, emphasizing that he was a colonel in the SS and a Nazi. He also made extensive use of slave labor at Peenemunde and later the area in the Harz Mountains where he developed and tested the V-2. Nevertheless, we were lucky to get him, as he was far more capable than those that the Soviets managed to get after the war, although the Soviets developed their space program pretty quickly.
Bill
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