Apollo in Myth and Memory

Looking for something entirely unrelated, I stumbled on a list of Amazon recommendations titled Apollo in American Myth and Memory, from Roger Launius, a historian at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. It's an intriguing list with useful comments and, judging from the books I'm familiar with (those by Charles Murray and Michael Collins), a well-chosen selection. I wish more Amazon lists were as well done.

As a matter of blog history, back in 2004, Launius came in for some not-entirely-fair criticism on Rand Simberg's blog for his skepticism about the prospects of private launch companies. That shouldn't detract from the value of his book recommendations, of course. Besides, we had indeed seen lots of earlier private launch hype with few results, and rockets are indeed dangerous and hard to control. There was nothing crazy or, for that matter, pro-NASA about Launius's comments.

Posted by Virginia Postrel on January 31, 2007