Reviews for 100 Most Popular Scientists For Young Adults

The average rating for 100 Most Popular Scientists For Young Adults based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-06-23 00:00:00 Gavin Topham "Think of it; those three fuckers up there orbiting that thing." Deke Slayton I love space books and there's a lot of them out there to choose from, but I'd never encountered this series before, the University of Nebraska's "Outward Odyssey" series. If the caliber of this book is any indication, than it must be a fine, fine series. Like I said, there's a shit-ton (an actual astronomical unit) of books on the space age, but this one is a little different, in to key respects that made me like it even more: 1) there is an equal focus on the Soviet space program (the chapters mostly alternate); 2) there is a focus on the "little people" involved in the early years of space exploration. As far as 1) goes, there is much to fascinate. Gagarin (the first human in space), Tereshkova (the first woman in space), and Leonov (the first crazy fucker to spacewalk) are all featured here with some other less known Vostok and Voskhod missions. These chapters were my favorites because it is something that doesn't get covered often and the writers actually got to sit down with these surviving cosmonauts and rap about their experiences. 2) talks about the Mercury 13, the women who thought they were training for NASA, the nurse who worked with the Mercury 7, some of the lesser known astronauts, heck, even the guy who fished the astronauts out of the sea from splashdown!

Review # 2 was written on 2014-10-25 00:00:00 Raymond Goldstein The most comprehensive look at early space programs for both the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Chapters deal with individual flights, starting with a biography of the principles and ending with their further career accomplishments. It was also fun to read! I have read articles about Titov or Tereshkova, but this book goes into much more detail than any other source I have found. The authors speculate on the propaganda which has covered up the facts also, though in some cases we may never know more. Interviews were conducted with subjects on both sides of the former iron curtain, giving us an unprecedented look into the space race. In the last year, I've read The Right Stuff and Gus Grissom's biography, but neither is as useful or interesting. This book is followed by In the Shadow of the Moon: A Challenging Journey to Tranquility, 1965-1969, and both are part of the Outward Odyssey series by the University of Nebraska press.