[.ca] Something New Under the Sun: Satellites and the ... (ISBN 0387949143)

A unique history - I only wish there was more!:
I really enjoyed this book's combination of technical (but not too technical) and personal detail. Not only did the book cover the birth and infancy of satellite technology it gave us a good luck at the personalities behind it. My criticism is that the book doesn't go far enough - it doesn't bring the story up to the present day. I realize that this is a daunting task but it would be useful to provide a context - to examine how far we've come. For example, a comparison of modern satellites and their predecessors would be very telling. The book examines just the initial years - more information on satellite development in the 60's and early '70s would put things in a better perspective. On a minor note, I would have preferred a standard bibliograpy and footnotes rather than the detailed bibliography that we're confronted with. There have been many books written about the early manned space program but not enough written on early unmanned efforts. And among those books, most focus on the interplanetary probes, making this book a welcome addition to the study of man's early forays into space.

A good look at an oft-forgotten topic:
Applications satellites (weather, communications, etc.)are so common that few people think of where they came from. As a space history writer myself, I applaud Gavaghan for finding the resources and doing the legwork to assemble a popular history of the origins of applications satellites. I have two reservations that prevent me giving a higher rating. The sections on what led up to Sputnik are not as well-founded as the rest of the book - she accepts as given, for instance, the belief that Project Vanguard was destined to be chosen as "less militaristic" than its Army rival, when this is far from established fact. More problematic is the complete lack of footnotes. Gavaghan has assembled a lot of information, some of it fresh, but without knowing where she got it (the chapter endnotes are not very specific), it's hard to consider the book authoritative. Nonetheless, this book is a valuable contribution. Every space enthusiast will want to read it.