Originally published in 1987, this study assesses the extent to which social and economic conditions affected the outcome of Reichstag and Landtag elections. It discusses the economic development in the district of Dusseldorf both before and during the period covered, 1867-1878; it also examines those social conditions in the region that remained static from 1867 - 1878, but also considers, as a background to each election or set of elections, short term changes in economic and social conditions.

Originally published in 1987, this study assesses the extent to which social and economic conditions affected the outcome of Reichstag and Landtag elections. It discusses the economic development in the district of Dusseldorf both before and during the period covered, 1867-1878; it also examines those social conditions in the region that remained static from 1867 - 1878, but also considers, as a background to each election or set of elections, short term changes in economic and social conditions.

Early in the morning of 4 October 1957, T. Keith Glennan went to work, just as he had for more than a decade, at the president's office of the Case Institution of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio. This work is his summary of his work.

"The Birth of NASA-The Diary of T. Keith Glennan" tells the story of the critical formative months of the new agency. The Introduction describes the background of T. Keith Glennan, the first NASA Administrator. After the Introduction, the book continues with Glennan's recollections of NASA from his appointment until the end of 1959. The 13 chapters are written in a diary format covering month-by-months his activities until he left the position in 1961. A Postscript, written in 1963, gives his views on the space program after he left office. A Biographical Appendix gives short sketches of about 400 individuals active in the space program during this period. Throughout the diary numerous explanatory footnotes by the editor clarify events an provide references for further details. Although Glennan's stay at NASA was short, his contributions are most significant, as he built the organization that would men to the moon and serve the nation to the present time. By T. Keith Glennan: "When I first began keeping this journal or diary, I never thought that it might, one day, be published. When I was appointed as the first Administrator of the newly authorized National Aeronautics and Space Administration on 19 August 1958, I started to keep a hand-written diary of sorts but soon found that my time was all too limited for that task. When I went back to Cleveland for the year-end holidays in 1959, I found that my four children had become much interested in knowing more about my job. They were also developing an interest in national and international affairs that intrigued me. I resolved to record my activities using my daily appointment cards to remind me of the important meetings that had become a daily way of life. I had a small, battery-operated recording machine called a dictette, and I usually dictated a summary of the day's happenings before I turned off the light each night. I sent the tapes back to my office at Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland where my secretary, Barbara Helberg, transcribed and stored them. I never saw them until I returned to Case in early 1961. Nor did I or anyone else edit them until NASA's chief historian, Dr. Roger D. Launius, and Dr. J. D. Hunley of the NASA History Office undertook the task. I did retain all of the daily appointment record cards, however. In 1963 my wife and I decided to take a long holiday in Europe, and I took the dictette and appointment cards with me, intending to record the events of the days between 19 August 1958 and 1 January 1960. I soon found that my memory was a bit hazy; I therefore chose to provide the kids with synopses of relationships with individuals or groups rather than the hour-by-hour recitation mode I had used to record the events after 1 January 1960. Throughout, I had embellished the unfolding story with bits of personal feelings or philosophy when stimulated by significant meetings or events. I do regret that I did not record the full diary when I started in the new post. When I completed the diary proper in 1963, I decided to voice my concern over the "crash" nature of the Apollo program, although I recognize that my conservative nature certainly clouded my vision at the time. When the Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the moon on 20 July 1969, I was glued to a television screen at the Bohemian Grove north of San Francisco and was as thrilled and emotionally moved as anyone could be. The management of that program by Jim Webb, Hugh Dryden, Tom Paine, Bob Seamans and Bob Gilruth was in the best tradition of the great undertakings that have periodically marked our nation's history."

Milt Thompson's account of lessons to be learned involves aspects of the history of flight research at what was then called the Flight Research Center and its predecessor organizations- redesignated in 1976 the Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center. Many fascinating topics are covered: lifting bodies, the P-51 Mustang, X-planes, XS-1, X-15, the YF-12 Blackbird, the Space Shuttle, and the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle. From the time of the Wright brothers' first flight in 1903 until the end of World War II, airplane technology evolved considerably. The early decades' mono-and biplanes of wooden framework, typically braced with wire and covered with cloth, gradually gave way to an all-metal construction and improved aerodynamic shapes, but most aircraft in World War II still featured propellers and even the fastest of them flew at maximum speeds of about 450 miles per hour. For example, the North American P-51 Mustang, one of the finest prop fighters used in the war, had a top speed of 437 miles per hour when flying a level course at low altitude. This compared with low-level maximum speeds of 514 and 585 mph respectively for the Messerschmitt Me 262A and Gloster Meteor F. Mk. jet fighters, both of which thus still flew well below the speed of sound (Mach 1) in level flight. Even so, during the early 1940s, airplanes like Lockheed's P-38 Lightning began to face the problem of compressibility in dives -characterized (among other things) by increased density, a sharp rise in drag, and disturbed airflow at speeds approaching Mach 1. In partial contrast to flight test, flight research sought and seeks fundamental understanding of all aspects of aeronautics, and in achieving that understanding, its practitioners may fly experimental aircraft like the early X-planes and the D-558s or armed service discards like early production models of the F-15s, F-16s, and F-18s researchers at Dryden are modifying and flying today.

In the long and proud history of flight research at what is now called the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, the D-558 project holds a special place as being one of the earliest and most productive flight research efforts conducted here. Data from the D-558 and the early X-planes enabled researchers at what became NASA's Langley Research Center to correlate and correct test results from wind tunnels with actual flight values. Then, the combined results of flight and wind-tunnel testing enabled the U.S. aeronautical community to solve many of the problems that occur in the transonic speed range (about 0.8 to 1.2 times the speed of sound), such as pitch-up, buffeting, and other instabilities. This enabled reliable and routine flight of such aircraft as the century series of fighters (F-100, F-102, F-104, etc.) as well as all commercial transport aircraft from the mid-1950s to the present. The Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak and D-558-2 Skyrocket were, with the Bell XS-1, the earliest transonic research aircraft built in this country to gather data so the aviation community could understand what was happening when aircraft approached the speed of sound (roughly 741 miles per hour at sea level in dry air at 32 degrees Fahrenheit). In the early 1940s, fighter (actually, in the terms of the time, pursuit) aircraft like the P-38 Lightning were approaching these speeds in dives and either could not get out of the dives before hitting the ground or were breaking apart from the effects of compressibility-increased density and disturbed airflow as the speed approached that of sound and created shock waves.

This book tells the history of NASA through the Diary of a person who had an enormous impact of the program itself. It goes through original ideas about the space program to missions that took place and many interesting facts.

In this definitive study, J. D. Hunley traces the program's development from Goddard's early rockets (and the German V-2 missile) through the Titan IVA and the Space Shuttle, with a focus on space-launch vehicles. Since these rockets often evolved from early missiles, he pays considerable attention to missile technology, not as an end in itself, but as a contributor to launch-vehicle technology. Focusing especially on the engineering culture of the program, Hunley communicates this very human side of technological development by means of anecdotes, character sketches, and case studies of problems faced by rocket engineers. He shows how such a highly adaptive approach enabled the evolution of a hugely complicated technology that was impressive-but decidedly not rocket science. Unique in its single-volume coverage of the evolution of launch-vehicle technology from 1926 to 1991, this meticulously researched work will inform scholars and engineers interested in the history of technology and innovation, as well as those specializing in the history of space flight. J. D. HUNLEY's career as a historian has focused on the history of aerospace technology. He was named a Ramsey Fellow at the National Air and Space Museum for 2001-2002 after serving in history programs for both NASA and the U.S. Air Force. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. Now semiretired, he continues to write about the history of America's space program

Foreword The document by Milt Thompson that is reproduced here was an untitled rough draft found in Thompson's papers in the Dryden Historical Reference Collection. Internal evidence suggests that it was written about 1974. Readers need to keep this date in mind, since Milt writes in the present tense. Apparently, he never edited the document. Had he prepared it for publication, he would have done lots of editing and refined much of what he said.

This is an English translation of Noordung's 'Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums'. It is a part of the NASA History Series. The book provides Noordung's insight as to how a space station might be constructed. Keep in mind that the author passed away in 1929. It contains ideas that were criticized for faults and those that were acclaimed for their potentially successful ingenuity. Profusely illustrated throughout.

"The Birth of NASA--The Diary of T. Keith Glennan" tells the story of the critical formative months of the new agency. The Introduction describes the background of T. Keith Glennan, the first NASA Administrator. After the Introduction, the book continues with Glennan's recollections of NASA from his appointment until the end of 1959. The 13 chapters are written in a diary format covering month-by-months his activities until he left the position in 1961. A Postscript, written in 1963, gives his views on the space program after he left office. A Biographical Appendix gives short sketches of about 400 individuals active in the space program during this period. Throughout the diary numerous explanatory footnotes by the editor clarify events an provide references for further details. Although Glennan's stay at NASA was short, his contributions are most significant, as he built the organization that would men to the moon and serve the nation to the present time.