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R. Cargill Hall has written a history. Readers not familiar with the state of writing about twentieth century technology and science may not realize his achievement. Accounts-so-called histories-of recent technology and science are often little more than simplistic narratives focusing almost entirely upon sequences in hardware development or upon scientific idea explication. In commendable contrast, Hall organized a coherent narrative and analysis of complex institutions, people, ideas, and machines changing in character and in relationship one to another over time. His history of the Ranger Project is also critical and mature. He avoided neither complexity and contradiction nor reasoned analysis and judgments about episodes and people. He allowed for accident, unintended consequences, shifting priorities, budgetary adjustments, and over-determined events. This is evidenced by a frank account of six superficially ignominious Ranger failures, an analysis of the effects of NASA management by committee, an appraisal of the impact of high-priority Project Apollo upon Ranger, and a consideration of the consequences of Ranger's being done at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a university rather than an industrial laboratory. He comprehended how these and other factors generally influenced the project and shaped the automatic machine, the exploring spacecraft, at its hard core. Lunar Impact transforms the records of a technological project into history by applying the canons of historical scholarship. The techniques and modes of interpretation are the general historian's. Because of this, Ranger emerges from the study not simply as a machine designed and operated by technical specialists but, more complexly and convincingly, as the focus of activities resulting from the conflicting interests, the power struggles, and the contrasting objectives of individuals, groups, and institutions. Viewed in this way, the writing of the history of the Ranger project becomes a challenge similar to the writing of the history of political campaigns and business enterprises. The reader will recognize elements common to many kinds of history; he or she may also note the development of themes often encountered in large-scale technological and scientific projects. Most obvious is the tension between the values and goals of science and of engineering. Throughout Hall's history one encounters scientists striving to shape Ranger so that it could perform a number of complex scientific experiments; the reader also meets engineers endeavoring to design a machine realistically contrived to perform one or two priority tasks like photographing the surface of the moon. Another significant theme concerns the tension permeating the Jet Propulsion Laboratory between the academic spirit of free enquiry and loose disciplinary structure, and the industrial laboratory style of project-oriented organization and highly directed problem-solving. These tensions were severe, sometimes constructive and at other times frustrating. Hall succeeds in seeing the situations in the perspectives of the various principals and principles. Hall's book is also unusual and interesting because it reckons, as noted, with failure, the frequently ignominious inadequacy of the early machines, launches, and operations. Hall absorbed enough of the wisdom of experienced managers and engineers not to be startled or shocked into rash pronouncements and value judgments about failure. Wisely and considerately, he wrote about technical and scientific matters with his professed audience in mind-historians, interested laymen, and managers; he resisted the temptation to write for the highly sensitive, deeply involved, and specialized readers of the NASA "comment cycle." Also his technical and scientific information is related by him to general themes.
This volume, the third in a series of historical case studies of important air power missions, addresses the most controversial air power mission of all- strategic bombardment. The ability of aircraft and missiles to destroy or disrupt an enemy's war-making potential and to break or weaken his will to resist, independent of the actions of ground and naval forces, has served as the central theme of air power theory and as the rallying point of air advocates.
The Air Force Historical Foundation convened a historical symposium on the United States Air Force's experience in the development of space systems and their military applications. This is an overview and summary of those events. Topics addressed are: The Formative Years, 1945- 1961; Mission Development and Exploitation Since 1961; and Military Space Today and Tomorrow. The manuscript includes notes, abbreviations and acronyms, an index, and photographs.
This volume, the third in a series of historical case studies of important air power missions, addresses the most controversial (and arguably most significant) air power mission of all--strategic bombardment. The ability of aircraft and missiles to destroy or disrupt an enemy's war-making potential and to break or weaken his will to resist, independent of the actions of ground and naval forces, has served as the central theme of air power theory and as the rallying point of air advocates, who made it the raison d'Ltre for independent air forces. Written by well-known military historians, each chapter stands alone as a case study of an important stage in strategic air operations; combined, the chapters provide a comprehensive and insightful analysis of the theory and practice of strategic bombardment from its inception in World War I through the Gulf War of 1991. From "Boom" Trenchard and "Billy" Mitchell to John Warden and Charles Horner, the vision of air power prophets and airmen is tested against the reality of bureaucratic inertia, aircraft capability, technological advances, and bombing accuracy. Seldom in the twentieth century has technology fully met the demands of air power theory. Yet in each era a practitioner of the art appears, such as Harris, Spaatz, LeMay, or Horner, who in some measure modifies prevailing doctrine and stretches the paradigm of his time and circumstances to achieve extraordinary results. Technology, of course, is the prime determinant of doctrine and operations. This exceptional volume surveys the entire history of strategic bombardment and its technology, from the Zeppelin and Gotha of the Great War to the F-117 and the penetrating precision guided bomb of the Gulf War. The reader will find technological advances--such as radar bombing and range-extending air-to-air refueling--that answer one problem only to produce new requirements and expectations that demand more advanced technology. Guided munitions, while offering remarkable precision, have underscored the problems of strategic intelligence collection and dissemination, and of locating and attacking both fixed and mobile targets. This volume also examines the changes in the public's perception of strategic bombardment. The exaggerated fears of a "knockout blow" and near total destruction bruited about before World War II gradually were replaced by a general acceptance of area bombing and contemporary satisfaction at the casualties inflicted on the foe during the war itself. That public tolerance evaporated soon after the appearance of the atom bomb. The ever-present threat of a civilization-ending global nuclear war continued for another forty years and made the B-52 bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile both symbols of ultimate destruction and potent tools of nuclear stability. Indeed, public acceptance of combat casualties for both friend and foe has steadily declined in the latter half of the twentieth century. If the World War II bombing of Berlin and Tokyo resonated favorably with public opinion at the time, changing attitudes by the 1990s would never have condoned such an approach to the Gulf conflict. Finally, later chapters in this volume consider some of the most significant missions and accomplishments of the United States Air Force during the Cold War. They examine the actions and events associated with strategic air power that helped repel or deter communist aggression and protect the vital interests of Western democracies throughout the world. The U.S. Air Force's commitment to strategic air power has been consistent and seamless since the days of the B-17 to the era of the B-2. Through the development and elaboration of strategic air warfare capabilities and thought, it has created a modem world in which global air power will be the strategic instrument of choice for power projection and presence in the twenty-first century. Richard P. Hallion The Air Force Historian
Contains papers presented at the Air Force Historical Foundation Symposium, held at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, on September 21-22, 1995. Topics addressed are: The Formative Years, 1945- 1961; Mission Development and Exploitation Since 1961; and Military Space Today and Tomorrow. Includes notes, abbreviations and acronyms, an index, and photographs.
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