First edition
| |
| Author | David Lasser |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | nonfiction |
| Publisher | Penguin Press |
Publication date | September 1931 (original)[1] September 1, 2002 |
| Pages | 192 |
| ISBN | 978-1-896522-92-0 |
The Conquest of Space is a nonfiction book written by David Lasser in 1930 and self-published in 1931.[2] It was the first book written in English that presented rocketry and spaceflight in a serious manner.[3][4] The book profiles a fictional journey to the Moon to explain the science of rocketry as it stood in 1931.[5] It uses contemporary knowledge on rockets to create a reasonable description of the hardware necessary to make spaceflight possible. The book was out of print until 2002, when it was republished by Apogee Books.[4] As of 2011[update], the book remains in print.
According to the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction, it contains the earliest known use of the word "astrogator", meaning space navigator.[6]
The book was generally well received. The New York Times stated on January 10, 1932 that "despite its literary and artistic faults the book cannot but capture the imagination of a reader interested in science."[4] Harold Horton Sheldon wrote the original introduction to the 1931 edition.[7] Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote the introduction to the 2002 edition, said that the book "was one of the turning points in [his] life."[4]
Despite being published in 1931, it "still stands up to scrutiny"[4] for many of its predictions in rocketry. However, other predictions appear to Larry McGlynn as "quaint" and "naive", among them the use of rockets solely for peaceful purposes.[5]
As science editor for The New York Tribune, Sheldon was a powerful voice in the promotion of space flight at the time. He also gave his own lectures and wrote the foreword for Lasser's book.
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