Overview

From New York Times bestselling author of The Wal-Mart Effect, Charles Fishman reveals the untold true story of the men and women charged with taking the United States to the Moon.President John F. Kennedy astonished the world on May 25, 1961, when he announced to Congress that the United States would land a man on the Moon by 1970. No group was more surprised than the engineers at NASA. On the day of the historic speech, America had a total of fifteen minutes of spaceflight experience--with just five of those minutes outside the atmosphere. In fact, Soviet canines had more spaceflight experience than US astronauts. To fulfill President Kennedy's mandate, NASA engineers had to invent space travel. When Kennedy announced his goal, no one knew how to navigate to the Moon. No one knew how to build a rocket big enough to fly to the Moon. No one knew how to build a computer small enough to put on that rocket. No one knew how to feed astronauts in space, and no one knew how astronauts would even use the bathroom in space. And NASA had just nine years to make it happen. In One Giant Leap, Charles Fishman introduces readers to the men and women tasked with putting a man on the moon. From the halls of MIT, where the eccentric and legendary digital pioneer Charles Draper created the two computers aboard Apollo 11, to the factories where hundreds of women weaved computer programs with copper wire, Fishman captures the sweeping achievement of these ordinary Americans. This is the captivating story of men and women charged with changing the world as we know it--their leaders, their triumphs, their near disasters, all of which led to arguably the greatest success story of the twentieth century.

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9781508286561

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"""Explores the organizational prowess and maniacal attention to detail required of Apollo's 400,000-plus workers to ensure that the gadgetry worked near perfectly in space, where any glitch could spell disaster. Fishman's knack for explaining science and engineering and his infectious enthusiasm for Apollo's can-do wizardry make for a fascinating portrait of a technological heroic age."" -- ""Publishers Weekly"" ""Fishman offers lively profiles of many tireless, imaginative, and innovative scientists, engineers, and technicians who contributed to the Apollo mission...For eight years, 410,000 people put in 2.8 billion work hours to make the flight possible. As the author sees it, those efforts--long before the innovations emanating from Silicon Valley--ushered in the digital age, making technology 'a tool of everyday life'...A fresh, enthusiastic history of the moon mission."" -- ""Kirkus Reviews"" ""The best Apollo anniversary treatment I've seen so far...It is refreshing to see him go beyond the usual platitudes to careful analysis and reasoned judgments. This is a book worth careful reading."" -- ""John M. Logsdon, author of John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon"""

The best Apollo anniversary treatment I've seen so far...It is refreshing to see him go beyond the usual platitudes to careful analysis and reasoned judgments. This is a book worth careful reading. -- John M. Logsdon, author of John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon Fishman offers lively profiles of many tireless, imaginative, and innovative scientists, engineers, and technicians who contributed to the Apollo mission...For eight years, 410,000 people put in 2.8 billion work hours to make the flight possible. As the author sees it, those efforts--long before the innovations emanating from Silicon Valley--ushered in the digital age, making technology 'a tool of everyday life'...A fresh, enthusiastic history of the moon mission. -- Kirkus Reviews Explores the organizational prowess and maniacal attention to detail required of Apollo's 400,000-plus workers to ensure that the gadgetry worked near perfectly in space, where any glitch could spell disaster. Fishman's knack for explaining science and engineering and his infectious enthusiasm for Apollo's can-do wizardry make for a fascinating portrait of a technological heroic age. -- Publishers Weekly

Author Information

Fred Sanders, an actor and Earphones Award-winning narrator, has received critics' praise for his audio narrations that range from nonfiction, memoir, and fiction to mystery and suspense. He been seen on Broadway in The Buddy Holly Story, in national tours for Driving Miss Daisy and Big River, and on such television shows as Seinfeld, The West Wing, Will and Grace, Numb3rs, Titus, and Malcolm in the Middle. His films include Sea of Love, The Shadow, and the Oscar-nominated short Culture. He is a native New Yorker and Yale graduate. Charles Fishman is the acclaimed author of One Giant Leap, A Curious Mind (with Brian Grazer), The Wal-Mart Effect, and The Big Thirst. He is a three-time winner of the Gerald Loeb Award, the most prestigious prize in business journalism.

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