Customer Reviews

How to Build Your Own Spaceship: The Science of Personal Space Travel

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Piers Bizony's "How to Build Your Own Spaceship" is an engaging summary of all topics related to modern manned space exploration. In this compact paperback, Bizony manages to cram history, politics, financing, societal impact, and (not to be forgotten) rocket science in a seamlessly woven, point-to-point narrative. The reading level of the book is suitable for the high schooler interested in science to experts in the field.

The highlight of the book is its engaging, flowing writing style. Bizony links concepts together with ease as is exampled by a discussion on the development of the Space Shuttle as a winged vehicle, which transitioned into the reasons that SS1 flies in a 'shuttle-cock' configuration. Roughly equal time is given to past accomplishments as well as future prospects. The book is also a veritable crash-course in the upcoming private space industry.

The only conceivable downside to "How to Build Your Own Spaceship" is its lack of depth; however, as an overview of the field, the book is superb. More depth can be provided through topic-specific texts.

This book is an easy read and a real treat that should be part of every space explorer's library.

With an elegant, engaging and clearly informed style, Piers Bizony is one of my favorite authors on the subject of space. Even his books that look like coffee table books, such as "Space 50," are not such books because his writing is always worthwhile reading.

"How to Build Your Own Spaceship: The Science of Personal Space Travel" falls a bit short, however, of the content I've come to expect from Bizony. This book strikes me as a rush job that was loosely (if at all) edited. Parts of the book are more a collection of related topics written separately than a continuing thesis. Some topics are too brief. For example, when addressing the point of people who don't believe the moon landings happened Bizony could have also commented on navigating around the van Allen radiation belts, and the utter improbability of keeping the Hollywood sound stage version a secret for forty years. He could have used this example to illustrate the technological illiteracy, and the selective anti-intellectualism, rampant in our culture.

Still, I recommend the book. I keep up with the subject of private space flight and have written about it myself. I learned a lot from this book, not only facts and numbers, but also important perspectives and points of view.

I liked this book. It was a fairly quick read, but provided an interesting look into what is happening with rocket development as it becomes more commercial.

For years, space exploration has suffered under year-to-year meddling of politicians and bureaucrats. It's a wonder that NASA has had any successes. But here, under the radar, private space companies are doing what government can't: Making space accessible and affordable to non-government groups and individuals. Some of these efforts may be utilized by NASA. If the new NASA regime is smart, they will let private companies use and at least partially take over the space station so it can be used to its full potential. Right now, NASA has no long-term plans for ISS very far beyond completed construction. All that money and risk can be utilized and capitalized by business. This book is part how-to and part history on the new space revolution that is brewing and can do these things I'm talking about. Perhaps the Space Age has finally arrived.