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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Facts, lists, and references, July 6, 2007
I just received my copy and haven't had a chance to read it yet. But, since I bought it with no idea what it would contain, thought other people might find some info about the book's content helpful.
---- The back cover --------
From the introduction: It is time for humanity to get serious about space. We have had too many false starts and delays. Sooner or later we have to ask ourselves: Is this the Space Age or not? Are we really serious about this?
People are starting to wake up, but the work is far from over. In fact, it has barely begun.
The challenges facing our space efforts are not just technical; they are also political, economical, social, and psychological. Remember that it is easier to push a spacecraft across a million miles of space than to push an idea through a quarter-inch of human skull.
We need to reach out in two directions: The government and the general public. As for the general public, they are the ones who ultimately run our government. It is a sound principle that when the people lead, the leaders will follow.
But it all starts with one person. It starts with you.
In this book:
* A "refresher course" on Congress and the legislative process
* Tips for writing letters to Congress, along with samples
* Contact information (and more) for every member of Congress
* Contact information for several Congressional committees
* Contact information for the White House
* Facts, statistics, and pro-space arguments
* Lists of "space spinoff" technologies and products
* Lists of space organizations and web resources
* A list of ways you can help the cause
See our other publications at [...]
---- what the book contains --------
The bulk of the book (pages 69 to 343) are full listings of all members of the House and Senate, two per page. Each entry includes the lawmaker's name, contact information for their D.C. and home offices, their web site, age, DOB, committee assignments, and the names of their Chief of Staff and "Scheduler". The author has also assigned each member a "power ranking" (how close are they to the top of the leadership hierarchy) and a numeric "space advocacy metric".
In addition to the material listed on the back cover, the book also contains membership lists for the following key committees:
* Senate Appropriations Committee
* Senate Committee on Science, Commerce, and Transportation
* Senate Committee on Space, Aeronautics, and Related Sciences
* House Appropriations Committee
* House Science Committee
* House Space and Aeronautics Committee
Overall, this book looks to live up to the name "Handbook". The detailed per-member information will be highly valuable to anyone starting out to lobby Congress (space activist or not), but I worry about so much of the book's page count going toward listings that are going to need updating every two years. (Perhaps the author or publisher will make future updates available to readers on the web?)
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