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David A. Clary

Rocket Man: Robert H. Goddard and the Birth of the Space Age Hardcover – August 20, 2003

by David A. Clary (Author)

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More famous in his day than Einstein or Edison, the troubled, solitary genius Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945) was the American father of rocketry and space flight, launching the world's first liquid-fuel rockets and the first powered vehicles to break the sound barrier. Supported by Charles Lindbergh and Harry Guggenheim, through fiery, often explosive, experiments at Roswell, New Mexico, he invented the methods that carried men to the moon. Today, no rocket or jet plane can fly without using his inventions.

Yet he is the "forgotten man" of the space age. His own government ignored his rocketry until the Germans demonstrated its principles in the V-2 missiles of World War II. The American government usurped his 214 patents, while suppressing his contributions in the name of national security, until it was forced to pay one million dollars for patent infringement. Goddard became famous again, monuments and medals raining upon his memory. But his renewed fame soon faded, and Goddard's pivotal role in launching the Space Age has been largely forgotten.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Hachette Books
Publication date

August 20, 2003
Grade level

8 and up
Dimensions

6.13 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

0786868171
ISBN-13

978-0786868179
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Americans of the WWII generation will probably recognize the name of Massachusetts-born scientist Robert Goddard (1882-1945), who frequently made the pages of American newspapers and magazines in the 1930s with his rocket experiments outside Roswell, N.Mex. Baby boomers and their children, however, may never have heard of this pioneer in the construction of liquid-fuel rockets. Clary, former chief historian of the U.S. Forest Service, attempts to clean Goddard's biography of the varnish applied in earlier biographies supervised by the scientist's widow and his close friend Charles Lindbergh. Goddard emerges here as a paradoxical man who relentlessly promoted his work, winning hundreds of thousands of dollars in Guggenheim grants, while shunning offers to collaborate with other scientists. Clary presents a clear and relatively straightforward narrative of his subject's life, but the book is undermined by his inclination to be a detail-oriented documentarian (describing every launch and its outcome) rather than taking the broader view of a historian. If readers skipped the book's last few pages, where the author sums up the significance of Goddard's work for rocket science, they might come away thinking that he was just another New England crank with a flair for self-promotion. Clary also fails to confront directly the question of whether Goddard's drinking habits undermined his work or just his health. Nevertheless, readers who come to this generally well-written biography with some knowledge of Goddard's significance will find much of interest to fill out their knowledge of this complex and fascinating scientist for whom NASA's Goddard Space Center is named. 16 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

No biography of the inventor of the liquid-fueled rocket has appeared since Robert Goddard's widow orchestrated the hagiography This High Man by Milton Lehman (1963). Goddard is not presented in such an idealized fashion in Clary's more objective account. The foibles Clary finds include a few personal proclivities that inhibited Goddard from realizing his full potential. Highly inventive, Goddard was also obsessively secretive, seemingly more dedicated to patenting every contraption he devised than to appeasing his sponsors (Charles Lindbergh among them), who beseeched him for results, usually futilely. Ostensibly a retiring sort, content to be cosseted by the women (mother, grandmother, wife) who managed his affairs, Goddard in fact harbored a big ego. Patiently accreting the facts, Clary illustrates the myriad ways Goddard's self-regard impeded his success: he was a my-way-or-the-highway kind of guy. Made more interesting for his imperfections, this well-researched portrait cements Goddard's status as a hero in the history of space technology. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hachette Books; 1st edition (August 20, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0786868171
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0786868179
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.13 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #822,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #92 in Aerospace Propulsion Technology
- #123 in Aircraft Design & Construction
- #523 in Astronautics & Space Flight

Customer Reviews:
33 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Joseph H. Wolenski

Vindicitive, and I dont know why

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2020

Verified Purchase

I thought this was a biography of Dr. Robert Goddard, but it read like a criticism of Goddard's life-long work. The author seemed to go out of his way to point out that Goddard wasn't up to the task; accomplished very little; wasn't the first pioneer to study rocketry, and so forth. Read how the author decided to end his book: "With advancing age, Esther became isolated, haunting the house where she received few visitors. On 5 June 1982, she passed away alone, at home. Esther would have been pleased to know that her obituaries focused mostly on her husband and his career. That was what she had lived for."

What is the point of such an ending? To criticize Esther and the way she lived? To point out that she had no life other than her husband and his work? To laugh at her? To take one last shot at her life and marginalize it as if it meant nothing?

Personally I had a hard time reading this book. THIS HIGH MAN was far superior both in prose and with information. For whatever reason, Clary seems focused on being vindictive to the Goddards.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

William Vietinghoff

Forgotten and Unappreciated History

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2017

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This book contains some valuable history. America led the world in rocket research and didn't take advantage of it.

One person found this helpful

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Havah

Fascinating look at Robert Goddard

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2019

Verified Purchase

Fascinating look at Robert Goddard.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

The Truth of the success and failures of “The American Father of Rocketry”.

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is a truly a worthy book. I’m glad that I read it and recommend it to other history buffs.

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Tommy Bulmer

Rocketman

Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2013

Verified Purchase

This was an interesting story about an interesting man. Goddard comes across as quite stubborn and pretty selfish, as he takes all credit for even joint developments. But even with that said, he certainly was a pioneer in the rocketry arena.

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

A good read

Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2014

Verified Purchase

A good read about the man, his dream, and his pluck and those that believed in him. I enjoyed this book.

One person found this helpful

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Janet L. Staab

Sons read

Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2012

Verified Purchase

Our son loves book about people who had a vision on sending people into space. Rocket man is about an author who developed rockets and how he did it.

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L. Caroline Kann

Excellant Book

Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2013

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I enjoyed this book and got to learn a lot about Dr Goddard and given I grew up in the town where he set off his first rocket the book had my total focus and interest.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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Yeats

Goddard the fundraiser

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

Anyone choosing to buy this book is very likely to be interested in the development of rockets as a major engineering and technological achievement . They may wish to learn more of the (legendary) Robert H Goddard's contributions to this achievement. They may be disappointed. There is a great deal of information about Goddard's pursuit of funding for his rocket projects and a great deal of information about patent rights.

We do get a fairly complete picture of Goddard the man, Goddard the adept (some might say crafty) fundraiser and Goddard the egocentric genius. We also learn how his wife worked hard after his death to build up a popular image of Goddard as "the father of space flight". Goddard the scientist/engineer/inventor is only roughly sketched out. The content and significance of the huge number of patents he registered in his lifetime is only hinted at.

Lacking more detailed information about those patents and the technical progress he achieved during his years at Roswell, New Mexico the reader is left with an impression of a stubborn, cranky inventor presiding over one failed rocket launch after another while demanding more money from his (long suffering) backers with the promise of one day succeeding in attaining a high altitude rocket flight.

S. Pitts

Bought for a present and she loved it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2012

Verified Purchase

I bought this as a christmas present for my partner who is interested in Goddard and she thoroughly loved it. She found it informative and enjoyable. I recommend it.

Joost Geeraedts

Biografie van Robert Goddard

Reviewed in Germany on September 10, 2019

Verified Purchase

Het boek beschrijft het leven van Goddard, zijn opvattingen, relaties en soms briljante ideeën. Wat ik echter mis is wat meer technische informatie over zijn raketten. Het komt wel hier en daar ter sprake maar nogal beperkt. Het boek is echter goed geschreven en vlot te lezen.

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blobloblo

A excellent and critical biography of Robert H. Goddard

Reviewed in Canada on October 12, 2013

Verified Purchase

An excellent and critical biography of Robert H. Goddard from his childhood to his dead. This is a very authoritative book about his life, his family and his contribution to the modern rocketry. Everyone interested in rocketry and space exploration should read this biography since other books about the life of Goddard are not readily available today.

Jhon Paul

A very nice book to read the biography who have struggled to ...

Reviewed in India on October 27, 2016

Verified Purchase

A very nice book to read the biography who have struggled to sown the seed for rocket science. Though the book lacks technical details but to know the biography this is a good stuff.

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