The Dream Machines: An Illustrated History of the Spaceship in Art, Science and Literature by Ron Miller

Abstract

886 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGYAND CULTURE Joppke argues that the decline of public support for nuclear power in both the United States and Germany was a result more of the economic woes of the industry and the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl than of antinuclear activism. Nevertheless, he suggests that the nuclear opposition played a major role in accomplishing its goals by creating a political atmosphere that was increasingly unreceptive to nuclear expansion. Joppke presents a thoughtful and well-reasoned account ofcomplex political and social issues. His analysis ofantinuclear motives and tactics is the best published to date. The book is not flawless, however. Although Joppke generally avoids using jargon, he occasionally slips into the habit of adding “-ize” to nouns to make them into verbs. The result is the creation of nonwords such as “contextualize” (p. 12), “temporalize” (p. 12), and “problematize ” (p. 19). More seriously, despite his recognition of the value of a “historical strategy,” his account is marred by factual errors. He is wrong, for example, to assert that the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy wanted a state-owned nuclear industry, that the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) left safety issues “to the complete discretion of the nuclear industry” (p. 26), that the AEC “silendy” (p. 28) revised reactor design objectives for radiation emissions in the 1970s, and that reactor experts had never anticipated the formation of a gas bubble following an accident such as occurred at Three Mile Island. Despite those shortcomings,Joppke has made a substantial contribu­ tion to the literature of the nuclear controversy. As he notes, the “bitterness and vehemence” of the conflict over nuclear power is “unmatched” by debates over any other technology (p. 21). A full and fair accounting of the various aspects of the nuclear power debate should be a matter of interest to all historians of technology, and Joppke’s book is an important step toward achieving that objective. J. Samuel Walker Dr. Walker is historian of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and author of Containing the Atom: Nuclear Regulation in a Changing Environment, 1963-1971 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1992). TheDream Machines: An IllustratedHistory ofthe Spaceship in Art, Science and Literature. By Ron Miller. Melbourne, Fla.: Krieger, 1993. Pp. xiii+714; illustrations, appendixes, bibliography, index. $112.50. As Arthur C. Clarke notes in his foreword to The Dream Machines, this book is a “labor of love.” Author Ron Miller was a confirmed “space buff” long before he became one of this nation’s leading space artists. The level of Miller’s enthusiasm for the subject, his extraordinary command of the history of the “spaceship,” and his appreciation for the important inspirational role that speculative fiction and art have played in the history of spaceflight are all apparent in this aptly titled volume. TECHNOLOGYAND CULTURE Book Reviews 887 Defining the nature of this book presents a reviewer with something of a problem. The author explains that it is “not a history of rocketry, space stations, space suits, space colonies or lunar and planetary bases” but admits that “these things do show up here and there.” In fact, the book is a reference catalog covering the imaginary craft that have carried generations of fictional adventurers beyond the atmosphere; historic rockets from the black powder era to modem boosters; and the full range ofspacecraft and related items that have kept cosmic voyagers, real and imaginary, alive during their forays beyond the atmosphere. The material is arranged in chronological entries, from the famous pigeon ofArchytus (ca. 360 b.c.), a small wooden bird “propelled by the blowing of the air mysteriously encased therein,” to the projected first flight of the European Space Agency craft Hermes in 2004. Between those two entries, readers will find an incredible wealth of detailed informa­ tion on the machines that centuries of dreamers believed might offer a means of traveling and living in space, and the craft that made those dreams a reality. Critical dates in the history of space flight, from the publication of key books and articles to actual launch dates, are scattered among the majority of entries devoted to hardware. The strength of the volume is to be found...