Cut-away drawing of a German assembly 4 (or A-4) rocket from David Johnson's 1982 book V-1 V-2: Hitler's Vengeance on London. This rocket was better known as "Vengeance Weapon #2" or simply, V-2.

The Ransom Collection's History of German Rocket Development

For anyone interested in war-time rocket development in Germany by the scientists and engineers that would later become a critical human element in rocket development in this country the Ransom collection in the WASI library serves as an excellent historical resource of the rocket program at Peenemunde. Here is a brief summary of the one's I've read.

The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemunde (1995) by Michael J. Neufeld is a well researched modern history of rocket development during the years of Germany's Third Reich written by a historian and curator of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air & Space Museum (NASM).

V-2: The Nazi Rocket Weapon (1954) by General Walter Dornberger is the first hand account of the man who oversaw rocket development at Peenemunde. It reveals the high pressure world of weapons development during war time, including the shortages and internal conflicts in priority among competing weapons programs. It recounts his internal battles against the highest echelons of the Nazi regime including Heinrich Himmler and his personal face-to-face encounters with Adolph Hitler, who may have been the single biggest factor in delays that prevented the V-2's development until it was too late for Germany to win the war.

Peenemunde to Canaveral (1962) by Dieter K Huzel with introduction by Werhner von Braun. This is another first hand account by a German soldier but this one began his career at the bottom as a truck driver on the eastern front battling Russia. His background as an engineer got him transferred to Peenemunde where he rapidly rose through the ranks to assume a leading role in V-2 development. After the war Huzel was transferred along with other German engineers to America by the U.S. Army where he continued his career in rocket development.

Hitler's Rocket Sites (1985) by Philip Henshall details his original research visiting and documenting launch sites for German V-1 and V-2 weapons in France. The book includes site plans for most locations mentioned in the book. Several the rumored to have been intended to serve special purposes such as launching of chemical and nuclear warheads, and a two-stage intercontinental missile under development at the time that would have been capable of hitting the United States.

V-1 V-2: Hitler's Vengeance on London (1982) by David Johnson is an account of the V-1 and V-2 missile attacks on London and southern Great Britain through extensive interviews conducted with, as well as the writings of, persons from both sides of the English Channel that lived through the time of heaviest bombardment.

Rocket (1957) by Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferte is the account of an allied air marshal who led some of the bombing raids against Peenemunde, the launch sites, and supply routes used for ferrying vengeance weapons from Germany to France and Holland. The book describes the development of intelligence sources and capabilities developed for the collection of information that resulted in the realization by allied forces that the Germans had a seriously advanced program that it was preparing to unleash against Great Britain.

There are other Ransom collection books dealing with German rocket developers and their contribution to manned space exploration that I have yet to read. These include Rocket Island (1985) by Theodore Taylor, The Rocket Team: From the V-2 to the Saturn Moon Rocket (1979) by Frederick I Ordway III and Mitchell Sharpe with a forward by von Braun - the inside story of how a small group of engineers changed world history, How We Got to the Moon (1993) by Marsha Freeman - the story of the German space pioneers, and German Secret Weapons: Blueprint for Mars (1969) by Brian Ford. For an overall first-hand rocket history perspective there is Wernher von Braun's own History of Rocketry & Space Travel (1969)

All of these books and more may be found on the library page of the WASI web site. Just go to westminsterastro.org, click on the resources link, then the club library link, and finally the link for a listing of the James Ransom collection.

Since their creation near the turn of the 20th century the defacto catalogs for deep sky objects were those prepared by Johann Louis Emil Dreyer consisting of the New General Catalog (NGC) published in 1888, the follow-on Index Catalog (IC) published in 1895, and the Second Index Catalog (IC) published in 1908. Combined these three catalogs included 13,226 deep sky objects - star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. All three were publishd by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) in London.

The works were reprinted by the RAS in 1971. Your librarian has a copy of this work in his private library. However, it is awkward to use because it's north-south coordinates are not expressed using Declination, which is familiar to us. Rather, it employs the awkward "north polar distance" or number of degrees the object's position is from the north celestial pole. Also, all of the errors in the original works are preserved in the reprinted edition. [I still find it useful however because it lists the discoverers for each object and also includes original visual descriptions of the objects which is useful when viewing the object through the eyepiece.]

In 1973 Jack Sulentic and William Tift from the University of Texas updated the NGC catalog and produced the Revised New General Catalog (RNGC). (A copy of this work is available in the WASI library.) However, the 5,386 objects from the Index Catalogs was completely ignored. Also, the coordinates of objects in the RNGC were for epoch 1975.0. This makes plotting them in atlases with 2000.0 reference coordinate systems somewhat inconvenient since it first requires precession calculations or tables in order to convert from one coordinate system to the other. [The nice thing about it is that it provided new descriptions of the objects based on Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS) images while preserving the original visual descriptions; both descriptions are presented side by side.]

Enter the "NGC 2000.0" (1988) by Roger Sinnott. This catalog combines all of the objects from the NGC and IC supplements. Extensive corrections to errors discovered over the years has been applied. Furthermore, positions are given in epoch 2000.0 coordinates making it straight forward to plot them on most contemporary atlases and star charts.

This compact catalog is a good companion to most modern atlases, particularly the Tirion Deep Sky atlas.

In the illustration at right from the book one sees a rendering of the eyepiece view from an astronomical telescope in which images appear to be rotated by 180°. This is the view as seen through a typical Newtonian reflector or a refractor straight through without its diagonal.

Kepler used music to represent the eccentric elliptical orbits of the planets. In this illustration from the book we see in written musical form "the tunes played by the planets."

Click image to see an enlarged view (171 KB)

"NGC 2000.0" (1953) by J.L.E. Dreyer is the 2nd edition of Dreyer's original "History of the Planetary Systems from Thales to Kepler" (1905) with revisions by W.H. Stahl. Dreyer is well known to many as the original compiler of the "New General Catalog of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars" (1888), as well as the supplemental "Index Catalog" (1895) and "Second Index Catalog" (1908).

If the reader is looking for a comprehensive book with detailed scientific analysis of the theory of epicycles, including Ptolemy's, or the birth of the Copernican system this book is for you. In the author spares no words in going down each and every crevice throughout the development of astronomical thought. No wrong turn is left unexplored in its entirety.

Given that the book is written in a somewhat stiff 19th century style with endless run-on sentences like this one and paragraphs that span more than a page it progresses with a relative fluidity. Be warned however, that it is not a quick read and concentration is required.

The author stopped with Kepler because in his opinion Kepler was the last of the classical ancient astronomers. As explained in the book's forward by Stahl,

"Kepler, by doing away with [epicycles], and by formulating his laws, laid the foundations for Isaac Newton and modern astronomy. Newton was aware of his heavy indebtedness to his predecessors and gracious in acknowledgement of it. His remark, 'If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants,' is familiar to students of the history of science. Dreyer's book has been since its fist appearance the only full account of Newton's giants in the field of astronomy."

For those familiar with Dreyers cataloging works, this book offers a new insight of the depth of his enthusiasm in understanding every detail of the astronomical theories forumulated by his predecessors over the centuries.

This image of the famous 40 foot reflector made by John Herschel on 09 September, 1839 was the first photograph ever taken on a glass plate.

Click on image to see enlarged view (118 KB)

"The Shadow of the Telescope" (1970) by Gunther Buttmann is a biographical account of the life of John Herschel. Son of the first man credited with the discovery of a major planet (William Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781), John's own scientific achievements have long been overshadowed by those of his more famous father.

Although a scientist of the highest renown who specialized in many areas and dabbled in countless more, John Herschel was an amateur astronomer at heart. Here is how he described himself in a letter to a friend after turning down invitations for positions at several prestigious institutions:

"...possibly too [it is] a kind of obscure consciousness that I am not destined...to make giant inroads into great branches of human knowledge -- but rather to loiter on the shores of the ocean of sciences and pick up such shells and pebbles as take my fancy for the pleasure of arranging them and seeing them look pretty."

John Herschel made contributions in non-scientific areas as well. For example, while living in South Africa during the years he conducted his southern celestial survey he helped the local school board draft the following duties for teachers:

1. to form in the individual advantageous personal habits.
2. to store his mind with useful knowledge and practical maxims available for the demands of active life.
3. to enlarge the powers and capacities of his mind and to elevate his propensities by familiarizing him with trains of connected and serious thought and with high examples of moral and intellectual conduct.
4. to form good citizens and men by instructing them in the relations of civil and social life; and to fit them for a higher state of existence, by teaching them those which connect them with their Maker and Redeemer.

Herschel had a long and distinguished career and was revered by his fellow countrymen. All his life he maintained correspondence with his Aunt Caroline, comet hunter and father's observing parter, who had resettled in Hanover, Germany and who lived to the ripe old age of 97. John Herschel himself died at age 79.

Buzz Aldrin helps his son, Andy, try on a space helmet and gloves.

Click on image to see enlarged view (43 KB)

"Return to Earth" (1973) is an autobiographical account of the life of Apollo astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin. From his early childhood during the great depression right on up through his academic career at Westpoint and MIT, his military service, marriage and family, and eventual selection as U.S. astronaut which culminated in Aldrin being Lunar Module pilot for the first manned landing on the Moon.

In the book Aldrin describes the frightening pressure from intense public adulation, the whirlwind world tour and impact on his life as he became a P.R. pawn sent out to shill on behalf of NASA and the White House. As such he felt obligated, if not forced, to cozy up to tawdry individuals and organizations such as the AFL-CIO in uncomfortable situations leaving him disillusioned and feeling used.

Eventually he started sinking into depression leading to mental illness. Although he realized he was in trouble he kept it to himself in order to protect his career, family, public image, and general well being of the nation.

When Aldrin finally asked for help he immediately hopitalized for depression at an Air Force hospital. While in therapy Aldrin discussed the events of his historic life with his psychiatrists looking for any clue, no matter how insignificant, that might explain how his disciplined and exemplary life had been turned upside down:

"I was idly discussing books I had read as a youngster when I remembered there had been a period of fascination with science fiction. Then I remembered one story about a voyage to the moon during which a great deal of trouble was encountered and once the moon had been reached the space travelers departed for earth, returning home insane. It had given me nightmares as a youngster, and had secured an odd corner in my psychic life. Ironically, I would end up going on the first voyage to the moon and that corner of my psychic life would come right along me, stirred to frightened life but unable to present itself in my consciousness until the insistent prodding of a psychiatrist unearthed it."

Return to Earth is a book filled with recollections, private moments and interactions between Aldrin and the Apollo 11 crew as well as the VIPs which drifted into and out of his life. There are many frank revelations as if the reader were a fly on the wall during the first 41 years of Buzz Aldrin's life.

The Apollo 11 astronauts gather around the moon with their wives and children.

Click on image to see enlarged view (37 KB)

"First Men On the Moon" (1970) is a voyage with the Apollo 11 astronauts that gives an account of the historic first manned lunar landing and the training leading up to it from the viewpoint of not only the astronauts but of their families and other personnel involved in the massive effort. The families of each astronaut are seen in the image at left.

On the left is Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, his wife Joan, and three children Michael (13), Janice (11), and Andrew (11). At right Command Neil A. Armstrong with his wife Jan, and sons Mark (6) and Ricky (12). A daughter, Karen Armstrong, died several years before the flight from a brain tumor. At top Command Module Pilot Michael Collins with his wife Patricia, and chilren MIchael (6), Kathleen (10), and Ann (7). The eldest son, Michael Collins Jr., is now desceased.

A fascinating 59-page epilog by Aurther C. Clark (author of "2001: A Space Odyssey") contains some extraordinary predictions for the then future, such as the following:

"Even when we are fairly confident of our techniques, it would be rash to set out for Mars or Venus in a single spacecraft. When he sailed for the New World, Columbus very wisely used three ships. That would be a reassuring number for our early interplanetary expeditions.

At a reasonable rate of development -- assuming no crash programs -- such expeditions should be possible in the 1990's. Even if we we made no deliberate attempt to reach the planets, well before the end of this century we would have automatically evolved all the necessary techniques during exploitation of earth-orbit and lunar space."

While the timing of Clark's predictions may be off, he appears to have forseen the advent of the World Wide Web more than a quarter century before it became a common household appliance in the mid-1990's:

"By the 1980's, every home could have a display console on whose screen could be flashed instantly any picture or text stored in any library on earth. 'Orbital Newspapers,' updated every hour, could be available on a global basis...The telephone transformed business and social life, at the beginning of this century; the forthcoming home console will have an even greater impact, because it will allow men to meet effectively face to face, to exchange any type of information, to converse with their computers and consult information banks - without ever leaving home, unless they wish to do so."

As predicted by Clark, the WAS library "information bank" database is now available from the comfort of your home through your display console's browser. Unforunately, every page of every one of our books is not. Therefore, if you want to borrow any of our books or other media you will need to temporarily leave your domicile.

This image of the 40" refractor at the Yerkes observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, located near Lake Geneva, graces the title page in Simon Newcomb's "Astronomy For Everybody" first published in 1902. In writing about the 62 foot long telescope, which was constructed between 1892-97, Newcomb wrote,

"This telescope is forty inches in diameter, and is the largest refracting telescope in the world."

Now it is nearly 100 years later. How some things just never change!

Click on image to see enlarged view (95 KB)