Sputnik: The Shock of the Century

Sputnik: The Shock of the Century by Dickson, Paul. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780802779519.

On October 4, 1957, as Leave It to Beaver premiered on American television, the Soviet Union launched the space age. Sputnik, all of 184 pounds with only a radio transmitter inside its highly polished shell, became the first man-made object in space; while it immediately shocked the world, its long-term impact was even greater, for it profoundly changed the shape of the twentieth century. In Sputnik, Paul Dickson chronicles the dramatic events and developments leading up to and emanating from Sputniks launch. Supported by groundbreaking, original research and many recently declassified documents, Sputnik offers a fascinating profile of the early American and Soviet space programs and a strikingly revised picture of the politics and personalities behind the facade of Americas fledgling efforts to get into space.