Willy Ley: Prophet of the Space Age

337 Pages·2017·12.83 MB·English

by  Jared S. Buss

Willy Ley
university press of florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola

W i l l y L e y
Prophet of the Space Age
Jared S. Buss
University Press of Florida
Gainesville · Tallahassee · Tampa · Boca Raton
Pensacola · Orlando · Miami · Jacksonville · Ft. Myers · Sarasota
Copyright 2017 by Jared S. Buss
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
This book may be available in an electronic edition.
22 21 20 19 18 17 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Buss, Jared S., author.
Title: Willy Ley : Prophet of the Space Age / Jared S. Buss.
Description: Gainesville : University Press of Florida, 2017. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017005527 | ISBN 9780813054438 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Ley, Willy, 1906–1969—Biography. | Rocketry—United
States—Biography. | Scientists—United States—Biography.
Classification: LCC TL781.85.L49 B87 2017 | DDC 629.4092 [B] —dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017005527
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State
University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic
University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida
State University, New College of Florida, University of Central Florida, University
of Florida, University of North Florida, University of South Florida, and University
of West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
http://upress.ufl.edu
apogee supported by a grant
Figure Foundation
to explain the near impossible

Contents
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
List of Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. Youthful Horizons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2. From the Earth to the Moon, via Berlin . . . . . . . . 25
3. Death of a Science in Germany . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4. Adventures of a Romantic Naturalist . . . . . . . . . 87
5. The PM Years and the Science Writers at War . . . . . 114
6. An Engineer’s Postwar Dreams. . . . . . . . . . 138
7. The Tom Corbett Years . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
8. The Sputnik Challenge. . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
9. Scholarly Twilight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Epilogue: First Citizen on the Moon . . . . . . . . 247
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

Figures
Images follow page 78
1. Ley as an aspiring rocket engineer, circa 1936
2. Publicity photograph for Days of Creation (1941)
3. Ley publicity photograph
4. Willy Ley and Olga Ley, self-portrait, circa early 1940s
5. Ley at book signing event for Conquest of Space (1949)
6. Ley and daughter Xenia, circa 1951
7. Ley and daughters Sandra and Xenia, circa 1949
8. Ley posing in nature, date unknown
9. Ley with Fourth of July sparkler, date unknown
10. Ley publicity photograph, circa 1958
ix