Keep Watching the Skies!: The Story of Operation Moonwatch and the Dawn of the Space Age | 
| Author: W. Patrick Mccray
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 114894
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 324
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 16.5 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0691128545
Dewey Decimal Number: 523
EAN: 9780691128542
ASIN: 0691128545
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
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Product Description
When the Soviets launched Sputnik in 1957, thousands of ordinary people across the globe seized the opportunity to participate in the start of the Space Age. Known as the "Moonwatchers," these largely forgotten citizen-scientists helped professional astronomers by providing critical and otherwise unavailable information about the first satellites. In Keep Watching the Skies!, Patrick McCray tells the story of this network of pioneers who, fueled by civic pride and exhilarated by space exploration, took part in the twentieth century's biggest scientific endeavor. Around the world, thousands of teenagers, homemakers, teachers, amateur astronomers, and other citizens joined Moonwatch teams. Despite their diverse backgrounds and nationalities, they shared a remarkable faith in the transformative power of science--a faith inspired by the Cold War culture in which they lived. Against the backdrop of the space race and technological advancement, ordinary people developed an unprecedented desire to contribute to scientific knowledge and to investigate their place in the cosmos. Using homemade telescopes and other gadgets, Moonwatchers witnessed firsthand the astonishing beginning of the Space Age. In the process, these amateur scientists organized themselves into a worldwide network of satellite spotters that still exists today. Drawing on previously unexamined letters, photos, scrapbooks, and interviews, Keep Watching the Skies! recreates a pivotal event from a perspective never before examined--that of ordinary people who leaped at a chance to take part in the excitement of space exploration.
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| Customer Reviews:
When the future was new June 25, 2008
It's hard to believe that just over 50 years ago people were excited about science. It was seen as a solution to the world's problems instead of the problem itself. Citizens were so scientifically engaged that when asked by a research institution to help out with something as arcane as tracking earth-orbiting satellites (none of which had been launched yet) they rushed in to volunteer their free time. The program that emerged, Operation Moonwatch, grew into a national craze that lasted years longer than its creator intended.
Conceived in 1955 and implemented in 1957 Operation Moonwatch was the brainchild of the great American astronomer Fred Whipple. It was his solution to the problem of tracking satellites in orbit. Since the first orbiting satellite wouldn't be launched for two years no one knew for sure in 1955 the best way to locate them once they were in orbit. Whipple envisioned a global tracking effort by citizens of many countries. It would allow ordinary people to participate in the upcoming International Geophysical Year in 1957-58 when the United States was planning to launch its first satellite. The Soviets successfully and unexpectedly lofted their satellite first and McCray's account of the Moonwatch teams attempting to track their first real satellite is one of the many fascinating tales you will read in Keep Watching the Skies. However, the story of Project Moonwatch is really the story of the public's fascination with science in the 1950s. W. Patrick McCray captures this era perfectly through excellent storytelling and historical photographs.
McCray's work isn't just a recitation of dry statistics and reports regarding the accomplishments of Operation Moonwatch. While you will get a remarkably complete set of facts about the program McCray weaves this information into the story of the "citizen scientists" who made it happen. Some involved in the effort had their lives changed forever as a result. McCray expertly blends science with humanity while telling their stories.
Don't shy away from this title because you don't have a science background. The author does a great job of tackling the science aspect while keeping it accessible to the layman. Included in the opening pages are several helpful references such as a list of acronyms used throughout the book, a listing of the people that are featured throughout the work as well as a list of the Moonwatch team members that left their mark on the program. These are all very handy as you make your way through the book. The index is also very thorough.
When I finished Keep Watching the Skies I was struck by how much people's attitudes have changed in less than a human lifetime. In the late 1950s, when Moonwatch activities were at their peak, members of the Moonwatch teams would have had a difficult time comprehending that in just 50 years the space program would be looked at by many as a historical curiosity rather than the vanguard of humanity's future.
Story of a unique time June 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Patrick McCray's latest effort is another well-documented story of the intersection of science and history in recent US history. The book tells the story of Project Moonwatch, the grassroots effort to track the first satellites launched into earth orbit.
Much like Apollo after it, Moonwatch was the result of the confluence of technology and the cold war. The support for searching for satellites was a combination of patriotic civic duty and scientific curiosity. McCray explores both of these aspects.
Particularly effective is the use of key Moonwatch citizen-leaders such as Richard Emmons and Vioalle Hefferan to tell the story. As a friend of Mr. Emmons later in his life, and as one who was able to review his papers after his death, I can vouch for the accuracy of Mr. McCray's narrative in this case, and for the veracity of his source material.
McCray also demonstrated how Moonwatch had long-lasting effect on many people - being a seminal event in the lives of leaders like Emmons and students like Jay Pasachoff.
"Keep Watching the Skies" is a thoughtful read combining the history of an era with thoughts about the importance of citizen involvement in science and education. In our current culture given to distrust science based on limited knowledge of science, this examination is very timely.
Excellent Book May 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
W. Patrick McCray's Keep Watching the Skies! tells the story of Operation Moonwatch, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's program through which thousands of volunteer amateur observers around the world participated in tracking the first artificial satellites launched by the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R., as part of the International Geophysical Year.
The book begins by exploring the social and political conditions in post-WWII America that attracted large numbers of people from all walks of life to amateur science. As the story unfolds, a large and diverse cast of characters is introduced, including the professionals who developed and operated Moonwatch, and many of the citizen-scientists who funded, organized, trained and participated in local Moonwatch teams. The following are but a few examples.
The late Fred L. Whipple is best known for proposing his "dirty snowball" concept of the composition of comets, but he was also an early and successful practitioner of big science. The book traces Whipple's life and career, showing how he came to propose and win support for his program to visually track the world's first satellites, using separate networks of professionally staffed Baker-Nunn cameras and teams of amateur observers.
Prominent among the citizen-scientists, was the late Richard Emmons, who formed the Moonwatch team of North Canton, Ohio, which he trained in the small planetarium that he built inside his garage. The book tells the story of his life-long devotion to amateur science, his contribution to public education about astronomy, his long and productive participation in Moonwatch, and his research based upon satellite observations.
Teacher Vioalle Clark Heffernan organized Albuquerque High School's long-running Moonwatch team, which was in the top-tier of performers, rated "Prime A" by the SAO. Anyone who has been inspired by the special efforts of a good teacher will appreciate the story of Ms. Heffernan and her students.
Keep Watching the Skies! covers in depth, Moonwatch's achievements, its operational challenges, and its controversies. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and recommend it to anyone interested in the early history of the space age or in the observation of satellites.
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