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Just to be clear, I have a degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, obtained in the year 1968, when astronauts first reached the moon. I have made a career in aerospace ever since. With this background I found the book to be fascinating and read it from cover to cover in about 2 days. physically the book is of extremely high quality and very well produced. A pleasure to hold. The book is very well written, and the technical discussions are comprehensive, accurate and enlightening. Despite a career long informal study of the Apollo Program, I learned a lot. (such as what really happened during the Apollo 11 descent and landing). Figures and tables are well chosen and well presented thoughout. The descriptions of the people involved are interesting and insightful. They ring true. I'd recommend this to anyone with a backgound in computers interested in Apollo, and anyone with a backgound in space systems interested in computers.
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Thankfully the publisher used silky cream paper to print this book. Both your hands and your brain are pampered. Clear line illustration inside with a fantastic cover graphic, this book rewards the touch of your hand by taking you on a magic carpet ride through the inner workings of developing the guidance and navigation systems for the moon shot. It is the "Soul of the New Machine" for the Apollo program.
It's a fascinating account of how the guidance computer and the human astronaut (and flight controllers) struggled to rely on each other for the landing on the moon. The love-hate emotions of the computer-astronaut interface are felt throughout the book. Although there is no shortage of technical detail, it all seems essential to the narrative. Initially, it seems as if the book is losing focus, but soon the connections become clear: the book reads like a detective novel.
If you have read two or more books on the space program, this should be your next purchase. Once you have read one Apollo book, there is a lot of repetition - not here. It provides many details the others lack.
A secondary audience for this book is anyone interested in IT project management. This book provides a case study on complex, mission-critical project management. Much to be learned. This should be required ready for engineering majors.
At under $20, this book will set off fireworks in the pleasure centers neurons.
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This book has a lot more technical information than I expected. It explains techincal details. The price is reasonable.
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While this book dwells more on computers than astronauts, it contains details from the actual moon landings that I've never seen published elsewhere. Despite contrary opinions by the astonauts, this book has convinced me that a 100% all-human landing (without computers) was not technically possible. If you liked "Journey to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer" then you'll like this.
p.s. This book describes the operation of a zero-weight low-tech technology known as the LPD (landing point designator) which is comprised of colored markings on the commander's window. One of the AGC display lines tells the commander which lines to look through.
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