The Earth Gazers

Description

The most beautiful and influential photographs ever made were of the whole earth seen from space. They were taken from the moon, almost as an afterthought, by the astronauts of the Apollo space programme. They inspired a generation to think more seriously about our responsibility for this tiny oasis in space, the 'blue marble' falling through empty darkness. This is a book about the long road to the capture of those unforgettable images. It is a history of the space programme and of the ways in which it transformed our view of the earth and changed the lives of the astronauts who walked in space and on the moon. It is the story of the often blemished visionaries who inspired that journey into space: Charles Lindbergh, Robert Goddard and Wernher Von Braun, and of the courageous pilots who were the first humans to escape the Earth's orbit.

Christopher Potter was publisher and managing director at the independent publishing house Fourth Estate. He is the author of You Are Here: A Portable History of the Universe and How to Make a Human Being: A Body of Evidence.

An elegantly written history of man's efforts to reach space... [Potter] has taken a considered risk in retelling the tale of how we first came to see our planet from the outside. It pays off beautifully. The result is a fresh and elegantly wrought account of mankind's journey from firing lumps of jerry-rigged metal from cabbage fields to crunching around in the dust of another world... The Earth Gazers is a terrific piece of writing' * The Times * Well written and takes a different, more personal viewpoint than many others on the subject * BBC Sky at Night * Intriguing and original * Catholic Herald * Potter's history of the great adventure nicely catches the tension between the sublime escape represented by space travel and the hideous detail of getting there; the euphoria of great ambition and the bleak anticlimax of touchdown * Guardian * Clearly illustrates the contrasts, contradictions and egos in those involved in the space race and is completely fascinating * Four Shires Magazine * An enthralling account of the golden age of manned space travel that emphasizes the transcendent experiences of everyone involved, and he makes a convincing case that America lost something vital when it ended * Kirkus Reviews * Potter has distilled [the feeling that man always looks just beyond his reach and strives to get there] and on each page of cataloguing endeavour gives a hint of the joy those 24 men had when they looked out the window and saw Home... In hardback, Head of Zeus have created a truly beautiful edition to go with such an inspiring tale' * Boney Abroad *