Rocket Ship Galileo

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but badly out-of-date
Review: A daring young atomic scientist teams up with three high school seniors to attempt the first-ever rocket trip to the moon -- that's the premise of Heinlein's Rocket Ship Galileo. Readers who aren't immediately turned off by the story's wild improbabilities and dated subject matter may find this book an entertaining adventure. To begin with, Heinlein's story is well paced and solidly constructed for once, a pleasant change from the episodic hodgepodges he created in his later years. He skillfully introduces elements of conflict at an early stage of the story, (as sinister forces seem to be trying to prevent the voyage from taking place) and he even manages to build some suspense, an effect Heinlein is not usually noted for. His descriptions of the mechanics of the moon rocket and its voyage are both convincing and interesting, despite being badly dated. One real letdown is the characters, who are curiously undeveloped, even for science fiction. The three boys themselves are virtually interchangeable, and Doctor Cargraves isn't much more distinctive. If some attempt had been made to give these young men their own individual personalities, the readers might find them easier to identify with. As it is, it's hard to really care about these characters, even when something horrible happens to them. The really big problem, though, is that this book really hasn't aged very well. For example, Heinlein tries to show us how a moon rocket was outfitted and launched privately, by one scientist and his youthful helpers, working on a shoestring budget, after a few months of labor; when after all, any schoolchild knows that it took NASA and the U.S. government billions of dollars, working with hundreds of the finest minds on the planet for nearly a decade, to accomplish the real thing. Once our heroes reach the moon, the story gets even more improbable, as they find that the moon is already inhabited. Naturally, Heinlein wrote this novel for younger readers, and it was published at a time when space travel seemed utterly impossible. As such, it was written for the tastes of the times, and times have changed dramatically. For instance, the only women in this book are the boys' mothers, who have very little to say about anything important. The villains are cartoonish stereotypes, who are summarily dispatched without any show of remorse. Although the book is reasonably well-written overall, and older readers may take some nostalgic pleasure in its simplicity and naiveté, today's young readers may want something more wildly speculative than a moon landing. On average, if you're old enough to remember Sputnik, you can be forgiven for loving this book; but if Neil Armstrong is just another boring guy you heard about in school, you probably won't be too impressed by Rocket Ship Galileo.

Rating:
Summary: Too tame for the 21st Century
Review: A daring young atomic scientist teams up with three high school seniors to attempt the first-ever rocket trip to the moon -- that's the premise of Heinlein's Rocket Ship Galileo. Readers who aren't immediately turned off by the story's wild improbabilities and dated subject matter might find this book an entertaining adventure. To begin with, Heinlein's story is well paced and solidly constructed for once, a pleasant change from the episodic hodgepodges he created in his later years. He skillfully introduces elements of conflict at an early stage of the story, (as sinister forces seem to be trying to prevent the voyage from taking place) and he even manages to build some suspense, an effect Heinlein is not usually noted for. His descriptions of the mechanics of the moon rocket and its voyage are both convincing and interesting, despite being badly dated. The real letdown is the characters, who are curiously undeveloped, even for science fiction. The three boys themselves are virtually interchangeable, and Doctor Cargraves isn't much more distinctive. If some attempt had been made to give these young men their own individual personalities, the readers might find them easier to identify with. As it is, it's hard to really care about these characters, even when something horrible happens to them. The really big problem, though, is that this book hasn't aged very well. For example, Heinlein tries to show us how a moon rocket was outfitted and launched privately, by one scientist and his youthful helpers, working on a shoestring budget, after a few months of labor; when after all, any schoolchild knows that it took NASA and the U.S. government billions of dollars, working with hundreds of the finest minds on the planet for nearly a decade, to accomplish the real thing. Once our heroes reach the moon, the story gets even more improbable, as they find that the moon is already inhabited. Naturally, Heinlein wrote this novel for younger readers, and it was published at a time when space travel seemed utterly impossible. As such, it was written for the tastes of the times, and times have changed dramatically. For instance, the only women in this book are the boys' mothers, who have very little to say about anything important. The villains are cartoonish stereotypes, who are summarily dispatched without any show of remorse. Although the book is reasonably well-written overall, and older readers may take some nostalgic pleasure in its simplicity and naiveté, today's young readers may expect something more thrillingly speculative than a moon landing. On average, if you're old enough to remember Sputnik, you can be forgiven for loving this book; but if Neil Armstrong is just another boring guy you heard about in school, you probably won't be impressed by Rocket Ship Galileo.

Rating:
Summary: Too dated to be enjoyed as much as his other "jouveniles"
Review: Being one of his first novels (the first, perhaps?), I don'twant to be overly harsh, but this book seems quaint and silly today,even bearing in mind it was written for young readers. The Nazis arehackneyed, the kids (!) that build the ship are essentially interchangeable cliches, and the leader of the expedition is 2-dimensional.

Having said that, I enjoyed parts of the book; it was certainly worth the ( ) (Canadian dollars, even) I paid for it. Read it as a nostalgic trip down memory lane from the time when men were men, women were women, and fuzzy little creatures from Alpha Centauri were fuzzy little creatures from Alpha Centauri. Oops, there I go mixing up quotes again. END

Rating:
Summary: Local boys voyage to the Moon
Review: I first read this book many years ago, and I still reflect on it from time to time. It changed the way I looked at the world. Simple in content, and perhaps a story out-moded for the present adventures found in SF, it still has a particular value to the reader that will make it a favorite. This book was about unbridled ambition. A handful of young rocket enthusiasts and a instructor build a rocket ship and go to the moon utilizing their own wits and resources. Heinlein taps into the possibilities that could shape the future, and essentially poses the question 'How long will space exploration remain only a government exercise? Why couldn't private citizens take it upon themselves to explore the stars themselves?' This entire book may seem simple at first glance, but I consider it an important and thought provoking concept for any dreamer with a vision. At the time this was written, it was very much ahead of it's time.

Rating:
Summary: The beginning of a great series of juveniles
Review: Let's say this right up front: "Rocket Ship Galileo" is not Heinlein's best novel. But it just might be his most influential work, and given that the competition ranges from "Stranger in a Strange Land" to his early groundbreaking science fiction before WWII, that's saying a great deal. After his return from civilian service for the Navy, Heinlein wanted to break out of the pulps he'd written for before the war. He didn't want to stay trapped; he wanted to write for the slicks, for girls, for boys, for the movies, for nearly every market that he could break into. "Rocket Ship Galileo" is not his first novel -- he'd written several novel-length works for the pulps. But it is his first work specifically written for young boys, and the first of the dozen or so juvenile classics to follow. Heinlein's greatest literary hero, Mark Twain, had written for boys; the market seemed open to him, and the money looked good. Heinlein always loved teaching young people, and this novel would prove his greatest triumph in that regard. Yes, the storyline is somewhat hard to believe: three high-school age boys get taken to the moon. But that was right in the tradition of the Tom Swift novels that had sold so well to young boys. Yes, the ending is corny to us now, with Nazis on the moon: but in 1947, the Nazis has just been defeated, and they had been the world's greatest rocket scientists: it seemed perfectly plausible in 1947. The novel hasn't dated well in some respects; the dialogue is a bit cheesy, and the characters are a little hard to tell apart. But it still moves with great excitement, and the science hasn't dated very badly at all; Heinlein's experience developing high-pressure suits proved sufficient to create a space suit remarkably like that later developed. So why is this novel so influential? Because it was read by hundreds of young men and women who went on to work in the Apollo program in the sixties; Heinlein, in this very novel, had convinced them going to the moon was exciting, achievable, and important. If any work of fiction has that kind of impact, it deserves to be read. But in and of itself, "Rocket Ship Galileo" is still a page-turner, and a wonderful read. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Boys Club Builds Rocket For Moon Trip
Review: Rocket Ship Galileo is the first novel in the author's juvenile series, depicting the initial flight to the Moon. Published in 1947, the story is now the history of an alternate timeline, in which the atomic weapons used to end World War II were succeeded by a more vigorous development of nuclear power as well as the growth of internationalism into a more powerful form of world government. Rocket ships are used routinely to carry passengers and freight to the ends of the Earth.

In this story, Doctor Donald Morris Cargraves has designed a system of power generation that is too powerful for existing turbines to handle. However, it would make an excellent rocket engine. He takes the idea to his corporate bosses, but they reject the technology as unlikely to have an adequate return on investment. His corporation owns the rights to power generation, but not those to rocket propulsion. Cargraves resigns, with no hard feelings on either side, to work on the idea.

While he is considering his options, Cargraves decides to visit his sister and nephew. However, Art is with his friends, Ross and Morrie, at the Galileo Club test site, trying out a new model rocket, so Cargraves drives out to meet them. The boys are running a test as he approaches and have set the engine to full thrust. All is going well until, suddenly, the engine hesitates and then explodes. After the boys have checked the remains and covered the instruments and test stand, they leave only to find Cargraves face down at the gate. They call an ambulance which takes him to the hospital.

The next day, the boys have gathered all the pieces of the rocket and tidied up the site when Cargraves shows up with a turban bandage on his head. They show him their clubhouse, with its workbench, equipment, logs, and reference books as well as a few SF novels and magazines. They talk for a while and then eat lunch at Ross's house with his father and mother. Afterwards, they return to the clubhouse and Cargraves suggests that they might want to join him in constructing a nuclear rocket ship to fly to the Moon.

This novel is both dated and ahead of its time. The dialogue is most typical of the time, yet the technology is futuristic even today. Most of the reference to nuclear power may seem quaint, since the safeguards mandated by today's regulatory agencies are obviously lacking. Also, the references to walking on the glassy ground that was directly below a nuclear blast makes my toes curl. However, the military conducted nuclear tests with Army personnel in trenches within a few miles of ground zero during the early 1950's. Moreover, the risks of induced radioactivity were not really known at that time.

The concept of heating a metal to propel spaceships is not, in itself, a fantasy. Such rocket engines have been designed and seem feasible. The problems, however, are somewhat understated in this novel. For one thing, a nuclear pile that was not shielded on all sides would never be permitted in our society. In addition, the legal issues of allowing a nuclear powered rocket to take off, spewing material out the exhaust that had been exposed to hard radiation, would be formidable; induced radioactivity may have a short half-life, but still detectable, and some people have hysterics if the sun is shining too bright.

Another aspects of the novel is, sadly, unrealistic in today's educational environment. Where would you find three high school boys who have studied differential equations and mathematical logic. There are probably some out there, but not many of them would also be able to weld a seam, turn a piece on a lathe and wire a console. The author had high expectations for the public educational system, but THAT turned out to be fantasy.

This novel is the inspiration for Destination Moon, originally scripted by Robert Heinlein and Alford Van Ronkel, but the final script was much modified from the original. Nevertheless, Heinlein was employed as the technical advisor, so most of the realism in the movie comes from his efforts.

Highly recommended for Heinlein fans and anyone else who in interested in the origins of modern science fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Boys Club Builds Rocket For Moon Trip
Review: Rocket Ship Galileo is the first novel in the author's juvenile series, depicting the initial flight to the Moon. Published in 1947, the story is now the history of an alternate timeline, in which the atomic weapons used to end World War II were succeeded by a more vigorous development of nuclear power as well as the growth of internationalism into a more powerful form of world government. Rocket ships are used routinely to carry passengers and freight to the ends of the Earth.

In this story, Doctor Donald Morris Cargraves has designed a system of power generation that is too powerful for existing turbines to handle. However, it would make an excellent rocket engine. He takes the idea to his corporate bosses, but they reject the technology as unlikely to have an adequate return on investment. His corporation owns the rights to power generation, but not those to rocket propulsion. Cargraves resigns, with no hard feelings on either side, to work on the idea.

While he is considering his options, Cargraves decides to visit his sister and nephew. However, Art is with his friends, Ross and Morrie, at the Galileo Club test site, trying out a new model rocket, so Cargraves drives out to meet them. The boys are running a test as he approaches and have set the engine to full thrust. All is going well until, suddenly, the engine hesitates and then explodes. After the boys have checked the remains and covered the instruments and test stand, they leave only to find Cargraves face down at the gate. They call an ambulance which takes him to the hospital.

The next day, the boys have gathered all the pieces of the rocket and tidied up the site when Cargraves shows up with a turban bandage on his head. They show him their clubhouse, with its workbench, equipment, logs, and reference books as well as a few SF novels and magazines. They talk for a while and then eat lunch at Ross's house with his father and mother. Afterwards, they return to the clubhouse and Cargraves suggests that they might want to join him in constructing a nuclear rocket ship to fly to the Moon.

This novel is both dated and ahead of its time. The dialogue is most typical of the time, yet the technology is futuristic even today. Most of the reference to nuclear power may seem quaint, since the safeguards mandated by today's regulatory agencies are obviously lacking. Also, the references to walking on the glassy ground that was directly below a nuclear blast makes my toes curl. However, the military conducted nuclear tests with Army personnel in trenches within a few miles of ground zero during the early 1950's. Moreover, the risks of induced radioactivity were not really known at that time.

The concept of heating a metal to propel spaceships is not, in itself, a fantasy. Such rocket engines have been designed and seem feasible. The problems, however, are somewhat understated in this novel. For one thing, a nuclear pile that was not shielded on all sides would never be permitted in our society. In addition, the legal issues of allowing a nuclear powered rocket to take off, spewing material out the exhaust that had been exposed to hard radiation, would be formidable; induced radioactivity may have a short half-life, but still detectable, and some people have hysterics if the sun is shining too bright.

Another aspects of the novel is, sadly, unrealistic in today's educational environment. Where would you find three high school boys who have studied differential equations and mathematical logic. There are probably some out there, but not many of them would also be able to weld a seam, turn a piece on a lathe and wire a console. The author had high expectations for the public educational system, but THAT turned out to be fantasy.

This novel is the inspiration for Destination Moon, originally scripted by Robert Heinlein and Alford Van Ronkel, but the final script was much modified from the original. Nevertheless, Heinlein was employed as the technical advisor, so most of the realism in the movie comes from his efforts.

Highly recommended for Heinlein fans and anyone else who in interested in the origins of modern science fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't stand the test of time.
Review: The true measure of greatness for books written for children or teens is whether they are worthy of being read by adults as well. This book fails the test. I enjoyed it immensely as a young teen, and when I ran across a copy 20 years later I was eager to read it again. The story just didn't work any more, for reasons that others have pointed out below -- so I won't repeat them.

Rating:
Summary: Heinlein's 1st juvenile novel, basis for "Desitination Moon"
Review: This was Heinlein's first novel published in book form, and the first in his excellent "juvenile" series which included Space Cadet, Time For The Stars, Starman Jones, The Star Beast, Tunnel In The Sky, etc., and it is still my all-time favorite. Heinlein manages to make believable the tale of a scientist (Dr. Cargraves) organizing three 18-year-old boys of a rocket club to build a nuclear powered moon rocket. If you have an interest in space travel you'll get sucked in and won't put the book down until it's over, no matter how dated and unlikely the premise at first appears. It is written with Heinlein's usual skill (that earned him four Hugo awards), and the characters are easy to identify with, especially for any young space enthusiasts. This was also the basis for the 1950 classic film Destination Moon, although about all that remains unchanged in the film is the name Dr. Cargraves. In the book there is a veiled threat from unknown enemies that turn out to be Nazis (this was the first thing Heinlein wrote after the war) - in the film there's just a veiled reference to a communist threat. I suspect the film also draws from Heinlein's more sophisticated treatment from the same period, The Man Who Sold The Moon. Read Rocketship Galileo, or get it for your kids. If it's not available here, search the auctions.

Rating:
Summary: An important book in Science Fiction and Space History
Review: When I was a kid, I dreamed of being an astronaut. That wasn't to be, but this book inspired me to go into science and engineering and now I'm a successful programmer; I've heard the book influenced many other people similarly, including many who worked on the space program. If you have similar interests, I think you'll find Rocket Ship Galileo absorbing, even if dated.