Sputnik : The Shock of the Century

by Dickson, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780425188439
• ISBN10: 0425188434
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-04-01
• Publisher: Berkley Trade

Summary

On October 4, 1957, America looked up at the sky and caught its breath. Soaring through space was the Soviet satellite Sputnik. With its launch, the Soviets had won the space race, demonstrated their unsurpassed technology-and struck fear in the heart of a complacent post-war America. Although Sputnik was unmanned, its story is intensely human. Here, an investigative reporter recounts it all, from the satellite's top-secret creation to the strategic positioning of Soviet spokesmen around the world, which made this the biggest breaking-news event in history. Using declassified documents, Dickson reveals buried Soviet state secrets-and the reason Eisenhower was secretly pleased about the launch. From Cold War bomb raid drills to today's science in the classroom, from the 1960s race to the moon to the birth of the Internet, Sputnik helped shape American life forever

Author Biography

Paul Dickson is the author of more than 40 books on diverse topics, including two works of investigative journalism.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(8)
Sputnik Night	9	(19)
Gravity Fighters	28	(21)
Vengeance Rocket	49	(27)
An Open Sky	76	(18)
The Birth of Sputnik	94	(14)
Red Monday	108	(26)
Dog Days	134	(34)
American Birds	168	(23)
Ike Scores	191	(32)
Sputnik's Legacy	223	(23)
Epilogue	246	(3)
Appendix: Sputnik's Long, Lexical Orbit	249	(6)
Author's Note, Acknowledgments, and Dedication	255	(3)
Notes	258	(18)
Bibliography	276	(18)
Index	294