La Lune planète des hommes

Robert Lechêne
Year1958
PublisherÉditions Mondiales del Duca
PlaceParis
LanguageFR
Pages223
SeriesLe Demi-Siècle de la Science
Rating★★★☆☆ (3/5)
AudienceGeneral, Student
LevelBeginner
Keywords
space travelastronauticsrocketspace raceMoon
ThemesSpace Race, Other Worlds, Lunar Exploration

Published in June 1958 in the wake of the first Sputniks, this popular science work traces the projected conquest of the Moon from ancient myths to contemporary rocket programmes. Robert Lechêne, a science journalist at L'Humanité Dimanche, guides general readers through lunar astronomy, the conditions of spaceflight, and the challenges of survival in weightlessness. Drawing on the work of French specialists (Alexandre Ananoff, Albert Ducrocq) the book covers its subject across nineteen chapters spanning lunar astronomy, the history of rocketry, orbital mechanics, and the prospects of lunar colonisation.

📖 Editorial Review

Robert Lechêne published this book in June 1958, barely months after Sputnik 1 inaugurated the Space Age and while the prospect of lunar conquest was seizing the collective imagination in France. A science journalist trained at Ce Soir and then at L'Humanité Dimanche, he set out to offer the general reader a …