This is really about the challenges of getting into outer space and the gradual realization that you couldn't fly to the moon because there is no air there. Chapter 1 is all about flight: myths, science fiction, balloons, dirigibles, gliders, and airplanes. Chapter 2 is about the discovery that the air didn't go on forever. The first barometer is invented and Jules Verne sends his astronauts to the moon by means of a cannon. It would have worked, but the acceleration would have killed them. Chapter 3 is about the principles of rocketry which does, in fact, work just fine in a vacuum. Chapter 4 introduces serious work on liquid-fueled rockets by Goddard and the amateur rocket society in Germany. All this culminates in the v2 German rockets. Chapter 5 brings us to the 1977 space age and thoughts of the future. Very clear and well-constructed. ( )