Book Review - Dark Side of the Moon

Dark Side of the Moon: The Magnificent Madness of the American Lunar Quest
by Gerard J. DeGroot
New York University Press, 2006
Reviewed by William I. Lengeman III
(previously unpublished)

Very Short Review
The moon race sucked. Manned space exploration sucks.

Slightly Longer Review
Most people who have any opinion at all probably come down pretty hard on the issue of whether manned exploration of space is a worthwhile endeavor.

In Dark Side of the Moon, DeGroot makes it abundantly clear where he stands. He's done a thorough job of uncovering just about every instance of anyone trashing manned space exploration, pretty much from the dawn of it all and up through the Apollo program.

Even if you're avidly in favor of humans cavorting around in space (present company included), you've probably suspected that the race to the moon wasn't as noble and squeaky clean as it was made out to be. And yes, it was expensive, though a mere pittance when stacked up against our obscenely bloated defense budget.

The naysayers will surely drool over DeGroot's book and even the astronaut-loving types will probably find more than a few interesting bits scattered throughout. But if you're of the latter persuasion, you'll likely find that the relentlessly downbeat tone quickly wears thin.

Copyright 2007, William I. Lengeman III