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Cover image of High-Speed Dreams
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High-Speed Dreams

NASA and the Technopolitics of Supersonic Transportation, 1945–1999

Erik M. Conway

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In High-Speed Dreams, Erik M. Conway constructs an insightful history that focuses primarily on the political and commercial factors responsible for the rise and fall of American supersonic transport research programs. Conway charts commercial supersonic research efforts through the changing relationships between international and domestic politicians, military/NASA contractors, private investors, and environmentalists. He documents post-World War II efforts at the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics and the Defense Department to generate supersonic flight technologies, the attempts to...

In High-Speed Dreams, Erik M. Conway constructs an insightful history that focuses primarily on the political and commercial factors responsible for the rise and fall of American supersonic transport research programs. Conway charts commercial supersonic research efforts through the changing relationships between international and domestic politicians, military/NASA contractors, private investors, and environmentalists. He documents post-World War II efforts at the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics and the Defense Department to generate supersonic flight technologies, the attempts to commercialize these technologies by Britain and the United States during the 1950s and 1960s, environmental campaigns against SST technology in the 1970s, and subsequent attempts to revitalize supersonic technology at the end of the century.

High-Speed Dreams is a sophisticated study of politics, economics, nationalism, and the global pursuit of progress. Historians, along with participants in current aerospace research programs, will gain valuable perspective on the interaction of politics and technology.

Reviews

Reviews

Of interest to historians and social scientists concerned with the politics and economics of public policy... An important book on a fascinating topic.

A concise and thoroughly fascinating history of the train wreck that was the U.S. supersonic civil transport programs.

A readable narrative on the interplay between politics, technology, and economics.

Conway seems to have struck the right balance between the nuts-and-bolts of aircraft design and discussion of larger issues, particularly state support for advanced technology... An original and valuable contribution to the saga of a dream deferred.

Conway does an excellent job of explaining the nationalism inherent in supersonic transport during the Cold War and the domestic American politics surrounding the project.

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Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
392
ISBN
9780801890819
Illustration Description
12 halftones, 10 line drawings
Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations Used in the Text
Introduction
1. Constructing the Supersonic Age
2. Technological Rivalry and the Cold War
3. Engineering the National Champion
4. Of Noise

Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations Used in the Text
Introduction
1. Constructing the Supersonic Age
2. Technological Rivalry and the Cold War
3. Engineering the National Champion
4. Of Noise, Jumbos, and SSTs
5. Of Ozone, the Concorde, and SSTs
6. The Airbus, the Orient Express, and the Renaissance of Speed
7. Toward a Green SST
8. Sic Transit HSCT
Conclusion
Notes
Essay on Sources
Index

Author Bio