What The Reviewers Say

Positive

Based on 12 reviews

One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon

Charles Fishman

What The Reviewers Say

Positive

Based on 12 reviews

One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon

Charles Fishman

Rave
Edward Kosner,
The Wall Street Journal
Mr. Fishman is a veteran space reporter with a vibrant touch—nearly every sentence has a fact, an insight, a colorful quote or part of a piquant anecdote. What’s more, he has pondered the meaning of the moon landing and arrived at a surprising and persuasive answer.
Positive
Mark Whitaker,
The Washington Post
In his meticulously researched and absorbingly written book, journalist Charles Fishman provides both a celebration of the Apollo 11 mission and a corrective to some of the myths that have crystallized around it.
Positive
Adam Frank,
NPR
While Fishman is interested in the origins of the space race and the mechanics of problem solving that got us there, he's just as concerned with the ways Apollo transformed us.
Mixed
Jill Lepore,
The New York Times Book Review
... most of his book is a long argument that the mission was worth it, for reasons many readers will wonder at.
Positive
Harry Levins,
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Like so many authors, Fishman covers the technological challenges facing NASA. He goes into exquisite detail on such seemingly trivial matters as the ladder that Armstrong and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin used to climb down to the lunar surface. Indeed, Fishman gives readers an entire chapter on the American flag that the two planted in the lunar soil.
Positive
Gilbert Taylor,
Booklist
Fishman eschews a chronological approach to the Apollo moon missions in favor of a focus on technical problems, momentous or trivial, spotlighting the engineers or technicians who tackled them.
Positive
Robert Schaefer,
The New York Journal of Books
Fishman is a really, really good storyteller, and One Giant Leap would make a fantastic audio book.
Mixed
Kevin Canfield,
The San Francisco Chronicle
... the veteran space journalist ably explains the challenges facing NASA engineers as they sought to overtake their accomplished Soviet counterparts.
Mixed
Terri Schlichenmeyer,
The Sentinel Echo
... if you’re not very techy, parts of it may boggle your mind.
Rave
Dave Pugl,
Library Journal
Fishman skillfully tells the remarkable story.
Positive
Publishers Weekly
... engrossing.
Positive
Kirkus
Rather than focus on the astronauts, journalist Fishman offers lively profiles of many tireless, imaginative, and innovative scientists, engineers, and technicians who contributed to the Apollo mission.