I enjoyed reading about the early exploits of rocketry.
As an American I grew up seeing Robert Goddard and his famous first liquid fuel rocket everywhere in various books on the history of rocketry.
As I got older and read more I became more impressed with the fledgling rocket club (Verein für Raumschiffahrt) that Werner von Braun was famously a member of in post-WWI Germany. You couldn't help but see parallels to closed vs. open collaboration as Goddard, always secretive, seemed to get stuck on developing the necessary fuel pump while von Braun and collaborators were able to move forward to develop the high-speed, one-shot turbine that ultimately delivered the goods.
I am not sure if it was Willy Ley's classic ("Rockets, Missiles, and Space Travel") or maybe even Arthur C. Clarke's book ("The Promise of Space") where I got that sense. Both books are oldies but excellent.
As an American I grew up seeing Robert Goddard and his famous first liquid fuel rocket everywhere in various books on the history of rocketry.
As I got older and read more I became more impressed with the fledgling rocket club (Verein für Raumschiffahrt) that Werner von Braun was famously a member of in post-WWI Germany. You couldn't help but see parallels to closed vs. open collaboration as Goddard, always secretive, seemed to get stuck on developing the necessary fuel pump while von Braun and collaborators were able to move forward to develop the high-speed, one-shot turbine that ultimately delivered the goods.
I am not sure if it was Willy Ley's classic ("Rockets, Missiles, and Space Travel") or maybe even Arthur C. Clarke's book ("The Promise of Space") where I got that sense. Both books are oldies but excellent.