The Secret of Apollo

Exploring the tangled history and politics of aerospace development and weapons procurement, Stephen B. Johnson helps us understand how scientists and engineers created the "systems management" process that proved necessary to large-scale technology development, and how managers and military officers gained control of that process. Johnson's groundbreaking study addresses the convergent roles of Air Force planners, scientists, technical specialists, and, eventually, bureaucrats. With a comparative approach, he focuses on the theory, or intellectual history, of "systems engineering," its origins in the Air Force's Cold War intercontinental ballistic missile program, and its migration to NASA and the European Space Agency. Book jacket.