A brilliant new account of the Voyager space program-its history, scientific impact, and cultural legacy
Launched in 1977, the two... read full description
Launched in 1977, the two... read full description
reviews
Jan 28, 2011
Joe
rated it: 
This was a regrettable book. Half of it was pretty good and the other half was unreadable.
The juxtaposition of the first two great ages of discovery with the third (culminating in the Voyager mission) is a logical comparison, but Pyne's attempt falls far short of enjoyable. The chief offense of our purportedly award-winning author is that he forces this loosely braided narrative down the reader's throat with no regard to it's success.
In each chapter he establishes a rough th More...
The juxtaposition of the first two great ages of discovery with the third (culminating in the Voyager mission) is a logical comparison, but Pyne's attempt falls far short of enjoyable. The chief offense of our purportedly award-winning author is that he forces this loosely braided narrative down the reader's throat with no regard to it's success.
In each chapter he establishes a rough th More...
Nov 27, 2011
Susanne
rated it: 
Pyne didn't seem very interested in the history of the Voyager program himself. He continuously drew very labored parallels between the age of space exploration and the two earlier ages of exploration he identified: the age of geographic exploration in the 1500s and 1600s and the age of ecologic exploration in the 1700s and 1800s. He spent the bulk of the book (that I managed to read) on the earlier ages, making me 1) want to skip pages to get to the space program, and 2)think that he should hav
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Dec 27, 2011
Matthew
rated it: 
A rough start, because the author's conceit that the Voyager missions are akin to Magellan and Humboldt is somewhat obscure, but once I conceded that point and really started dig in, it was fantastic. The technical specs of Voyager are available elsewhere, but this is a philosophical consideration, and if we are to become a spacefaring race, we have to make space a part of our philosophy and find its place in the broader story of our species. A wonderful read that reminded me of the wonder of
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Jul 29, 2011
Joey
rated it:
"Voyager" was enjoyable enough. I think it would have worked better as a straight history of the Voyager program. As it was, I felt that the bouncing back and forth from the narrative of the Voyagers' development and flight to explorers of the past was jarring and discombobulating. The links Pyne drew between the different ages of discovery felt labored and contrived. I just thought the book tried to do and be too much.
Mar 21, 2011
Brad
rated it:
This book tries too hard. There's an attempt to make parallels between the First and Second Ages of terrestrial exploration and the Voyager "grand tour", which is not a BAD idea per se, but in its execution it falls short. I found myself bored by the florid language and belabored metaphors and wishing that he would just get on with telling us about all the cool stuff Voyager found during its Saturn fly-by. Very misleading blurb, cover image, and title.
The space stuff IS good More...
The space stuff IS good More...
Oct 02, 2010
ej
rated it:
Despite the title, this book is much more about man's historical quest for discovery than it is about Voyager. Save yourself 400 meandering pages of time and read the short, succinct poem 'Ulysses' by Tennyson, or just the final line: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
Dec 01, 2011
Chuck
rated it: 
An amazing machine of pure science, but unfortunately not an easy book to read. I appreciate Pyne's need to associate the flight of this tiny spacecraft to the adventurous human explorers of the past, but it made for a choppy read.
Apr 04, 2011
David R.
rated it:
Pyne's concept is to weave together an account of the actual Voyager missions (1977-?) with thoughts and discussion of three "Ages" of exploration. It's an appealing idea, but it doesn't come off in this particular treatment. The "First Age" and "Second Age" material often seems contrived (one example being a long winded discussion of islands that was presumably inspired by Voyager's measurements of Jupiter's moons) and regularly disrupts the flow of the Voyager s
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Oct 13, 2010
Anyone interested in America's Space Exploration Program should read this. It provides an interesting history of the unmanned Voyagers 1 and 2, which were launched in the 1970s to explore the planets beyond Mars and their moons.
Apr 06, 2011
Bob
rated it:
gave up after about 200 pages - it was due back at the library, and the autor was much too pretentious, comparing Voyager to so many other explorations of the past 600 years.
Jan 05, 2012
Noah
rated it:
intense historical triangulation between the 3 ages of discovery. a must- read book to understand where we are in the 3rd age of exploration.
Feb 07, 2011
Ray
rated it: 
If you're a fan of space/planetary exploration, science in general, the Cold War/Space Race, or lookign for a good historical read pick this one up. Its only shortcoming, definitely deficient on photography, less than 10 images in the book.
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