We Reach the Moon: The New York Times Story of Man's Greatest Adventure

by John Noble Wilford

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Genres: History, Space, Nonfiction, Science, Biography

333 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

John Noble Wilford is a science correspondent for 'The New York Times'. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes (1984 & 1987). He was the McGraw Lecturer at Princeton University in 1985, and Professor of Science Journalism at the University of Tennessee in 1989-1990. In 1998, he was elected tot the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Wilford has worked for 'The Wall Street Journal', 'Time', and, since 1965, the 'Times'.

Reviews

[Jeff Clausen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started slowly and was in danger of losing my interest but picked up steam soon enough. Being alive for the early space program helped, as I could recall parts of it and then I felt fully invested with the growing enthusiasm of the many successes of the Apollo launches. My only real complaint, and that was clear from the zero attention paid to the brilliant female mathematicians, is that “men” this and that were fully responsible for the space accomplishments. When the author ignored the critical role played by women in reaching the moon, he lost much of my respect for his work.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by the New York Times' esteemed John Noble Wilford, this is a quickie book that was completed and published shortly after the success of Apollo 11. I read this many years ago in my lust to read all things Apollo. What I remember most is that much of the book is -- predictably -- background, chronicling the ups and downs of the US manned space program from the Mercury program all the way through Apollo 11. So it is not an easy read by any means. Much of it is a simple rehashing of technical details and facts about the missions. It also has a very generously sized color photo section, to supplement the dry prose. Consider this a classic snapshot of our obsession with the space program at the time. These days, it's only for Apollo completists, but it still has a great time machine quality to it.

[Scott Thrift · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this paperback in the thrift shop the day after Neil Armstrong died, so i picked it up. There are better books about the moon landings, but this has the freshness of news reports of the time and is written with the enthusiasm of a firsthand account. Quick read, quite enjoyable.

[Arsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to have a brief yet informative cut of what the US space program had been before the Apollo 11 crew landed safely on Earth, look no further than that book. I was immensely lucky to have found it in my local library's foreign books section. The book is a coherent set of newspaper articles and was written by a NYT journalist following the events as they happened. If I'm not mistaken, the first edition was rushed to the printing house days after the splash-down of the Apollo 11 crew. That fact gives one more layer of emotional connection to the book and the beautiful era of ambitions and heroism.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very thorough book on almost all that led up to Apollo 11, erasing any contributions by women, the only women mentioned all seemed to have the first name Mrs. It was also irritating the times the author would insert himself into the story and switched from third to first person narrative for no reason.

[Belle Meade School]

629.454

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by a New York Times correspondent assigned to follow the Apollo space program of the 1960s. Seems more like reading a collection of NY Times articles on the subject. Written for the general public, it goes into some detail, but much better books on Apollo have been written in later years such as Gene Kranz' "Failure is not an Option".

One of my favorite movies is still Apollo 13, so I enjoy all books about the "Space Race". This one is just par--not really magnificent.

[Patrick DiJusto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of NY Times articles by science writer John Noble Wilford, fashioned into a book about the Apollo space program, while it was happening. As such, the book cannot be expected to have the benefit of "historical" perspective on the moon program -- it's a contemporary account of the white-hot quest to reach the moon by the end of the 1960s.

[Carterswift · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book - just the right about of facts and details about one of the incredible accomplishments of mankind. This book and Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins are my two favorite books about the quest to reach the moon.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been interested in the NASA space program and when I came across this book, first published in 1969, I just had to read it. This is an excellent book, well written, with just the right amount of detain into the events leading up to the Apollo 11 moon landing.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had this mass-market paperback edition of this book on my shelf all through Elementary school. Reading it, maybe not so much... Looking at the pictures again and again, that was what I kept doing.

[Ray Gardener · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched covering of the American space program in the 1960s culminating, of course, with the landing on the Moon. It really makes one appreciate not just the incredible work and planning, but the determination and courage of the people involved. Today the book helps act as a reminder of what we can achieve, if only we dare once again to set forth.