This well-documented and fascinating book tells how, over the centuries, a series of visionaries, scientists, technologists, and politicians fostered the involvement of Italy in space exploration. The lives of these pioneers was often far from easy, yet they persevered. The fruits of their efforts can today be witnessed in Italy's success within the cutting-edge space sector. Italy's history in space started at the end of the fourteenth century and continued with the development of fireworks. Later, the nineteenth century marked the beginning of research into rockets in a more scientific way. After World War II, rocket technology was advanced with the aid of German scientists, and in the 1960s Luigi Broglio, the father of Italian space exploration, designed the San Marco satellite. In 1979 the first Italian Space Plan was launched, but it was the foundation of the Italian Space Agency in 1988 that kick-started a program of exploration in various fields of cosmic research. The outcome was construction of the Vega launcher and collaboration in the International Space Station. Now the Italian space industry stands ready to play an important role in the Gateway orbital station. All of this history, and more, is explored in this riveting book.
By:
Giovanni Caprara
Imprint: Springer International Publishing AG
Country of Publication: Switzerland
Edition: 1st ed. 2020
Dimensions:
Height: 235mm,
Width: 155mm,
Spine: 24mm
Weight: 770g
ISBN: 9783319739861
ISBN 10: 3319739867
Pages: 390
Publication Date: 25 June 2020
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface.- introduction.- 1 The rocket word appear for the first time in Venice.- 2 The XIX Century, the razzieri of Sabaudo kingdom and Due Sicilie Kingdom.- 3 Pioneers and visionaries of the XX Century.- 4 The first Italian rockets and two German scientist in Italy.- 5 The African adventure of professor Luigi Broglio.- 6 Italy in Europe and in the world of space telecommunications.- 7 From Sirio satellite for telecommunications to national space program.- 8 The Italian Space Agency, the Italian astronauts, many satellites and Euro-Italian rocket Vega.- Bibliography.- Index of names.- Credits.
"Giovanni Caprara is scientific editor of the Corriere della Sera and Professor of History of Space Exploration at the Politecnico di Milano (Polytechnic University of Milan). He is also curator of the Space section of the National Museum of Science and Technology ""Leonardo da Vinci"" in Milan. He has received many awards, including the ConScientia Award (scientific journalist of the year) from the universities of Milan in 2000, the European Science Writers Award from the Euroscience Foundation in 2010, and the Award for Scientific Communication from the Italian Physical Society (SIF) in 2016. Since 2011 he has been President of UGIS, the Union of Italian Scientific Journalists. In 2014 he was made a Knight of the Italian Republic. An asteroid in orbit between Mars and Jupiter bears his name (Caprara 10928). He is the author of numerous publications on the history of space science and exploration, published in Europe and the United States. Examples include: The Space Age (Mondadori), The Adventure of Science (Rizzoli), A Brief History of the Great Scientific Discoveries (Bompiani), Discovering the Solar System (with Margherita Hack, Mondadori), Living Space (FireFly), Italy on the Shuttle (Mondadori), and The Complete Encyclopedia of Space Satellites (FireFly). "
Reviews for A History of the Italian Space Adventure: Pioneers and Achievements from the XIVth Century to the Present
“Nevertheless, A History of the Italian Space Adventure provides English speaking readers with a rare and useful look at Italy’s many underappreciated contributions to space exploration over the past few decades and the promise of its current programs.” (Christopher Gainor, Quest, Vol. 29 (1), 2022)
