Ley, Willy (1906–1969)
A highly effective popularizer of spaceflight, first in Germany and then
in the United States to which he emigrated in 1935 after Hitler's accession
to power. Originally a paleontologist, Ley helped to found the German rocketry
society Verein fur Raumschiffahrt in 1927, and was Wernher
von Braun's first rocket tutor, around the time that his first two books
were published: Die Fahrt ins Weltall (Journey into Space, 1926)
and Die Möglichkeit der Weltraumfahrt (The Possibility of Interplanetary
Travel, 1928). The latter was the inspiration behind the film (and book)
The Woman in the Moon. In the United States, he quickly earned a
reputation as a visionary of the coming Space Age through well-researched
articles. He also wrote several books that dealt with the dream of spaceflight,
including Rockets: the Future of Travel Beyond the Stratosphere,
first published in 1944. One of the earliest books on rocketry for the general
public, it became a reference source for future science fiction and reality
writing. A revised edition appeared in 1947, entitled Rockets and Space
Travel, and another in 1952, Rockets, Missiles, and Space Travel.1
Perhaps his best-known book, however, was Conquest
of Space2 (1949), outstandingly illustrated by Chesley
Bonestell.
References
- Ley, Willy. Rockets, Missiles, and Space Travel. New York:
Viking (1961).
- Ley, Willy. Conquest of Space. New York: Viking (1949).
Related category
• ROCKET
ENGINEERS AND SPACE SCIENTISTS
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