Tag Archives: American exceptionalism
Wednesday’s Book Review: “Twilight of the Elites: America after Meritocracy”
Twilight of the Elites: America after Meritocracy. By Christopher Hayes. New York: Crown Books, 2012. Is the meritocracy that runs the United States both dysfunctional and corrupt? Is it one or the other? Is it neither? Those are questions that … Continue reading
How Do Space Activities Contribute to Our Daily Lives?
I was recently asked this question, how do space activities contribute to our daily lives? I must confess that I have been asked it many times previously. Virtually every time this question is asked, however, it is because the person … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age”
Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age. By Matthew Brzezinski. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2007. The fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, sparked the publication of … Continue reading
44 Years Ago Today: Apollo 8′s Historic Broadcast from the Moon on Christmas Eve in 1968
Hard to believe, it was 44 years ago today that the crew of Apollo 8 made their historic broadcast from the Moon on Christmas Eve in 1968. Launched on December 21, 1968, astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and … Continue reading
American Exceptionalism, Myth, and the Siege of the Alamo
No more mythic a story exists in the history of North America than the siege of the Alamo during the 1836 Texas war for independence. Virtually all Americans, unless they have been living under a rock their entire lives, have … Continue reading
Wednesday’s Book Review: “The Robot: The Life Story of a Technology”
The Robot: The Life Story of a Technology. By Lisa Nocks. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. For those seeking a general overview of the evolution of the robot in human history, “The Robot: The Life Story of a … Continue reading
The Declining Significance of the Frontier in Space History?
It began to be perceptible in the late 1960s, and was certainly recognized in the 1970s, that the intermix of frontier imagery, popular culture expectations, and Cold War concerns was beginning to break-down. This was true across broad swaths of … Continue reading
Notes on an Important Book: Susan Jacoby’s “The Age of American Unreason”
The Age of American Unreason. By Susan Jacoby. New York: Pantheon Books, 2008. While there is much on this book that is quite valuable and I certainly recommend reading it, Susan Jacoby reminds me of so many ancient Roman writers … Continue reading
What Were the Origins of Mormon/Non-Mormon Conflict in 1840s Nauvoo?
The non-Mormons of Hancock County, Illinois, in the early 1840s probably disliked the Mormons from the first, in the same way that most Americans have generally disliked what they have viewed as religious fanaticism, but they were initially disposed toward toleration … Continue reading
Envisioning Limits: Outer Space and the End of Utopia
I am attending the conference, “Envisioning Limits: Outer Space and the End of Utopia,” sponsored by the Emmy Noether Research Group, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, at the Freie Universität Berlin. It is a very engaging program and between April 19 and 21, 2012, … Continue reading
