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Synopsis
Brilliant Rocket Scientist Killed in Explosion screamed the front-page headline of the Los Angeles Times on June 18, 1952. John Parsons, a maverick rocketeer whose work had helped transform the rocket from a derided sci-fi plotline into a reality, was at first mourned as a tragically young victim of mishandled chemicals. But as reporters dug deeper a shocking story emerged-Parsons had been performing occult rites and summoning spirits as a follower of Aleister Crowley-and he was promptly written off as an embarrassment to science.
George Pendle tells Parsons's extraordinary life story for the first time. Fueled from childhood by dreams of space flight, Parsons was a crucial innovator during rocketry's birth. But his visionary imagination also led him into the occult community thriving in 1930s Los Angeles, and when fantasy's pull became stronger than reality, he lost both his work and his wife. Parsons was just emerging from his personal underworld when he died at age thirty-seven. In Strange Angel, Pendle recovers a fascinating life and explores the unruly consequences of genius.
George Pendle tells Parsons's extraordinary life story for the first time. Fueled from childhood by dreams of space flight, Parsons was a crucial innovator during rocketry's birth. But his visionary imagination also led him into the occult community thriving in 1930s Los Angeles, and when fantasy's pull became stronger than reality, he lost both his work and his wife. Parsons was just emerging from his personal underworld when he died at age thirty-seven. In Strange Angel, Pendle recovers a fascinating life and explores the unruly consequences of genius.
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About the Author
George Pendle writes about science for the Times (London) and the Financial Times, among other publications. He lives in New York City.
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Strange Angel The Otherworldly
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Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005
ISBN 10: 015100997X
ISBN 13: 9780151009978
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Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons
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Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons
Published by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005
ISBN 10: 015100997X
ISBN 13: 9780151009978
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Strange Angel: the Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons
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Harcourt, Orlando, 2005
ISBN 10: 015100997X
ISBN 13: 9780151009978
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First Edition
Seller: BIBLIOPE by Calvello Books, Oakland, CA, U.S.A.
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Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Small quarto in multi-color (predominanltly blue and yelllow/green) jacket; 350 pages: illustrations; 24 cm bibliographical references and index. Well-written. "A lonely misfit born into a wealthy Pasadena family, as a boy Parsons read science fiction and launched rockets in his backyard. By his early twenties, he was a leader of Caltech's "Suicide Squad," the motley band of young enthusiasts who founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. But his visionary imagination also led him into the occult community thriving in 1930s Los Angeles, and when fantasy's pull became stronger than reality, he lost both his work and his wife. With a cast of characters that includes Aleister Crowley, Howard Hughes, L. Ron Hubbard, Robert Heinlein, Theodore von K?rm?n, and Albert Einstein, this book recovers a fascinating life and explores the unruly consequences of genius." -Publisher. Contents: Paradise -- Moon child -- Erudition -- The suicide squad -- Fraternity -- The mass -- Brave new world -- Zenith -- Degrees of freedom -- A new dawn -- Rock bottom -- Into the abyss. Rocketry -- United States -- Biography. Occultists -- United States -- Biography. Aeronautical engineers -- United States -- Biography. Aeronautical engineers. Occultists. Rocketry. Parsons, Jack, 1914-1952. Fine to fine(-) in fine jacket with very faint wear to extremities of both. Jacket housed in a mylar sleeve. in fine dust-jacket First edition, first letter (full number line). Seller Inventory # 92750
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Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons
Seller: Revaluation Books, Exeter, United Kingdom
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Hardcover. Condition: Brand New. 1st edition. 350 pages. 9.25x6.25x1.00 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # 015100997X
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