Selected Works of Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky

Selected Works of Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky
Author: Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2004-11
Genre: Astronautics
ISBN: 9781410218254

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky is recognized throughout the world as the father of astronautics. He was largely self-educated and in later life worked under extremely difficult conditions in an atmosphere that combined indifference with hostility and ridicule. But his extreme dedication to the idea of space flight never left him. Tsiolkovsky was 60 years old when the October Revolution of 1917 took place, yet most of his scientific papers were written after the revolution. At the time of his death in 1935 they exceeded 500. The tremendous advances of soviet science and technology culminated, in 1957, in the world's first spacecraft - Sputnik I, thus bringing to fruition the prophetic ideas of the great Russian pioneer of astronautics. This volume contains a selection of some of Tsiolkovsky's more important scientific works.

Russian Cosmism

Russian Cosmism
Author: Boris Groys
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2024-08-20
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0262552884

Crucial texts, many available in English for the first time, written before and during the Bolshevik Revolution by the radical biopolitical utopianists of Russian Cosmism. Cosmism emerged in Russia before the October Revolution and developed through the 1920s and 1930s; like Marxism and the European avant-garde, two other movements that shared this intellectual moment, Russian Cosmism rejected the contemplative for the transformative, aiming to create not merely new art or philosophy but a new world. Cosmism went the furthest in its visions of transformation, calling for the end of death, the resuscitation of the dead, and free movement in cosmic space. This volume collects crucial texts, many available in English for the first time, by the radical biopolitical utopianists of Russian Cosmism. Cosmism was developed by the Russian philosopher Nikolai Fedorov in the late nineteenth century; he believed that humans had an ethical obligation not only to care for the sick but to cure death using science and technology; outer space was the territory of both immortal life and infinite resources. After the revolution, a new generation pursued Fedorov's vision. Cosmist ideas inspired visual artists, poets, filmmakers, theater directors, novelists (Tolstoy and Dostoevsky read Fedorov's writings), architects, and composers, and influenced Soviet politics and technology. In the 1930s, Stalin quashed Cosmism, jailing or executing many members of the movement. Today, when the philosophical imagination has again become entangled with scientific and technological imagination, the works of the Russian Cosmists seem newly relevant. Contributors Alexander Bogdanov, Alexander Chizhevsky, Nikolai Fedorov, Boris Groys, Valerian Muravyev, Alexander Svyatogor, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Anton Vidokle, Brian Kuan Wood A copublication with e-flux, New York

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky
Author: Daniel H. Shubin
Publisher: Algora Publishing
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2016
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1628942398

How did such an intellectual giant spring up out of nowhere? Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was the founder of Russian astrophysics and cosmonautics. He was a self-taught scientist, inventor, philosopher and science fiction writer. He lost his hearing at age 10; he struggled in obscurity, earning a living as a school teacher; while he was in his prime the Soviet Revolution changed his world - but nothing stopped him from achieving his life's purpose. Historian and biographer Dan Shubin presents Tsiolkovsky's life story and a selection of his compositions including autobiographical notes, his cosmic and political philosophy, and his science fiction writings. Tsiolkovsky's most important designs include the jet-propelled engine, the use of rockets for space travel, and dirigibles made with a metallic shield. His scientific studies contributed to the advancement of technology and science in Soviet Russia. As a teacher he became adept at explaining complex problems in vivid ways that were both clear and inspiring. This talent infused his writing, and his prose has been compared to that of Asimov, Clarke and Heinlein. His stories about travel to the moon and throughout the solar system, and his special brand of cosmic philosophy, motivated the Soviet public to dream of reaching the stars.Unique with Tsiolkovsky was his conviction that advanced life existed on other planets and his confidence in man's ability to progress toward the settlement and development of planetary systems throughout outer space.Ever a man ahead of his times, toward the end of his life Tsiolkovsky campaigned for equal rights of all citizens and the abolition of war and violence.This volume includes a biography and a selection of Tsiolkovsky's autobiographical sketches, his cosmic and socialist philosophies, and an example of his science fiction.

The Science Fiction of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

The Science Fiction of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Author: Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Publisher: International Specialized Book Service Incorporated
Total Pages: 456
Release: 2000-09-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780898750058

The Science Fiction of Konstanin Tsiolkovsky. The first time a complete collection of his science fiction has been published outside the Soviet Union. Tsiolkovsky - Man of Vision - was one of the very first science fiction writers. He was considered by the Russians to be the father of the theory of jet-propulsion and interplanetary travel. Fascinating reading.

Konstantin

Konstantin
Author: Tom Bullough
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2012-03-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0141972211

Tom Bullough's Konstantin is a mesmerising novel about how the imagination can inspire the individual to greatness. 1867, Ryazan, a Russian city in winter. Ten-year-old Konstantin, deafened by scarlet fever, dreams of flight - escaping to Moscow, fleeing to the silent stars. And his daring visions, pregnant with humanity's future, will take him further than anyone could believe. Moving from wolf-infested forests to the brothels of Moscow, from village life to the wondrous Age of Steam, from appalling tragedy to the discovery of a great love, Konstantin tells the beguiling story of a man who imagined the unimaginable: turning the dream of space travel into a reality. As vivid and evocative as Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, Konstantin is a story of man, nature, and the limitless power of the imagination. Praise for Konstantin: 'Convincing, lyrical. Bullough has set Konstantin squarely before us as a living, thinking, ingenious human being' John Banville 'Konstantin is that rare creature, the practical dreamer, a hero at the dawn of modernity. Beautifully written . . . a real achievement' Andrew Miller, author of Pure 'Enchanting, wonderfully eloquent. A very alluring read' Time Out Tom Bullough was born in 1975 and is the author of two previous novels. He lives in Breconshire, in mid-Wales, with his wife and young son.

To a Distant Day

To a Distant Day
Author: Chris Gainor
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2020-04-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1496211588

"Insightful, instructive, and definitely worth the read."--Greg Andres, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada "As someone who has been teaching a course on space exploration for many years and has visited most of NASA's space centers, I have found plenty of new and valuable material in To a Distant Day. . . . I recommend the book to all who wish to know more about the conditions, people, and discoveries between 1890 and 1960 that led to the space age."--Pangratios Papacosta, Physics Today Although the dream of flying is as old as the human imagination, the notion of rocketing into space may have originated with Chinese gunpowder experiments during the Middle Ages. Rockets as both weapons and entertainment are examined in this engaging history of how human beings acquired the ability to catapult themselves into space. Chris Gainor's irresistible narrative introduces us to pioneers such as Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert Goddard, and Hermann Oberth, who pointed the way to the cosmos by generating the earliest wave of international enthusiasm for space exploration. It shows us German engineer Wernher von Braun creating the V-2, the first large rocket, which, though opening the door to space, failed utterly as the "wonder weapon" it was meant to be. From there Gainor follows the space race to the Soviet Union and the United States, giving us a close look at the competitive hysteria that led to Sputnik, satellites, space probes, and--finally--human flight into space in 1961. As much a story of cultural ambition and personal destiny as of scientific progress and technological history, To a Distant Day offers a complete and thoroughly compelling account of humanity's determined efforts--sometimes poignant, sometimes amazing, sometimes mad--to leave the earth behind.

Red Cosmos

Red Cosmos
Author: James T. Andrews
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2009
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1603443606

Long before the space race captured the world?s attention, K. E. Tsiolkovskii first conceived of multi-stage rockets that would later be adapted as the basis of both the U.S. and Soviet rocket programs.?Often called the grandfather of Russian rocketry, this provincial scientist was even sanctioned by Stalin to give a speech from Red Square on May Day 1935, lauding the Soviet technological future while also dreaming and expounding on his own visions of conquering the cosmos. Later, the Khrushchev regime used him as a "poster boy" for Soviet excellence during its Cold War competition with the United States. Ironically, some revisionists have since pointed to such blatant promotion by the Communist Party in an attempt to downplay Tsiolkovskii?s scientific contributions.?James T. Andrews explores the complexities of this man to show that Tsiolkovskii was much more than either a rocket inventor or a propaganda tool. He was a science popularizer, novelist, technical inventor, and visionary, whose science fiction writings included futuristic drawings of space stations long before they appeared on any engineer?s drawing board.Mining a myriad of Russian archives, Andrews produces not only a biographical account but also a study of Soviet technological propaganda, local science education, public culture in the 1920s and 1930s, and the cultural ramifications of space flight.

The Russian Cosmists

The Russian Cosmists
Author: George M. Young
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2012-08-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199892954

In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, a controversial school of Russian religious and scientific thinkers emerged, united in the conviction that humanity was entering a new stage of evolution and must assume a new, active, managerial role in the cosmos. The ideas of the Cosmists have in recent decades been rediscovered and embraced by many Russian intellectuals. In the first account in English of this fascinating tradition, George M. Young offers a dynamic and wide-ranging examination of the lives and ideas of the Russian Cosmists.

The Political Economy of the Space Age

The Political Economy of the Space Age
Author: Andrea Sommariva
Publisher: Vernon Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2018-02-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1622732642

This book provides answers to the questions of why human-kind should go into space, and on the relative roles of governments and markets in the evolution of the space economy. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach to answer those questions. Science and technology define the boundaries of what is possible. The realization of the possible depends on economic, institutional, and political factors. The book thus draws from many different academic areas such as physical science, astronomy, astronautics, political science, economics, sociology, cultural studies, and history. In the literature, the space economy has been analyzed using different approaches from science and technology to the effects of public expenditures on economic growth and to medium term effects on productivity and growth. This book brings all these aspects together following the evolutionary theory of economic change. It studies processes that transform the economy through the interactions among diverse economic agents, governments, and the extra-systemic environment in which governments operate. Its historical part helps to better understand motivations and constraints - technical, political, and economical - that shaped the growth of the space economy. In the medium term, global issues - such as population changes, critical or limited natural resources, and environmental damages – and technological innovations are the main drivers for the evolution of the space economy beyond Earth orbit. In universities, this book can be used: as a reference by historians of astronautics; for researchers in the field of astronautics, international political economy, and legal issues related to the space economy. In think tanks and public institutions, both national and international, this book provides an input to the ongoing debate on the collaboration among space agencies and the role of private companies in the development of the space economy. Finally, this book will help the educated general public to orient himself in the forest of stimuli, news, and solicitations to which he is daily subjected by the media, television and radio, and to react in less passive ways to those stimuli.