The Rocket Lab: Maurice Zucrow, Purdue University, and America’s Race to Space

by Michael G. Smith

The Rocket Maurice Zucrow, Purdue University, and America’s Race to Space focuses on the golden era of space exploration between 1946 and 1966, specifically the life and times of Purdue University’s Dr. Maurice J. Zucrow, a pioneering teacher and researcher in aerospace engineering. Zucrow taught America’s first university course in jet and rocket propulsion, wrote the field’s first textbook, and established the country’s first educational Rocket Lab. He was part of a small circle of innovators who transformed Purdue into the country’s largest engineering university, which became a cradle of astronauts. Taking a chronological and thematic approach, The Rocket Lab weaves between the local and national, drawing in rival universities, especially Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Caltech. Also covered is Zucrow’s role in the national project system of research and development through World War II and the Cold War. At Aerojet, he was one of the country’s original project engineers, dedicated to scientific-technical expertise and the stepwise approach. He made vanguard power plant contributions to the Northrop Flying Wing, as well as the Corporal , Nike , and Atlas missiles, among others. Zucrow’s work in propulsion helped to improve the country’s arsenal of ballistic missiles and space launchers, and as a teacher, he educated the first generation of aerospace engineers. This book elevates Zucrow and the central role he played in getting the United States to space.

386 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2023

Reviews

[J. Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Professor Smith reminds the reader of The Rocket Lab that all history is a human story. Even in the world of engineering, research, and academia, decisions are made by people who often remain unseen. Smith pulls back the curtain and reveals the influence that the life of Maurice Zucrow, the first Doctoral student at Purdue University among other titles, had on the research and development environment of the United States and his contributions to the aerospace industry. The lab bearing his name produced, and continues to produce, engineers for the space industry. His influence extends from the first textbook on jet propulsion (including rockets) to the curriculum taught to countless engineers in every country around the world.

In this book, Smith captures the early life of Zucrow, his academic career, and his teaching career amid the backdrop of two world wars and the Cold War. Smith also draws connections between Purdue University, its staff and students, and important decisions made within the U.S. Government leading to the R&D environment post-WWII. Overall, it is a great history book for anyone interested in Purdue's early contributions to the space race and one personality who shaped the modern aerospace curriculum. As an engineer, reading this profile has helped me reevaluate my career and what I hope to accomplish. It's a book that makes you think.

[Michael Samerdyke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not the ideal reader for this book. I have never taken a physics class or studied engineering.

This book looks at the life and times of a scientist who was largely unknown to the general public. It covers his life from his birth in the Russian empire to his death in California. However, the way he got there was not the expected path, as his life went through Purdue University.

"The Rocket Lab" looks at how science, academia, the American government and military interacted with each other during the first two decades of the Cold War. The book reminds the reader that important scientific research happened outside the Ivy League and the California schools.

This book requires a special type of reader, which, unfortunately, I am not.