The Dream Machines: An Illustrated History of the Spaceship in Art, Science and Literature

by Ron Miller

Unique in the literature of spaceflight, this book is an encyclopedic history of the spaceship from the earliest yearnings for space travel to plans for the distant future. Covering in unprecedented detail over 2,000 years of spaceship design, the text chronologically documents thousands of events, with illustrations and photos graphically demonstrating the centuries-long evolution of an idea that has changed our world forever. Included are rare photos and illustrations from science fiction films, books, and magazines; unique drawings of Soviet spacecraft; NASA photos never before reproduced; and artwork specially commissioned for this book. The illustrations are reproduced in two colors throughout, with a sixteen-page full-color section, appendixes, bibliography, and index. Winner of the Booklist Editor's Choice 1994 Technology Award.

744 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Ron Miller is an illustrator and author living in South Boston, Virginia. Before becoming a freelance illustrator in 1977, Miller was art director for the National Air & Space Museum's Albert Einstein Planetarium. Prior to this he was a commercial advertising illustrator. His primary work today entails the writing and illustration of books specializing in astronomical, astronautical and science fiction subjects. His special interest is in exciting young people about science, and in recent years has focused on writing books for young adults. To date he has more than 50 titles to his credit. His work has also appeared on scores of book jackets, book interiors and in magazines such as National Geographic, Reader's Digest, Scientific American, Smithsonian, Air & Space, Sky & Telescope, Newsweek, Natural History, Discover, Geo, etc.

Miller's books include the Hugo-nominated The Grand Tour, Cycles of Fire, In the Stream of Stars, and The History of Earth. All of have been Book-of-the-Month Club Feature Selections (as well as selections of the Science, Quality Paperback and Astronomy book clubs) and have seen numerous translations.

Considered an authority on Jules Verne, Miller translated and illustrated new, definitive editions of Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth as well as a major companion/atlas to Verne's works. He has worked as a consultant on Verne for Disney Imagineering and for A&E's Biography series.

Miller is also considered an authority on the early history of spaceflight. The Dream Machines, a comprehensive 744-page history of manned spacecraft, was nominated for the prestigious IAF Manuscript Award and won the Booklist Editor's Choice Award.

As an artist, Miller has designed a set of ten commemorative stamps for the U.S. Postal Service and has been a production illustrator for motion pictures, notably Dune and Total Recall. He has also done preproduction concepts, consultation and matte art for David Lynch, George Miller, John Ellis, UFO Films and James Cameron. He designed and co-directed the computer-generated show ride film, Impact! and has taken part in numerous international space art workshops and exhibitions, including seminal sessions held in Iceland and the Soviet Union (where he was invited by the Soviet government to take part in the 30th anniversary celebration of the launch of Sputnik). His original paintings are in numerous private and public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution and the Pushkin Museum (Moscow).

Reviews

[Ben Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the PDF version of the book which can be found online at the author's website. In the preface it does mention that the PDF version is not the same as the print version. The PDF only covers to about 1962 (IIRC). I couldn't justify the money to buy the print version.

While there are some issues that were likely corrected in the print version (typos, text hidden behind images, etc.), there were some other things that bugged me a bit.

In the beginning the author covers the topic of spaceflight as it was presented in fiction and in scientific theories. As the book progresses, the coverage of fictional ships dwindles to near extinction. Why include the old fictional ships at all if you aren't going to follow through.

The book is set up as a timeline, with entries in (almost) chronological order. Many entries for a specific year were out of order. For example, many entries were talking about changes made to spacecraft designs that were made after the first Mercury mission, even though the book hadn't covered that event yet.

If you are a spaceship buff, it's a great book, but it's not without it's flaws.

[Mark Graybill · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent encyclopedic book on rockets, space travel, and fiction about space travel organized by year. The print edition goes well beyond the PDF, into the 1990s. It does suffer from some errata, like missing pieces of text (e.g. 1953, between the end of text on 351 and the beginning on 352) as well as an error claiming that Pete Knight died in a flight test in 1952, decades before I had the opportunity to work alongside him on a program.

But as a whole, it's an excellent and exciting book, bringing back to mind many of the great preliminary plans for spaceflight, the erratic pace of technical development, paths not followed, and the fiction inspired by the reality which in turn influenced technical development.