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Sputnik: The Shock of the Century
On October 4, 1957, as Leave It to Beaver premiered on American television, the Soviet Union launched the space age. Sputnik, all of 184 pounds with only a radio transmitter inside its highly polished shell, became the first man-made object in space; while it immediately shocked the world, its long-term impact was even greater, for it profoundly changed the shape of the twentieth century. In his upcoming book, Washington journalist Paul Dickson chronicles the dramatic events and developments leading up to and emanating from Sputnik's launch. Supported by groundbreaking, original research and many recently declassified documents, Sputnik offers a fascinating profile of the early American and Soviet space programs and a strikingly revised picture of the politics and personalities behind the facade of America's fledgling efforts to get into space. Although Sputnik was unmanned, its story is intensely human. Sputnik owed its success to many people, from the earlier visionary, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, whose theories were ahead of their time, to the Soviet spokesmen strategically positioned around the world on the day the satellite was launched, who created one of the greatest public-relations events of all time. Its chief designer, however―the brilliant Sergei Korolev―remained a Soviet state secret until after his death. Equally hidden from view was the political intrigue dominating America's early space program, as the military services jockeyed for control and identity in a peacetime world. For years, former Nazi Wernher von Braun, who ran the U.S. Army's missile program, lobbied incessantly that his Rocket Team should be handed responsibility for the first Earth-orbiting satellite. He was outraged that Sputnik beat him and America into space. For his part, President Eisenhower was secretly pleased that the Russians had launched first, because by orbiting over the United States Sputnik established the principle of "freedom of space" that could justify the spy satellites he thought essential to monitor Soviet missile buildup. As Dickson reveals, Eisenhower was, in fact, much more a master of the Sputnik crisis than he appeared to be at the time and in subsequent accounts. The U.S. public reaction to Sputnik was monumental. In a single weekend, Americans were wrenched out of a mood of national smugness and post-war material comfort. Initial shock at and fear of the Soviets' intentions galvanized the country and swiftly prompted innovative developments that define our world today. Sputnik directly or indirectly influenced nearly every aspect of American life, from the demise of the suddenly superfluous tail fin and an immediate shift towards science in the classroom to the arms race that defined the cold war, the competition to reach the Moon, and the birth of the Internet. By shedding new light on a pivotal era, Paul Dickson expands our knowledge of the world we now inhabit, and reminds us that the story of Sputnik goes far beyond technology and the beginning of the space age, and that its implications are still being felt today.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published September 25, 2001
9 people are currently reading
264 people want to read
About the author
Paul Dickson
136 books41 followersPaul Dickson is the author of more than 45 nonfiction books and hundreds of magazine articles. Although he has written on a variety of subjects from ice cream to kite flying to electronic warfare, he now concentrates on writing about the American language, baseball and 20th century history.
Dickson, born in Yonkers, NY, graduated from Wesleyan University in 1961 and was honored as a Distinguished Alumnae of that institution in 2001. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Navy and later worked as a reporter for McGraw-Hill Publications.
Since 1968, he has been a full-time freelance writer contributing articles to various magazines and newspapers, including Smithsonian, Esquire, The Nation, Town & Country, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post and writing numerous books on a wide range of subjects.
He received a University Fellowship for reporters from the American Political Science Association to do his first book, Think Tanks (1971). For his book, The Electronic Battlefield (1976), about the impact automatic weapons systems have had on modern warfare, he received a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism to support his efforts to get certain Pentagon files declassified.
His book The Bonus Army: An American Epic, written with Thomas B. Allen, was published by Walker and Co. on February 1, 2005. It tells the dramatic but largely forgotten story of the approximately 45,000 World War I veterans who marched on Washington in the summer of 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, to demand early payment of a bonus promised them for their wartime service and of how that march eventually changed the course of American history and led to passage of the GI Bill—the lasting legacy of the Bonus Army. A documentary based on the book aired on PBS stations in May 2006 and an option for a feature film based on the book has been sold.
Dickson's most recent baseball book, The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign Stealing Have Influenced the Course of our National Pastime, also by Walker and Co, was first published in May, 2003 and came out in paperback in June, 2005. It follows other works of baseball reference including The Joy of Keeping Score, Baseballs Greatest Quotations, Baseball the Presidents Game and The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary, now in it's second edition. A third edition is currently in the works. The original Dickson Baseball Dictionary was awarded the 1989 Macmillan-SABR Award for Baseball Research.
Sputnik: The Shock of the Century, another Walker book, came out in October, 2001 and was subsequently issued in paperback by Berkeley Books. Like his first book, Think Tanks (1971), and his latest, Sputnik, was born of his first love: investigative journalism. Dickson is working on a feature documentary about Sputnik with acclaimed documentarians David Hoffmanand Kirk Wolfinger.
Two of his older language books, Slang and Label For Locals came out in the fall of 2006 in new and expanded versions.
Dickson is a founding member and former president of Washington Independent Writers and a member of the National Press Club. He is a contributing editor at Washingtonian magazine and a consulting editor at Merriam-Webster, Inc. and is represented by Premier Speakers Bureau, Inc. and the Jonathan Dolger Literary agency.
He currently lives in Garrett Park, Maryland with his wife Nancy who works with him as his first line editor, and financial manager.
Dickson, born in Yonkers, NY, graduated from Wesleyan University in 1961 and was honored as a Distinguished Alumnae of that institution in 2001. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Navy and later worked as a reporter for McGraw-Hill Publications.
Since 1968, he has been a full-time freelance writer contributing articles to various magazines and newspapers, including Smithsonian, Esquire, The Nation, Town & Country, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post and writing numerous books on a wide range of subjects.
He received a University Fellowship for reporters from the American Political Science Association to do his first book, Think Tanks (1971). For his book, The Electronic Battlefield (1976), about the impact automatic weapons systems have had on modern warfare, he received a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism to support his efforts to get certain Pentagon files declassified.
His book The Bonus Army: An American Epic, written with Thomas B. Allen, was published by Walker and Co. on February 1, 2005. It tells the dramatic but largely forgotten story of the approximately 45,000 World War I veterans who marched on Washington in the summer of 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, to demand early payment of a bonus promised them for their wartime service and of how that march eventually changed the course of American history and led to passage of the GI Bill—the lasting legacy of the Bonus Army. A documentary based on the book aired on PBS stations in May 2006 and an option for a feature film based on the book has been sold.
Dickson's most recent baseball book, The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign Stealing Have Influenced the Course of our National Pastime, also by Walker and Co, was first published in May, 2003 and came out in paperback in June, 2005. It follows other works of baseball reference including The Joy of Keeping Score, Baseballs Greatest Quotations, Baseball the Presidents Game and The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary, now in it's second edition. A third edition is currently in the works. The original Dickson Baseball Dictionary was awarded the 1989 Macmillan-SABR Award for Baseball Research.
Sputnik: The Shock of the Century, another Walker book, came out in October, 2001 and was subsequently issued in paperback by Berkeley Books. Like his first book, Think Tanks (1971), and his latest, Sputnik, was born of his first love: investigative journalism. Dickson is working on a feature documentary about Sputnik with acclaimed documentarians David Hoffmanand Kirk Wolfinger.
Two of his older language books, Slang and Label For Locals came out in the fall of 2006 in new and expanded versions.
Dickson is a founding member and former president of Washington Independent Writers and a member of the National Press Club. He is a contributing editor at Washingtonian magazine and a consulting editor at Merriam-Webster, Inc. and is represented by Premier Speakers Bureau, Inc. and the Jonathan Dolger Literary agency.
He currently lives in Garrett Park, Maryland with his wife Nancy who works with him as his first line editor, and financial manager.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
January 9, 2021
Paul Dickson's Sputnik: The Shock of the Century is one of the few book-length overviews of the event that launched the space age. It covers events leading up to the launch of the Soviet Union's Sputnik I satellite in October 1957, and analyzes cultural and political reactions after the fact.
Dickson prepares the ground for Sputnik by covering the establishment of the International Geophysical Year, 1957-58. Both the US and USSR had already been engaged in scientific gamesmanship for more than a decade--especially nuclear weaponry. Billed as the key scientific year of the decade (if not the century), the IGY was the battle royal that finally resulted--with Sputnik's success--in an incredible boost to Soviet prestige around the world.
Dickson points out--as others have also done--that the shock of Sputnik was not only a defeat for the west but also--more importantly--a major challenge to American prestige. Sputnik was the catalyst for a major transformation in the US educational system and in American industry, whose mindsets shifted almost overnight to emphasize science and technology. The US was suddenly and actively motivated to seek out ways of beating the Soviets in this new high ground. It would take years for the Americans to finally catch up, while the Soviets enjoyed a long string of firsts in addition to the first Sputnik.
My big takeaway from the book was how it helped shift my thinking about why Sputnik matters. Like many others, I had always regarded Sputnik as an embarrassment to American pride, showing that we were desperately behind the Soviets in this endeavor, and that Sputnik was a bucket of cold water in our faces. Well, yes it was, but what I didn't realize was that President Eisenhower knew we needed a good swift kick in the ass to get our rocket programs off the ground, and he anticipated--correctly--that this was the motivation we needed to do that.
This is a popular history, and more scholarly works centered around the Sputnik phenomenon may already exist. (McDougall's The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age--which precedes Dickson's book--is the most obvious example, but it takes a broader view than just Sputnik.) As a work focusing on Sputnik, events leading up to that mission and its effects afterward, Dickson's book succeeds as a readable account of one of the pivotal events of the 20th century.
Dickson prepares the ground for Sputnik by covering the establishment of the International Geophysical Year, 1957-58. Both the US and USSR had already been engaged in scientific gamesmanship for more than a decade--especially nuclear weaponry. Billed as the key scientific year of the decade (if not the century), the IGY was the battle royal that finally resulted--with Sputnik's success--in an incredible boost to Soviet prestige around the world.
Dickson points out--as others have also done--that the shock of Sputnik was not only a defeat for the west but also--more importantly--a major challenge to American prestige. Sputnik was the catalyst for a major transformation in the US educational system and in American industry, whose mindsets shifted almost overnight to emphasize science and technology. The US was suddenly and actively motivated to seek out ways of beating the Soviets in this new high ground. It would take years for the Americans to finally catch up, while the Soviets enjoyed a long string of firsts in addition to the first Sputnik.
My big takeaway from the book was how it helped shift my thinking about why Sputnik matters. Like many others, I had always regarded Sputnik as an embarrassment to American pride, showing that we were desperately behind the Soviets in this endeavor, and that Sputnik was a bucket of cold water in our faces. Well, yes it was, but what I didn't realize was that President Eisenhower knew we needed a good swift kick in the ass to get our rocket programs off the ground, and he anticipated--correctly--that this was the motivation we needed to do that.
This is a popular history, and more scholarly works centered around the Sputnik phenomenon may already exist. (McDougall's The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age--which precedes Dickson's book--is the most obvious example, but it takes a broader view than just Sputnik.) As a work focusing on Sputnik, events leading up to that mission and its effects afterward, Dickson's book succeeds as a readable account of one of the pivotal events of the 20th century.
July 29, 2022
I think it's an indication of the high quality of a given work that it can have been brought out by a general publisher, that has since been merged out of existence, only to be picked up by a fairly prestigious academic press; though Nebraska has a mission of serving the general reader as much as the academician.
By this point the main thrust of this book is fairly well-known, in that there was really not much reason for shock about Sputnik. In scientific and government circles it was common knowledge that the Soviets were going to attempt to launch a satellite into space during the, so-called, International Geophysical Year. What is still not appreciated by many people is that Eisenhower saw a virtue in letting the Soviets go first, as that would be a practical declaration of space being an open commons, and providing an opportunity for a new era of space-based reconnaissance operations. What no one foresaw is that Sputnik, particularly the large Sputnik III, would open the eyes of people to just what Soviet technology was capable of. Not helping matters is that the U.S. Army (patron of Werner von Braun), and its civilian advocates, saw a golden opportunity to wage organizational war on the U.S. Air Force in the never-ending jurisdictional battle over funding and missions, and gain political traction against Eisenhower; can you say "missile gap?"
So, if you're interested in the nuances of the early days of the Space Age, this is still a worthwhile book to read.
By this point the main thrust of this book is fairly well-known, in that there was really not much reason for shock about Sputnik. In scientific and government circles it was common knowledge that the Soviets were going to attempt to launch a satellite into space during the, so-called, International Geophysical Year. What is still not appreciated by many people is that Eisenhower saw a virtue in letting the Soviets go first, as that would be a practical declaration of space being an open commons, and providing an opportunity for a new era of space-based reconnaissance operations. What no one foresaw is that Sputnik, particularly the large Sputnik III, would open the eyes of people to just what Soviet technology was capable of. Not helping matters is that the U.S. Army (patron of Werner von Braun), and its civilian advocates, saw a golden opportunity to wage organizational war on the U.S. Air Force in the never-ending jurisdictional battle over funding and missions, and gain political traction against Eisenhower; can you say "missile gap?"
So, if you're interested in the nuances of the early days of the Space Age, this is still a worthwhile book to read.
December 31, 2020
A work of government propaganda from a true believer. Like people say Covid has done this and that, although it is the Government who imposes the restrictions, Dickson is way too simple minded to grasp that Sputnik did nothing, Sputnik is just an object in the sky. More, the Soviet scientists and engineers also did nothing. It is the Government employees in the US that started to wave the flags to get a bigger cut of the taxes collected. I am not arguing that one gesture is good or bad. I am not arguing that something was necessary or just an ego trip for some bureaucrat. I am pointing out that Dickson lacks the mental skills to do anything beyond sorting an incomplete chronology.
May 9, 2012
A more nuanced account of the launch of Sputnik and the American reaction than is usually presented. The author particularly pays attention to Eisenhower's plan for the American space effort, focused on surveillance satellites, and how the USSR launching first actually worked to America's advantage by establishing space as international. (Ike may have wanted the Soviets to go first for that reason.) The book is a departure from the popular narrative of America caught sleeping, hopelessly behind the Soviets, etc.
September 10, 2017
This book struck me as struggling to be much more, or much less, as if somewhere there was a better book trying to get out. The first 100 or so pages (about 1/3 of the text) is (to me) a somewhat cursory history of rocket development from ancient China through Robert Goddard, Hermann Oberth, to Werner von Braun and the German V-2 work. I could have done without this, and you probably can, too, if you've read any prior histories of space exploration. This material felt like it was tacked as a publisher's suggestion to add pages.
The meat of Dickson's research, the year or so leading up to the USSR's Sputnik launch, with the eventual matching achievement by the US, is very well done, bringing out several important points. First, the frustration of the US team at not being allowed to send up a satellite earlier, which fed and was a result of inter-service rivalries. Second, the differences between the US and Soviet approaches (US - technologically more advanced, focused on multiple objectives with each launch; Soviet - based on somewhat simpler technology, generally one goal per launch; but see recent articles on Soviet rocket engines, which achieved much higher thrust for weight of fuel expended, and still do.) And finally, the apparent complacency of the Eisenhower administration at being "beaten" by the USSR, which actually pleased the president as it established the open skies policy meaning the US could overfly the Soviet Union at will for satellite reconnaissance, leading to the important CORONA series of launches spanning decades.
The meat of Dickson's research, the year or so leading up to the USSR's Sputnik launch, with the eventual matching achievement by the US, is very well done, bringing out several important points. First, the frustration of the US team at not being allowed to send up a satellite earlier, which fed and was a result of inter-service rivalries. Second, the differences between the US and Soviet approaches (US - technologically more advanced, focused on multiple objectives with each launch; Soviet - based on somewhat simpler technology, generally one goal per launch; but see recent articles on Soviet rocket engines, which achieved much higher thrust for weight of fuel expended, and still do.) And finally, the apparent complacency of the Eisenhower administration at being "beaten" by the USSR, which actually pleased the president as it established the open skies policy meaning the US could overfly the Soviet Union at will for satellite reconnaissance, leading to the important CORONA series of launches spanning decades.
July 5, 2024
1957 marked the beginning of The International Geophysical Year, a multi-country, 18-month cooperative investigation into the earth's properties. To the surprise, shock and wonder of the members and the world, the USSR put their mark on it by launching Sputnik.
Dickson's massively researched history offers an in-depth and balanced view of Sputnik's impact on the Cold War, America's hubris and public expectations of science and technology ever since.
I was a mere tadpole when the satellite went up but it spurred on a small surplus optics company called Edmund Scientific to re-invent themselves as a mail-order giant. Their telescope ads in Popular Science Magazine grabbed me and a decade later, I was able to scrape the $30 together to buy their 3" Space Conqueror reflector. Though, not mentioned by Dickson, 1957 also saw the creation of the first model rocket company by G. Harry Stine (a professional White Sands rocketeer) and Vern Estes. Two hobbies from the IGY. And a career as a geophysicist, listening to the earth.
Though published in 2002, Sputnik goes beyond mere history, it offers a relevant look at our struggles with science, much of which is based in technology arising from the 1960's full-bore 'Space Race'.
Dickson's massively researched history offers an in-depth and balanced view of Sputnik's impact on the Cold War, America's hubris and public expectations of science and technology ever since.
I was a mere tadpole when the satellite went up but it spurred on a small surplus optics company called Edmund Scientific to re-invent themselves as a mail-order giant. Their telescope ads in Popular Science Magazine grabbed me and a decade later, I was able to scrape the $30 together to buy their 3" Space Conqueror reflector. Though, not mentioned by Dickson, 1957 also saw the creation of the first model rocket company by G. Harry Stine (a professional White Sands rocketeer) and Vern Estes. Two hobbies from the IGY. And a career as a geophysicist, listening to the earth.
Though published in 2002, Sputnik goes beyond mere history, it offers a relevant look at our struggles with science, much of which is based in technology arising from the 1960's full-bore 'Space Race'.
October 24, 2023
A well-documented, and thoroughly engaging book about one of the great scientific feats of the 20th century, journalist Paul Dickson explains the world before, during, and after the launch of the first manmade artificial satellite by the Soviet Union. The event was to become a springboard to American scientific, technological, and military response to the challenge. With clear conviction and passion, Mr. Dickson outlines how the space race developed, from the first physics principles to the ultimate development of reconnaissance and communication satellite networks we use today. The reality that the world moves with the help of numerous satellites orbiting ahead gives this moment and this book the weight it describes. Well worth the read!
October 8, 2017
I picked up this book (somewhat) randomly at the library, never really intending to read through all of it, but I did! Though not so narrative-y or dramatic as some of the other non-fiction I've read recently, it held my interest and did a good job of mixing fact and story-telling. That said, it likely would not appeal to anyone not already interested in space and the space race.
If I could, I'd give it 4.5 stars - well-written but just missing that little extra something that would make it a fantastic narrative non-fiction (like The Boys in the Boat or The Billion Dollar Spy)
If I could, I'd give it 4.5 stars - well-written but just missing that little extra something that would make it a fantastic narrative non-fiction (like The Boys in the Boat or The Billion Dollar Spy)
April 12, 2023
Fascinating how one satellite shocked America
I was interested in how Sputnik shaped the early space race. Reading this book details just how unprepared and shocked the United States was to learn that the USSR had the technology to launch a object into earth orbit. An extremely thought provoking insight into how two superpowers attempted to succeed the other country with unproven technology, initially just for pride into bettering the other country. Later to develop the technology for weapons of war and mass destruction. Well worth the purchase
I was interested in how Sputnik shaped the early space race. Reading this book details just how unprepared and shocked the United States was to learn that the USSR had the technology to launch a object into earth orbit. An extremely thought provoking insight into how two superpowers attempted to succeed the other country with unproven technology, initially just for pride into bettering the other country. Later to develop the technology for weapons of war and mass destruction. Well worth the purchase
July 28, 2024
This book is interesting as a piece of social history, but it wasn't interesting to me as I was looking for history about Sputnik itself. This book focused on the reaction of the United States about Sputnik, and the first hundred pages detailed the beginning of the US space program. It was an okay read but not what I was looking for. It briefly mentions the reactions of the rest of the world, but this book really is about the reaction from the US rather than the Russian space program.
January 31, 2021
A fascinating history of the early satellite era and how the launch of the Sputnik satellite fueled the Cold War, the creation of NASA, the race to the moon and the Apollo missions, among others. And it's pronounced "spoot-nick", if you're curious.
May 15, 2023
Interesting trip down memory lane. Would have been more interesting if it had dwelt much more upon the educationl and social ramifications than a history of the resulting space race, particularly the effect the new math had on the post Sputnik baby boomers.
March 30, 2024
Very detailed account of the Soviet Space program and the American reaction. If you like me like to look up names and other items from a book this gives you many points to do it. Really enjoyed this book.
July 2, 2025
Ripple effects from the launch of Sputnik on October, 1957, changed Russia, the USA, the space race, the cold war, and the world in multiple surprising ways. This detailed history reaches back into the roots of rocketry and politics to clarify numerous moving parts in this fascinating story.
November 19, 2025
Very cool, a little too much pro American. Would have loved to get more of the Soviet mindset or even process outside of the American point of view (which is sort of what I was expecting). Factual read I thoroughly enjoyed.
September 9, 2017
A solid introduction to the impact of Sputnik on the world. Dickson focuses mainly on the US and its responses, with only limited attention to the Soviet program and its follow-ons.
January 30, 2012
Dickson's mission is to explain to modern audiences how the launch of the USSR's "Sputnik 1" in October 1957 impacted the American psyche. There's definitely some historical narrative reaching as far back as Tsiolkovsky and Goddard and to the opening acts of the manned space program. There's a great deal more matter on the intrigues of the early space program largely involving the camp of Wernher von Braun on one side and the Eisenhower Administration on the other. And it is this arena where Dickson is seemingly of two minds. It is clear he has utmost distaste for Eisenhower, yet explains how Ike calmly navigated the tightrope of U.S.-Soviet relations and made use of Sputnik for greater ends. Dickson is less successful giving meaning to Sputnik as it impacted American culture and education. Was it a curse? or gift? Read for yourself.
Read
January 22, 2013This book did an excellent job of capturing both the excitement and fear that the launch of Sputnik brought to America in the autumn of 1957. It provides a solid background history on the rocket and how the idea of the satellite blossomed in the early 20th century. But what really makes this book is its explanation of what both the short and long-term consequences of Sputnik were on our politics, culture, education, technology, and economy were. When you read this you realize how amazing some of these developments were and how fast they took place. That we decided to send a man to the moon within ten years and then did still seems unreal to me. Well written with interesting details from a wide variety of sources.
December 6, 2012
Great review of the 50s and beyond with regards to the beginning of the space race and the first advancements in space technology.
Does a great job at describing the social climate and other relevant Cold War circumstances in the United States during that era, which is necessary to properly understand the impact and consequences of Sputnik.
March 18, 2008
An excellent read, full of wonderful details that accompanied the true beginning of the Space Age, including the relevant history up to Sputnik's launch, the people behind the scenes, and the amazing global events that followed.
December 30, 2007
So much to learn in this book! I'd never understood the extent to which the Cold War 'space race' and 'arms race' were indistinguishable.
May 2, 2012
So far, I'm riveted.
January 14, 2013
Decent account of the hysteria surrounding Sputnik. The author goes into great detail in a relatively few pages. Takes you back to 1957.
February 9, 2013
The book is a good narrative of the space race more generally, but in reality the attention given to Sputnik itself amounts to maybe only a third of the book.
May 15, 2013
This book was great ! Learned so much about Sputnik! Very interesting!!
October 5, 2014
Heard about the space race, but this book explained it. Cost of this race 300 billon
November 3, 2016
Very US-focused for a book called 'Sputnik', but still an interesting read. I'm more up on the Soviet side of things, so this was a nice addition. Best on the cultural ramifications.
October 31, 2023
Covers the space race in general, but also covers concurrent events that shaped the reactions and effect of Sputnik.
November 23, 2013
Great book!
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews