After Shuttle Columbia, it's time to re-read this., February 1, 2003
Reviewer: Peter Albrecht (see more about me) from Costa Mesa, CA United
States
This is being written in the evening after the Space Shuttle Columbia
disaster. While all the would-be experts go onto Larry King and Good
Morning America and try out for the Olympic Conclusion High Jump Team
(while the real experts -- and I just got off the phone with one -- have a
pretty good idea what it was, and turn down same interviews), right now,
this is a good time for those who are interested to read the background of
the previous Shuttle disaster. All of Part II, about 2/3 of this book, is
titled "Mr. Feynman goes to Washington: Investigating the Space Shuttle
Challenger Disaster." Incredible, absolutely true, and only the tip of the
iceberg, according to somebody who was there. There's a pattern to this
sort of thing, a combination of hubris and unwillingness to face reality,
and Feynman's book lays it bare like nothing else I can think of. The only
other document that comes close in my mind (at least, as I recall the
details) is the old "Far Side" cartoon, showing a rope-and-tire swing over
a tiny little pond. There's a big chunk of the tire missing, and a shark
fin cruising around below. Two kids on the bank, one says to the other "You
go tell Billy's mom, and I'll go look for another tire." We've seen this
before (Shuttle, Concorde), we'll see it again, but meanwhile Feynman's
account is a must-read. You will not be disappointed.
Unfortunately, Au Courant, February 3, 2003
Reviewer: A reader from San Francisco
Dr. Feynman figured out what went wrong with the 1986 space shuttle
crash...he seemed to be the only one on the investigatory commission who
was an innovative and agressive investigator. It will be interesting to see
if inquiries into the latest disaster with the Columbia shuttle reveal the
same weaknesses in NASA communication between the head (money-raising,
grandstanding) honchos and the engineers who had hands- on knowledge of the
shuttle. The technological aspect is obviously pertinent but the group
dynamics of the commission and the organization they were scrutinizing is
the real story.
In addition to the Challenger portion of the book, there are delightful
chapters on the author's childhood relationship to his father and to his
first wife, both of them original and irreverent characters, as,
apparently, was Feynman.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0393320928/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/002-8907253-9636021?v=glance&s=books&st=*
