Keep Watching the Skies!: The Story of Operation Moonwatch and the Dawn of the Space Age Hardcover - 2008

"Eagerly peering into the predawn skies of October 1957, amateur scientists kept watch for a glimpse of a faint dot in the sky: Sputnik! Patrick McCray tells us who these people were and how their observations helped Operation Moonwatch become a rousing success for Fred Whipple and the scientists of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Keep Watching the Skies! highlights this unique alliance of amateur and professional scientists at the dawn of the Space Age. If you are among those who remember the thrill of the first satellites--even more so if you are not--you need to read this book."--Robert P. Kirshner, author of The Extravagant Universe

"Patrick McCray has produced a gem! With the aid of meticulous research, he has unearthed the story of Operation Moonwatch and some of the forgotten heroes of the early years of the Space Age. They were the worldwide citizen-scientists who monitored the orbits of the early satellites. He has brought the era alive. A great read for scientists, engineers, historians--and anyone interested in the Space Age."--John Zarnecki, Open University

"A unique and valuable cultural history of what was the largest collaboration between amateur and professional scientists in history, this book will interest anyone who wishes to know more about the early days of the Space Age."--Charles Whitney, professor emeritus of astronomy, Harvard University

"Keep Watching the Skies! makes a compelling case for the importance of an aspect of the early space race that has largely been ignored: Operation Moonwatch. In contrast to the top-down approach that has dominated histories of the space race, this book gives us a bottom-up view, and it promises to be received as a major contribution to the history of science and technology."--Robert Smith, author of The Space Telescope: A Study of NASA, Science, Technology, and Politics