50 Years Ago

Space Carrier Vehicles by Oswald H. Lange and Richard J. Stein — The book begins with a useful conspectus of United States space launching missiles from the Juno 1 to the Saturn C-5: a list of their achievements is included, which shows the Thor-Agena B to be well in the lead, with 39 successful launches before the end of 1962 ... Further subjects discussed are inertial guidance and control, the fabrication of the missiles (including an informative series of photographs of the Saturn vehicle under construction) ... and, finally, the layout and construction of launching sites (with photographs of the Saturn launch complex at Cape Kennedy) ... The book shows a bias in favour of German or American achievements: p.1 gives the impression that the first satellite was launched by the United States.

From Nature 18 January 1964

100 Years Ago

An article in Engineering for January 9 directs attention to the waning supply of petroleum. Although a continually greater supply of petroleum is being placed on the market, this increased output is secured only by sinking more wells and boring to a greater depth, showing that the surface supply is becoming exhausted. At the beginning of this century the wells touched 1100 ft., and to-day the average level of the oil may be placed at 2000 ft. — an ominously rapid rate of sinking ... America, by reckless expenditure of her resources, has increased her annual output to 200 million barrels, yet the demand for oil for special purposes has become so great that the rise in price is considerable — so great, indeed, that competition with coal for ordinary purposes has become impossible.

From Nature 15 January 1914