L’Astronautique.

Number in the Que sais-je? series (“Le point des connaissances actuelles”), Presses Universitaires de France, 108 boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris, 1950, by Lionel Laming, identified on the title page as “Licencié ès Sciences, Ingénieur.” A non-technical introduction to astronautics for the general reader, with discussions of the physical and physiological aspects of space flight, propulsion and navigation, and a report on Nikolai Rynin’s experiments on acceleration with animals.

After a short Avertissement and Introduction, eight chapters cover “Les projets chimériques,” the principles of reaction and rockets, the large rockets of the day, astronautics and atomic energy, navigation and trajectory, physiological problems, the planets to explore, and applications of astronautics. A Conclusions section, a glossary (“Terminologie et définitions”) and a short bibliography follow. The bibliography cites Rynin, Beyne, Dauvillier, de Vaucouleurs and the bulletins L’Astronef, Astronautics, the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society and Weltraum. The back wrapper lists other numbers in the series.