First Man Neil Armstrong Book Report
First Man
The Life of Neil Armstrong by James Hansen
James Hansen is a history professor at Auburn University who has spent 25 years studying and writing the history of space. In the book the "First Man", he provided the most comprehensive analysis of Neil Armstrong. There are 648 fact-filled pages, which are supplemented by another 121 pages of acknowledgements, notes, bibliography, index, and photo credits. And well "First Man" is, as Hansen himself notes, "an authorized biography more candid, honest, and unvarnished than most unauthorized biographies."
"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." James Hansen makes it clear that throughout his life, Armstrong has been his own man, consistent, focused, quiet, and private. …show more content…
This section is equally, maybe more detailed, but it is so much more focused. Details here never seem to be superfluous; they support and reinforce the enormous difficulty of the flight, the landing, and the return to earth. The prose sparkles here, and the most mundane communications between the astronauts and Houston, in their understated manner and tone, institute more life to the text than in the 400 pages which preceded. His mother Viola, a deeply religious woman, said, "It seemed as if from the very moment he was born - further back still, from the time my husband's family and my own ancestry originated back in Europe long centuries ago - that our son was destined for this mission." There is an extensive and very well-reasoned discussion of what Armstrong actually said ("That's one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind.") when he set foot on the moon and how that particular statement came about. Armstrong feels that the notorious missing "a" was simply the result of his typically soft speech and tendency to drop syllables.
Hansen ends the chapters on Apollo 11 with the statement that when the flight was over and Armstrong returned home, his "life on the dark side of the Moon had begun." His life as a private person was compromised. Hansen makes it understandable why Armstrong had to become a "recluse" as one writer called him. It is this final section, however, where the biography's weakness appears. The information in this brief section of 67 pages covers the last 35 years in a less than detailed manner, especially when compared with the massive documentation of Armstrong's early life and the Apollo 11
The Life of Neil Armstrong by James Hansen
James Hansen is a history professor at Auburn University who has spent 25 years studying and writing the history of space. In the book the "First Man", he provided the most comprehensive analysis of Neil Armstrong. There are 648 fact-filled pages, which are supplemented by another 121 pages of acknowledgements, notes, bibliography, index, and photo credits. And well "First Man" is, as Hansen himself notes, "an authorized biography more candid, honest, and unvarnished than most unauthorized biographies."
"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." James Hansen makes it clear that throughout his life, Armstrong has been his own man, consistent, focused, quiet, and private. …show more content…
This section is equally, maybe more detailed, but it is so much more focused. Details here never seem to be superfluous; they support and reinforce the enormous difficulty of the flight, the landing, and the return to earth. The prose sparkles here, and the most mundane communications between the astronauts and Houston, in their understated manner and tone, institute more life to the text than in the 400 pages which preceded. His mother Viola, a deeply religious woman, said, "It seemed as if from the very moment he was born - further back still, from the time my husband's family and my own ancestry originated back in Europe long centuries ago - that our son was destined for this mission." There is an extensive and very well-reasoned discussion of what Armstrong actually said ("That's one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind.") when he set foot on the moon and how that particular statement came about. Armstrong feels that the notorious missing "a" was simply the result of his typically soft speech and tendency to drop syllables.
Hansen ends the chapters on Apollo 11 with the statement that when the flight was over and Armstrong returned home, his "life on the dark side of the Moon had begun." His life as a private person was compromised. Hansen makes it understandable why Armstrong had to become a "recluse" as one writer called him. It is this final section, however, where the biography's weakness appears. The information in this brief section of 67 pages covers the last 35 years in a less than detailed manner, especially when compared with the massive documentation of Armstrong's early life and the Apollo 11