Rockets and Ray Guns: The Sci-Fi Science of the Cold War

“This slender paperback explores the contributions to fiction and reality by prescient novelists such as H. G. Wells, who foresaw atomic weapons in the early 20th century even as physicists were decoding the structure of the atom. … May alludes to several classic books, TV shows, and movies to illustrate the links between science and the intriguing and astounding predictions of fiction. Each chapter has references and pictures that edify the text. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers.” (N. Sadanand, Choice, Vol. 56 (5), January 2019)

“This is an entertaining and enlightening read for anyone with an interest in science, technology and space exploration. The author’s extensive knowledge and multi-disciplinary approach to his subject matter is a refreshing change from the dry histories of the Cold War that concentrate upon the military, economic and political factors but often ignore the role of human imagination. The book is illustrated with pulp magazine and pop culture imagery.” (David Clarke, Fortean Times, Issue 372, 2018)

“This book will appeal to a broad audience of specialist historians of ideas, social science, and politics as well as to students in a wide range of fields. It also serves as a model for revisiting many other partnerships in the history of social science, where mutual collaboration has been put in the shade by falsely aggrandizing searches for individual ‘greatness.’” (E. Stina Lyon, Serendipities, Vol. 3 (1), 2018)