AUTHOR: Hugh Blair-Smith FORMAT: Softcover/Kindle PAGES: 460 PUBLISHER: SDP Publishing ISBN: 978-0-9964345-3-9 DATE: 2015 RETAIL PRICE: $20.95/$7.20

>> reviewed by Ted Spitzmiller <<

Left Brains for the Right Stuff covers the development of the computer, the race to the Moon, and the Cold War, as well as the author’s career. The prologue begins with a phone call that initiated the first contract resulting from the Kennedy administration’s commitment to putting a man on the Moon—the Apollo Guidance Computer or AGC. The author’s status as an employee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at the time provides a unique perspective, as that institution would soon be overseeing the design and programming of the computer.

Blair-Smith discusses the history of computing (and its ever maturing hardware and software) and the space program with a focus on systems engineering. What is so amazing about this milieu is that the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous technique that was employed to put people on the Moon had not been seriously considered when the program began. Prior to this time, it was assumed that either a single large spacecraft would land on the Moon and return to Earth (Direct Ascent), or components would link-up in Earth orbit (Earth Orbit Rendezvous), but the ultimate selection of Lunar Orbit Rendezvous changed everything.