The Meaning and Value of Spaceflight: Public Perceptions

by William Sims Bainbridge

Overview

This book presents the most serious and comprehensive study, by far, of American public perceptions about the meaning of space exploration, analyzing vast troves of questionnaire data collected by many researchers and polling firms over a span of six decades and anchored in influential social science theories. It doesn't simply report the percentages who held various opinions, but employs sophisticated statistical techniques to answer profound questions and achieve fresh discoveries.

Both the Bush and the Obama administrations have cut back severely on fundamental research in space science and engineering. Understanding better what space exploration means for citizens can contribute to charting a feasible but progressive course. Since the end of the Space Race between the US and the USSR, social scientists have almost completely ignored space exploration as a topic for serious analysis and this book seeks to revive that kind of contribution.

The author communicates the insights in a lucid style, not only intelligible but interesting to readers from a variety of backgrounds.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783319381060
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	08/26/2015
Series:	Space and Society
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2015
Pages:	225
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

William Sims Bainbridge is an experienced researcher on the history and sociology of space development and a leader in developing new computational methods of questionnaire administration and analysis, as well as a writer who knows how to communicate clearly to readers interested in spaceflight or science and technology more broadly.

Table of Contents

Part I Factors.- The Space Race.- The General Social Survey.- Goals in Space.- Part II Correlations.- Events.- Sciences.- Technologies.- Part III Culture.- Literature.- Popular Media.- Simulation.- Conclusion.- The Final Frontier.