ZERO TO EIGHTY: BEING MY LIFETIME DOINGS, REFLECTIONS, AND INVENTIONS, ALSO MY JOURNEY AROUND THE MOON. Princeton, New Jersey: Scientific Publishing Company, 1937. Octavo, pp. [i-vii] viii [ix-xvi] [1] 2-280 [281-283] [284-288: blank] [note: last two leaves are blanks], fifteen inserted plates including color frontispiece, diagrams in text, original tan cloth, spine panel stamped in black. First edition. A very technical fictional account of the invention of a spacecraft and circumnavigation of the Moon by the inventor of the Ajax-Northrup high-frequency induction furnace. The experiments begin in 1945 and the flight occurs in 1961. Interesting illustrations. "The book, a semi-fictional autobiography, contains a great deal about the author's experiments with solenoid guns, including photographs, and a résumé of the theory of space travel which Dr. Northrup wanted to accomplish by means of rockets initially accelerated in large solenoid guns" (Ley). Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 3-45. Bailey, Pilgrims Through Space and Time, pp. 124-25. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 179. Bleiler (1978), p. 162. Reginald 11927. Ciancone 187. Ley, Rockets, Missiles, and Space Travel, revised edition, 1957, p. 517. A bright, very good copy in very good pictorial dust jacket with chip from upper spine end, ink stains at lower edge of spine panel, and clipped price. A fairly nice example of a striking jacket (which reproduces the color frontispiece on the front panel) seldom found in superior condition. (#158533).
Price: $85.00
First edition so stated on copyright page.