Memoir / Science & Engineering: ASTRO TURF

Memoir / Science & Engineering: ASTRO TURF

THE BARE FACTS
Title:     Astro Turf: The Private Life of Rocket Science
Author:  M. G. Lord
Publisher:  Walker
Date of Publication:  2005
Pages:  259
Grade That Means Nothing Coming From Me:  B

SO BASICALLY, IT’S ABOUT…
A social history of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and a look at the people who build and launch rockets and satellites, dovetailed with the author’s attempt to learn more about her late father, who worked on several JPL projects.

WHY’D YOU WANNA READ THAT?
I do find the subject matter intriguing. And an interview with the author in Salon was so instantly interesting, I went right out and bought the book. So, kudos to the press agent, there.

AND HOW’D THAT WORK OUT FOR YOU?
It’s kind of a mixed bag. On the one hand, Lord is a charming storyteller, and the book is a quick, breezy read. But on the other hand, there is an essential confusion that lies at the heart of the book: Lord begins her investigation of JPL to try and learn more about why her father was cool and distant, but she discovers that her relationship to her father has origins far beyond the world of rocket science, and while we’re at it, the world of rocket science is not what you think it is. That confusion carried over to this reader. Not a literal “I don’t know what’s going on” confusion, but merely a sense that there is no one central thesis holding everything together. A sense that the center cannot hold.

Lord’s investigations have the feel of web-surfing. You know how you’ll be looking for one thing, and you’ll link to something else that turns out to be far more compelling. This is how we find ourselves in an investigation of gender roles in the science and engineering communities, or taking a side trip into the conflict between Cold War politics and homosexuality. In the most intriguing diversion, Lord provides a mini-biography of Frank Malina, one of JPL’s founders and a man who endures absurd persecution at the height of the Communist witch hunt, only to achieve redemption in a twist of delicious irony. Malina’s story, Lord seems to be saying, is the true archetype of the engineer: complex, deeper and more creative than the Dilbert-like stereotype.

There is a through-line, and it’s Lord’s own story. In essence, she’s trying to figure out how she got to be the way she is. (Her previous book was a cultural history of the Barbie doll, and she seems to be asking herself how one person could be interested in both dolls and the space program.) The stories she uncovers on the way to answering that question are fascinating. So maybe it’s quibbling too much to say that this makes her an extremely compelling storyteller, but not necessarily a great chronicler.

SHOULD I READ THIS?
Lord is a charming storyteller, and time spent with her is not wasted. She has provided a prism to look anew at the history of world of rocket science, and the people who are compelled to be in that world. She sees the fascinating people behind all the equations. I was glad to meet them, and to value their contributions in a whole new way.

Shane Wilson is a writer and contributing editor to The Greenroom).