cover image The Universal Man: Theodore Von Karman's Life in Aeronautics

The Universal Man: Theodore Von Karman's Life in Aeronautics

Michael H. Gorn. Smithsonian Books, $29.95 (202pp) ISBN 978-1-56098-165-7

Gorn ( Harnessing the Genie ) recounts here the career of one of the world's great figures in aeronautics. Hungarian-born Karman (1881-1963), trained as a mathematician and physicist, discovered some of the fundamental laws of aerodynamics early in the century and later applied these insights to the practical business of designing aircraft, dirigibles, rockets and missiles both in Europe and in this country (he became a U.S. citizen in 1936). In essence, he pioneered aerospace engineering and was one of the fathers of supersonic flight. Karman also founded, and was the moving force behind, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and the Air Force's Scientific Advisory Board. Gorn does a thorough job of explaining the importance of Karman's relationship with General Henry Arnold, the Army Air Corps chief during WW II, who grasped the connection between science and military success as well as the uses of air power in the postwar world, and recognized Karman's genius as organizer, expeditor and ``idea man.'' Photos. (Sept.)