von Braun Quotes

[Ralph Howard]

To do my part toward the group reading of GR I fetched *Wernher von Braun:
The authoritative and definitive biographical profile of the father of
modern space flight* by Erik Bergaust from our library in hopes of
seeing if the opening quote of GR is legitimate.  While a skimming of the
book has not given a definitive answer, it does make it at least plausible.

Bergaust is a great admirer and long time hunting buddy of von Braun so
the the level of scholarship is low (U. S. News & World Report, Time, and
Reader's Digest are the most respectiable sources quoted).  Moreover a
good deal of it is Bergaust recollections of conversations with von Braun
quoted from memory.  However as von Braun was still living when the book
was finished (1976) it is reasonable to assume that in contains little with
which von Braun disagrees.

As to the open quote of GR -- "Nature does not know extinction; all it knows
is transformation.  Everything science has taught me, and continues to teach
me, strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence
after death." -- Bergaust's chapter 11 *The starry sky above me* is
devoted to a conversation about religion he had with von Braun around a
camp fire in 1970 during a fishing trip of the American Viking Club.
Some quotes:

"I believe in an immortal soul."

"We tend to forget that technology and ethics and sisters.  While
technology controls the forces of nature around us, ethics try to
control the forces of nature within us."

"There is no reason why God cannot retain the same position in our modern
world that He held before the natural sciences began to pierce through the
wall of dogma erected by the Church."

"In spite of all the temporary setbacks that humanity has suffered through
the centuries, I strongly believe that God will see to it that man's path
will continue upwards, leading towards gradual improvement."

"The only thing I don't like about these hunting trips is that they upset
my crapping schedule!"

So I am will to bet as much as a buck that the quote in GR is on the up and
up.  

In other GR related facts from the book (some of which I am sure are old
hat to people on this list but were new to me):

The V-2 was 46 feet long and had a diameter of nearly 5.5 feet.  September
8, 1944 was the date of the first launch against London and the last was on 
at 4:45 on March 27, 1945.  During this time 1115 fell on England.  British
sources give statistics of 2742 killed and 6467 injured.  When deprived of
rockets von Braun's weapon of choice is a .300 magnum Mark IV with a
telescopic sight, a gift from Roy Weatherby.  He has used this on big game
in North America, Europe and Africa.



After dipping into into it a bit I have no intention of reading all of Mr.
Bergaust's tome, but if you are in a library it is worth taking a glance
at it as there is a certain amount of unintentional humor.  Just after the
table of contents there is a list of 80+ awards he has won including
Daughters of the America Revolution Americanism Award.  This is followed
by a picture section titled *Glimpses form Dr. Wernher von Braun's
Shooting Gallery* with pictures a pre V-2 rocket up to the Saturn V that
sent Armstrong, Aldin and Collins to the moon.  Chapter titles include 
*Hitler Gets a a Lesson in Rocketry* and *Prisoner of Peace* (always bad
for funding).   Finally from the index under von Braun

  loyalty to fatherland, 95
  loyalty to United States, 125, 518.


Ralph


-- 
Ralph Howard                    Phone:  (803) 777-2913 
Department of Mathematics       Fax:    (803) 777-3783 
University of South Carolina    e-mail: howard at math.sc.edu
Columbia, SC 29208 USA          http://www.math.sc.edu/~howard/