262 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1958 
In order fully to grasp and understand the tremendous impact that 
spacepower will have on all of us, we must look to astronautics, one 
of the most important sciences of this new era. Our definition of 
astronautics would encompass “The science of man’s movements 
and/or his instruments in the universe.” As such, astronautics covers 
many subdivisions, including anthropology, astronomy, astrophysics, 
space law, space medicine, space sociology, and space flight. It is this 
last area, “space flight,” that is the most dramatic when considered 
in relation to the men, money, and material costs involved. Here 
is the vortex around which the other subdivisions revolve and obtain 
sustenance. 
ROCKETRY YESTERDAY ® 
The underlying developments which led to the present state-of-the- 
art in rocketry are the results of a combined effort of many nations 
and peoples. Three main periods can be distinguished in the develop- 
ment process: the first period extends from antiquity to A.D. 1242 
and Roger Bacon’s introduction of “De Mirabili Potestate Artis et 
Naturae” (On the Marvelous Powers of Art and Nature) ; the second 
period covers Sir Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion through the time 
of Sir William Congreve’s rockets (1670 to 1826) ; and the third period 
includes the publication of Goddard’s “A Method of Reaching Ex- 
treme Altitudes” through to the present (1919-58). 
In the first period, man learned how to make gunpowder and how 
to use the propulsive characteristics of this rapidly burning com- 
pound. In the second period, we saw not only the beginnings of 
science in rocketry, but we also witnessed the large-scale development 
and utilization of war rockets. In the third period, with the impetus 
of the Second World War, we saw the rocket develop from its pre- 
viously limited role of an artillery rocket to that of a multipurpose 
weapon and research tool. 
In these three periods, many famous names in history and science 
appear: in the first, Hero of Alexandria and Roger Bacon; in the 
second, Sir Isaac Newton and Sir William Congreve; and in the third 
appear such contributors as Konstantin E. Ziolkovsky and Nikolai 
A. Rynin of Russia; Hermann Oberth, Max Valier, Eugen Sanger, 
Wernher von Braun of Germany; Robert Esnault-Pelterie of France; 
and Dr. Robert H. Goddard of the United States. 
In the early part of the twentieth century modern rocket research 
began with the work of Dr. Goddard, who, backed by a small grant 
from the Smithsonian Institution, directed a group in research and 
development of military rockets during World War I. The group 
%Hxcerpts from Chapter 2 of Spacepower. 
