Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons - Softcover

Published in hardcover by Harcourt, 2005, 0-15-100997-X

"Forget geek stereotypes. Parsons's life seems straight out of a Hollywood thriller. . . . Pendle's book leaves us with a taste of genius's energy and fragility." -- Los Angeles Magazine

ROCKET SCIENTIST KILLED IN PASADENA EXPLOSION screamed the headline of the Los Angeles Times. John Parsons, a maverick rocketeer who helped transform the rocket from a derided sci-fi plotline into a reality, was at first mourned as a scientific prodigy. But reporters soon uncovered a more shocking story: Parsons had been a devotee of black magic.

In this dazzling portrait of prewar superstition, cold war paranoia, and futuristic possibility, George Pendle re-creates the world of John Parsons, leader of the motley band of enthusiastic young men who founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a cornerstone of the American space program. With a cast of characters including Howard Hughes, L. Ron Hubbard, and Robert Heinlein, Strange Angel explores the unruly consequences of genius.

"[Pendle] depicts Parsons' short, spectacular life as akin to one of his early rocket tests — a brilliant flash, a quick soar, and an inevitable, erratic fizzle back to Earth. Pendle weaves a fascinating yarn, reaching from the earliest sci-fi dreams of manned spaceflight to the real-life trial-and-error process that would eventually make it possible." --Seattle Times

GEORGE PENDLE writes about science, art, and culture for the Times (London), the Sunday Times, and the Financial Times, among other publications. He lives in New York City.