By George D. Morgan
Prometheus Books, July 2013
Mary Sherman Morgan may not be a name that’s mentioned among those in the pantheon of modern science. But according to Rocket Girl, the story of Morgan’s life and contributions to the field of rocket science, it should be. In 1957, Sherman Morgan invented the liquid fuel—hydyne—which powered the rocket that carried America’s first satellite into orbit, and “helped usher in the Space Age,” according to author George Morgan, her son. Her success in developing rocket propellants righted the course of American rocketry during the Cold War after the Soviet Union embarrassed US rocket scientists with the launches of Sputniks I and II.
Sadly, though, like those of biology’s Rosalind Franklin, Sherman Morgan’s contributions would go unrecognized ...
