JPL and the American Space Program: A History of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The story of JPL is much more than a technical or scientific history. Clayton R. Koppes has brought to life the political controversies and human interactions that erupt in a large, elite organization; traced the complex, frequently acrimonious relationship between JPL, its parent Caltech, the government, and the aerospace industry; and ultimately raised important questions about the funding, control and purposes of scientific and engineering research in the national security state.