The Earth Gazers

'An elegantly written history of man's efforts to reach space ... [Potter] has taken a considered risk in retelling the tale of how we first came to see our planet from the outside. It pays off beautifully. The result is a fresh and elegantly wrought account of mankind's journey from firing lumps of jerry- rigged metal from cabbage fields to crunching around in the dust of another world ... The Earth Gazers is a terrific piece of writing' The Times .