Book Description

This is the story of the founding of the British Interplanetary Society Liverpool in 1933 before it relocated to London in 1937. It is the personal meticulous recollection of Leslie J Johnson who was the BIS’s First Hon. Secretary but later its treasurer, editor of the bulletin and the journal and a vice president. Published for the first time, this manuscript was written using a manual typewritten and rich first-hand source material consisting of thousands of handwritten letters. As the Hon. secretary, he was the first contact for many now familiar names, including a teenage Arthur C Clarke in 1933, and from Dr W Olaf Stapledon, a professor at Liverpool University, writers EF Russell, Walter H Gillings, Edward John Carnell, Stephen Smith, a rocket mail experimenter in India, Herr Will Ley, a rocket engineer from Germany. Many who joined the BIS were interested in reading and writing science fiction, including Johnson. One of his earliest stories, “Satellites of Death”, was published in 1938, two decades before the launch of Sputnik. The first passenger railway, military submarine and programable computer emerged in the Northwest of England for the first time. It was from this generation that gifted and visionary individuals emerged in pursuit of the idea and ideals of interplanetary space travel. Similar societies were founded around the world at about the same time but only the BIS continues to the present day contributing to British space policy and innovative ideas for spaceflight for communication satellites, human spaceflight and interstellar travel. As the BIS approaches its 90th year, it can celebrate some momentous achievements, including being a founding member in 1950 of the International Astronautical Federation which is now seen as the global premier body that binds the international space community.