Stanley Meltzoff – Literary Art and Illustration

Though I’d think not as well known as Arthur C. Clarke’s The Exploration of Space, which was published in 1951, John Leonard’s Flight Into Space follows much the same theme, presenting an overview of the technical aspects of rocketry, the biological and neurological effects of astronautics on the human body, space travel (well, within the solar system!), and, scientific knowledge about the moon and planets, all with a serious but easy literary style. Of course, the book’s content is now quaintly dated, which is vastly less a reflection of Leonard’s ability as a writer, than it is a measure of the enormous technological and scientific advances made in the 79 years since 1954.

As for the cover art, the artist is unknown. The painting lacks a signature, and the artist’s name is unmentioned on the title page. However, by looks alone, it seems to have been done by Stanley Meltzoff. At least, it seems so to me.

Jonathan N. Leonard Dies at 71; Author and Time Science Editor

May 16, 1975

Jonathan Norton Leonard, author and former science editor of Time magazine, died yesterday in Roosevelt Hospital. He was 71 years old and lived in Hastings‐on‐Hudson, N.Y., and Sandwich, Mass.

As science editor of Time from 1945 to 1965, Mr. Leonard was a witness to major scientific events of those years, including the early flights of satellites and rockets, experiments investigating genetic mysteries and the development of electronic computers. He was among the first to report on nuclear fission.

His ability to describe complex scientific events in simple terms made him a leading popularizer of science.

A member of an old Sandwich, Mass., family, he embarked on a career as a freelance writer after graduating from Harvard University in 1925 and selling a number of short stories to The Saturday Evening Post.

His early books included the biographies “Loki: The Life of Charles Proteus Steinmetz” and “The Tragedy of Henry Ford” and “Three Years Down,” short history of the Depression.

He joined Time in 1943 as Latin‐American editor. He was a staff writer for Time‐Life Books from 1965 to 1968.

His many works on scientific subjects included “Enjoyment of Science,” “Flight Into Space” and “Planets” with the Cornell University astronomer Dr. Carl Sagan.

His more recent books in the Time‐Life series included “Ancient America,” “Early Japan,” “The World of Thomas Gainsborough” and “Atlantic Beaches.”

He wrote many reviews for The New York Times Book Review.

In Sandwich, Mass., he was a cranberry farmer by avocation.

Surviving are his widow, the former Maria Alzamora; a son, Jonathan A. of Arlington, Va., and a sister, Mrs. Bradford Shaw of Sandwich.