Willy Ley

Willy Otto Oskar Ley (October 2, 1906 June 24,

1969) was a German-American science writer, spaceight advocate, and historian of science who helped to
popularize rocketry, spaceight, and natural history in
both Germany and the United States. The crater Ley on
the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.

(The Rocket). Ley would eventually become the groups

Vice-President, during a time when it had no active President. Meanwhile, he was writing hundreds of short articles about rockets for German and foreign newspapers.

Due to the inuence of Ley and other popular science

writers, such as Max Valier, Germans witnessed a shortlived rocketry fad in Berlin.[6] From exhibits at public locations to large spectator events, such as Fritz von
1 Early life and Berlin years
Opel's rocket-car stunts, the German public was excited
about both the future possibilities of space travel and the
Willy Otto Oskar Ley was the son of Julius Otto Ley, potential for new "weapons of wonder" that could revive
a traveling merchant, and Frida May, the daughter of a the German Empire.
Lutheran sexton.[2] Ley grew up in his native Berlin dur- The rocketry fad culminated with Fritz Lang's 1929
ing the First World War under the supervision of two lm Die Frau im Mond ("Woman in the Moon"), which
aunts. When war erupted, his father was in Great Britain. became the rst realistic depiction of spaceight in cinConsequently, he spent the remainder of the war at a de- ematic history. Although Oberth is often credited as the
tention camp on the Isle of Man. Meanwhile, his mother main technical consultant to the lm, Leys role was of
worked as milliner in a distant city in Germany.
central importance. Oberth was tasked with building a
As Ley later recalled, he grew up, so to speak, in the small rocket, to be launched at the lms premiere. This
shadow of the Museum of Natural History in Berlin, project never materialized. However, Leys work on the
where he spent Sundays exploring the exhibits and ask- movie did. As director Fritz Lang later recalled, The
ing questions.[3] When his school teacher asked him to work he had done as consultant and advisor... was amazcompose an essay on the subject What Do I Want to Be ing. The models of the spaceship, really a highly adWhen I Am Grown and Why?" Ley responded: I want to vanced model of a rocket, the trajectories and the orbits
be an explorer.[3] To his dismay, the teacher thought this of the modular capsule from the earth, around the earth,
silly, especially for someone of his family background. and to the moon and back... were so accurate that in 1937
the Gestapo conscated not only all models of the spacePlus, what was left to explore in the twentieth century?
ship but also all foreign prints of the picture.[7]
Ley remained unconvinced by this skeptical attitude.
When he was old enough, he studied astronomy, physics, Despite the many successes, the rocketry fad could not
zoology, and paleontology at the University of Berlin.[4] be sustained during the early years of the Great DepresLey explained, I was never quite sure whether my stud- sion. The German public lost interest amidst economic
ies would earn me the title of zoologist or geologist, turmoil. Meanwhile, rocket researchers, such as Rudolf
but I kept exploring, in a manner of speaking, looking Nebel, formed closer ties with the military, which greatly
especially into such corners as others had neglected.[5] expanded under the leadership of Wernher von Braun.
He then became interested in spaceight after reading With the collapse of the VfR, the rise of a culture of
Hermann Oberth's book Die Rakete zu den Planetenru- necessary secrecy, and the loss of public enthusiasm, Ley
men (The Rocket into Interplanetary Space). Although grew discouraged. He continued to write articles for the
it was a technical book that was dicult to understand, domestic and foreign press, while he stayed in touch with
Ley worked through the calculations and concluded that close friends. Yet, for the most part, Ley turned back
outer space would soon become the next great frontier of to his original scientic interests, while writing a bioghuman exploration. Ley was so convinced by Oberths raphy of Conrad Gessner (the Father of modern Zoolbook that he sat down (at the age of 19) to write a pop- ogy). To make ends meet, Ley also worked as a clerk and
ularization of its contents. He also began corresponding then manager at a Berlin bank.
with every known rocket enthusiast in Europe, including When the Nazis seized power, Leys situation became inOberth himself. After publishing Die Fahrt ins Weltall creasingly desperate. He was horried by National So(Travel in Outer Space) in 1926, Ley became one of the cialism, its ideology, and its style of violent politics. His
rst members of Germanys amateur rocket group, the perception of political events can be inferred from a short
Verein fr Raumschiahrt (VfR Spaceight Society) science ction story called Fog, which Ley wrote in
in 1927 and wrote extensively for its journal, Die Rakete
1

2 IN THE UNITED STATES

1940 under the pen name of Robert Wiley.[8] It is a biographical narrative about an oce manager dealing with
the everyday eects of totalitarianism. Although the
story is set in New York City during a failed Communist revolution, it is clear that Ley is retelling his personal
experiences in Berlin. In fact, John Campbell, the editor of Astounding, requested that Ley center the narrative
on his personal experience.[9] Ley not only disliked the
irrational nature of German politics, but he also associated the Nazis with the rise of Pseudo-science.[10] To
make matters worse, Ley had an established reputation
as an international scientist, who openly shared and popularized technical information about rocketry, while his
articles continued to be republished by foreign newspapers throughout 1934.
In January 1935, Ley used company stationery to write a
letter that authorized his vacation in London.[11] Carrying
only his favorite books, a few changes of clothing, and
travel documentation, Ley ed Germany for Great Britain
and ultimately the United States.

In the United States

One of Leys regular science columns took the cover of the July
1955 issue of Galaxy

Ley contributed non-ction pieces to several American science

ction magazines, including Other Worlds

Another Ley science column was cover-featured on the October

1955 Galaxy

In 1936, he supervised operations of two rocket planes

carrying mail at Greenwood Lake, NY.[12] Ley was an ginning with The Dawn of the Conquest of Space in the
avid reader of science ction, and began publishing sci- March 1937 issue of Astounding Stories. In the February
entic articles in American science ction magazines, be- 1937 issue of that same magazine, he had published a

3
A Martian Adventure in the 1962 anthology Great Science Fiction by Scientists (Collier Books, Gro Conklin,
ed.). Ley had a regular science column called For Your
Information in Galaxy Science Fiction from its premiere
in October, 1950 until his death.[13] He was a member
of science ction fandom as well, attending science ction conventions, and was eventually a Guest of Honor at
Philcon II, the 1953 World Science Fiction Convention.

Leys Lets Build an Extraterrestrial!" took the cover of the April

1956, issue of Galaxy, illustrated by Ed Emshwiller

His book Rockets the Future of Travel Beyond the Stratosphere (1944) describes the early rockets at VfR and
more futuristic projects to reach the moon using a 3stage rocket as high as 1/3 of the Empire State Building" a very good estimate of the height of the Saturn
V rocket designed 20 years later. His works from the
1950s and '60s are regarded as classics of popular science
and include The Conquest of Space 1949 (with Chesley
Bonestell), The Conquest of the Moon (with Wernher
von Braun and Fred Whipple, 1953), and Beyond the
Solar System (1964). His book, Rockets, Missiles, and
Space Travel, (1957) was cited in the Space Handbook:
Astronautics and its Applications, a sta report of the
Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration
of the U.S. House of Representatives, which provided
non-technical information about spaceight to U.S. policy makers.[14] Ley participated in "Man in Space", a
1955 episode of Disneyland which explained spaceight
to a large television audience.[15] Fellow Galaxy columnist Floyd C. Gale wrote that Ley has become as familiar
to TV audiences as Howdy Doody".[16] In the late 1950s,
he designed for Monogram models a range of space vehicles. The kits included informational booklets on space
travel written by Ley.[17] He also consulted for the Tom
Corbett, Space Cadet series of childrens science ction
books and TV series, as well as the 1959 feature lm entitled "The Space Explorers. Robert A. Heinlein honored
him by mentioning a future Leyport on the Moon in his
1952 juvenile novel The Rolling Stones.
In 1954, Ley wrote Engineers Dreams in which he discussed 'Seven Future Wonders of the World'. These included accurate predictions of the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France and commercial wind, solar and
geothermal power. Other schemes were less practical:
damming the River Jordan to provide power and irrigation to Israel/Palestine and the plans of fellow German
Herman Srgel to drain the Mediterranean to link Europe
with Africa and create the new continent of Atlantropa.

Ley was best known for his books on rocketry and related topics, but he also wrote a number of books about
animals. One notable book was Exotic Zoology (1959),
which combined some of his older writings with new
ones. This is of some interest to cryptozoology, as Ley
Leys Are We Going to Build a Space Station?" was cover- discusses the Yeti and sea serpents, as well as reports of
relict dinosaurs. The books rst section (Myth?) enterfeatured on the December 1962 issue of Galaxy
tains the possibility that some legendary creatures (like
the sirrush, the unicorn or the cyclops) might be based
science ction short story At the Perihelion under the on actual animals (or misinterpretation of animals and/or
pseudonym Robert Wiley, which was later reprinted as their remains).

He was a member of the all-male literary banqueting

club the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis
of Isaac Asimov's ctional group of mystery solvers the
Black Widowers.
Ley died at the age of 62 on June 24, 1969 less than a
month before men rst landed on the Moon , in his home
in Jackson Heights, Queens, where he had lived with his
family since the mid-1950s.[18]

PUBLICATIONS[19]

(with Wernher Von Braun; et al. (1953). The Complete Book of Outer Space. Maco Magazine Corporation.
Braun, Wernher von; Fred Lawrence Whipple;
Willy Ley (1953) [1952 Colliers Man on the
Moon]. Cornelius Ryan, ed. Conquest of the
Moon. illustrated by Chesley Bonestell, Fred Freeman, Rolf Klep. New York: The Viking Press.
Engineers Dreams. Viking Press. 1954. ISBN 9789997483218.

[19]

Publications

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Die Fahrt ins Weltall. Hachmeister & Thal. 1926.

Das Drachenbuch:
Plaudereien von Echsen,
Lurchen und Vorweltsaurien. Theringer VerlagsAnstalt/H. Bartholomaeus. 1927.

Salamanders and other Wonders.

1955.

Viking Press.

(with Wernher Von Braun) (1956). The Exploration

of Mars. Viking Press.
Ley, Willy (1957). Adventure in Space: Space Pilots.
Guild Press.
Man-Made Satellites. Guild Press. 1957.

Mars der Kriegsplanet. Hachmeister & Thal. 1927.

Space Pilots. Guild Press. 1957.

Eiszeit. Theringer Verlags-Anstalt/H. Bartholomaeus. 1927.

(with Wernher Von Braun) (1957). The Complete

Book of Satellites and Outer Space (2nd ed.). Maco
Magazine Corporation.

Konrad Gessner: Leben und Werk.

Drucke. 1929.

Muenchner

Grundriss einer Geschichte der Rakete (small book).

Hachmeister & Thal. 1932.
Luftschutz-ABC. Hachmeister & Thal. 1934.
The Lungsh and the Unicorn; an Excursion into Romantic Zoology. Modern Age Books. 1941.
The Days of Creation; a Biography of Our Planet.
Modern Age Books, NY. 1941.
Bombs and Bombing. Modern Age Books, NY.
1941.
Shells and Shooting. Modern Age Books, New York.
1942.
Rockets; The Future of Travel Beyond the Stratosphere. Viking Press. 1944.
The Lungsh, the Dodo, & the Unicorn: An Excursion Into Romantic Zoology (expanded edition of The
Lungsh and the Unicorn). Viking Prss. 1948.
(with Chesley Bonestell) (1949). The Conquest of
Space.
Dragons in Amber. Further adventures of a romantic
naturalist. Sidgwick & Jackson. 1951.
(with L. Sprague de Camp) (1952). Lands Beyond.
Rinehart.

Ley, Willy (1958). Adventure in Space: Space Stations. Guild Press.

Satellites, Rockets and Outer Space. New American
Library. 1958.
Ranger to the Moon. New American Library. 1958.
Ley, Willy (1958) [1944]. Rockets, Missiles and
Space Travel. New York: The Viking Press.
Willy Leys Exotic Zoology. Random House. 1959.
ISBN 0-517-62545-8.
Ley, Willy (1959). Mars and Beyond: A Tomorrowland Adventure, adapted for school use by Willy Ley.
L. W. Singer.
Ley, Willy (1959). Tomorrow the Moon: A Tomorrowland Adventure, adapted for school use by Willy
Ley. L. W. Singer.
Ley, Willy (1960). Rockets (published lectures).
Doubleday.
Ley, Willy (1961). Ballistics. Nelson Doubleday,
New York.
Ley, Willy (1961). Planets. Nelson Doubleday,
New York.
The Poles. LIFE Nature Library. 1962.
Ley, Willy (1963) [1963]. Harnessing space. New
York: MacMillan. p. 314.

5
Watchers of the Sky: an Informal History of Astronomy From Babylon to the Space Age. Viking Press.
1963.
Fire. Doubleday. 1963.

[4] Darling, David. Willy Ley. ... uent in German, English, Italian, French, and Russian
[5] Ley, Exotic Zoology, viii

Beyond the Solar System. Viking Press. 1964.

New

[6] Michael J. Neufeld, Weimar Culture and Futuristic Technology: The Rocketry and Spaceight Fad in Germany,
19191933, in Technology and Culture 31:4 (October
1990): 725752

Our Work in Space. MacMillan. 1964. ISBN 1251-02668-0.

[7] Fritz Lang, Sci-Fi Film-makers Debt to Rocket Man

Willy Ley, Los Angeles Times, July 27, 1969, pg. P24

Mariner IV to Mars. New American Library. 1966.

ISBN 1-251-02668-0.

[8] Robert Wiley, Fog, Astounding Science Fiction (December, 1940)

Willy Leys For Your Information: On Earth and in

the Sky. DoubleDay. 1967.

[9] Sam Moskowitz, Willy Ley in the U.S.A., Fantasy Review #100 (April, 1987): 17

Willy Ley (1967). The Borders of Mathematics.

Pyramid Publications, New York.

[10] Willy Ley, Pseudoscience in Naziland Astounding Science Fiction 39/3(1947): 9098

Rockets, Missiles, And Men In Space (revision of Rockets, Missiles, and Space Travel).
Signet/Viking. 1968. Signet 451-W3889, Library
of Congress Catalog 67-20676.

[11] Moskowitz, Willy Ley: Forgotten Prophet, 12

Inside the Orbit of the Earth. McGraw Hill. 1968.

[14] Space Handbook: Astronautics and its Applications.

NASA.

Dawn of Zoology. Prentice-Hall. 1968. ISBN 60003-8663-X.

[15] Ley, Willy (October 1955). For Your Information.

Galaxy. p. 60. Retrieved 16 December 2013.

Ley, Willy (1968). The Meteorite Craters /Illustrated

by John Bierhorst. Weybright and Talley.

[16] Gale, Floyd C. (January 1956). Galaxys 5 Star Shelf.

Galaxy. p. 90. Retrieved 16 December 2013.

Ley, Willy (1968). Discovery of the Elements. Delacourte.

[17] Thrills in Space! with Willy Ley Space Models. Galaxy

(advertisement). December 1959. pp. 4647. Retrieved
15 June 2014.

Missiles, Moonprobes, and Megaparsecs.

American Library. 1964.

Another Look at Atlantis and Fifteen Other Essays.

DoubleDay. 1969. ISBN 0-517-14543-X.

[12] History of rocketry. Retrieved 2008-06-13.

[13] GSF at search.com

Events in Space. Popular Library. 1969.

[18] via United Press International. Space Scientist Willy Ley

Dies, Milwaukee Sentinel, June 25, 1969. Accessed May
28, 2009.

Visitors from Afar: The Comets. McGraw Hill.

1969.

[19] Ley, Willy (19061969) [list of books]". WolframResearch. Retrieved 2008-10-06.

Ley, Willy (1969). Gas Giants: The Largest Planets.

McGraw-Hill, New York.

5 Further reading

Ley, Willy (1969). The Drifting Continents. Weybright and Talley.

Ley, Willy (1971). Willy Leys Worlds of the
Past/Illustrated by Rudolph Zallinger. Golden Press,
New York.

[3] Willy Ley, Exotic Zoology, vii

References and notes

[1] Willy Ley Collection (pdf). National Air and Space

Archives. NASM archives.
[2] Sam Moskowitz, Willy Ley: Forgotten Prophet of the
Space Age, in Fantasy Review #99 (March 1987):12

Geppert, Alexander C. T. (2008). Space Personae:

Cosmopolitan Networks of Peripheral Knowledge,
19271957. Journal of Modern European History.
6 (2): 262286.

6 External links
Works by Willy Ley at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Willy Ley at Internet Archive
Willy Ley at the Internet Speculative Fiction
Database

6
A lm clip Longines Chronoscope with Dr. Willy
Ley (August 4, 1952)" is available at the Internet
Archive
Disneyland - Man in Space - Part 1 of 4. Video
in which Dr. Ley explains principles of rocketry at
11:36

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