Otto Willi Gail
From The Space Library
 Otto Willi Gail ca. 1928 | |
| Birth Name | Otto Willi Gail |
|---|---|
| Birth Date | Jul 18 1896 |
| Birth Place | Gunzenhausen Germany |
| Date of Death | Mar 29 1956 |
| Place of Death | Munich Germany |
| Occupation | Author, Engineer |
| Nationality | German |
| Notable Works | Der Schuß ins All, |
Otto Willi Gail was an author and popularizer of space travel in the 1920s and 1930s in Germany. He was also a member of the VfR. He capitalized on the experimental rocket work done by his friend Max Valier and the writings of Hermann Oberth. He worked with the German movie maker Erich Menzel and wrote the screenplay for the movie Griff nach dem Atom in 1949. Later that year he wrote the first draft of the animated documentary Raketen im Weltraum which featured a space station with artificial gravity provided by spinning rotation. The movie would not be completed until 1958 by which time Gail was dead and his name had been removed from the credits. Several of his stories were published in English in American science fiction magazines.
Novels
- Der Schuß ins All (1925) (The Shot into Infinity)
- Der Stein vom Mond (1926) (The Stone From the Moon)
- Hans Hardts Mondfahrt (1928) (By Rocket to the Moon)
- Die blaue Kugel (1929)
- Der Herr der Wellen (1949)
Non-fiction books
- Mit Raketenkraft ins Weltenall (1928)
- Wir plaudern uns durch die Physik (1931)
- Der Griff nach dem Atom (1947)
- Ebbe und Flut (1947)
- Physik der Weltraumfahrt (1948)
- Was weißt du von der Welt? (1947)
