“The Nature of Nostalgia.” Narrative Magazine, 2013.
“Come Back, Shane! The National Nostalgia.” Southwest Review, 2013.
“Crossing the Wide Missouri.” Yale Review, July 2012.
“In Good Hands: Camran Nezhat and the Dawn of Modern Surgery.” Gentry Magazine, October, 2009.
“In the American Mold: The Founders of Fairchild and the Pioneer Ethos.” Gentry Magazine, May, 2008.
“An American Epic: Gordon Moore and the Legacy of Fairchild.” Gentry Magazine, March, 2008.
“The Real Revolution.” Gentry Magazine, February, 2008.
“A Cheer for Jim Ransohoff: Notes on a Life Well-Lived.” Gentry Magazine, November, 2007.
“Never Give Up! The Odyssey of Hap Halloran.” Gentry Magazine, August, 2007.
“Why Return to the Moon?” Planetary Report, January/February, 2007. Written for Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
“Present at the Creation.” Gentry Magazine, February, 2007.
Review of Ten Days that Unexpectedly Changed America: Einstein’s Letter (History Channel, 2006). Journal of American History, December, 2006.
“Why We Explore.” Gentry Magazine, May, 2006.
“Coming of Age in the Cosmos.” Gentry Magazine, April, 2006.
“Seeking the Center at the Edge.” Gentry Magazine, March, 2006. Cover article.
“Pieces of the Past.” Gentry Magazine (South Bay), January, 2006.
“A Time of War and a Time of Peace: Profiles of the ‘Greatest Generation.’” Six-part series for Gentry Magazine, November, 2004-May, 2005.
“The Urge to Explore.” Mechanical Engineering, November, 2004. Text of speech written for Buzz Aldrin with shared byline.
“Edison, Thomas Alva.” In Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age, edited by Leonard Schlup and James G. Ryan, 2003.
“For Those Who Dared to Dream.” Explorers Journal, Winter, 2002/03). Written for Buzz Aldrin (shared byline omitted in error).
“Heroes on the Human Journey.” San Francisco Chronicle, February 5, 2003. Written for Buzz Aldrin with shared byline.
“Buzz Aldrin.” In My America: What My Country Means to Me, by 150 Americans from All Walks of Life, edited by Hugh Downs, 2002. Essay written for Buzz Aldrin.
“Touching the Sky.” San Francisco Magazine, December, 1999.
Review of Edison: A Life of Invention, by Paul Israel. Journal of American History, September, 1999.
“30 Years Later, Moon Landing Still Inspires,” USA Today, 19 July 1999, 17A. Editorial written for Buzz Aldrin.
“Air America.” Endless Vacation, July/August, 1998. Written for Buzz Aldrin with shared byline.
“A Cosmic Voyage: The Dream of Spaceflight.” Explorers Journal, Spring, 1998. Written for Buzz Aldrin with shared byline.
“Carl Sagan, Visionary.” Planetary Report, May/June, 1997.
“Kepler’s Children: The Dream of Spaceflight.” Yale Review, April, 1996.
“The Last Refuge of Innocence.” The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy, Fall, 1995. Reprinted on Noesis: Philosophical Research Online.
“The Dream of Spaceflight: Nostalgia for a Bygone Future.” Massachusetts Review, Spring, 1995. Cover article. Noted in Best American Essays 1996.
“Apollo’s Message: The Spirit of Wonder.” Wall Street Journal, July 20, 1994. Written for Buzz Aldrin.
The Sci-Fi Channel (National). “The Sci-Fi Channel’s Trip To the Moon.” July, 1994 (9 airings). Concluding statement written for Buzz Aldrin, hosting a one-hour documentary.
“Signature of Our Century.” U.S. News & World Report, July 11, 1994. Lead section of cover article written for Buzz Aldrin.
Review of From Machine Shop to Industrial Laboratory: Telegraphy and the Changing Context of American Invention, 1830-1920, by Paul Israel. Journal of American History, June, 1994.
“Seeking the Center at the Edge: Perspectives on the Meaning of Man in Space.” Virginia Quarterly Review, Winter, 1993. Cover article. Noted in Best American Essays 1994.
Review of Edison and the Business of Innovation, by Andre Millard. Journal of American History. June, 1991.
Review of Seeking Many Inventions: The Idea of Community in America, by Philip Abbott. Isis, December, 1989.
“An American Motif: The Steam Locomotive in the Collective Imagination.” Southwest Review, Autumn, 1987. Lead article. Submitted by editors for the Pushcart Prize.
“The Days After: Films on Nuclear Aftermath.” In Phoenix from the Ashes: The Literature of the Remade World, edited by Carl Yoke, 1987. Cited by reviewers as the best of the book’s twenty essays.
“Thomas Alva Edison.” In Book of Days: 1987. An Encyclopedia Of Information Sources On Historical Figures And Events, Keyed To Calendar Dates,edited by C. Edward Wall, 1986.
Review of The Culture of Time and Space, 1880-1918, by Stephen Kern. Isis, September, 1984.
“Time-Travel Romance on Film: Archetypes and Structures.” Extrapolation, Winter, 1984. Extrapolation’s 25th anniversary issue.
Papers and Speeches
Speech delivered by Buzz Aldrin at Highpoint University commencement, High Point, North Carolina, May 9, 2009. Quoted at length in the Raleigh Telegram, June 7, 2009.
Speech delivered by Buzz Aldrin at the New England Institute of Technology 64th commencement ceremony, Warwick, Rhode Island, May 1, 2005.
“The Wonder of Science; the Science of Wonder.” Talk given at Contact 2005, the 22nd annual conference of Contact: Cultures of the Imagination, NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif., March 18, 2005.
A Time of War and a Time of Peace: The Menlo Circus Club’s “Greatest Generation.” Atherton, Calif.: Menlo Circus Club, 2004.
Speech delivered by Buzz Aldrin at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama, June 20, 2004.
Speech delivered by Buzz Aldrin to convention of internet executives, August 24, 2000.
“The Dream of Spaceflight.” Lecture delivered at the Explorers Club, New York, N.Y., November 6, 2000.
“The Inner Reaches of Outer Space.” Lecture delivered at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., 2 November 2000. Introduced by Buzz Aldrin.
Speech delivered by Buzz Aldrin at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C., June 25, 1999. Televised on C-SPAN. Available on audio and videotape.
Speech delivered by Buzz Aldrin at the Chicago Tribune Moon Rock Dedication, Chicago, June 21, 1999.
Speech delivered by Buzz Aldrin to British Telecommunications, London, March 26, 1999.
Speech delivered by Buzz Aldrin at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, N.C., May 2, 1998. Video at http://www.tvontheweblive.com. Text at http://www.firstflight.org/whatsnew/buzz.html.
Speech delivered by Buzz Aldrin at the Planetary Society memorial for Carl Sagan, Pasadena, Calif., February 17, 1997.
Speech delivered by Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin at the Explorers’ Club, New York, March, 1994. Subsequently used on numerous occasions in connection with the 25th anniversary of the first moon landing, including a speech delivered to members of Congress in Washington, D.C., July 20, 1994, quoted in most major newspapers and on the McNeil-Lehrer Newshour.
“A Very Special Letter.” Safari Report: A Newsletter about Travel in Africa, Winter, 1994.
“What Has Edison Got To Do With 1987?” Paper presented at the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission Symposia, “Thomas Alva Edison Invents a New Century,” Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J., March 1987.
“Time-Travel Romance on Film: Structures and Archetypes.” Paper presented at the fifth annual meeting of the American Culture Association and the thirteenth annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association, Wichita, April 1983.
“Football Fandom: Notes on the Theology of Work and Play in America.” Paper presented at the joint conference of the California American Studies Association, San Jose, Calif., February 1979.
“Jaws: A Jungian Interpretation.” Paper presented at the sixth annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association, Chicago, April 1976.
“A Better Mousetrap: Thomas Alva Edison as an American Culture Hero.” Ph.D. diss., Stanford University, 1972.
“Alaska in the Republican and Democratic Party Platforms 1868-1900.” [1964] Paper deposited with the Ted C. Hinckley Papers, Western Washington University Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Bellingham, Washington.