The Mouse on the Moon (A Short Study of the Predictions of Science Fiction)

I have lately been reading a short comedy by Leonard Wibberly (author of The Mouse That Roared ) called The Mouse on the Moon .  This, like the original book, is only marginally Science Fiction, since it involves a trip to the moon by the world's smallest nation.  It's mostly about the absurdity of measures taken by both sides during the Cold War, along with studies of human relationships.  Also, of course, it's extremely funny, which is good since it's intended to be a comedy.

The book was first published in 1962, seven years prior to the actual landing on the moon.  One thing that struck  me was that the astronauts from the Duchy of Grand Fenwick chose the date of July 20th as their take off date, because the moon was to be at perigee (closest point of approach to Earth) at that time.  It was only after I thought about it for a while that it occurred to me that the date of the actual moon landing was July 22, 1969.  Was it coincidence, was it for the same reason given in the book (perigee) or did Mr Wibberly know something that the rest of us didn't?  No solid answers, of course, but something interesting to think about.  I've found, as a general rule, that, of the predictions given in science fiction, most are fairly wide of the mark, but some are dead on.

In any case, if you're interested in a cute comedy that might actually make you think, I strongly recommend both The Mouse that Roared and The Mouse on the Moon .  Since they've both been out of print for decades, they may be hard to find, but definitely worth reading.