From the back cover:

The last quarter of this century will be an age of exploration such as Man has never seen before. Astronomy and physics will be the fields of knowledge most immediately affected. Yet the first direct results of astronautics may be less important in the long run than the indirect consequences. With the expansion of the world's mental horizons may come one of the greatest outbursts of creative activity ever known.
In THE CHALLENGE OF THE SPACESHIP Arthur C. Clarke speculates on the changes that will come in our own generation — the first generation to break away from the limitations of our own planet — and predicts some of the astonishing scientific developments that will inevitably come in future centuries. Among these will be manned spaceships traveling at speeds of more than 1,000,000 m.p.h., techniques for changing and controlling the climate of the entire earth, exploration of an area ten times greater than all our continents on the other planets of the Solar System, and discovery of the basic secrets of life and synthesis of living matter in the laboratory.

"Clarke is at his best when applying his technical knowledge to a hypothetical situation. This book is fun, and it contains more startling ideas than a bushel of science fiction magazines." - New York Times

Library of congress catalog number: 59-8248