There are some remarkable sections on the technological breakthroughs that spun off from Apollo, giving participating corporations a headstart on commercial applications – CAT scanners, miniaturised cameras now found in smartphones, foil based insulation, LEDs – all rolled out of the space programme. That might sound like the most boring take on the space programme ever written, but it’s full of fascinating details about partnerships and collaboration. Mazzucato focuses on the project management, the kinds of contracts NASA was signing, the way companies worked together. Or they might talk about the technology, the geopolitics of the space race, or the drama of the events itself. When people write about the space programme, the attention is often on the people – the astronauts and engineers, and what it was like to walk on the moon. There’s no better place to study grand projects than the original moonshot, and the book’s most fun chapter digs into the lessons that can be learned from Apollo. The book investigates how we might take the ambition of the moon landings and “apply the same level of boldness and experimentation to the biggest problems of our time – from health challenges such as pandemics, to environmental challenges such as global warming”. Sure enough, she makes clear that “moonshots must be understood not as siloed big endeavours, perhaps the pet project of a minister, but rather as bold societal goals which can be achieved by collaboration on a large scale between public and private entities.” In short, it’s about setting ambitious goals that will make a difference to people’s lives, and collaborating across sectors to make it happen. Still, it’s Mariana Mazzucato and she’s better than that.

Mazzucato’s book doesn’t help matters with a front cover that literally depicts money being thrown, in the form of a paper plane. Dominic Cummings was a big fan of the moonshot, and talked the government into a string of ‘high risk, high reward’ projects that have mainly meant throwing millions of pounds at private consultants. For me, the word implies pet projects for national pride or politician’s egos, or perhaps the egos of their megalomaniacal advisors.

Mariana mazzucato mission economy