Song of the Sky

Guy Murchie (Jr.) (25 January 1907 – 8 July 1997) was a writer about science and philosophy: aviation, astronomy, biology, and the meaning of life. He was, successively, a world traveler; a war correspondent; a photographer, staff artist, and reporter for the Chicago Tribune; a pilot and flight instructor; a teacher; a lecturer; an aerial navigator; a building contractor; and founder and director of a summer camp for children. He was a practising member of the Bahá'í Faith. His books included Men on the Horizon (1932), Song of the Sky (1954), Music of the Spheres (1961), and The Seven Mysteries of Life (1978). The latter three books were chosen for promotion by the Book of the Month Club. He illustrated his books with etchings and woodcuts of his own design.

Murchie got the material for his breakthrough work Song of the Sky from his experience and investigations as an aviator and flight instructor. Though the subject of the book is largely science (with some references to spiritual matters), the content is delivered in Murchie's characteristically poetic way. The book does not address religion at length, but it does mention Bahá'u'lláh, founder of Murchie's religion, the Bahá'í Faith.

Song of the Sky was a Book of the Month Club selection for December 1954. The American Museum of Natural History awarded him the John Burroughs Medal in 1956 for Song of the Sky.

Song of the Sky was plagiarized by writer Alexander Theroux in 1994, apparently because Theroux failed to source his notes (wikipedia.org)