What do people think about when they think of Southern California? Hollywood is probably high on the list, with beaches and freeways close on its heels. Aerospace may not top the list, but it should. Aerospace was the dominant industry in Southern California for much of the twentieth century; only after the end of the Cold War did Hollywood pass aerospace as the main employer in the region. What did it mean to have these two major industries, aerospace and entertainment, in such proximity? At first glance they seem to have little in common: one appears technological, the other creative; one the child of government demand, the other of commercial appeal. But the two share an intertwined history, one that shaped Southern California—and the rest of our world—in surprising ways.
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