Jet packs, Giant Magnets, and Robot Brains

There is something about the  graphic exuberance of 1950's and 60's illustration art has always captured my attention.  Maybe its their optimistic embrace of a happy, 'Jetsonian' future where science and technology will solve all our problems.  Or maybe its the way the graphic designers of this period appropriated the language of high art, particularly abstract expressionism and surrealism, in a humorous way.

Nothing evokes this graphic sensibility more than the book covers designed for the"How and Why Wonder Books".   Though these books were intended for children they have come be collected as works of art.  

Joe Roberts shares his obsession with the "How and Why Wonder Books" on his web site, rocketroberts.com,  which meticulously catalogues his personal collection.  I want to own them all, but Roberts isn't in this for the money...just the pure love of the art.  So where does that leave me?  Trawling the Internet, looking to buy my own.