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From Don Thompson
I’d like to recommend the recently published book “The Wright Brothers” by David McCullough.
Prior to reading the book, my knowledge of the Wrights was quite limited. I knew they were the first to build a machine that could fly at some place called Kitty Hawk and that’s about it.
The story of their discovery of flight as a serious scientific study, conducted over many years, is a joy to read. A joy because they lived up to being the kind of men who could conquer nature and because of the admiring and factual way that McCullough relates the story.
No embellishment was required to convey the courage and independence of these two men, their remarkably first-handed thinking, their perseverance, their erudition, and their insistence that they should be given credit for all of their achievements, including commercial profits.
The story even comes with a colorful villain. The U.S. government, via the Smithsonian, had been funding experiments in flight that cost vast sums of public money (over $70,000), all of which ended in failure and the death of a pilot. The Wright Brothers funded all of their work from the profits of their bicycle store in Dayton, Ohio. They spent about $1,000.
I hesitate to include too many details in this post because I don’t want to spoil the pleasure of any reader in experiencing the story for themselves. However, chapter 4 “Unyielding Resolve”, which relates their experiments using a custom built wind tunnel is worth the price of the book all by itself. They conducted tests of their own design, unlike any made before, to grasp the principles of aeronautics for themselves after discovering that the existing thinking in this area was riddled with errors.
The book is available in bookstores and on amazon.com.
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I loved this book. I’ve read a half a dozen books about the Wright Brothers. Some are more detailed; none are as effective at bringing the Wrights’ incredible story to life.
The invention of the first practical flying machine has all the elements of a terrific thriller. The heroes are men of independence and integrity (Wilbur Wright often reminds me of Howard Roark). There are high stakes, the creation of a device that will change history. There’s a meaningful conflict: the brothers have to build a working plane before their government-funded rival does it first. There’s the irony of the Wrights testing their plane over a farmer’s field only a few miles from Dayton, at a time when prominent voices were still proclaiming that it could not be done. And there’s a triumphant climax in which Wilbur Wright flies around the Empire State building while a million cheering spectators line the shores of Manhattan. Amazingly, that was only a decade after Wilbur performed his first experiment with a box kite.
This is a real life adventure story as dramatic as anything Ayn Rand could have dreamed up.
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Re Jim #2: Wilber died in 1912 and the ESB was completed in 1931. On the assumption that you misspoke and it was Orville, I did a search, but came up with nothing to indicate that he flew around the ESB. I tried Curtis, also without success. Undaunted, I came up with this:
Mary Victor Bruce, the daredevil pilot who broke land, air and sea speed records and was once arrested for flying circles around the Empire State Building, has died, her son said yesterday. She was 94. (1990)
Perhaps that’s the reference?
I ordered the book.
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My mistake, Ed. I meant to say the Statue of Liberty.
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Jim Whitton writes:
I’ve read a half a dozen books about the Wright Brothers. Some are more detailed; none are as effective at bringing the Wrights’ incredible story to life.
I am not suprised. I have not read this book, but I’d like to. I am very impressed of what I have read of David McCullough’s. He seems to be a uniquely talented non-modern historian.
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Intrigued by the above postings, I’ve just ordered a copy of the McCullough book on the Wright Brothers.
Several people mentioned other books, but no specifics. I enjoyed the James Tobin book, TO CONQUER THE AIR. It impressed me in much the same way, bringing to life the serious, scientific, creative, joyful manner in which the Wright Brothers went about the study of aeronautics, and how it led to their success and to their historic immortality.
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Dan S. writes:
Several people mentioned other books, but no specifics.
A lot of books have been written about the Wright Brothers, from many different angles. In case anyone’s looking for suggestions, these are a few I’ve read.
The big, comprehensive “definitive”biography is Wilbur and Orville by Fred Howard.
If you don’t want to read a whole book, Harold Evans wrote an excellent chapter on the Wrights in his book about U.S. innovators, They Made America.
The most technical book I’ve encountered is Visions of a Flying Machine by P. Jakab. For readers especially interested in the Wrights’ scientific and engineering achievements.
In One Day at Kitty Hawk, John. E. Walsh makes the case that Wilbur Wright was the real genius of the two brothers, although Orville made some important contributions.
And last year Lawrence Goldstone came out with Birdmen, a good retelling of the Wrights’ story, this time focusing on their patent battles against fellow aeronautics innovator and pilot Glenn Curtiss.
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I finished this book about a week ago, and wow, what a magnificent story of achievement!
At parts I nearly was leaping to my feet with excitement! Reading about the Wright brothers’ continued dedication in spite of adversity, and their numerous successes after much hardship was something special. I didn’t know much about their lives or about the history of flight in the broader context, but this story brought the lives of numerous enthusiasts and aficionados to life as nothing else I’ve ever read.
The ending was incredibly beautiful. I won’t give it away, but it brings to perspective how the Wright brothers’ achievements in flight built a foundation for later achievements in space.
It was just an awesome read, and I appreciate the recommendation!
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Ditto. As an inactive, high-time private pilot who explored aircraft design for a while, it was personal. I was deeply moved by the depth and breadth of the Wright brothers scientific approach to flight. I was quite taken by their personal character. There have been many heroes down through the centuries. Some built railroads or brought assembly line efficiencies to the auto industry and there were countless others. But the Wright brothers created a whole new mode of transportation, the implications of which are truly breathtaking.
Of particular interest, while the Smithsonian was making an abortive attempt at flight contemporaneously to the tune of $75,000, which was mostly taxpayers’ money, the Wrights spent but $1,000 of their own money.
It must have been the Wrights that Ayn Rand had in mind when she wrote:
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision. -
Bill Whittle recently posted a lovely little tribute to the Wrights and to some modern-day equivalents… https://www.billwhittle.com/afterburner/right-brothers
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A thoroughly absorbing book! As an Aerospace engineer myself, the most interesting aspect of the book was the Wright brother’s very practical engineering approach to the problem of Flight. In addition to tackling the technical aspects such as controllability & propellor design, their belief that the pilot’s skill and time spent in the air was as important to success as the design of the aircraft itself, was fascinating to read. I have not read of any other aviator of their time who considered that it was important for aviators to build up hours in the air. They were geniuses, indeed.
My thanks to Jim Whitton for his mention of ‘Birdmen’ – an interesting read. Birdmen does bring to light a lot of interesting facts about the Wright-Curtiss patent wars, but I thought that the overall tone of the book was quite negative towards the Wright brothers. The author has a low opinion of the concept of intellectual property rights and that opinion spoils the telling of an otherwise fascinating story.
For those that are interested enough to follow up on aviation, one of the best non-technical books on aviation is ‘Flight without Formula’ by A.C.Kermode. First published in 1970 with subsequent revisions, the content is slightly outdated, but the fundamentals science behind flight is explained in an engaging, easy to read style – a ‘Flight 101’ book.
As an aside: I’d highly recommend a visit to the ‘Greenfield Museum’ in Dearborn, MI. The insight and inspiration from a tour thru’ the actual Wright brother cycle shop and their home is well worth the visit. An added bonus is a walk thru’ the replica of Edison’s Menlo Park lab! Time will be well spent at that outdoor museum.
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Thanks for the tip, Manohari R!
I’d add, a visit to the actual Menlo Park lab is well worth the time too. Not to be confused with Edison NJ, Menlo Park is near Newark NJ (across the Hudson from NY City) and run by the National Park Service. Recently (2 years ago?) renovated, it is a delight to walk through. Edison’s office and papers are arranged such that one might expect him to walk in at any minute. The cot where he often slept was slightly rumpled when I was there last adding to the illusion.
I found the staff to be very knowledgeable and passionate about the place. Mini-tours run throughout the day making it easy to explore individually or follow a tour as you like. The site is very popular so school holidays may be better avoided. The last visit was in a downpour and I had the place to myself (or so it seemed, though there were plenty of visitors).
His house is also worth a visit though I’ve not been there for years and don’t recall the details.
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I just finished this book (David McCullough’s The Wright Brothers) based on everyone’s recommendation and definitely enjoyed it.
What struck me the most was their commitment to solving the flying problem and their unshakeable conviction that once the science was understood, flying would be no issue. It really concretizes the practical efficacy of reason in a very vivid way.
One of my favorite anecdotes in the book is a White House award ceremony during which President Taft states:
“I esteem it a great honor and an opportunity to present these medals to you as an evidence of what you have done. I am so glad—perhaps at a delayed hour—to show that in America it is not true that ‘a prophet is not without honor save in his own country.’ It is especially gratifying thus to note a great step in human discovery by paying honor to men who bear it so modestly. You made this discovery by a course that we of America like to feel is distinctly American—by keeping your noses right at the job until you had accomplished what you had determined to do.”
Contrast that to “You didn’t build it.”
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One-line summary: Wilbur and Orville, a comprehensive biography
Wilbur and Orville, a book Jim Whitton recommended, is a comprehensive biography of the Wright Brothers that provides a thorough defense of the originality of their achievement.
The book’s value, aside from its recounting of a story of a pathbreaking technological breakthrough, is its documentation (and refutation) of the corrupt anti-Wright campaign led by leaders of the Smithsonian Institute who sought to denigrate the value of what the Wrights accomplished.
An interesting historical anecdote contained in the book is a discussion of Orville Wright’s disdain for the writer Gertrude Stein (AR’s model for Lois Cook in The Fountainhead) whom he describes as “vulgar”.
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