The Wright Brothers
The #1 New York Times bestseller from David McCullough, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize—the dramatic story-behind-the-story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly—Wilbur and Orville Wright.
On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two brothers—bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio—changed history. But it would take the world some time to believe that the age of flight had begun, with the first powered machine carrying a pilot.
Orville and Wilbur Wright were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity. When they worked together, no problem seemed to be insurmountable. Wilbur was unquestionably a genius. Orville had such mechanical ingenuity as few had ever seen. That they had no more than a public high school education and little money never stopped them in their mission to take to the air. Nothing did, not even the self-evident reality that every time they took off, they risked being killed.
In this “enjoyable, fast-paced tale” (The Economist), master historian David McCullough “shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly” (The Washington Post) and “captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished” (The Wall Street Journal). He draws on the extensive Wright family papers to profile not only the brothers but their sister, Katharine, without whom things might well have gone differently for them. Essential reading, this is “a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency…about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished…The Wright Brothers soars” (The New York Times Book Review).
On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two brothers—bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio—changed history. But it would take the world some time to believe that the age of flight had begun, with the first powered machine carrying a pilot.
Orville and Wilbur Wright were men of exceptional courage and determination, and of far-ranging intellectual interests and ceaseless curiosity. When they worked together, no problem seemed to be insurmountable. Wilbur was unquestionably a genius. Orville had such mechanical ingenuity as few had ever seen. That they had no more than a public high school education and little money never stopped them in their mission to take to the air. Nothing did, not even the self-evident reality that every time they took off, they risked being killed.
In this “enjoyable, fast-paced tale” (The Economist), master historian David McCullough “shows as never before how two Ohio boys from a remarkable family taught the world to fly” (The Washington Post) and “captures the marvel of what the Wrights accomplished” (The Wall Street Journal). He draws on the extensive Wright family papers to profile not only the brothers but their sister, Katharine, without whom things might well have gone differently for them. Essential reading, this is “a story of timeless importance, told with uncommon empathy and fluency…about what might be the most astonishing feat mankind has ever accomplished…The Wright Brothers soars” (The New York Times Book Review).
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The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
262 pages
What’s it about?
This book takes us back to the turn of the century when air flight was the next great frontier. Wilbur and Orville Wright were men of a certain time and place. Their discoveries were fascinating, not only because they were innovative, but because of the process they used to move these ideas forward.
What did it make me think about?
As cheesy as it sounds- the Wright Brothers are the perfect example of what made America great.
Should I read it?
David McCullough writes about history in a way that is so readable. Before you know it you have finished the book and you are that much more knowledgable for it. You do not need to be an aviation buff to enjoy this book. The time and place are fascinating, as well as Wilbur and Orville themselves.
Quote-
" The whole course of their lives, they liked to say, had begun in childhood with a toy, and a French toy at that, and now they were in middle age in France, enjoying themselves no less than if they were children still.
With the diabolo the magic was not that the toy itself flew, as did Alphonse Penaud's helicopter. Here you yourself had to overcome the force of gravity with skill. You had to learn the trick by practice, and more practice, with the sticks and the strings, to keep the spool flying- just as an airplane was not enough in itself, one had to master the art of flying."
If you like this try-
One Summer; America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sachs
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
262 pages
What’s it about?
This book takes us back to the turn of the century when air flight was the next great frontier. Wilbur and Orville Wright were men of a certain time and place. Their discoveries were fascinating, not only because they were innovative, but because of the process they used to move these ideas forward.
What did it make me think about?
As cheesy as it sounds- the Wright Brothers are the perfect example of what made America great.
Should I read it?
David McCullough writes about history in a way that is so readable. Before you know it you have finished the book and you are that much more knowledgable for it. You do not need to be an aviation buff to enjoy this book. The time and place are fascinating, as well as Wilbur and Orville themselves.
Quote-
" The whole course of their lives, they liked to say, had begun in childhood with a toy, and a French toy at that, and now they were in middle age in France, enjoying themselves no less than if they were children still.
With the diabolo the magic was not that the toy itself flew, as did Alphonse Penaud's helicopter. Here you yourself had to overcome the force of gravity with skill. You had to learn the trick by practice, and more practice, with the sticks and the strings, to keep the spool flying- just as an airplane was not enough in itself, one had to master the art of flying."
If you like this try-
One Summer; America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
On the Move: A Life by Oliver Sachs
The book provides a handful of interesting anecdotes that provide interesting historical context and deepen one's appreciation for the creative and physical work that can be involved in invention. In particular:
+ The Wright Brothers essentially camped out doors on a remote island while doing most of their design, building and testing of their plane
+ The advent of the modern bicycle not only occurred during the Wright Brother's lifetime, but was still a novel product that they built and sold at the time their plane began to work
+ The design of the airplane, and in particular the mechanisms by which it achieved equilibrium in the air, were based on detailed study of birds flight. Rival inventors that first tried to solve mechanical problems all failed.
These interesting vignettes provide historical depth and useful lessons. However, if the book suffers, it is from the simple fact that the lives of great inventors / technologists are frequently uninteresting and centered around a fairly sustained pursuit of technical advance. The author struggles to hang narrative breaks onto what was essentially a ceaseless pursuit of scientific advance. You end up with the impression that it was probably much more interesting to be the Wright Brothers, struggling with all manner of complex problems, than to read about them doing so.
+ The Wright Brothers essentially camped out doors on a remote island while doing most of their design, building and testing of their plane
+ The advent of the modern bicycle not only occurred during the Wright Brother's lifetime, but was still a novel product that they built and sold at the time their plane began to work
+ The design of the airplane, and in particular the mechanisms by which it achieved equilibrium in the air, were based on detailed study of birds flight. Rival inventors that first tried to solve mechanical problems all failed.
These interesting vignettes provide historical depth and useful lessons. However, if the book suffers, it is from the simple fact that the lives of great inventors / technologists are frequently uninteresting and centered around a fairly sustained pursuit of technical advance. The author struggles to hang narrative breaks onto what was essentially a ceaseless pursuit of scientific advance. You end up with the impression that it was probably much more interesting to be the Wright Brothers, struggling with all manner of complex problems, than to read about them doing so.
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