The Wright Brothers for kids; how they invented the airplane.Chicago Review Press. 146p. illus. bibliog. index. c2003. 1-55652-477-3. $14.95. JS* It is a romantic myth that the Wright brothers were just quaint bicycle builders and backroom back·room n. or back room 1. A room located at the rear. 2. The meeting place used by an inconspicuous controlling group. adj. 1. tinkers who somehow managed a spluttering flight in a large box kite in 1903. In reality they were meticulous engineers and meticulous researchers who, far from merely building the first airplane, did more than anyone else to further the science of aerodynamics aerodynamics, study of gases in motion. As the principal application of aerodynamics is the design of aircraft, air is the gas with which the science is most concerned. . Indeed, science would know them as first-rate theoretical physicists even if they had never tried to make a practical machine. Highly appropriate for this Centennial of Powered Flight year, this book not only revisits the tale of the bicycle makers and their wonderful dream, but also presents the story in terms of the entire scientific milieu of their day. Just as heavier-than-air research had begun long before the Wrights, ramifications ramifications npl → Auswirkungen pl of their feats continued long after their triumph at Kill Devil Hills. It was not their fault that their discoveries so intrigued the world that aeronautics took off like wildfire. In an astonishingly a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. short time, the world appropriated their research, and newer designs made their Flyer totally obsolete. Wilbur soon died of typhoid typhoid or typhoid fever Acute infectious disease resembling typhus (and distinguished from it only in the 19th century). Salmonella typhi, usually ingested in food or water, multiplies in the intestinal wall and then enters the bloodstream, causing , and the rest of Orville's long life was spent with a middling aircraft company amid a long series of sullen lawsuits. Putting it quite plainly, this book is one of the best I have ever found about the Wright brothers and the invention of human flight. Despite the title, this really is a book for middle-and high school readers, and adults who are interested in the Wright era will be found dipping into it. Just as the text is much more mature than might be expected, most of the 21 craft projects that accompany it are somewhat too advanced for younger students. Making flyable kites and gliders and building a rubber-powered airplane are probably more appropriate for young readers who have outgrown the term "kids." Even so, the projects are a wonderful complement to the text. Raymond L. Puffer puffer, common name for some tropical marine fish of the family Tetraodontidae. The puffers and their allies, the boxfish, the porcupinefish, and the ocean sunfish or headfish, form an odd group (order Tetraodontiformes). , PhD, Historian, Edwards AFB AFB abbr. acid-fast bacillus AFB Acid-fast bacillus, also 1. Aflatoxin B 2. Aorto-femoral bypass , Lancaster, CA |
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