Wilhelm and Olmsted's "The Wright Brothers" Volume 2

Kindle Customer: Before reading this I knew little about the Wright Brothers other than what I remembered from a childhood trip to Kitty Hawk and their plane at the Smithsonian. I was very interested in reading about their application of scientific methods they followed in carefully reviewing what was known about aeronautics and observing the wing orientation of birds in flight. They were willing to consider that the currently accepted theories were wrong in some ways and conducted their wind tunnel experiments to confirm this. They then were willing to put themselves at great risk in piloting each new craft at great personal risk to themselves. It is clear that they understood the risks involved by their agreement that they would not fly together so that if one were killed the other could carry on the work. In fact, Orville was the pilot and very seriously injured in what proved to be the first fatal airplane crash which killed his passenger. While it seems certain that human flight was going to happen eventually, the Wrights advanced things by at least several years and were far ahead of others in a most complex field.

United States on Oct 25, 2023

Tony Reno: Until now I’d only read one page accounts that told the story of the Wright Brothers as if it was their use of a wind tunnel testing system that allowed them to solve heavier than air flight. If only it were that simple.

I had no idea how much focus and technical, scientific and research, nor how many full scale, life risking trials they made over how long a period of time to solve flight.

Their bootstrap operation, entirely self funded, while they kept doing their day jobs, paints a roadmap for anyone with an ambition and drive to do things that others call impossible.

United States on Oct 06, 2023

TablePourDeux: Who would have thought that a story about two brothers who had a dream about flying could be so riveting.

United Kingdom on Jul 07, 2023

William Rae Cowan: Interesting history lesson but too much Wright family history.

Canada on Mar 14, 2023

lorenzo N: At school I have always heard quickly few words about these brothers and nobody was able to give me deeper informations about their lifes.. recently I have took some times on reserch and luckily I have found this book. I like the way is written and it really inspires me.

Italy on Jan 18, 2023

R Helen: David McCullough is just a great writer. He can turn any mundane topic into something fascinating. And he did it again with "The Wright Brothers." I don't really have an interest in aviation and I'm not sure why I even picked up the book, except that I figured if McCullough wrote it, it must be good. And it is. McCullough tells the story of two all-American boys who, through an incredible amount of work, effort, and ambition, invented the first real airplane. And they did this with just an amateur knowledge of science and technology. The story is truly inspiring.

Two things surprised me, though. One was the anti-semitism that their sister expressed when hearing of Hart Berg, the reprentative of Flint and Company, who would eventually reprensent them, and two, was their fates in the end. Somehow both these elements seemed out of character. The Wright Brothers, themselves, were peculiar, however. It seems neither ever had as much as a girlfriend, at least from the story McCullough tells, and one has to wonder why that was. They lived at home their entire lives, along with their sister, who likewise seems to have avoided the opposite sex for most of her life. McCullough...

United Kingdom on Apr 07, 2018

Unknown: The world relies on the expertise, the brilliance and the contribution of a few extra-ordinary men. Wright brothers, the inventors of modern day aircrafts fall in that category. For some of us in India, we had heard of them, but knew little about their motivations, their background, what made them succeed, what were the challenges that they overcame and what were some of the other factors that made them what they are.

Wright Brothers is an easy to read biography of Wilbur and Orville Wright written by David McCullough. It brings the characters to life. For me the following stood out:

1. The intense intellectual curiosity of the two brothers stands out. The author seems to suggest that it was their environment that triggerred their curiosity in flying i.e., by a toy, they played with as children and growing up in a home with books on science. Interestingly, intellectual curiosity is a quality that US universities claim to look for in applicants.
2. Wright brothers did not go to great US universities. Nor were they born into a family of privilege. They were self made men. They spent a fraction of money spent by some other much better funded groups, who despite the...

India on Oct 02, 2016

Keith Wheelock: David McCullough is a master storyteller who has revitalized historical personalities and events for millions of readers and a multitude of viewers of PBS and HBO. The Johnstown Flood; the Roeblings and the Brooklyn Bridge; Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama Canal and Teddy's early years; his vignettes of BRAVE COMPANIONS; his Pulitzer-Prize-winning TRUMAN and JOHN ADAMS; the critical year of the American revolution; American artists in Paris; his American Experience presidents; and much, much more are the historical treasures of our American Clio.

In THE WRIGHT BROTHERS, once again McCullough projects little known individuals into the pantheon of American heroes. We have all heard and admired the Wright brothers without knowing much about them, assuming that their flying the first engine-propelled plane was recognized as an extraordinary accomplishment then and now. How surprising to learn that the first detailed account of their 1903 Kitty Hawk flight appeared in the January, 1905 edition of GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.

At first glance, Wilbur and Orville seem unlikely heroes. Life-long bachelors, they lived with their father and younger sister in Dayton, Ohio. The...

United States on May 15, 2015

Paul Dueweke: McCullough has written a serious and riveting review of the lives of Wilbur and Orville. His writing style is concise, thorough, and unpretentious. I was able to read it easily and enjoyably and learned many things about the Wright family that I didn’t know. The book was thus valuable to me.

FAMILY

McCullough makes it clear that the Wilbur and Orville were a product of their family environment. Their father was the major influence. Milton Wright was a minister and finally a bishop in the United Brethren Church in Christ.

McCullough writes — “He was an unyielding abstainer, which was rare on the frontier, a man of rectitude and purpose— all of which could have served as a description of Milton himself and Wilbur and Orville as well.”

His strict values molded and focused the views of the three younger Wrights (Katherine, Wilbur, and Orville). In addition to his strictness, he was a true classical liberal in his beliefs in the scientific method and equal rights for all people, no matter their race or gender. For example, Milton wrote to his sons when they were in Paris trying to get support for their flying machine: “Sons—Be men of the...

United States on May 05, 2015