Scott begins with Ovid's story of Icarus, who met his legendary fate by flying too close to the sun and melting the wax that held his wings together. He presents accounts of crude medieval experiments and the beginnings of a scientific approach to flight in Renaissance and early modern Italy. He includes a letter from the Marquis d'Arlandes about being aboard the Montgolfiers' famous balloon for the first ever manned flight. The book's main focus, however, is the development of airplanes in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Scott presents scientific notes, letters, patent applications, fund-raising proposals, newspaper reports, journal articles, and personal stories by or about such central figures as Sir George Cayley, John Stringfellow, Otto Lilienthal, Clement Ader, Octave Chanute, Louis Blériot, Glenn Curtiss, and, in particular, the Wright brothers. We read about the insights that led to propellers and to the shape of the modern wing, the frustrations and dangers of attempting flight, the Wrights' revolutionary technological innovations and their brilliant successes at Kitty Hawk, technical and commercial disputes, and the experiences of early women aviators and the adventurers who made the first long-distance flights.
Scott includes an extensive introduction that puts the selections in the context of aeronautical history. The Pioneers of Flight is a remarkable resource for anyone who wishes to understand how humans struggled and eventually learned to fly.
