Airplanes: The Life Story of a Technology

by Jeremy R. Kinney

Overview

The airplane has redefined the way in which people travel, conduct commerce, spend their leisure time, and wage war. From the Wright brothers' wood-and-fabric Flyer to the modern jet aircraft, the airplane has evolved in countless ways as its many uses have unfolded. The development of safe and efficient air travel required solving multiple engineering riddles about aerodynamics, control, propulsion, and structures. Airplanes shows how the solutions to these riddles have helped spur dramatic changes in the world's social and cultural life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801890697
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jeremy R. Kinney is curator in the Aeronautics Division at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. He has served as the Centennial of Flight lecturer at the University of Maryland.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: Higher, Faster, and Farther
Timeline
1. The Origins of Powered Flight, 1783–1914
2. The First War in the Air, 1914–1918
3. The Aeronautical Revolution, 1918–1938
4. World War II in the Air, 1939–1945
5. The Second Aeronautical Revolution, 1930–Present
6. The Jet Airplane as a Military Weapon, 1945–Present
7. The Commercial Airplane, 1945–Present
8. General Aviation, 1920–Present
Conclusion: Higher, Ever Higher
Glossary
Selected Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

The author manages to do an impressive job of thoroughly discussing the details and specifics of the way that airplane technology improved and the political movements, world events, and social change that brought about these improvements. The introduction also offers an excellent overview of the physics of flight and the time line of the evolution of the airplane.
—Choice

From the Publisher

The author manages to do an impressive job of thoroughly discussing the details and specifics of the way that airplane technology improved and the political movements, world events, and social change that brought about these improvements. The introduction also offers an excellent overview of the physics of flight and the time line of the evolution of the airplane.

Choice