Book Description

How It Flies; or, The Conquest of the Air is a book by Richard Ferris where is described the history of man's conquest for achieving flight. Excerpt: "If we were asked to explain the word "flying" to some foreigner who did not know what it meant, we should probably give as an illustration the bird. This would be because the bird is so closely associated in our thoughts with flying that we can hardly think of the one without the other. It is natural, therefore, that since men first had the desire to fly they should study the form and motions of the birds in the air, and try to copy them. Our ancestors built immense flopping wings, into the frames of which they fastened themselves, and with great muscular exertion of arms and legs strove to attain the results that the bird gets by apparently similar motions."