Description
Book SynopsisExplains how nature and human engineers each arrived at powered flight. This book traces the slow and deliberate evolutionary process of animal flight - in birds, bats, and insects - over millions of years and compares it to the directed efforts of human beings to create the aircraft over the course of a single century.
Trade Review"This book lucidly captures the comparative aerodynamics of winged animals and aircrafts with great skill and clarity. This is science writing at its best and is a valuable reference for the specialist as well as for the casual enthusiast of flight." Sankar Chatterjee, Paul Whitfield Horn Professor of Geosciences, Texas Tech University"David Alexander has produced an astonishingly readable and enjoyable romp through topics in flight mechanics. This book cuts through the obtuse and obscure without sacrificing scholarship." Catherine Loudon, University of California, Irvine"You'll find no more transparently clear explanation of all that goes on when you fly in an airplane. Or, in a seamlessly integrated account, what
happens when a bird, bat, or bumblebee does the same." Steven Vogel, James B. Duke Professor, Emeritus, Department of
Biology, Duke University"This is a well-written and thought-provoking book telling a unique story of both the history and the physics of natural and mechanical flight." James DeLaurier, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace StudiesTable of ContentsList of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Flying Animals and Flying Machines:Birds of a Feather?
Hey Buddy, Need a Lift?
Power: The Primary Push
To Turn or Not To Turn
A Tail of Two Tails
Flight Instruments
Dispensing with Power: Soaring
Straight Up: Vertical Take-Offs and Hovering
Stoop of the Falcon: Predation and Aerial Combat
Biology Meets Technology Head-On: Ornithopters and Human-Powered Flight
Epilogue: So Why Don't Jumbo Jets Flap Their Wings?
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
