Reconsidering a Century of Flight

by Roger D. Launius

On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright soared into history during a twelve-second flight on a secluded North Carolina beach. Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first flight, these essays chart the central role that aviation played in twentieth-century history and capture the spirit of innovation and adventure that has characterized the history of flight. The contributors, all leading aerospace historians, consider four broad themes relating to the development of flight innovation and the technology of flight, civil aeronautics and government policy, aerial warfare, and aviation in the American imagination. Through their attention to the political, economic, military, and cultural history of flight, the authors establish that the Wrights' invention--and all that followed in both air and space--was one of the most significant technologies of the twentieth century, fundamentally reshaping our world.Supported by the First Flight Centenial CommissionThe contributors are Janet R. Daly Bednarek, Tami Davis Biddle, Roger E. Bilstein, Hans-Joachim Braun, David T. Courtright, Anne Collins Goodyear, Roger D. Launius, William M. Leary, David D. Lee, W. David Lewis, John H. Morrow, Dominick A. Pisano, and A. Timothy Warneck.

Hardcover

First published October 27, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Dr. Roger D. Launius earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge (American frontier and military history).

Dr. Launius was a civilian historian with the United States Air Force, and became Chief Historian for the Military Airlift Command. Since October 1990 he is Chief Historian for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He is also Senior Curator at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

He is also involved in the study of nineteenth century history and the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church).