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In the first few years of the twentieth century, inventors discovered how to soar into the sky. This breathtaking true story is about two men who, on one fateful weekend, tried to show the world a way back down.
It was early February 1912, and Franz Reichelt, a Paris tailor, and Rodman Law, a self-described “professional jackass” from New York, were poised, respectively, on the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, ready to deploy an experimental parachute. In bat wings and bundled linen, they were almost certain their contraptions would work. Here is the tale of their inspirations and their pluck—and what happened next.
Jump! is part of Untold Stories of the Beautiful Era, a collection of incredible true stories from the belle epoque, an age of innovation, daring, bluster, and beauty when anything seemed possible. Each piece can be read, listened to, and marveled at in a single sitting.
It was early February 1912, and Franz Reichelt, a Paris tailor, and Rodman Law, a self-described “professional jackass” from New York, were poised, respectively, on the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, ready to deploy an experimental parachute. In bat wings and bundled linen, they were almost certain their contraptions would work. Here is the tale of their inspirations and their pluck—and what happened next.
Jump! is part of Untold Stories of the Beautiful Era, a collection of incredible true stories from the belle epoque, an age of innovation, daring, bluster, and beauty when anything seemed possible. Each piece can be read, listened to, and marveled at in a single sitting.
52 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 28, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
June 9, 2019
Right on the edge of being interesting but missed the mark. On the one hand, the history was fun to learn about but on the other... the writing was good but it had a dry quality to it overall.
*Read for free from Amazon Prime Reading*
2 stars = just okay this time around.
*Read for free from Amazon Prime Reading*
2 stars = just okay this time around.
September 29, 2020
At just over an hour this short story is included as an Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited, or Audible Plus membership benefit. These make great lunch break (or while folding laundry) listens.
Obviously, this isn’t intended to be a comprehensive biography of either Reichelt or Law. Instead Engber uses newspapers, diaries, and interviews to share an interesting tale of two men who sought to keep gravity from ensuring death. Their motivations and personalities were quite different and the juxtaposition of their lives and time in history is compelling.
Note: While I listened to the audio, I also “read along” with the ebook. I highly recommend this as there are numerous photographs that add to the experience.
I’m a fan of Amy McFadden and she’s a great choice to narrate this story which is at turns humorous and poignant.
Obviously, this isn’t intended to be a comprehensive biography of either Reichelt or Law. Instead Engber uses newspapers, diaries, and interviews to share an interesting tale of two men who sought to keep gravity from ensuring death. Their motivations and personalities were quite different and the juxtaposition of their lives and time in history is compelling.
Note: While I listened to the audio, I also “read along” with the ebook. I highly recommend this as there are numerous photographs that add to the experience.
I’m a fan of Amy McFadden and she’s a great choice to narrate this story which is at turns humorous and poignant.
April 11, 2019
In an era where most people were pushing the boundary up, a few people decided to go down
Daniel Engber gives us a quick, read-in-one-sitting tale talking about people in the early 1900s who experimented with parachutes and wing sailing.
Engber notes that this was a time of scientific exploration, when most of the inventors were trying to figure out ways to go up - through planes, Zeppelins, and of course - skyscrapers.
Yet a few people chose to go the other way.
They jumped from the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower.
And regardless of what happened after, they each claimed their small part of history.
Engber tells the tale well, and gets to the point. This is a small time-investment, real payoff history book. It's great, and I recommend both the book and the series to everyone.
Daniel Engber gives us a quick, read-in-one-sitting tale talking about people in the early 1900s who experimented with parachutes and wing sailing.
Engber notes that this was a time of scientific exploration, when most of the inventors were trying to figure out ways to go up - through planes, Zeppelins, and of course - skyscrapers.
Yet a few people chose to go the other way.
They jumped from the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower.
And regardless of what happened after, they each claimed their small part of history.
Engber tells the tale well, and gets to the point. This is a small time-investment, real payoff history book. It's great, and I recommend both the book and the series to everyone.
December 26, 2021
It was a bit boring and dry, never really grabbed me
May 4, 2022
Interesting, depressing, and frustrating! The latter is especially true of the story of Reichelt. A cautionary tale about ignoring math, science, and the advice of experts to one's peril. Not to mention ignoring one's common sense. If the description in the story was accurate, he had to have had second thoughts right before he jumped.
As for Law, I'm not sure if quitting while he was ahead would have helped his health, but it possibly may have allowed him to train more men.
As for Law, I'm not sure if quitting while he was ahead would have helped his health, but it possibly may have allowed him to train more men.
December 5, 2019
Designing and testing of early parachutes. With a cameo by Nijinski and his harem pants.
November 7, 2022
An interesting footnote on the development of parachuting, and the daredevils that tested them. I think I would've enjoyed this more as a longer work.
April 27, 2019
Within 3 days of each other, two men jumped off of two of Gustav Eiffel's most famous creations, for similar reasons. This short book (it took less than an hour to read) compares the two experiences and how both of them tied into the history of the parachute. It does a good job of making both men relatable and placing their attempts into a larger context as well as showing the results on both a personal and technological level. That being said, the overall impact of these specific events is fairly small, and I wasn't completely sold on the need for recounting them. But that's my personal opinion. The book itself tells the stories well, whether you feel they actually need to be told or not.
October 5, 2019
Quick, easy read on a topic that I had thought little about: who designed (and tested) parachutes? Listened to most of it - good narrator
January 27, 2020
I had an audio version and missed illustrations. Also it was confusing how the line jumped from one story to another and back.
April 1, 2021
I really enjoyed this and even ended up doing research on many of the people mentioned on my own. Do wish there was a little more about Ruth Law because she sounded AWESOME, but a good read.
April 4, 2019
So, this short work isn't really about inventions but rather two men risking their lives for the sake of notoriety and/or pay. I'm not really clear about the point of this work; should we praise the devil-may-care attitudes of these two men? Is it unfair hindsight from the future to suspect that knowledge about parachuting could have been gained through better conducted experiments? Should we consider them somehow noble? I really don't know what the take-away is.
While one entry in this series ( The Electricity Fairy Inventions: Untold Stories of the Beautiful Era Collection ) takes the subtitle seriously, the other two installments do not reflect a "Beautiful Era" (an era where gawkers crowd around to watch someone splat on the sidewalk, or how about diamond mine billionaires being ripped off by charlatans?). Okay, this work does mention Nijinksy and his legendary leaping complemented by the fanciful costumes by Bakst (see more: Nijinsky ), which can be associated with the burgeoning artistic, cultural, and scientific developments of the period. And some comparisons can be made between Nijinksy and the two jumpers because all were interested in performance, it seems, but at least Nijinksy conducted his jumps within the confines of a theater hall and practiced an art that could be experimented with without guaranteed risk to life. I'm just not sure that the two jumpers can be lumped in with him so easily when their efforts seem simply foolhardy--at least, this text doesn't really reveal them as anything but.
I hoped this series would have covered real inventions and the people who strove to achieve their visions, but instead two out of three focus on men interested in showmanship rather than scientific discovery as their goal. (I was much more interested in Law's sister, Ruth Law, an early female aviator and pilot who later flew in WWI, according to this text, who only got a couple of paragraphs). We can argue that Fuller, in The Electricty Fairy was also into performance, but her goals were, as depicted in the essay, more about exploration than personal fame or fortune (though she achieved both), and the work includes information about actual scientific findings and inventions. So maybe it's not the subject matter but the presentation that falls flat? So little is known about the historic figures covered that we probably can't draw other conclusions than those presented by the writers.
I'm curious about these Kindle Singles and if a creative team came up with the subject matter or if the authors chose their topics and why.
While one entry in this series ( The Electricity Fairy Inventions: Untold Stories of the Beautiful Era Collection ) takes the subtitle seriously, the other two installments do not reflect a "Beautiful Era" (an era where gawkers crowd around to watch someone splat on the sidewalk, or how about diamond mine billionaires being ripped off by charlatans?). Okay, this work does mention Nijinksy and his legendary leaping complemented by the fanciful costumes by Bakst (see more: Nijinsky ), which can be associated with the burgeoning artistic, cultural, and scientific developments of the period. And some comparisons can be made between Nijinksy and the two jumpers because all were interested in performance, it seems, but at least Nijinksy conducted his jumps within the confines of a theater hall and practiced an art that could be experimented with without guaranteed risk to life. I'm just not sure that the two jumpers can be lumped in with him so easily when their efforts seem simply foolhardy--at least, this text doesn't really reveal them as anything but.
I hoped this series would have covered real inventions and the people who strove to achieve their visions, but instead two out of three focus on men interested in showmanship rather than scientific discovery as their goal. (I was much more interested in Law's sister, Ruth Law, an early female aviator and pilot who later flew in WWI, according to this text, who only got a couple of paragraphs). We can argue that Fuller, in The Electricty Fairy was also into performance, but her goals were, as depicted in the essay, more about exploration than personal fame or fortune (though she achieved both), and the work includes information about actual scientific findings and inventions. So maybe it's not the subject matter but the presentation that falls flat? So little is known about the historic figures covered that we probably can't draw other conclusions than those presented by the writers.
I'm curious about these Kindle Singles and if a creative team came up with the subject matter or if the authors chose their topics and why.
March 2, 2022
As humans kept reaching for faster and higher flight, some thoughts went into how to protect pilots and passengers for downs. Franz Reichelt, a Parisan tailor, tests his own designs for silk parachuting by jumping from a platform on the Eiffel Tower in 1912. Meanwhile stuntman Rodman Law--made famous by exploding basket catches in midair and building climbing in New York--slowly deteriorates as he continues to test equipment for the military.
I think the dueling perspectives is meant to shift the focus of the biographies and individuals to the invention (the parachute). However, the constant back and forth prevents tension building and can cause confusion in trying to remember whether Reichelt or Law is the he being refered to at any particular point. Further, there is never enough actual math or science in this telling to feel like it is about science or pioneering. It actively avoids telling details about people actually credited with successful designs. The naming of this collection does it a disservice setting expectations which the material does not meet. And on it's own merits I'm not that engaged by a seamster who doesn't test his ideas before alerting the media or a man who loses his nerve after years of chasing fame and lining his pockets with high risk spectacle. The prose is okay and it moves quickly--but not a lot enjoyment found along the way.
I think the dueling perspectives is meant to shift the focus of the biographies and individuals to the invention (the parachute). However, the constant back and forth prevents tension building and can cause confusion in trying to remember whether Reichelt or Law is the he being refered to at any particular point. Further, there is never enough actual math or science in this telling to feel like it is about science or pioneering. It actively avoids telling details about people actually credited with successful designs. The naming of this collection does it a disservice setting expectations which the material does not meet. And on it's own merits I'm not that engaged by a seamster who doesn't test his ideas before alerting the media or a man who loses his nerve after years of chasing fame and lining his pockets with high risk spectacle. The prose is okay and it moves quickly--but not a lot enjoyment found along the way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2020
* I borrowed this book from Amazon Prime and I just finished listening to it. *
Here is what it’s about:”In the first few years of the twentieth century, inventors discovered how to soar into the sky. This breathtaking true story is about two men who, on one fateful weekend, tried to show the world a way back down.
It was early February 1912, and Franz Reichelt, a Paris tailor, and Rodman Law, a self-described “professional jackass” from New York, were poised, respectively, on the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, ready to deploy an experimental parachute. In bat wings and bundled linen, they were almost certain their contraptions would work. Here is the tale of their inspirations and their pluck—and what happened next.”
I liked this book. I thought it was interesting.
Here is what it’s about:”In the first few years of the twentieth century, inventors discovered how to soar into the sky. This breathtaking true story is about two men who, on one fateful weekend, tried to show the world a way back down.
It was early February 1912, and Franz Reichelt, a Paris tailor, and Rodman Law, a self-described “professional jackass” from New York, were poised, respectively, on the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, ready to deploy an experimental parachute. In bat wings and bundled linen, they were almost certain their contraptions would work. Here is the tale of their inspirations and their pluck—and what happened next.”
I liked this book. I thought it was interesting.
March 18, 2020
I understand that the story tells of two men who in the same weekend experimented with parachuting , however I did not prefer the back and forth between chapters. Also, I disliked how much more time was given to Law over Reichelt despite the outcomes. I appreciate what the short story tried to do by bringing attention to these two important inventors/testers, (I'm sure like many others, i had previously given little thought to who invented the parachute), however the overall feel of the book was dry even listening on audio. I was say listen to it because it is currently free to purchase right now and it will give you some insight into something that you probably would have given little thought to otherwise. Also this installment is better researched compared to "The Electricity Fairy"
March 29, 2023
A brief look at the early history of parachutes, something people figured out would be vital soon after planes were invented. This focuses on the efforts of the relatively unknown “jumpers” Franz Reichelt and Rodman Law who, in 1912, independently worked on designs that would (maybe) allow someone to jump from a great height and survive.
In this minute-by-minute account, you get a sense of what the tension would have been like in the moment both as observer and participant as these men tested their inventions.
A fascinating look at the early days of aeronautics and the risks people took that would eventually lead to today’s life saving equipment.
August 18, 2024
¿Te atreverías a dar un salto al vacío? "Jump!" de Daniel Engber te lleva al borde de lo conocido, desafiándote a enfrentar lo incierto con valentía. El libro no solo explora las historias de quienes se lanzan al abismo, sino que revela cómo esos momentos de riesgo pueden llevar a cambios radicales y a descubrimientos inesperados.
Aquí, el salto es más que un acto físico; es una metáfora para desafiar tus miedos y limitaciones. Engber te muestra que lo audaz y lo desconocido pueden ser el trampolín hacia un nuevo nivel de comprensión y éxito. Prepárate para cuestionar tus propias barreras y descubrir que, a menudo, el mayor crecimiento ocurre cuando te lanzas sin red.
Aquí, el salto es más que un acto físico; es una metáfora para desafiar tus miedos y limitaciones. Engber te muestra que lo audaz y lo desconocido pueden ser el trampolín hacia un nuevo nivel de comprensión y éxito. Prepárate para cuestionar tus propias barreras y descubrir que, a menudo, el mayor crecimiento ocurre cuando te lanzas sin red.
April 2, 2019
Jump They Do with Consequences
This was the fascinating story of two early century daredevils, testing early forms of parachutes in the turn of the century. One brave German jumping from the Eiffel Tower in France and an American jumping from buildings and planes in the US. While certain facts are known, the author takes poetic license with some of the imagined recollections. An entertaining read. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audiobook. Amy McFadden's narration was brilliant.
This was the fascinating story of two early century daredevils, testing early forms of parachutes in the turn of the century. One brave German jumping from the Eiffel Tower in France and an American jumping from buildings and planes in the US. While certain facts are known, the author takes poetic license with some of the imagined recollections. An entertaining read. I read this book using immersion reading while listening to the audiobook. Amy McFadden's narration was brilliant.
October 20, 2020
Being a fan of micro-histories, yet knowing absolutely nothing about either of these two men or the events described in this short book, I found this to be delightfully compelling. Another reviewer said that it was dryly written - I agree and I loved that quality. I was able to read it through Prime Reading and I will definitely continue with the other (short) stories in the "Inventions: Untold Stories of the Beautiful Era collection" series.
May 26, 2019
Vividly written and fascinating, but I kind of took a lot of it with a grain of sand since it's tiptoeing toward historical fiction territory. Still, it did make me think about an aspect of history I've never contemplated before, and it gave me a healthy dose of admiration for people willing to do something as risky as test parachute designs.
July 31, 2021
Você já se perguntou como os primeiros paraquedas foram testados? Este pequeno livro nos dá algumas luzes sobre a história deste invento que já salvou tantas vidas, mas que teve também várias vidas sacrificadas. Afinal, a história da humanidade se faz com muitos sacrifícios de heróis anônimos ou nem tão anônimos assim. Interessante.
April 13, 2019
Very interesting !
There were many interesting facts about parachutes that I found out reading this book. It was a very exciting reading bad I would recommend it to any body. Enjoy !
There were many interesting facts about parachutes that I found out reading this book. It was a very exciting reading bad I would recommend it to any body. Enjoy !
April 27, 2019
An beautiful read
This could have been just an ordinary article on an often overlooked component of aviation history. For me, the author's prose was delicious, taking something potentially mundane and molding it into something touching and irresistibly human.
This could have been just an ordinary article on an often overlooked component of aviation history. For me, the author's prose was delicious, taking something potentially mundane and molding it into something touching and irresistibly human.
May 4, 2019
Interesting
This was a very interesting look at some of history’s daredevils and the beginnings of parachutes and death defying jumps. Loved how they included real pictures from the time and how it covered different parts of the world.
This was a very interesting look at some of history’s daredevils and the beginnings of parachutes and death defying jumps. Loved how they included real pictures from the time and how it covered different parts of the world.
May 29, 2019
Intriguing Short Read
To be read in not much more than an hour, the stories in the book are tragically fascinating. If nothing else, it makes one appreciate the current century they are in. Suggested.
To be read in not much more than an hour, the stories in the book are tragically fascinating. If nothing else, it makes one appreciate the current century they are in. Suggested.
June 30, 2019
Two giant leaps
Here’s a short piece about two daredevils who pioneered the use of the modern parachute—a German immigrant living in France and an American. One lives, one dies, but both have fascinating stories.
Here’s a short piece about two daredevils who pioneered the use of the modern parachute—a German immigrant living in France and an American. One lives, one dies, but both have fascinating stories.
February 14, 2021
Daring young people who jumped
Brave young men who had a dream, and for different reasons, in different countries, deployed their parachutes. Well researched and good story telling. Read and enjoy!
Brave young men who had a dream, and for different reasons, in different countries, deployed their parachutes. Well researched and good story telling. Read and enjoy!
April 5, 2019
A leap of faith
Interesting real life stories of two men and their leaps from historic monuments. I admire their bravery in attempting these incredible feats.
Interesting real life stories of two men and their leaps from historic monuments. I admire their bravery in attempting these incredible feats.
April 7, 2019
Great little read
Fascinating info on the origins of parachutes. Loved the inclusion of the photos as well. Liked the historical of in the story.
Fascinating info on the origins of parachutes. Loved the inclusion of the photos as well. Liked the historical of in the story.
April 13, 2019
What a great series of Audible short stories. This is an enjoyable read (listen) while you drive, short and sweet. Just for fun reading.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews