Overview

Unlocking the Sky tells the extraordinary tale of the race to design, refine, and manufacture a manned flying machine, a race that took place in the air, on the ground, and in the courtrooms of America. While the Wright brothers threw a veil of secrecy over their flying machine, Glenn Hammond Curtiss -- perhaps the greatest aviator and aeronautical inventor of all time -- freely exchanged information with engineers in America and abroad, resulting in his famous airplane, the June Bug, which made the first ever public flight in America. Fiercely jealous, the Wright brothers took to the courts to keep Curtiss and his airplane out of the sky and off the market. Ultimately, however, it was Curtiss's innovations and designs, not the Wright brothers', that served as the model for the modern airplane.

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9780060956158

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Reviews

Shulman has written a captivating story . of aviation's earliest days. -- St. Paul Star-Tribune

[A] compelling revision of aviation history. --Houston Chronicle Shulman has written a captivating story ... of aviation's earliest days. --St. Paul Star-Tribune Shulman tells a fascinating, fast-paced story and does an admirable job of balancing the historical scales. --American History An enlightening exploration of the dissonance of history and mythology. --New York Times Book Review Great storytelling and a knack for rekindling all-but-forgotten historic scenes. --Boston Globe

Author Information

Seth Shulman has worked for two decades as a writer and editor specializing in issues of science, technology, and the environment. His work has appeared in Nature, Discover, Smithsonian, Rolling Stone, Technology Review, and the Atlantic Monthly, among many other publications. He is the author of three books, most recently Owning the Future. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.

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