Steady or unsteady? Uncovering the aerodynamic mechanisms of insect flight.

As in art or music, classic works in science can often be identified by the new research directions they stimulate. Some papers become classics by virtue of specific findings that fundamentally alter our understanding of a topic, while others provide a philosophical roadmap that makes clear the way forward in that subject. By both these criteria, Torkel Weis-Fogh’s Journal of Experimental Biology 1973 paper holds a very special place in the study of insect flight (Weis-Fogh, 1973).