Realities at the leading edge of research.

When the Wright brothers set out to invent a flying machine at the end of the nineteenth century, they knew they were facing quite a challenge. Not only was it a daunting task to accomplish powered flight but also to overcome the ideology, morality and sensibility of their time, when most people believed that human flight was neither possible nor natural. Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke once commented on such major advances in science technology that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Even after they accomplished their first flight, lasting 59 seconds on 17 December 1903, the Wrights still found it hard to convince their fellow countrymen and everyone else around the world of their breakthrough achievement. But the Wright brothers’ success is not only notable for what was achieved—the first powered flight—but it should also be remembered for how it was achieved. First, the Wrights did background research and gathered all available information about flying machines. As they owned a newspaper—The Evening Item—they had already seen photographs of German flight pioneer Otto Lilienthal flying a glider in 1895. They also came across photos taken by Alexander Graham Bell of Samuel Pierpoint Langley, the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, launching an unmanned flying machine over the Potomac River near Washington, DC, USA, in 1896. Furthermore, and unlike most of their peers, the Wrights believed that the problem of flight could be solved through proper balance and experience—just as learning how to ride a bicycle. These problems, they assumed, could ultimately be solved only through experimentation and drawing on the experiences of others. On 30 May 1899, Wilbur Wright wrote to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, to find references on the state of the art in ‘heavier-than-air flight’ (Tobin, 2003). After critically reading articles suggested by Langley’s assistant, Wilbur Wright later wrote: “Those who tried to study the science of aerodynamics knew not what to believe. Things which seemed reasonable were often found to be untrue, and things which seemed unreasonable were sometimes true” (Carson, 2003). Last but not least, the brothers meticulously documented their experiments using both written notes and photography (Fig 1). In this way they were able to return to earlier attempts and also to answer any questions about the authenticity of their experiments. In hindsight, the Wrights’ procedures are a perfect model for how science should be done today.