Quest for Flight: John J. Montgomery and the Dawn of Aviation in the West

摘要

In this fascinating and well-researched work, authors Craig Harwood and Gary Fogel take on a significant challenge: revising the traditional narrative of U.S. aviation history and shifting its geographical origins from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to the Otay Mountains of Southern California. As their research indicates, the ranks of the founding fathers of U.S. aviation should include a prominent place for their work's subject, California scientist John J. Montgomery, whose applied experiments with gliders during the 1880s and '90s, based on his observations of birds, stake a powerful claim for his inclusion alongside more famous early aviation pioneers like Glenn Curtiss and the Wright brothers. Indeed, their research indicates that Montgomery's scientific achievements stretched well beyond aviation, including foundational work in fields as diverse as ornithology, applied telegraphy, electrical engineering, rubber vulcanization, petroleum combustion, airship design and propulsion, and electrical engineering.