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A review by cemoses
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
4.0
This book is easy to read and the parts about the Wright Brothers contributions to the invention of the airplane are very interesting. However, the book has some shortcomings in describing the Wright Brothers as human beings
The author does an excellent job of showing that the Wright Brothers were not theoretical engineers but true mechanics and weren’t (literally) afraid of getting their hands dirty. Also early aviation was intrinsically very dangerous; it reminds me more of mountain climbing than modern space exploration. Early aviation was very physical and pilots had to understand their machines. In the modern era where “white” collar skills are seen as desirable, McCullough reminds us that many of our great inventors had many “blue” collar characteristics.
What was also interesting to read about in this book is what the Wright brothers did to make their invention of the airplane public. They did a series of public flying demonstrations and were welcomed as great heroes in France which was a culture that took a great interest in aviation.
However, the shortcoming of the book is that McCullough makes the Wright brothers seem like saints. I feel McCullough tries to explain away any disagreements they had with other people and wants the readers to think of the as American heroes.
The problem with this approach is threefold. One is McCullough is not being objective about his subject matter. Secondly people with only good traits are boring to read about. However, most importantly the Wright Brothers were human beings. Furthermore, they were business people.
From the very beginning of air flight, there was an interest in airplanes for their ability to be used in war. The Wright brothers were quite aware of their potential use in war and tried to sell their planes to different countries to be used by their military (they eventually sell their plane to the US military). The Wrights brothers were interested in making money off selling their airplanes and manufacturing them. While there is nothing wrong per se with their businesses dealings, McCullough glosses over some of the potential controversy of their developing planes to be used in war and portrays them as scientists/humanitarians while probably they were more like capitalistic inventors.
Thus, the book The Wright Brothers is very interesting and readable when it deals with The Wright Brothers and the invention of flying. However, it provides on one dimensional portrait of the brothers as human beings.
The author does an excellent job of showing that the Wright Brothers were not theoretical engineers but true mechanics and weren’t (literally) afraid of getting their hands dirty. Also early aviation was intrinsically very dangerous; it reminds me more of mountain climbing than modern space exploration. Early aviation was very physical and pilots had to understand their machines. In the modern era where “white” collar skills are seen as desirable, McCullough reminds us that many of our great inventors had many “blue” collar characteristics.
What was also interesting to read about in this book is what the Wright brothers did to make their invention of the airplane public. They did a series of public flying demonstrations and were welcomed as great heroes in France which was a culture that took a great interest in aviation.
However, the shortcoming of the book is that McCullough makes the Wright brothers seem like saints. I feel McCullough tries to explain away any disagreements they had with other people and wants the readers to think of the as American heroes.
The problem with this approach is threefold. One is McCullough is not being objective about his subject matter. Secondly people with only good traits are boring to read about. However, most importantly the Wright Brothers were human beings. Furthermore, they were business people.
From the very beginning of air flight, there was an interest in airplanes for their ability to be used in war. The Wright brothers were quite aware of their potential use in war and tried to sell their planes to different countries to be used by their military (they eventually sell their plane to the US military). The Wrights brothers were interested in making money off selling their airplanes and manufacturing them. While there is nothing wrong per se with their businesses dealings, McCullough glosses over some of the potential controversy of their developing planes to be used in war and portrays them as scientists/humanitarians while probably they were more like capitalistic inventors.
Thus, the book The Wright Brothers is very interesting and readable when it deals with The Wright Brothers and the invention of flying. However, it provides on one dimensional portrait of the brothers as human beings.