OrionWorks - Steven V Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: Regarding the Right Brothers, when proof became irrefutable that > their contraption could fly under power, how did some of the most > ardent (and well known) skeptics deal with the news? I'm curious as to > what kind of follow-up might have been performed on these individual. Were > some interviewed and asked as to what they were thinking about when the > news finally sunk in? Did they simply change their opinion and tehn get on > with the rest of their lives, or did some come up with other interesting > rationalizations to explain their prior POVs? >
That is a very interesting question. The responses from three groups of skeptics has been preserved in history books. You can probably find more in original sources, such as books now available on Google. Anyway, the three groups I have in mind were: 1. Scientists 2. Rival aviators 3. People in small cities and rural places who still didn't believe it. This group went on disbelieving up to WWI. The first group was scientists who thought they were experts. As I wrote in my essay, they declared that "a heavier-than-air flying machine was physically impossible. It was an absurdity, a gross violation of the laws of nature. This had been proved mathematically with 'unassailable logic' by leading experts in physics, writing in distinguished journals and magazines." These people did not say it is impossible to fly. Anyone could see birds and insects can fly. They said that no man-made machine would ever be larger than an insect. Some of them said that even if you manage to fly there is no method of landing without smashing the machine. Others said that no internal combustion engine will ever produce as a power to weight ratio as good as the muscles of a bird. These statements were preposterous but they were taken seriously in the mass media. After the Wright brothers flew, most of these people shut up. One of the most famous, Prof. Simon Newcomb, was contacted by reporters after the Orville flew in Washington DC in 1908. The reporter asked if he thought "passenger planes would be the next step." Quoting the official biography, p. 228: "No," Newcomb was reported to have replied, "because no plane could ever carry the weight of anyone besides the pilot." It might have been expected that by this time professor Newcomb would have become more cautious! A few days later Orville flew with a passenger, as he had done months earlier -- a fact reported in many magazines. History does not record what Newcomb said after that, but for many years people opposed the development of aviation because they said it would it would never become a practical means of transportation, it would always be very dangerous, and it had no value for the military, in reconnaissance or for any other purpose. They tried to prevent national armies from wasting money on it. They successfully prevented the US army from developing aviation before 1917. If they had also prevented the British and French governments, the allies would have lost the war by 1916. Rivals included the French aviators, A. G. Bell, Curtiss, Chanute and others. Some were supportive of the Wrights all along. Others said the Wrights' claims were exaggerated. The French were particularly sarcastic until the day Wilbur flew in France. Most of them immediately admitted in the national press that they had been wrong. They praised the Wrights to the skies. F. Peyrey wrote: "I shall try to give an idea of the incomparable mastery of the American aviators in the marvelous art of imitating the birds. For a long time -- for too long a time -- the Wright brothers have been accused in Europe of bluffing; perhaps even in their own land. Today they are hallowed by France, and I feel an intense pleasure in counting myself among the first to make amends for such flagrant injustice . . ." I predict that no opponent of cold fusion will ever say anything so nice. Chanute -- who considered himself their mentor -- accused the Wrights of tying to make money from their invention instead of giving it over to society out of altruism. In the press Chanute modestly took credit for their work. Their long friendship ended badly. It is difficult to understand why he thought that two brothers who had worked night and day for eight years, risked all their money, and were nearly killed a dozen times should have handed over their invention for nothing. By the same token I wonder why people nowadays think that although Rossi has worked for 15 years and often risked his life he should be kind enough to give us his discovery for nothing, even though it is worth a trillion dollars. As I said, I wish that such people would please send me a check for all the money they have, as a favor, because I am such a nice person. A cashier's check would be great. My address is 1954 Airport Rd. Curtiss and others immediately began trying to prove that Langley had actually flown before the Wrights, in order to break the patent. They began court fights that infuriated and exhausted Wilbur Wright, which probably caused his premature death in 1912, at age 45. No good deed goes unpunished. - Jed
