Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Smithsonian Celebrates Orville and Wilbur Wright

Wright Flyer at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum
Photo Courtesy: OpenScientist
 
One great thing about Washington, DC is visiting all the various Smithsonian museums.  They feature one-of-a-kind artifacts and world-class collections and make them available for free to all visitors.  Add a heavy concentration on scientific exhibits, and you have the perfect organization for supporting citizen science.

One thing they also do well is telling the story of science and the people behind important technological advances.  Nothing illustrates the story-telling, and the power of citizen science, better than the "Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial Age" exhibit at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum.  So when you help support the Smithsonian you help tell the story of how two bicycle mechanics with a vision changed the world and created the era of powered flight.

While much has been written about the entrepreneurial spirit of Orville and Wilbur Wright, and about their place in history, much less has been written about the duo as citizen scientists.  But the James Tobin book "To Conquer the Air" does a great job of it.  The book is also the story of competition between the scientific "establishment", personified by Samuel Langley and his attempts to build the first powered airplane, and that of the Wright's. For despite the resources Langley had at his disposal they were never enough. In fact, he spent over $70,000 (a huge sum at the time) on his own flying machine while the brothers spent just under $1,000 in materials and travel to Kitty Hawk by the time of their first sustained flight.

It is also a book about experimentation and challenging assumptions that have never been tested.  For example, pioneering scientist Otto Lilienthal had created a series of tables on lift that helped define how wings should be built and dictated the size of potential planes.  Everyone followed these tables except for the Wrights.  Through work with hand-constructed wind tunnels they re-wrote these tables and used the calculations to design their own flying machine. 

Otto Lilienthal and Octave Chanute had warned that any glider with wings longer than twelve feet was inherently dangerous, since it could not be controlled by shifting one's weight. Will had never made a free flight in a glider. Yet ... he chose to defy the world's only authorities on the basis of only his own calculations and preliminary experiments. 

Replicas and examples of these are showcased at the Smithsonian's exhibit, so you too can perfrom the same tests and learn more about the dynamics of flight.  But despite this success the book also describes the less-glamorous side of citizen science and the experimental method.  In one memorable passage, Tobin writes:
"[Learning to fly] was going to be an athletic endeavor, and its principal goal would be proper balance, as in skating or bicycling or gymnastics. When first mounting the parallel bars or the bicycle seat, you simply tried it, expecting to fall.  So it would be with this.  In the instant of the fall you might have an idea about how you could have turned your body differently or placed a hand elsewhere.  You tried again, fell again, considered, adjusted.  In this way he would learn new things.  He would attempt to build on others' successes, paricularly [Otto] Lilienthal's, with the aim of  answering the question he an Orville apparently had discusse off and on for years."
 
Wilbur Wright also dealt with the problems of how to become a voice in the growing field while being a non-degreed amateur with bright ideas.  Despite his personal confidence and the important insights being developed in their Ohio bike shop, he needed the intellectual and emotional support of the scientific community.  So they continued to blaze forward, even sharing many of their insights with famed Octave Chanute who took them under his wing for a time.  In a letter to Chanute he wrote:

I make no secret of my plans...for the reason that I believe no financial profit will accrue to the inventor of the first flying machine, and that only those who are willing to give as well as to receive suggestions can hope to link their names with the honor of its discovery.  The problem is too great for one man alone and unaided to solve in secret. 
 
Of course this part wasn't exactly true.  There was money to be gained...not just by the sale of patents and the Wright's sale of planes to the military but also in the many prize purses offered by countries and foundations to stimulate flight.  Everyone had an interest in those days and wanted to see powered flight.  So flight challenges and races were a popular way to move the field forward.  These would be the precursor to bounties won by Lindbergh when he crossed the Atlantic, and which organizations like Innocentive and XPrize use to stimulate citizen science today.  But the love of science for its own sake still remains, as Tobin summarizes the brothers' efforts over the years:

In 1899 and 1900, Wilbut Wright had pursued the problem of flight as a diversion, a hobby, a sport, with only a distant glimpse of the possibility of fame and fortune.  His brother had joined for the fun of it.  In 1901 and 1902 the hobby became a hermetic scientific quest.  Orville joined in earnest, and all the brothers cared for was to solve a mystery that obsessed them.
 
All of this is shown, and told, at the Smithsonian.  The story is fascinating and the exhibit is open to anyone, free of charge.  All this wonder and excitement, and a piece of history, made available through the generosity of James Smithson and the American taxpayer.  But won't you help them out?  Keep this exhibit and all others promoting citizen science by making a donation to the Smithsonian today.  I've set everything up for you on the right hand side of my blog, and I'll donate $5 of my own to every person who contributes.  Together we can preserve these stories for the future and encourage a whole new generation of groundbreaking citizen scientists.

17 comments:



  1. The share your really gives us excitement. Thanks for your sharing. If you feel tired at work or study try to participate in our games to bring the most exciting feeling. Thank you!
    hotmail sign in | red ball | 192.168.1.1

    ReplyDelete
  2. شركة مكافحة حشرات
    تهتم شركة قمم التميز باعمال الرش والقضاء على الحشرات المنزلية فمهما كانت المعاناة ومهما كانت كمية الحشرات التى تعانى منها فتعاون مع افضل شركة تهتم بهذه الخدمة الان شركة مكافحة حشرات بالرياض
    الحشرات المنزلية من المشكلات التى تعانى منها البيوت ، وخصوص فى المناطق المرتفعة فيها الحرارة ، وحيث تنشر الحشرات فى المنزل وقد تسبب متاعب كثيرة وأمراض خطيرة .
    *التهوية الجيدة لغرف المنزل ودخول أشعة الشمس لقتل الحشرات التى لا ترى إلا بالعين المجردة . مكافحة حشرات
    *التخلص من القمامة أول بأول حتى لا تكون عرضه للأنتشار الحشرات .
    نتظيف خزانات الطعام وتهويتها جيدة، والتخلص من الفضلات ، وغلق المحكم للبرطمانات للطعام التى تواجد فى خزانة حتى لا تكون مصدر لتسرب الحشرات .
    *وضع سلك شبكة صغير الحجم على النوافذ والأبواب ، وسد الثقوب والشقوق بالأسمنت اوجبس ،لكى لا تتسرب الحشرات منها .
    *تنظيف الأطباق وأوانى الطعام بعد استعمالها مباشرة ، لأنها قد تسبب فى خروج الحشرات من المكان التى تعيش فيه .
    *عدم ترك فضلات الطعام على مائدة الطعام ، وتنظيف بصفة دورية تمنع من أنتشار الحشرات والوقاية منها . شركة مكافحة حشرات
    وهناك حشرات متعددة قد تسبب للأنسان أزعاج دائم ومنها : النمل والصراصير والبق والذباب والناموس والفئران .
    النمل نوعان * النمل عادى مصدر غذائه فضلات الطعام ويعيش فى ثقوب وشقوق المنزل . مكافحة حشرات بالرياض
    والنمل الأبيض يسمى ( العتة) وهو يحتاج إلى طعام الدائم لكى يبقى على قيد الحياة ، مصدر غذائه السكر (الجلكوز) الموجود فى الخشب ، و المتواجد فى الأبواب والنوافذ والأثاث ، وقد يسبب خطر كبير على منزلك فالنمل الأبيض يعمل ممرات ويقوم بتأسيس بيت له أسفل المنزل ، ويكون دمار بمرور الوقت وأضرار فادحة لايمكن اصلاحها إلا بعد فوات الآوان .
    ويمكن التخلص من النمل الأبيض برش مبيدات كيمائية مخصص لها أثناء بناء الأثاث فى الأرض ، وعند تركيب الأبواب التأكيد من أغلاق جميع الفتحات فى جوانب الباب وألأفضل تركيب الأبواب بالمفاصل وليس بالمواد اللزقة ، وعند شراء الأثاث الضغط على الخشب وتأكد مدى قوتها وعدم أصابتها بالنمل الأبيض .
    أما النمل العادى التى يتواجد المطبخ يمكن التخلص منه بقليل من الصودا المخلوطة بالسكر وضعها فى الثقوب والفتحات التى تخرج منها فالنمل يموت فى الحال .
    فى خزانة الطعام نضع فيها قليل من القهوة المرة أو الفلفل غير المطحون فهو يخلصك من النمل نهائيا وكذلك الحشرات الأخرى . شركة مكافحة فئران بالرياض
    والصراصير لمنعها من أنتشارها فى المنزل يمكن سد البالوعات والمراحيض فى الليل ، صب المحاليل السامة أو مشتقات البترول القتلة فى فتحات المراحيض والبالوعات ثم صب ماء عليها فى الصباح.
    ممكن عمل كرات من الدقيق بها مواد سامة أى معجونة بالمبيدات الحشرية ووضعها فى المكان الذى تكثر فيه الصراصير .... وتكون بعيده عن منتاول الأطفال .
    العثة تكثر فى فصل الشتاء بسبب الرطوبة العالية وفيجب تهوية المنزل ، و تهوية الغرفة من المفروشات والوسائد ، والشمس لها أثر فعال على قتل الجراثيم والميكروبات مكافحة الفئران بالرياض




    ReplyDelete
  3. The loan will be credited to your financial records the following business day.
    Does this mean I can make the most of my compensation without sitting tight for my payday? Cash Advances Chula vista

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store. I’d prefer to use some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a link on your web blog. Thanks for sharing.

    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  5. You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!

    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  6. There are certainly a lot of details like that to take into consideration. That is a great point to bring up. I offer the thoughts above as general inspiration but clearly there are questions like the one you bring up where the most important thing will be working in honest good faith. I don?t know if best practices have emerged around things like that, but I am sure that your job is clearly identified as a fair game. Both boys and girls feel the impact of just a moment’s pleasure, for the rest of their lives.

    Pathtounite.org
    Information
    Click Here

    ReplyDelete
  7. It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks

    Visit Web
    Jobspace.it
    Information

    ReplyDelete
  8. I’d have to check with you here. Which is not something I usually do! I enjoy reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!

    Visit Web
    Diggerslist.com
    Information

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.

    Aytoloja.org
    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  10. I amazed with the research you made to make this actual submit incredible.
    Great activity!

    Have a look at my homepage; 오피사이트
    (jk)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh my goodness! an amazing article dude. Thank you However I am experiencing issue with ur rss. Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anyone getting identical rss problem? Anyone who knows kindly respond. Thnkx

    Visual.ly
    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  12. The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, but I actually thought you have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could fix if you werent too busy looking for attention.

    Battlebrothersgame.com
    Information
    Click Here
    Visit Web

    ReplyDelete
  13. We are really grateful for your blog post. You will find a lot of approaches after visiting your post.
    Thanks
    The Impact of Digitization In 3PL Space
    FTWZ

    ReplyDelete
  14. By administering the HSLC test to Mizoram State students, the MBSE board has effectively completed its mission. The board also creates the curriculum for its associated schools. The HSLC examination drew a large number of candidates. Mizo Board 10th Book 2023 Those who took the Mizoram Board 10th Exam 10th Textbook 2023 would be waiting for the results. The Mizoram HSLC 10th Textbook 2023 may be downloaded directly from the website below.

    ReplyDelete