How It Flies; or, The Conquest of the Air The Story of Man's Endeavors to Fly and of the Inventions by Which He Has Succeeded

"How It Flies; or, The Conquest of the Air" by Richard Ferris is about humankind's journey to conquer the skies through mechanical inventions in the early 1900s. It highlights the pivotal advancements made around 1908 by aviation pioneers like the Wright brothers and Santos-Dumont, emphasizing the role of the gasoline engine in these breakthroughs. The book aims to explain the core ideas of aeronautics, like the characteristics of air and the rules of flight, and also promises a closer look at the designs, mechanics, and operation of flying machines, making complex subjects understandable to everyone.