The miracle of flight

TITLE_DISPLAY:

个人著者:

Dalton, Stephen.

出版信息:

Buffalo, N.Y. : Firefly Books, 1999.

格式:

图书

物理描述:

183 p. : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 29 cm.

主题词汇:

Flight.

Aerodynamics.

ISBN:

9781552093788

可借阅:*

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Praise for the hardcover edition:
"The explanation of the physics of flight is one of the strengths of Dalton's text... Dalton's high-speed photographs of animals in flight, combined with color illustrations, beautifully illuminate the sometimes arcane discussions. Overall, this breathtakingly illustrated and well written book is superb."
- Booklist

Insects and birds account for three-quarters of all land creatures. For many of them, the ability to fly has allowed them to live in diverse habitats all over the globe. For humans, the mastery of flight is a supreme technical achievement that has revolutionized our world during the last century.

The Miracle of Flight shows how animals evolved wings and how humans triumphed over the associated physical challenges of taking to the air. The magic of winged flight is passionately revealed in photography and color illustrations.

The main sections cover:

Insects and the mechanics of their flight Birds and their wing structure Man's centuries old dream of flight The development of flight from balloons to jets and rockets.

Every section of The Miracle of Flight is illustrated by Dalton's stunning wildlife photographs and specially commissioned full color technical drawings.

《学校图书馆杂志》(School Library Journal)书评

YA-This volume's simplicity of prose and elegance of illustration cannot fail to delight teen readers. Dalton explains and demonstrates the physics of flight in a straightforward style. In the process of educating readers, however, the author's love for his subject and his belief in its magic come through. Full-color photos, charts, graphs, and diagrams grace every glossy page of this well-produced book. Dalton captures on film the beauty and wonder as well as the science of both natural and human flight, from the breathtaking time-lapse sequences of a hummingbird to an aerial view of the supersonic Saab Gripen fighter. This scholarly yet enthusiastic work will be a treasured addition to any library.-Becky Ferrall, Stonewall Jackson High School, Manassas, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

出版社周刊评论

Nature photographer Dalton (At the Water's Edge) combines high-speed photography, line drawings and text "to explain the basic principles that underlie all forms of winged flight, whether by insect, bird or man." In five abundantly illustrated chapters, Dalton explains the basic principles of aerodynamics, the evolution of flight by insects (the first members of the animal kingdom to take to the air), the adaptations that have permitted birds of all sizes to fly, the history of human flight and the essentials of transonic, supersonic and hypersonic flight. Because each (relatively brief) chapter is responsible for such a broad array of material, his coverage is superficial. Nonetheless, he includes a great deal of intriguing material. From a biological perspective, he reports, for example, that "four-winged insects, such as butterflies, moths, bees and wasps," have evolved anatomical mechanisms to lock their forewings and hindwings together in such a way that they operate in tandem; and we're shown how the albatross can fly "hundreds of miles with scarcely a flap of its 10-foot-long wings." From an engineering perspective, Dalton demonstrates why the Concorde's elaborate fuel delivery system, consisting of 13 interconnected tanks, is the most ingenious portion of the plane. While too technical in parts for the casual reader, this book is sure to engage anyone with even a passing interest in aviationÄand the color photos and illustrations of flying machines, both organic (insects, birds, bats) and inorganic (airplanes, gliders, etc.), are magnificent. $50,000 ad campaign. (Oct.) FYI: In October, Firefly will also publish Secret Worlds, a collection, with copious captions, of Dalton's marvelous full-color wildlife photographs. ($35 160p ISBN 1-55209-384-0) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Kirkus评论

A fine overview of the world of flight from Dalton (Secret Lives, not reviewed, etc.), dramatized by his superb photography, with arresting graphic material that demystifies the mechanics of aerodynamics, and a text that allows the poetry of taking wing to keep its secrets. Flying is one of those things, like fire and ocean waves, that can halt us in our tracks to stand in wonder, so unearthly as to be divine. Dalton is clearly smitten with the subject, both writing of it and catching its displays in his photographs with great affection, though also with a desire to appreciate it further by explicating its fundamentals. Here he ponders the dynamics of fixed wing versus flapping with the same sense of astonishment he devotes to medieval tower jumpers, and a dragonfly hot on the heels of a gnat inspires the same awe as a peregrine stooping on a prairie pond full of ducks. What is understood of the evolution of bird wings is covered, as are the much better understood stratagems in wing design for vehicles of flight, from Leonardo da Vinci's early ornithopters, to Wilbur and Orville Wright's preoccupation with control in the pursuit of ``gaining flying experience without loss of life,'' to the Concorde, which is so aerodynamically efficient that slats and flaps are unnecessary. There is enough detail in the chapter on the control of modern aircraft to get readers, should they be so unlucky, through those sticky moments when the pilot of their small plane suddenly keels over and dies, and Dalton includes recent studies explaining lift in insects by vortices generated in nonsteady airflows, as well as a section to tell hang gliders, madly running down a hill in an effort to go up, just what they are doing. He makes it all sound fun, too. A love song to flying, limpid and graceful as the act itself. (Color photos and illus.)

《书目》(Booklist)书评

Dalton satisfies the human curiousity about flying; Pezzenti focuses on the eagle, a personification of majesty and power in flight. Many creatures fly, and though the physics controlling flight does not change, the methods used to work within these constraints vary across the animal kingdom. The explanation of the physics of flight is one of the strengths of Dalton's text. He explains airfoils, angles of attack, and vortices in a manner that will help even those phobic to science understand how flight defies gravity. Separate sections on insects (which don't need to be streamlined as few fly faster than 20 mph), birds (the undisputed masters of the air), and manned flight (how fixed wings and propellers replace flapping wings) refine our understanding of why flight works. One glaring omission is a discussion of bats--these flying mammals are very successful and do not fly like birds, despite the author's statement to that effect. Dalton's high-speed photographs of animals in flight, combined with color illustrations, beautifully illuminate the sometimes arcane discussions. Overall, this breathtakingly illustrated and well-written book is superb. Probably the best collection of photographs of the bald eagle ever produced, Pezzenti's stunning new work represents more than 20 years of work by the author/photographer. Our national symbol, devastated by DDT during the '50s and '60s, has made a comeback. The author's photos of all the life stages of eagles--from a chick pipping from an egg through all of the juvenile plumage stages to the final pure white head and tail of adulthood--are one of the strengths of the book. The rigors of the newly independent juveniles' lives are very well portrayed as these inexperienced birds try to fight their way into the hierarchy of adults. A large proportion of the photos were taken in Alaska, the major stronghold of the bald eagle, and it is hard to beat a picture of scores of eagles resting on shore, conserving their energy between winter fishing bouts. The author describes his sometimes harrowing adventures as he traveled to get the photos, and the captions reveal both the author's love for his subjects and his overall knowledge of eagle biology. A must for all libraries in areas graced with resident bald eagles and for libraries with large natural-history collections. --Nancy Bent

Choice 评论

This is a stunning coffee-table book. Nature writer Dalton has combined two of his loves, flying and photography, into a very well crafted book that covers the basics of flight, both animal and (human) mechanical. Though the text is lucid and the illustrations excellent, the numerous vibrant color photographs truly set this book apart from others. Perhaps the best way to describe this book is to think of a large format, nicely bound special issue of National Geographic. As a testament to the desirability of this work, this review was delayed because the reviewer had to wrestle it away from his father, a licensed pilot and aviation enthusiast. Dalton is a well-known nature photographer and has an established international reputation for his ground-breaking high speed photography. He is an honorary fellow of Great Britain's Royal Photography Society and recipient of both the Nikon and Kodak Awards for Photography. He is licensed to fly light and microlight aircraft and has specialized in the study of the flight of insects, birds, and humans for more than 30 years. Recommended for purchase by aviation enthusiasts and public libraries. General readers. J. Olson; Northeastern Illinois University