The brothers who invented the first successful aircraft were not Orville and Wilbur. They were preceded by the Montgolfier brothers 120 years earlier in a type of aircraft still in wide use today. 150 years before them, the Celebi brothers made the first survivable rocket and intercontinental flights. With the goal of providing an interesting learning experience, the book's focus is not just on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). Also included is analysis of Cause & Effect and a lot of surprising history. So it is not just about HOW things work, it is also about WHY they happened that way, and the consequences. Roughly every 500 years new technology completely disrupts society, changing borders, laws, and the way people live and work. It happened again with the emergence of the Digital Age. Because aviation involves many fields of science, it is a particularly interesting way to show how STEM is a continuum of mutually supporting elements. Applications of chemistry, physics, astronomy, navigation, programming, and paradigm paralysis are presented in a hands-on understandable way.
