The invention of heavier-than-air flight craft counts among humankind's defining achievements. In the book, the renowned aeronautical engineer John D. Anderson, Jr. offers a concise and engaging account of the technical developments that help to explain the Wright brothers successful first flight on December 17, 1903. While the accomplishments of the Wrights have become legendary, we do well to remember that they inherited knowledge of aerodynamics and considerable flying machine technology. In telling the dramatic story of the Wright brothers' many experiments at Kitty Hawk as they raced to become the first in flight, the author shows how the brothers succeeded where others failed by taking the best early technology and building upon it using a carefully planned step-by-step, experimental approach. With vantage photographs and informative diagrams, Inventing Flight will interest anyone who has ever wondered what lies behind the miracle of flight.