EXPERIMENTS IN AERODYNAMICS: Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge 80

Folio (13 1/2 by 10 inches) 115 pages, in wrappers, 10 draphtsman-like quality plates (detailed technical drawings); in addition to charts, graphs, and tables regarding "The Counter Poised Eccentric Plane," "The Rolling Carriage," and other flight experiments.

Good condition internally: (disbound, with small "withdrawn" stamp from Lake Erie College on bottom margin of Contents page, "Lake Erie Seminary Dept. of Physics" in light pencil at top of front cover, small old label in lower left corner of front cover with library call numbers, old tape repairs to chips and tears on margins of front cover, mild wear and soiling to back cover).

From the Introductory to Chapter I: "To prevent misapprehension, let me state at the outset that I do not undertake to explain any art of mechanical flight, but to demonstrate experimentally certain propositions in aerodynamics which prove that such flight under proper direction is practicable. This being understood, I may state that these researches have led to the result that mechanical sustentation of heavy bodies in the air, combined with very great speed, is not only possible, but within reach of mechanical means we actually possess, and while these researches are, as I have said, not meant to demonstrate the art of guiding such heavy bodies in flight, they do show that we now have the power to sustain and propel them."