Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Imagining

Before flight was even possible, it was the realm of fiction and of mythology. Panels here go into detail on how flight captures the imagination.


Cyrano de Bergerac used flight as a story concept.


As did H.G. Wells. This model is a Cavorite sphere, based on a 1901 Wells tale, The First Men In The Moon. It tells the story of a reclusive scientist who develops Cavorite, a material that can negate gravity, and takes a ship of that material to the Moon.


Jules Verne dreamed of flight. Robur The Conqueror was an 1886 tale featuring an airship flying around the world.


Stepping further back in time, the idea of flight enters into myth and religion across the world, most notably in the Icarus myth.


On the other hand, real experimentation into flight ideas was already underway centuries ago. The panels and artifacts examine early ideas.


One of those is reflected in this model. Francesco de Terzi was a 17th century Jesuit priest and professor who is considered a father of aeronautics. His airship design stayed on the page as opposed to being pursued, but this is a model of his concept.


The great scientist and artist Leonardo da Vinci was also known to have designed at least on paper flying machines.


Balloons and zeppelins as we know them today were the first big step forward in practical flight, and yet even they had their own limitations. The panels examine some of that.

42 comments:

  1. So true! And what imagination people had!

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  2. I see that today you are showing the process whereby man figured out how to fly ... interesting.

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  3. Yes, people sure were very curious and imaginative, we have some scetches of da Vinci in the hall, impressive with what they came up and what really came true later. Thanks to them, too, we can travel like we do today, I guess. I am thankful for their brilliance.

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  4. I have worked in an airport as ground staff for many years but I still consider human flying a kind of miracle...so fascinating!

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  5. The early ideas of how flight might be achieved may look absurd today - but then so is the concept of building a machine out of metal and weighing 450 tons or so (a Jumbo jet!)

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  6. Mankind has always been very inventive, but I'm still wondering why it took so long to discover the micro chip?

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  7. I love imagining and Jules Verne! I'll bet the exhibit was fun.

    Janis
    GDP

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  8. ...imagination has always been an important part of life.

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  9. Interesting post(s) and displays,William !
    Love your new header image, too !

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  10. I can imagine how watching birds made people want to fly.

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  11. Thanks to these men, now we have the planes.

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  12. so cool, i keep singing about those blooms. good tune. ( ;

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  13. Hello, the airship is cool. Wonderful display. Enjoy your day, have a happy week ahead.

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  14. What a wonderful collection of stories and imiginations.

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  15. Yes, I think it was seeing the flight of birds that gave us the idea that we wanted to fly, too. Love the ideas that first were thought of for us to fly.

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  16. Great exhibit and photos. Alas, if anyone finds the ship common sense in politics flew off in, then I hope they bring it back. :)

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  17. @Lady Fi: that is true.

    @Joan: it was quite a process.

    @Iris: you'd wonder what Leonardo would have made of current day planes.

    @Italiafinlandia: I agree.

    @John: definitely!

    @Ella: who knows?

    @Janis: I enjoyed it.

    @Tom: that's true.

    @Karl: thank you.

    @Marie: it would have sparked the idea.

    @Nancy: that's true.

    @Francisco: thanks.

    @Beth: thank you.

    @Eileen: thanks!

    @Jan: I think so.

    @DJan: so do I.

    @Maywyn: that'd be nice.

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  18. Love seeing how imagination is linked to inventiveness...and art. Writing, painting, sculpting, engineering...all require the desire to see something different, new and exciting.

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  19. It is interesting to see all of these quirky ideas!

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  20. Thanks to those amazing minds we can now fly in relative comfort over long distances. I'm sure they would be amazed at the possibilities.

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  21. I guess I got ahead of your story. the development of flying has a long history and along the way other things were learned. As you point out there was some very good fiction on the topic and we still have fiction and are still trying to develop new vehicles.

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  22. Fascinating William. In a relatively short period of time flying has become an everyday occurrence.. not for me, it's too terrifying 😀😀

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  23. That Cavorite made me think of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Jules Verne was an adventurer of the mind whether going to the bottom of the sea or up to the moon.

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  24. @Barbara: and flight inspires many perspectives.

    @RedPat: it is indeed.

    @Sami: they would be.

    @Red: that is true.

    @Grace: I've never had a problem with flying.

    @Sharon: Verne's imagination was extraordinary.

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  25. Wonderful photography of flight history ~

    Happy Moments to You,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  26. Journeys and stories go together like ham and bread.

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  27. Another exhibit I would have enjoyed and am grateful to see through your photos, thanks William. You capture everything beautifully.

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  28. Imagination leads to creativity. Sounds like a fantastic exhibition

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  29. Fascinating … your photographs and words make an enjoyable read.
    Thank you William.

    All the best Jan

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  30. @Carol: thanks!

    @Revrunner: true.

    @Denise: you're welcome.

    @Bill: it is.

    @Jan: thanks!

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  31. Without those dreamers a lot would never get done!!

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  32. What is amazing to me is the extent to which flight has become so democratic. When I was a kid I could never have even imagined that I would get on an aircraft and visit foreign lands. Now I do it routinely two or three times a year!

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  33. William - manned flight changed our lives in so many ways. As a former long-time employee in the aviation industry, I am eternally grateful. But we are never satisfied - I was just joking with my 90-year-old Mom about when we might be able to teleport to see her ...

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  34. There is always something new for me to learn here.

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  35. We can thank the persistence of those inventors.

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  36. What amazing people those early pioneers were:)

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  37. I know I've been there, but not in a long time!

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  38. I love things like this. Love the DaVinci panels especially. Brilliant mind.

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  39. @Happyone: true.

    @David: I'd like to get back in the air.

    @Angie: that's still a long ways off.

    @Catarina: a pleasure to show it.

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  40. @Kay: definitely.

    @Rosie: indeed.

    @Jennifer: I haven't been back since this visit. I need to return this summer.

    @Jeanie: that he was.

    @Klara: me too.

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