Airplanes

Jeremy R. Kinney is curator in the Aeronautics Division at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. He has served as the Centennial of Flight lecturer at the University of Maryland.

• PrefaceIntroduction: Higher, Faster, and FartherTimeline1. The Origins of Powered Flight, 1783–19142. The First War in the Air, 1914–19183. The Aeronautical Revolution, 1918–19384. World War II in the Air, 1939–19455. The Second Aeronautical Revolution, 1930–Present6. The Jet Airplane as a Military Weapon, 1945–Present7. The Commercial Airplane, 1945–Present8. General Aviation, 1920–PresentConclusion: Higher, Ever HigherGlossarySelected BibliographyIndex

The author manages to do an impressive job of thoroughly discussing the details and specifics of the way that airplane technology improved and the political movements, world events, and social change that brought about these improvements. The introduction also offers an excellent overview of the physics of flight and the time line of the evolution of the airplane. Choice 2007