Otto Lilienthal Quotes

In no way did any of this discourage or deter Wilbur and Orville Wright, any more than the fact that they had had no college education, no formal technical training, no experience working with anyone other than themselves, no friends in high places, no financial backers, no government subsidies, and little money of their own. Or the entirely real possibility that at some point, like Otto Lilienthal, they could be killed.

Edison’s famous “invention” of the incandescent light bulb on the night of October 21, 1879, improved on many other incandescent light bulbs patented by other inventors between 1841 and 1878. Similarly, the Wright brothers’ manned powered airplane was preceded by the manned unpowered gliders of Otto Lilienthal and the unmanned powered airplane of Samuel Langley; Samuel Morse’s telegraph was preceded by those of Joseph Henry, William Cooke, and Charles Wheatstone; and Eli Whitney’s gin for cleaning short-staple (inland) cotton extended gins that had been cleaning long-staple (Sea Island) cotton for thousands of years.

When Darius leaped into the air in his creation from the barn loft, it was only to crash below in a heap of “tangled strings, broken braces and broken wings, shooting stars and various things,” the moral of the story being, “Stick to your sphere.” In no way did any of this discourage or deter Wilbur and Orville Wright, any more than the fact that they had had no college education, no formal technical training, no experience working with anyone other than themselves, no friends in high places, no financial backers, no government subsidies, and little money of their own. Or the entirely real possibility that at some point, like Otto Lilienthal, they could be killed.

Önemli olan, uçmayı sağlayacak uçma düşünün olmasıdır, marx ve engels'in materyalist tarih felsefesinin önerdiği gibi, para kazanmayı sağlayan bir düşün değil. Otto Lilienthal (erkek kardeşini şahsen ben de tanırdım) ve Wright kardeşler ve başka birçok kişi uçmayı düşlemişler ve bu düş uğruna bilinçli olarak yaşamlarını tehliye atmışlardı. Onları buna esinlendiren para kazanma arzusu değil, yeni bir özgürlüğe ulaşma -ekolojik barınaklarımızı geliştirme- düşüydü: Otto Lilienthal'in yaşamını yitirmesine nedne olan, daha iyi bir dünya arayışıydı.