Essay Questions

What are tuberculosis and typhoid fever, and why were they significant?

The two diseases mentioned in the book are tuberculosis and typhoid fever. The Wright’s brothers’ mother died of tuberculosis, after eight years of suffering. In the beginning of the 20th century, tuberculosis was quite common in America and was also called the wasting illness or consumption because it took a long time to kill a person and because of its symptoms. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs and it may have symptoms such as high fever, rapid loss of weight, coughing and chest pain. If the disease is left untreated, it may be fatal. The second disease mentioned is typhoid fever and the one affected was Orville. The situation was so bad that the doctors did not believe he will survive. Typhoid fever is also an infectious disease but in comparison with TB which is spread through the air, typhoid fever is spread through contaminated water or food that contains feces. The main symptom is a high fever that may last up to a few weeks. The person may also experience rashes and severe diarrhea that may eventually result in intestinal hemorrhage and perforation. In severe cases, the person may also develop encephalitis and septicemia which may result in death.

In the context of early flight, what is gliding?

In the 1900s, the only way through which a person would fly was either through the use of a hot air balloon or through gliding. The term gliding refers to the usage of gliders, or unpowered flying devices. The glider in this case used only the natural air currents to fly and to maintain its position in the air. The first historic recording of gliding is from 1853 but the sport became even more successful after the end of the First World War when many became interested in bettering the practice and to possible use it during wartime. The practice of gliding used to be extremely dangerous, with many gliders dying in its beginning days, something that only made potential gliders be more aware of the dangers.

Who were the people who inspired the Wright Brothers the most?

The two brothers were influenced the most by two people, a glider and a French author of a book on birds’ anatomy. The first person was the glider Otto Lilienthal who lived in Germany between 1848 and 1896. The brothers read about him, or rather they read about his death during the time when Orville was sick with typhoid fever. Otto died after a gliding accident which made him even more famous. The brothers tried to fix the flaws in Otto’s design and to find new ways to create stable gliders that would not have the same problems as the gliders created by Otto had. The second person was a French author named Mouillard who wrote a book entitle L’empire de l’air. After reading his book, Wilbur started bird watching in an attempt to come up with a better design for a glider that would not crash.