The Miracle of Flight

Nature photographer Dalton (At the Water's Edge) combines high-speed photography, line drawings and text ""to explain the basic principles that underlie all forms of winged flight, whether by insect, bird or man."" In five abundantly illustrated chapters, Dalton explains the basic principles of aerodynamics, the evolution of flight by insects (the first members of the animal kingdom to take to the air), the adaptations that have permitted birds of all sizes to fly, the history of human flight and the essentials of transonic, supersonic and hypersonic flight. Because each (relatively brief) chapter is responsible for such a broad array of material, his coverage is superficial. Nonetheless, he includes a great deal of intriguing material. From a biological perspective, he reports, for example, that ""four-winged insects, such as butterflies, moths, bees and wasps,"" have evolved anatomical mechanisms to lock their forewings and hindwings together in such a way that they operate in tandem; and we're shown how the albatross can fly ""hundreds of miles with scarcely a flap of its 10-foot-long wings."" From an engineering perspective, Dalton demonstrates why the Concorde's elaborate fuel delivery system, consisting of 13 interconnected tanks, is the most ingenious portion of the plane. While too technical in parts for the casual reader, this book is sure to engage anyone with even a passing interest in aviation--and the color photos and illustrations of flying machines, both organic (insects, birds, bats) and inorganic (airplanes, gliders, etc.), are magnificent. $50,000 ad campaign. (Oct.) FYI: In October, Firefly will also publish Secret Worlds, a collection, with copious captions, of Dalton's marvelous full-color wildlife photographs. ($35 160p ISBN 1-55209-384-0)