A little over one hundred years ago, two young men in America had a strange habit of watching giant sea birds glide by for hours, wondering whether it was possible for humans to imitate them. The men never went to college, nor did they enjoy financial backing or technical support.

   They owned a bicycle shop and played with cycle parts in an attempt to figure out some device that would fly. It was an age when even bicycles were derided as objects that dragged the youth away into evil and immoral practices! The two men, Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) and Orville Wright (1871-1948) were fascinated by gliders.

   They gathered all available literature on flight. They were studious and voracious readers. Their father, Milton, a bishop, had plenty of books at home and encouraged the boys to read. Wilbur, the elder of the two, was hit with a hockey stick when he was 18, by a man of evil intention, and suffered facial....