Wings of madness : Alberto Santos-Dumont and the invention of flight / Paul Hoffman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hoffman, Paul, 1956-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Santos-Dumont, Alberto, 1873-1932.

Santos-Dumont, Alberto.

Aeronautics--Brazil--Biography.

Aeronautics.

Brazil.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

ix, 369 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Theia, [2003]

Summary:

From the author of the acclaimed "The Man Who Loved Only Numbers" comes a book that is at once the biography of an eccentric Brazilian aviator, Alberto Santos-Dumont, and the story of the thrilling early days of flight. 16-page photo insert.

Contents:

Prologue: Dinner on the Ceiling Champs-Elysees, 1903 1

1 Arrival Minas Gerais, 1873 9

2 "A Most Dangerous Place for a Boy" Paris, 1891 26

3 First Flight Vaugirard, 1897 40

4 Dying for Science Paris, 1899 69

5 The Turkey Buzzard's Secret 90

6 An Afternoon in the Rothschilds' Chestnut Tree Paris, 1901 102

7 "It Is the Poor Who Will Suffer!" The Eiffel Tower, 1901 127

8 "Making Armies a Jest" 150

9 An Unwelcome Dip in the Mediterranean Bay of Monaco, 1902 161

10 "Airship Is Useless, Says Lord Kelvin" London and New York, 1902 178

11 The World's First Aerial Car Paris, 1903 207

12 A Scurrilous Stabbing and a Russian Bribe St. Louis, 1904 234

13 "Aeroplane Raised by Small Motor, M. Santos-Dumont Performs a Feat Never Before Attained in Europe" Paris, 1906 251

14 "A War of Engineers and Chemists" 278

15 "Cavalry of the Clouds" 292

16 Departure Guaruja, 1932 301

Postmortem: In Search of a Heart Campo dos Afonsos, 2000 312.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [323]-347) and index.

ISBN:

0786866594

OCLC:

50478545