PERHAPS ONE OF THE most amazing statements in the chronicle of aviation development (and for that matter modern technology in general) is a quote made in the summer of 1901 from the discouraged Wilbur Wright (“The Wright Brothers: How They Flew,” by Richard P. Hallion, Fall 2003) to his brother that man wouldn’t fly “for fifty years.” We marvel at such quotes as they reveal the frail humanness of the very pioneers of modern technology. Inventors are real people too. Inventors fear. Inventors struggle with depression. Inventors often sacrifice their sweat and their creative energy in exchange for seemingly meager tangible results. Moreover, prolific inventors face both triumph and setback at prolific levels. Ironically, that somehow makes them even more real, more human, more like us, reminding us that even they wondered whether their pursuits would ever yield anything lasting. In so doing, they inspire us to persevere, against whatever odds oppose us, and to press on when lesser men might walk away.
Imagine for a moment a world in which the Wright brothers walk away from the challenge. Right there, in August of 1901. They return home to Dayton and wait for someone else in another age, with better tools, or more money, or more education, or higher self-esteem, or a clearer calling, or a stronger yearning in the soul, to be the first. Perhaps they subscribe to the notion mentioned by a prominent aviation innovator, which also appeared in the Fall issue of Invention & Technology , that “if you don’t make a contribution by age 30, forget it.” If 1901 had been the sum total of their achievement, it’s true they would still have learned some novel concepts while applying their innovative mechanical minds to the enigma of the flying machine. Perhaps their work would even have earned them some measure of notoriety or personal gratification. Yet they would never have known what they might have achieved if they had only had the moxie to overcome.
Fortunately for us, we need not imagine such a thing, for within 28 months, they had done it, 48 years sooner than the discouraged Wilbur in his darkest hour predicted. The Wrights, along with so many others, whether they be champions of innovation from the pages of history or vivid personalities from our modern engineering labs, basement workshops, or daily lives, belong to a special group of those who set an example of what might be. They demonstrate the potential of the human mind and the tenacity of the human character to persevere; and to do so even when the outward signs and internal fears might indicate we should cut our losses and quit. I propose that it is precisely at that moment, in the crucible, that the true inventors are made.
Rich Simmons
ATLANTA, GA.
