[.ca] The Miracle of Flight (ISBN 1552979822)

My Second-Most-Handled Book:
Flight is a miracle; Stephen Dalton forcefully makes that case. The little boy believes him. The seasoned aviator believes him. The scholarly engineer believes him. I believe him, for I am all those people. As Chairman of a major undergraduate Aerospace Engineering department, as prior Chief Test Pilot for a developing fighter, as a boy at heart that still loves the simple joys of flight, I believe him. My students believe him, drawn by the stunning pictures, making this my second-most-handled book. As a Aeronautics educator, I've actually looked for such a book for some time. If students are to understand the complexity and wonder of an airplane, I need to draw their attention to 'simpler' things, things they already know (though they may not know that they know them). They've seen ducks land on ponds. Through Dalton's book my students (ranging from 8 to 23) connect how in an airplane we're merely mimicking what God has already done in the design of the duck. Dalton has done this powerfully in the most amazing nature photography I've ever seen. Spanning the smallest flying insects to the largest of flying machines, Dalton depicts the aeronautics that make flight work. Furthermore, without compromising splendidly accurate technical content, the photography still persuades you that flight is still miraculous. Miraculous is an interesting choice of words. Is there another conclusion we're to draw? The boy in me, the pilot in me, the educator in me are compelled to marvel at the God whose fingerprint is so strikingly upon such images of flight. On one hand we assert that only by intense study and careful design can man arrive at a robust flying machine. Is it then reasonable to insist that to improve upon our best efforts, to design instead a bird, for example, you must instead forsake intent and rely instead upon chance? My most-handled-book explains how it is fitting that the boy, the warrior, and the teacher should take note of nature and then worship the God responsible. "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech..." Psalm 19 Buy the book. Ask then if you should worship God.