Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and EvolutionRichard Dawkins on how nature and humans have learned to overcome the pull of gravity and take to the skies. 'A masterly investigation of all aspects of flight, human and animal... A beautifully produced book that will appeal across age groups' Alexander McCall Smith 'Dawkins has always been an extraordinarily muscular, persuasive thinker. What feels new here is that he writes with such charm and warmth' The Times Have you ever dreamt you could fly? Or imagined what it would be like to glide and swoop through the sky like a bird? Do you let your mind soar to unknown, magical spaces? Richard Dawkins explores the wonder of flight: from the mythical Icarus, to the sadly extinct but spectacular bird Argentavis magnificens, from the Wright flyer and the 747, to the Tinkerbella fairyfly and the Peregrine falcon. But he also explores flights of the mind and escaping the everyday – through science, ideas and imagination. Fascinating and beautifully illustrated, this is a unique collaboration between one of the world's leading scientists and a talented artist. |
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aerial plankton aircraft airship Albatross ancestors animals ants Argentavis arms astronauts balloon bees Bernoulli's principle bones capybara catch cells centimetres CHAPTER colugo Contributor Cottingley fairies dinosaurs eggs Emlen engine evolution evolutionary evolved extinct feathers female fingers flap their wings flea flight surfaces flightless float flower flyers flying fish flying squirrel forest genes giant glide Gossamer Albatross ground half a wing helicopter homing pigeons huge human hummingbird indigo buntings insect wings insects island jump leap legs lift lighter than air look machine mammals marsupial metres migrating million moth muscles natural selection nectar orbit orchid ostriches outward urge parachute patagium perhaps pigeons pilots planes plankton plants pollen pollinia predators prey propeller pterosaurs Quetzalcoatlus ratites Rhamphorhynchus rocket seeds shape Shutterstock species speed surface area survival swimming tail terror birds theory there’s thermal tree Unlike vertebrates vulture wasp weight weightlessness wind tunnel