# The Wright Flyer

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wright-flyer/161785>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 16, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wright-flyer/161785 "2003-03-16T13:05:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Xgemina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/b5e925/32.png) [@Xgemina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xgemina)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wright-flyer/161785/21 "2003-03-18T02:34:47Z")

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**Mr. Miskatonic**  
Lord Kelvin, Sir William Thompson, has had many quotes attributed to him. Regarding heavier-than-air flight; in 1895 he made the statement

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> “I can state flatly that heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible” (Australian Institute of Physics)

This was followed by his 1896 statement

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> “I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning…I would not care to be a member of the Aeronautical Society.” (Personal correspondence to Baden-Powell)

Of course Lord Kelvin did not restrict himself to powered flight.  
At the British Association for the advancement of Science in 1900 he stated

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> “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.”

Two other quotes attributed to Lord Kelvin are

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> “Radio has no future.”  
> “X-rays will prove to be a hoax.”

[http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Kelvin.html](http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Kelvin.html)  
[http://zapatopi.net/kelvin/letters.html#BADEN-POWELL](http://zapatopi.net/kelvin/letters.html#BADEN-POWELL)  
[http://zapatopi.net/kelvin/quotes.html](http://zapatopi.net/kelvin/quotes.html)

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**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2003, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wright-flyer/161785/22 "2003-03-18T17:06:35Z")

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> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by Xgemina \*  
> \*\ ***Mr. Miskatonic**  
> Lord Kelvin, Sir William Thompson, has had many quotes attributed to him. \*\*

Yes, I’m aware of that. But my problem is that so many of these quotes are self-referencing. The only one with a given source is the “No Faith…” quote. (Which in context is much less laughable than the “impossible” quote.)

THe “There’s nothing new to be discovered…” I’ve seen it attributed to Michelson. But apparently, author Steve Weinburg traced it back to a lecture Michelson held in Chicago where he actually said “_AN EMINENT PHYSICIST HAS REMARKED THAT_ any further truths in Physical Science are to be found in the sixth place of decimals.” And that someone in the audience automaticly assumed it was Kelvin. But the quote appears nowhere in his writings.

The “X-rays are a hoax.” Apparently Kelvin sent a letter of congratulations

I"m just hoping someone had a better source for most of these “quotes” since they tend to take a life of their own. With no original source. Much like the Duell quote about “everything that can be invented has been invented” turned out to be a fake, I wonder if many of these are as well.

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wright-flyer/161785/23 "2003-03-23T07:32:03Z")

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> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by Papermache Prince \*  
> \*\*“as long as there was a seat available”?
> 
> Hell, imagine being able to tell your grandchildren “I was bumped off a flight for Orville Wright.” \*\*

I didn’t say the carriers ought to have bumped other passengers for him. “Available” means they have an empty seat.

I once got bumped of a flight from L.A. to San Francisco for being dumb enough to wait while the guy ahead of me went on and on about his connection to Australia. I thought the gate agent would surely understand that I was politely waiting for the man ahead of me to finish, and would not let me lose my seat.

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