Excerpt from Birdmen by Lawrence Goldstone, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Samuel Pierpont Langley had succeeded in developing the first powered heavier-than- air flying machine. In doing so, he achieved all his goals: He had overthrown centuries of theory and skepticism; flung aviation into the forefront; and established himself among the general public as the nation's foremost scientific mind. The next step was to build an aerodrome sufficiently large and powerful to carry a man. To aid in the endeavor, the War Department, with President McKinley's approval, bestowed on Langley a $50,000 grant, the first ever expenditure of public funds in the pursuit of human flight.

Excerpted from Birdmen by Lawrence Goldstone. Copyright © 2014 by Lawrence Goldstone. Excerpted by permission of Ballantine Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.