In 1858 I Received The Degree Of

The Demonstration That No Possible Combination Of Known Substances, Known Forms Of Machinery And Known Forms Of Force, Can Be United In A Practical Machine By Which Men Shall Fly Along Distances Through The Air, Seems To The Writer As Complete As It Is Possible For The Demonstration To Be.

A Few Years Later The Naval Academy Was Founded At Annapolis, And A Similar Course Was Pursued To Provide It With A Corps Of Instructors.

Until I Was Four Years Old I Lived In The House Of My Paternal Grandfather, About Two Miles From The Pretty Little Village Of Wallace, At The Mouth Of The River Of That Name.

Flight By Machines Heavier Than Air Is Unpractical And Insignificant, If Not Utterly Impossible.

My Father Was The Most Rational And The Most Dispassionate Of Men.