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In 1875 an American clergyman declared that science had reached its limits — that there was nothing left to discover. When someone told him humans would one day fly, he flew into a rage.
“Only angels can fly! To suggest that humans could do so is to insult God!”
Many clergymen of his era made similar claims. We might not remember this particular remark if not for his last name: Wright. He had two sons, Orville and Wilbur. Just 30 years after that conversation, they built an airplane and took to the skies.
That milestone came after a Russian steam-powered aircraft built by Mikhail Mozhaysky had already flown. In that way, the Wright brothers fulfilled the “mission of angels”.
