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Wilbur Wright's Letter to the Smithsonian (1899)

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Re: Wilbur Wright's Letter to the Smithsonian (1899)

#21

Post by demarq »

mannykannot wrote: post #18
demarq wrote: post #14

" I wish to avail myself of all that is already known and then if possible add my mite to help on the future workers who will attain final success. " I think this also says a lot about Intellectual Property right here. Just think of how todays innovation is hindered with NDAs and patent trolls.

To a large extent, other experimenters in the field at that time freely shared information. As indicated by this letter, the Wrights eagerly drank from that well, but did not reciprocate, as it was their intention to patent their achievements. If they had managed their patents with the aggressiveness that we see nowadays, early aviation development might have been stalled for a decade.

that is just so disappointing.

Re: Wilbur Wright's Letter to the Smithsonian (1899)

#22

Post by [deleted] »

tlb wrote: post #3

They succeeded 4.5 years later. Their argument that birds make maneuvers 3-4x more aggressive than needed for level flight, and therefore level flight may be within the reach of man, is an intriguing one. You could make parallel arguments about AI today, for example that driving a car requires only 1/3 - 1/4 of a brainpower.

[deleted]

Re: Wilbur Wright's Letter to the Smithsonian (1899)

#23

Post by sailfast »

dmurray wrote: post #9

If like me you were wondering how the Smithsonian replied, there are links to other letters on the same page. The next one is a letter of thanks for sending certain pamphlets and recommendations, enclosing one dollar for another book.

An interesting question, though I'm wondering if the Smithsonian made duplicate copies of replies to things like these.

To get the letter they sent (unless they kept the original fairly insignificant seeming administrative letter "yes sir please see enclosed") it would've had to have been kept by Wilbur.

Re: Wilbur Wright's Letter to the Smithsonian (1899)

#24

Post by phkahler »

mannykannot wrote: post #18
demarq wrote: post #14

" I wish to avail myself of all that is already known and then if possible add my mite to help on the future workers who will attain final success. " I think this also says a lot about Intellectual Property right here. Just think of how todays innovation is hindered with NDAs and patent trolls.

To a large extent, other experimenters in the field at that time freely shared information. As indicated by this letter, the Wrights eagerly drank from that well, but did not reciprocate, as it was their intention to patent their achievements. If they had managed their patents with the aggressiveness that we see nowadays, early aviation development might have been stalled for a decade.

>> As indicated by this letter, the Wrights eagerly drank from that well, but did not reciprocate, as it was their intention to patent their achievements.

From the letter we can see that they did not expect to succeed but only hoped to contribute. From what I've read they really got a rude awakening to the ways of the business world after they invented something of significant value. I am in the odd position of agreeing with you and also thinking they deserved the patent and everything they could get from it. It was not a trivial achievement and involved a number of unique innovations and challenges to the published wisdom.

Re: Wilbur Wright's Letter to the Smithsonian (1899)

#25

Post by mannykannot »

phkahler wrote: post #24
mannykannot wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To a large extent, other experimenters in the field at that time freely shared information. As indicated by this letter, the Wrights eagerly drank from that well, but did not reciprocate, as it was their intention to patent their achievements. If they had managed their patents with the aggressiveness that we see nowadays, early aviation development might have been stalled for a decade.

>> As indicated by this letter, the Wrights eagerly drank from that well, but did not reciprocate, as it was their intention to patent their achievements. From the letter we can see that they did not expect to succeed but only hoped to contribute. From what I've read they really got a rude awakening to the ways of the business world after they invented something of significant value. I am in the odd position of agree…

I agree that the Wrights deserved to be rewarded handsomely for their achievements, but so too do the others who made important contributions afterwards, though perhaps not to the same extent. The issue of the fair reward for innovation still has no satisfactory solution to this day.

The Wrights also had to fight with the Smithsonian over their historical legacy, with the result that the original Flyer was displayed in London's Science Museum for many years, where its significance was properly recognized.

Re: Wilbur Wright's Letter to the Smithsonian (1899)

#26

Post by lordvon »

mannykannot wrote: post #18
demarq wrote: post #14

" I wish to avail myself of all that is already known and then if possible add my mite to help on the future workers who will attain final success. " I think this also says a lot about Intellectual Property right here. Just think of how todays innovation is hindered with NDAs and patent trolls.

To a large extent, other experimenters in the field at that time freely shared information. As indicated by this letter, the Wrights eagerly drank from that well, but did not reciprocate, as it was their intention to patent their achievements. If they had managed their patents with the aggressiveness that we see nowadays, early aviation development might have been stalled for a decade.

They did reciprocate. They freely shared their discoveries with Octave Chanute and spoke about their earlier but still important discoveries at an aeronautics conference Chanute invited them to.

It is amazing what they had to invent and discover to get from the then-current state of the art to a practical flying machine. To give a few specific examples: invent modern propeller theory, dispel long-revered aerodynamic experiment results (Smeaton's coefficient and Lilienthal's airfoil performance data), manufacture a sufficiently lightweight and powerful engine (with significant help on this front from a mechanic they employed for their bicycle business), and pretty much the only effective aircraft control schemes at the time (when people did not even think control was that important!). I am probably missing a few things but each of the points I listed required lots of effort and iteration.

They deserved much more than they got, and tried to use patents for its intended legal purpose. People just didn't play fair by the Wright brothers' estimation. One could speculate that they maliciously and/or selfishly held back innovation, but if you look at their character throughout their journey of invention it seems more likely that they decided to engage unscrupulous enemies, which unfortunately absorbed a lot of their time.

They demonstrated integrity. Inventors all over the world were chomping at the bit of flight by making hops and such, but no one could make a practical flying machine. While others would grandstand on small successes, the Wright brothers focused only on the ultimate end goal of a practical flying machine. They did not make public demonstrations, even though they were far ahead of all others. A small number of people witnessed their progress, and word would spread slowly. But since they were not overtly public about this great progress people doubted them and even accused them of being frauds. This did not deter them, and they continued with their work. The truth was finally revealed to the whole world when they made demonstrations in France, having completed a practical flying machine. It was utterly sensational all around the world, amplified by the fact that they had been highly doubted by prominent figures. These prominent public detractors promptly made public apologies.

In my opinion, the Wright brothers are the greatest inventors / founders in human history. Their biographies are definitely worth a read. My favorites are the ones by David McCullough and Peter Jakab.

Re: Wilbur Wright's Letter to the Smithsonian (1899)

#27

Post by blktiger »

phkahler wrote: post #24
mannykannot wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To a large extent, other experimenters in the field at that time freely shared information. As indicated by this letter, the Wrights eagerly drank from that well, but did not reciprocate, as it was their intention to patent their achievements. If they had managed their patents with the aggressiveness that we see nowadays, early aviation development might have been stalled for a decade.

>> As indicated by this letter, the Wrights eagerly drank from that well, but did not reciprocate, as it was their intention to patent their achievements. From the letter we can see that they did not expect to succeed but only hoped to contribute. From what I've read they really got a rude awakening to the ways of the business world after they invented something of significant value. I am in the odd position of agree…

If you look at the history of the Wright Brothers company[1], you'll find they spent too much time trying to litigate patents and not enough time innovating. Unfortunately, while they had a lead in powered flight, they blew it away by trying to hard to protect their intellectual property.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Company

Re: Wilbur Wright's Letter to the Smithsonian (1899)

#29

Post by ChuckMcM »

And isn't it great that the Smithsonian did NOT reply

"We have found 14 articles related to your letter, here are the titles, you can rent them for $15.95 each for a week or we will print them out and send them too you for $56.00 each. Please let us know which ones you want."

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