Flying Machine

DK Eyewitness Books

by Andrew Nahum

Vivid photos and lively captions document humankind's age-old desire to fly; elucidate the principles behind lift, drag, and thrust; and reveal the inner and outer workings of everything from gliders and hot-air balloons to helicopters and fighter planes.  

Genres: Science, Childrens, Nonfiction, History

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Andrew Nahum is Principal Curator of Technology and Engineering at the Science Museum, London. He recently led the curatorial team which created the acclaimed special exhibition Inside the Spitfire, and previously directed the creation of the major new synoptic gallery at the Museum on the history of technology and science entitled Making the Modern World.

He has written extensively on the history of technology, aviation and transport for both scholarly and popular journals. His books include a study of Alec Issigonis the designer of the Mini and the Morris Minor cars in Issigonis and the Mini and Frank Whittle in Frank Whittle: Invention of the Jet and he is currently completing a technological and economic study of the British aircraft industry in the years following the Second World War.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

DK has done it again. A great kids book with wonderful pictures. The captions are descriptive and provide accurate information about flying machines. Not too much detail but enough for a beginner.

[Antonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Mahrya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nahum, Andrew. Flying Machine, Knopf, 62 pages. Non-fiction, work on a single topic.

Description: Flying Machine provides information on various types of planes, helicopters, hot-air balloons and other flying machines through the use of photos, cross-sections and short paragraphs of annotative text.

Review: This book is packed with information about all kinds of flying machines. Children who are very interested in the topic--or who are interested in how things work generally--will find a wealth of information presented in a non-linear way. Pictures of flight related objects are scattered across the page, with each part of the object labeled and described. Sketches and short paragraphs of text accompany the images. For kids who are used to scanning web pages for content, this format will seem familiar. Some children may be overwhelmed, however, with the crammed layout. For children who are not yet fluent in silent reading, the small text may also present a problem.

Professional Reviews:

Brouse, Ann G. School Library Journal, January, 1991.
Brouse emphasizes the photo quality in this book and how the photos contrast nicely with the white background. I agree that Flying Machine is visually engaging and well-presented. Brouse also mentions the book's focus on British flying machines, which I had not noticed. I don't think that this emphasis is problematic in any way.

I could only find one professional review for this title.

[Cristian Caballero]

In this book, it tells that the wonders about flying machines and also the history behind it, like how planes where created and also how they started . It also tells about helicopter , also other stuff like the bat and the bat is like a cape on steel and it kind of looks likes a bat. So this book was really good story and i would rate it a 3 . I could recommenced this to people who likes to know about helicopters and planes and other stuff.

[Diego Valenzuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about the history of planes and helicopters, from the wright brother to the jetliners we see today. I like this book because it tells the story of how the plane came to be. I would recommend this book to someone who likes plane.

[John Morr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book. I liked how it talks about how flying works. I liked how it talks about the first planes. I recommend this book if you want to learn about flight.

[Belle Meade School]

629.13009

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flying Machine will appeal to those who might have a deep passion for flying machines.

[Gray .K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flying machine have been around for a long time ever since Leonardo thought that he could create a human powered one. This book touches apon every fundamental part of aviation history. This made the book very interesting. I would highly recommend this book it is the best nonfiction aviation book that there is.

[Victor Orozco · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in the third, maybe fourth grade. I remember its pictures of planes made me so enamored with flying I could think of doing nothing else for days at a time. It made me become fascinated with the men and women who mastered flight. B.

[Connor Foster-Nesbit · Rating 4 out of 5]

info, full of the stuff, informational pictures, overall fantastic read

[Jennifer B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, though now quite dated, considering I read the original 1990 edition. Not sure if there's an updated one, but even so, gives a good background on the history of flight.