True. But you can actually observe flight. Sombody who saw Rossi's Gadget heating his Office in Ferrara would have no idea whether it really works or not, unless they have measured it in some way. There would have been no such uncertainty with somebody whitnessing the Wrights or Lilienthal take off.
________________________________ Von: Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> An: [email protected] Gesendet: 3:47 Mittwoch, 25.Januar 2012 Betreff: Re: [Vo]:The Eight Hour Rule Harry Veeder <[email protected]> wrote: Were the Wright brother keeping everything secret . . . Yes, they were. About as secret as Rossi is, and for the same reason: intellectual property. They did not get a patent until 1906, and in 1905 they had already made improvements which they hoped to include in a new patent application. They asked people not to take close-up photos. The patent laws were somewhat different back then, and premature disclosure was more of a problem for the inventor. . . . so that your >hypothetical friends of 1905 would have told >you not to publish the details? > That is what happened. The fact that Wrights were flying was not secret to people who followed aviation, but the technical details were skimpy. The mass media did not believe a word of it. Similar circumstances have reoccurred often in modern history, but this is example is particularly close. So close it is uncanny. It often happens that people try to withhold information on scientific or technological breakthroughs. That part is not unusual. - Jed
