Up to the time of his death, in 1857, Cayley maintained his
study of aeronautical matters, and there is no doubt whatever
that his work went far in assisting the solution of the problem
of air conquest
Up to the time of his death, in 1857, Cayley maintained his
study of aeronautical matters, and there is no doubt whatever
that his work went far in assisting the solution of the problem
of air conquest. His principal published work, a monograph
entitled Aerial Navigation, has been republished in the
admirable series of “Aeronautical Classics” issued by the Royal
Aeronautical Society. He began this work by pointing out the
impossibility of flying by means of attached wings, an
impossibility due to the fact that, while the pectoral muscles
of a bird account for more than two-thirds of its whole muscular
strength, in a man the muscles available for flying, no matter
what mechanism might be used, would not exceed one-tenth of his
total strength.
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