Taking off.

DECEMBER 17TH, 1903, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina: the vertiginous moment in which human ingenuity catches up with the ancient dream of flight (or, just possibly, not, if there is anything in the claims to primacy of the Wright brothers' Brazilian rival that we report on page 4). In this achievement reason (exemplified by cutting-edge technology) and unreason (the mythic transcending of the boundaries of human existence) came together in a vision of superhuman power and otherworldly beauty that has held exceptional allure over the last century.

As we were preparing this issue ...

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