Rulers of Flight

12" Wooden Ruler made in U.S.A. of American-grown basswood.

Envious of birds perhaps, we humans have been fascinated by flying since our earliest days. Mythology gives us the Greek story of an early attempt to fly by Daedalus and Icarus.

Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), famous for painting the Mona Lisa, was also a prolific inventor. His drawings include sketches for an early flying machine as well as something that looks a lot like a helicopter.

Reading the list of names, you will encounter recognizable words such as zeppelin (after its inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin) or names of existing aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing (after William E. Boeing) and Tupolev (after Andrei Tupolev). Peanuts fans will recognize the name of Sir Thomas Sopwith (1888-1989) from the Sopwith Camel that Snoopy flew when battling the Red Baron Manfred von Richthofen (1892-1918).

The “head” is that of Amelia Earhart (1897-1937?) who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, but later disappeared over the Pacific in 1937 when trying to circumnavigate the globe.

If you like this ruler, you might also be interested in Great Women Rulers of Science or Rulers of Science.