This week, an aeronautics “internet textbook” which takes you soaring through the history and evolution of flight in animals.
Aimed primarily at school children (but great for any age) the site is presented at three different levels - beginner, intermediate and advanced - all running in parallel, but with successive levels going to a slightly greater depth. The different levels can all be accessed by clicking the “book home” button, at the bottom of each page.
Five main sections cover prehistoric flying animals, insects, birds, bats and marine animals, explaining how flight evolved, how it works, and how it benefits the animals in question. Each section also gives a great overview of the biology of each group of animals, the birds section, for example, explains what makes a bird a bird, as well as how feathers work. The marine animals section explains the biology behind fish flight - not through the air, but through the water - and how the streamlined shape of their bodies is just as specialised as the aerodynamic bodies and wings of birds and insects.
Illustrated with a mixture of photography and computer graphics, it’s all brilliantly written and the science is clearly explained. A top-notch site from take-off to landing.