Page:Dictionary of aviation.djvu/7



Scope. In the making of this dictionary the attempt has been to produce a word-book for the use of persons interested in aviation from any of the various points of view from which it may be contemplated, or from any of the several starting-points from which it may be pursued. The subject itself is indeed somewhat new, and not yet highly differentiated. Aviation as a whole involvs in some degree not only various other arts, such as the arts of mechanical construction and manipulation; but various sciences, such as fysics, mathematics, mechanics, meteorology, climatology, astronomy, geografy, and ornithology; as well as various professions and occupations, such as transportation, navigation, sport, politics, law, warfare, literature, etc. Airships have not only to be constructed and operated, but they have also to be considerd as factors in a world-transforming process. Their gauzy wings cast strange shadows upon the pathway of humanity. No man can tell just how and when and where these airy mechanisms may not metamorfose the face of the globe, modify the structure and distribution of the human race, and unravel or weave anew the social fabric. The scope of this book is therefore wider than might at first thought seem advisable.

Aeronautics has often been considerd as distinct from, or larger than, and embracing, aviation. When, about three years ago, this dictionary was first (in great part) compiled, and announced as being in preparation, I cald it a Dictionary of Aeronautics. Since that time, however, the word aviation has come into very wide use; and as the book is primarily