The Science of Flight

Many of us board a plane without understanding what a truly extraordinary experience flight is: suspended 30,000 feet or more in the air, propelled to our destination at close to the speed of sound, protected from extreme cold and low pressure by the thin skin of the aircraft. We realize it’s complicated, but few of us know how it works. Even more remarkable is space flight, the “rocket science” that we use as a benchmark of difficulty or complexity.

Yet the related principles of atmospheric flight and space flight are not difficult at all, and the study of these two miracles of modern engineering is a wide-ranging lesson in physics, technology, and history. No organization is more authoritative on this subject than the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) and its annex, the Udvar-Hazy Center. Together, they host the world’s premier collections of air and space artifacts and the home to some of the most distinguished scholars in the field.

The Great Courses is proud to join forces with the Smithsonian to explain flight as it’s never been explained before. In 24 visually rich half-hour lectures, The Science of Flight covers the inner workings of gliders, airplanes, helicopters, rockets, spacecraft, and other flying machines, illustrated by the incomparable holdings of NASM and with commentary by the museum’s internationally renowned curators.

The Science of Flight is taught by award-winning educator James W. Gregory, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Ohio State University. An instrument-rated private pilot as well as an engineer, Professor Gregory gives as thorough an explanation of the principles of flight, rocketry, and related topics as you’ll get outside of flight school. Throughout, his beautifully clear lectures are supplemented by incisive commentary from NASM experts, who put everything from airfoils to orbits into a fascinating historical context.

Lecture list:


01 Fundamentals of Flight: Gliding
02 Balloons, Buoyancy, and the Atmosphere
03 Takeoff: How Wings Produce Lift
04 Drag Trade-Offs and Boundary-Layer Turbulence
05 Stall Events and Lift-Induced Drag
06 Wind Tunnels and Predicting Aerodynamics
07 Propeller Aircraft: Slow and Efficient
08 Jet Aircraft: Thrust to Fly Fast
09 Aircraft Structures and Materials
10 Aircraft Stability and Flight Control
11 Flying Faster and Higher
12 Breaking the Sound Barrier and Beyond
13 Long-Distance Flight and Predicting Range
14 Aerobatics and Dogfighting
15 Mission Profiles and Aircraft Design
16 Primary Cockpit Instruments
17 Air Traffic Navigation and Communication
18 Flight Autonomy and Drones
19 Helicopters and Vertical Flight
20 Rocket Science and the Evolution of Launch
21 Orbiting Earth Means Always Falling
22 To Mars and Beyond: Gravity-Assist Flight
23 Atmospheric Reentry: Ballistic, Skip, Glide
24 The Future of Air and Space Flight
25 Bonus Material: Gustave Eiffel's Wind Tunnels
26 Bonus Material: Engineering Faster Flight Speeds
27 Bonus Material: Why the Wright Flyer Succeeded
28 Bonus Material: The Wright Brothers' Innovations
29 Bonus Material: Higher, Farther, Faster

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