Air museums around the world are displays of the manifestations of the many ideasthat went into making it possible for a person to take to the air. The earliest desiresto do so are recorded in mythology, the human imagination, and envy of what birdscan do. Icarus and Leonardo da Vinci dreamed of flying but, alas, their efforts werenot successful. Balloons lifted people into the air using the buoyancy of warm air inthe eighteenth century. Just going up was not enough. We want to go somewhere!Serious thoughts about flying using air-moving (aerodynamic) forces also date backa couple of centuries with great minds addressing the possibility.The intent of this writing is to tell the interesting story of the science of flight and,in part, to dispel some misunderstandings about the topic. The reader is assumed tobe interested in aviation generally without formal training in the subject. The storycenters on two main topics: the generation of lift by a wing and the generation ofthrust by a modern jet engine. Both are the result of the successful development of awing for controlled flight and the internal combustion engine. While many labored tobe first to fly, the Wright brothers succeeded as history witnessed. The contributionsmade by others should not be underestimated. The history of how we got to our timewhen non-stop flight half-way around the world is possible is told by many others.One such story told by the author may be of interest.