“I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning”

— William Thomson

As a response to Major B. F. S. Baden Powell's request to join the Aeronautical Society, December 8, 1896 http://zapatopi.net/kelvin/papers/letters.html#baden-powell.
Often reproduced out of context and without citation to any primary source as "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible", like in The Experts Speak : The Definitive Compendium of Authoritative Misinformation (1984) by Christopher Cerf and Victor Navasky, p. 236
Context: I am afraid I am not in the flight for “aerial navigation”. I was greatly interested in your work with kites; but I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning or of expectation of good results from any of the trials we hear of. So you will understand that I would not care to be a member of the aëronautical Society.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Nov. 3, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning" by William Thomson?

William Thomson 18

British physicist and engineer 1824–1907

Related quotes

“I am afraid I am not in the flight for “aerial navigation.””

William Thomson (1824–1907) British physicist and engineer

I was greatly interested in your work with kites; but I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning or of expectation of good results from any of the trials we hear of. So you will understand that I would not care to be a member of the aëronautical Society.
As a response to Major B. F. S. Baden Powell's request to join the Aeronautical Society, December 8, 1896 http://zapatopi.net/kelvin/papers/letters.html#baden-powell.
Often reproduced out of context and without citation to any primary source as "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible", like in The Experts Speak : The Definitive Compendium of Authoritative Misinformation (1984) by Christopher Cerf and Victor Navasky, p. 236

“I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in human beings.”

Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American writer

This I Believe (1951)
Context: I believe in human beings, but my faith is without sentimentality. I know that in environments of uncertainty, fear, and hunger, the human being is dwarfed and shaped without his being aware of it, just as the plant struggling under a stone does not know its own condition. Only when the stone is removed can it spring up freely into the light. But the power to spring up is inherent, and only death puts an end to it. I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in human beings.

“The ideal solution of the problem of transportation will be arrived at only when the complete annihilation of distance in the transmission of power in large amounts shall have become a commercial reality. That day we shall invade the domain of the bird. When the vexing problem of aerial navigation, which has defied his attempts for ages, is solved, man will advance with giant strides.”

Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) Serbian American inventor

A Means for Furthering Peace (1905)

“While it was long possible and sometimes tempting for physicists to deny the usefulness of the molecular hypothesis, we economists have the good luck of being some of the ‘molecules’ of economic life ourselves, and of having the possibility through human contacts to study the behavior of other ‘molecules’.”

Tjalling Koopmans (1910–1985) Dutch American economist

Tjalling Koopmans in: Review of economics and statistics, Vol. 31 -(1949), p. 87

“We know that he has, more than any other man, the gift of compressing the largest number of words into the smallest amount of thought.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

A jibe directed at Ramsay MacDonald, during a speech in the House of Commons, March 23, 1933 "European Situation" http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1933/mar/23/european-situation#column_544. This quote is similar to a remark (“He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met”) made by Abraham Lincoln. [Frederick Trevor Hill credits Lincoln with this remark in Lincoln the Lawyer (1906), adding that ‘History has considerately sheltered the identity of the victim’.]
The 1930s

“The launch of PSLV-C24, with IRNSS-1B marks an important landmark in our space programme and demonstrates, yet again, India's capabilities in space launch technology. The nation will immensely benefit from the applications of IRNSS which include terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management etc”

Pranab Mukherjee (1935) 13th President of India

Quoted on Yahoo News! India, "Pranab Mukherjee congratulates ISRO for successful launch of PSLV-C24" https://in.news.yahoo.com/pranab-mukherjee-congratulates-isro-successful-launch-pslv-c24-154506512.html, April 4, 2014.
Context: My heartiest congratulations to you and your entire team at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch of PSLV-C24, carrying the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)-1B. The launch of PSLV-C24, with IRNSS-1B marks an important landmark in our space programme and demonstrates, yet again, India's capabilities in space launch technology. The nation will immensely benefit from the applications of IRNSS which include terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management etc. Kindly convey my greetings to the members of your team of scientists, engineers, technologists and all others associated with this great mission. Our nation is grateful for their hard work and proud of their accomplishments.