Bumblebees CAN fly! The oft heard ridicule of scientists that say a bumble
cannot fly because its wings are too small, in spite of the evidence of
their own eyes, is based on a misrepresentation of an incident that occurred
in the 1930s. McMasters (in the Amer. Sci. 77:164-169) reports that a noted
Swiss professor of aerodynamics at a dinner party with biologists was asked
about the aerodynamics of wasp and bee wings. He performed some calculation
for the bumblebee based on a smooth wing and got a low Reynolds number
"proving" the bee incapable of flight. He obviously knew that the
calculations were simplistic, and later (after examining a wing under a
microscope and noting the bent and folded nature of the wing), corrected his
error, but like the news media of today, the correction received little notice.
"Be sure you're right, then look again!" John Henry Comstock
Art
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