Ludwig Wittgenstein's Adventure in Aeronautics, 1911

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The Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was one of the 20^th century’s most gifted and influential philosopher-logicians, though he started his advanced educational career in an aeronautics program at Manchester, in England.  And by “though” I mean a very soft “though”, as the engineering students educated in Germany were commanded to have a wide intellectual calling, including heavy backgrounds in mathematics and physics.  He came to Manchester to pursue a career as aeronaut and engineer, which is  a little odd because following its initial great exploits in flight in the mind-19^th century, England certainly was not a hotbed of activity for flight in the first (“flight”) decade of the 20^th century.  Be that as it may, he went to Manchester, pushed by the great influences in the work of Ludwig Boltzmann and Heinrich Hertz. He also received nourishment for his interest in mathematics, leading to a deeper pursuit in the foundations of mathematics, all of which fueled his developing study away from aeronautics and engineering.

And it was here at Manchester that Wittgenstein patented his innovative approach to propulsion—a sort of powered series of ejectors that were attached to the ends of the blades of a propeller.  The image that accompanies the patent application is here, above, and entitled “Improvements in Propellers Applicable for Aerial Machines”, dated 9 September 1911.  This was admittedly an early period in the development of aviation—especially in England—and although an interesting product it was not very practicable, though a design similar did appear on helicopter rotors in the 1950's.    

It was not so practicable that Wittgenstein pursue a career as an aeronaut—within  a year of the publication of his patent, he was on his way to Cambridge to join Bertrand Russell (who had just published the20th century’s most difficult-to-read work in logic in the Principia Mathematica) and begin his work in philosophy. 

It is fitting in a way that Wittgenstein had this background, as he described his philosophy of language in terms of projective geometry...

Notes:

1) Legend for the patent image: Fig. 1 is the gaseous or vaporized fuel inlet; a1 is the air inlet. Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 are alternative methods of fuel flow to the combustion chamber C. In Fig. 2 fuel is mixed with the air just after both emerge from the hub.

2) I've read that Wittgenstein was very deeply influenced by the following passage from Hertz' Principles of Mechanics:  "When these painful contradictions are removed, the question as to the nature of force will not have been answered; but our minds, no longer vexed, will cease to ask illegitimate questions" If I squint a little I can see the seeds of the Tractatus in there. 

3) For a real treatment of this invention of Wittgenstein's see the article at the Royal Society.

4) Also see Ian Lemco's Wittgenstein's Aeronautical Experiments 

5) "My propositions are elucidatory in this way: he who understands me finally recognizes them as senseless, when he has climbed out through them, on them, over them. (He must so to speak throw away the ladder, after he has climbed up on it.) He must surmount these propositions; then he sees the world rightly."--Wittgenstein's Tractatus, 6.54

6) See Klagge's online biography and philosophical history of Wittgenstein