SINGER, Bayla 1940-

PERSONAL:

Female. Born 1940.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Texas A & M University Press, John H. Lindsey Bldg., Lewis St., 4354 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4354.

CAREER:

Independent scholar and author. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, former consultant.

WRITINGS:

Like Sex with Gods: An Unorthodox History of Flying, Texas A & M University Press (College Station, TX), 2003.

Contributor to magazines and journals.

SIDELIGHTS:

In Like Sex with Gods: An Unorthodox History of Flying, Bayla Singer looks at the history of humankind's fascination with flight. In addition to tracing the technological advances leading up to the successful flight of the Wright Brothers, Singer also considers the cultural aspects of humanity's dream of flight. She points out that in classical mythology only the gods could fly; humans could only yearn for such freedom. In literature and art, flying was often a metaphor for spiritual attainment and freedom. As flight became a reality, Singer argues, it fulfilled more than simple technological possibilities, addressing emotional and even religious needs as well. "We humans have wanted to fly ever since we looked up and thought there must be a God in the sky because flying would bring us closer to God," Singer explained. A critic for Kirkus Reviews called Like Sex with Gods an "able presentation of the piquant stew of emotional, literary, artistic, religious, and technological considerations that spurred—and spurred and spurred—the will to human flight."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2003, review of Like Sex with Gods: An Unorthodox History of Flying, p. 596.

Lodi News-Sentinel, December 9, 2003, Linda Rosenkrantz, review of Like Sex with Gods.

ONLINE

Free Republic,http://www.freerepublic.com/ (December 3, 2003) Seth Borenstein, "By Conquering Air, Wright Brothers Unleashed World-altering Force."*