In the history of technology, Robert Esnault-Pelterie is one of the names that keeps returning.
The record lists Robert Esnault-Pelterie as pioneering French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist (1881–1957).
Robert Esnault-Pelterie was born at 9th arrondissement of Paris in 1881. His recorded nationality is France. He was educated at Science Faculty of Paris.
Around the turn of the twentieth century, national institutions, mass media and mass politics changed both the scale of a career and its risks.
He worked as aircraft pilot and military flight engineer.
Technology is judged by adoption: an invention nobody uses is a curiosity.
Recognition followed: Officer of the Legion of Honour (1921), International Space Hall of Fame (1976) and Knight of the Legion of Honour (1913).
That the work was done from France matters. Opportunity has never been evenly distributed, and where a person is based shapes which doors open and whose work gets seen.
Robert Esnault-Pelterie died in 1957, aged 76. What survives is the work, which is the only durable form of a reputation.
Achievements
- Officer of the Legion of Honour — 1921
- International Space Hall of Fame — 1976
- Knight of the Legion of Honour — 1913
- Educated at Science Faculty of Paris
- Worked as aircraft pilot and military flight engineer
