Paul MacCready

{{Infobox engineer

| image = Paul maccready.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = MacCready shows a cross section of the Helios Prototype wing spar.

| birth_name = Paul Beattie MacCready Jr.

| birth_date = {{birth-date|September 29, 1925}}

| birth_place = {{nowrap|New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.}}

| death_date = {{death-date and age|August 28, 2007|September 25, 1925}}

| death_place = {{nowrap|Pasadena, California, U.S.}}

| education = {{ubl|Yale University (BS)|Caltech (MS, PhD)}}

| spouse =

| parents =

| children =

| discipline =

| institutions =

| practice_name =

| significant_projects = AeroVironment

| significant_design =

| significant_advance =

| significant_awards =

}}

Paul Beattie MacCready Jr. (September 25, 1925 – August 28, 2007) was an American aeronautical engineer. He was the founder of AeroVironment and the designer of the human-powered aircraft that won the first Kremer prize. He devoted his life to developing more efficient transportation vehicles that could "do more with less".{{cite web |url=http://www.avinc.com/about/gossamer_albatross/ |title=AeroVironment, Inc.: Gossamer Albatross: 30th Anniversary |publisher=Avinc.com |date=1979-06-12 |access-date=2010-08-25}}

Early life and education

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, to a medical family, MacCready was an inventor from an early age and won a national contest building a model flying machine at the age of 15. "I was always the smallest kid in the class ... by a good bit, and was not especially coordinated, and certainly not the athlete type, who enjoyed running around outside, and was socially kind of immature, not the comfortable leader, teenager type. And so, when I began getting into model airplanes, and getting into contests and creating new things, I probably got more psychological benefit from that than I would have from some of the other typical school things."{{cite web |title=Our Enshrinees |url=https://www.nationalaviation.org/our-enshrinees/maccready-paul/ |website=nationalaviation.org |publisher=NAHF |access-date=7 June 2018}}

MacCready graduated from Hopkins School in 1943 and then trained as a US Navy pilot before the end of World War II. He received a BS in physics from Yale University in 1947, an MS in physics from Caltech in 1948, and a PhD in aeronautics from Caltech in 1952.{{cite web |title=Interview with Paul B. MacCready |url=http://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/128/ |website=library.caltech.edu |publisher=California Institute of Technology |access-date=8 June 2018}} His doctoral dissertation Investigation of Atmospheric Turbulence was supervised by Homer Joseph Stewart.{{MathGenealogy|name=Paul B. MacCready|id=116865}}{{cite thesis|title=Investigation of atmospheric turbulence by Paul B. MacCready|website=CaltechTHESIS, A Caltech Library Service|year=1952|doi=10.7907/F8AR-VH67|url=https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/4382/|last1=MacCready|first1=Paul B.|type=phd}} In 1951, MacCready founded his first company, Meteorology Research Inc, to do atmospheric research. Some of MacCready's work as a graduate student involved cloud seeding, and he was an early pioneer of the use of aircraft to study meteorological phenomena.

Career and achievements

He started gliding after World War II and was a three-time winner (1948, 1949, 1953) of the Richard C. du Pont Memorial Trophy,{{cite web |url=http://soaring.aerobatics.ws/Awards/dupont.html |title=Unofficial Listing of the Soaring Society of America Badges and Awards: The Richard C. du Pont Memorial Trophy |date=1943-09-12 |access-date=2010-08-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061025204042/http://soaring.aerobatics.ws/Awards/dupont.html |archive-date=2006-10-25}} awarded annually to the U.S. National Open Class Soaring Champion. In 1956, he became the first American pilot to become the World Soaring Champion. He invented a device that told pilots the best speed to fly a glider, depending on conditions and based on the glider's rate of sink at different air-speeds. Sailplane pilots still use the "MacCready speed ring",{{cite web |title=Paul Maccready |url=http://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/paul-maccready |website=lemelson.mit.edu |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=8 June 2018}} and still adjust the "MacCready Number" (abbreviated MC) within their flight instruments, to optimize their flying speed.

In the 1970s, he guaranteed a business loan for a friend, which subsequently failed, leaving him with a $100,000 debt. This was the motivation he needed to compete for the £50,000 Kremer prize for human-powered flight, which had been on offer for 18 years. With Dr. Peter B.S. Lissaman, he created a human-powered aircraft, the Gossamer Condor. The Condor stayed aloft for seven minutes while it completed the required figure eight course, thereby winning the first Kremer prize in August 1977. The award-winning plane was constructed of aluminium tubing, plastic foam, piano wire, bicycle parts, and mylar foil for covering.{{cite web |title=Paul B. MacCready, 81; inventor of human-powered aircraft, other innovations |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-aug-30-me-maccready30-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |date=August 30, 2007 |access-date=9 June 2018}}

Kremer then offered another £100,000 for the first human-powered crossing of the English Channel. MacCready took up the challenge and in 1979, he built the Condor's successor, the Gossamer Albatross, and won the second Kremer prize, successfully flying from England to France.{{cite web |title=Paul MacCready Obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1561751/Paul-MacCready.html |website=telegraph.co.uk |date=August 31, 2007 |publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited |access-date=1 June 2018}} He also received the Collier Trophy, which is awarded annually for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics, for his design and construction of the Albatross.File:Gossamer penguin.jpg

He later created solar-powered aircraft such as the Gossamer Penguin and the Solar Challenger. He was involved in the development of NASA's solar-powered flying wings such as the Helios, which surpassed the SR-71's altitude records and could theoretically fly on Mars (where the atmosphere is thin, with little oxygen).{{cite web |title=Flying Wing Soars To Record Height |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/flying-wing-soars-to-record-height/ |website=cbsnews.com |date=August 13, 2001 |publisher=CBS Interactive Inc |access-date=9 June 2018}} MacCready also collaborated with General Motors on the design of the Sunraycer, a solar-powered car, and then on the EV1 electric car.{{cite web |title=GM EV1 and the Los Angeles City Council (53 items) {{!}} MacCready Papers |url=http://maccready.library.caltech.edu/islandora/object/pbm%3A61563#page/5/mode/2up |website=maccready.library.caltech.edu |date=1996-01-22}}

In 1985, he was commissioned to build a halfscale{{deadlink|date=May 2023}}{{citation |title=Unmanned Aircraft Systems |work=UAS Advanced Development |publisher=AeroVironment |url=http://www.avinc.com/uas/adc/quetzalcoatlus/ |access-date=October 20, 2010 |archive-date=May 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504062108/http://www.avinc.com/uas/adc/quetzalcoatlus |url-status=dead }} working replica of the pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus for the Smithsonian Institution, following a workshop in 1984, which concluded that such a replica was feasible.{{citation |date=May 28, 1985 |author=Browne, Malcolm W |title=Next best thing to a pterosaur nears first attempt at flight |newspaper=The New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/28/science/next-best-thing-to-a-pterosaur-nears-first-attempt-at-flight.html |access-date=October 20, 2010}} The completed remote-controlled flying reptile, with a wingspan of 18 feet,{{citation |date=Sep–Oct 1986 |author=Benningfield, Damond |title=Manmade reptile allows scientists to study flying |journal=The Alcalde | page=43 |series=(University of Texas at Austin, alumni magazine) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kOMDAAAAMBAJ&q=%22manmade+reptile%22&pg=PA43 |access-date=October 20, 2010}} was filmed over Death Valley, California in 1986 for the Smithsonian's IMAX film On the Wing.{{citation |date=October 10, 1985 |author=Anderson, Ian |title=Winged lizard takes to the air of California |journal=New Scientist | issue=1477 |page=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oI_z9zNFsGgC&q=%22winged+lizard%22+simi&pg=PA31 |access-date=October 20, 2010}}{{citation |date=March 1986 |author=Schefter, Jim |title=Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane it's a pterodactyl |journal=Popular Science | pages=78–79, 124 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1IqBydvMRZcC&q=%22it's+a+bird%22+gossamer&pg=PA78 |access-date=October 20, 2010}} It flew successfully several times before being severely damaged in a crash at an airshow at Andrews AFB in Maryland. The launch of the pterosaur model came off well but the radio transmitter link failed, perhaps because of the interference from some of the many base communications devices. The model nosed over and crashed at the runway side, breaking at the neck from the force of impact.{{cite news |title=The Mechanical Pterosaurus Wrecks Thousands Watch as Crash Ends Performance of Reptile Replica |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/05/18/the-mechanical-pterosaurus-wrecks-thousands-watch-as-crash-ends-performance-of-reptile-replica/52abd7ef-a93f-45fb-9e3b-4f9b1d03f3c8/?noredirect=on |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=9 June 2018}}

MacCready helped to sponsor the Nissan Dempsey/MacCready Prize which has helped to motivate developments in racing-bicycle technology, applying aerodynamics and new materials to allow for faster human-powered vehicles.{{cite web |title=This is a bike. Trust us. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-aug-27-tm-speedbike35-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |date=August 27, 2006 |access-date=1 June 2018}}

He was the founder (in 1971) and Chairman of AeroVironment Inc., a public company (AVAV) that develops unmanned surveillance aircraft and advanced power systems. AV flew a prototype of the first airplane to be powered by hydrogen fuel cells, the Global Observer.{{cite web |title=Aerovironment's Global Observer: Flying High, Again |url=https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/aerovironments-global-observer-flying-high-again-03902/ |website=Defence Industry Daily |publisher=Defense Industry Daily |access-date=9 June 2018}}

MacCready died on August 28, 2007, from metastatic melanoma. He was an atheist and a skeptic.{{cite web |title=International Academy of Humanism |url=https://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php/3258 |website=secularhumanism.org |publisher=Council for Secular Humanism. |access-date=1 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330192331/https://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php/3258 |archive-date=March 30, 2018 |url-status=dead }} He was survived by his wife Judy, his three sons Parker, Tyler and Marshall and two grandchildren.{{cite web|title=Pioneer MacCready dies|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pioneer-maccready-dies-216435/ |website=flightglobal.com|publisher=Reed Business Information|access-date=15 May 2018}}

Awards and honors

Induction to the U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame, 1954{{cite web|title=United States Hall of Fame|url=https://www.soaringmuseum.org/hall-of-fame.php|website=soaringmuseum.org|publisher=National Soaring Museum|access-date=14 May 2018}}
Otto Lilienthal Medal of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, 1956 ("for his decisive victory in earning the title of World Soaring Champion in 1956"){{cite web|title=The Lilienthal Gliding Medal|url=https://www.fai.org/sites/default/files/documents/the_lilienthal_gliding_medal.pdf|website=fai.org|publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale|access-date=14 May 2018}}
California Institute of Technology, Distinguished Alumni Award, 1978,{{cite web|title=An E&AS Who's Who: Recipients of the Caltech Distinguished Alumni Award|url=https://caltechcampuspubs.library.caltech.edu/3044/1/alumni.pdf|website=Caltech Campus Pubs|publisher=California Institute of Technology|access-date=14 May 2018}}
Collier Trophy, 1979, by the National Aeronautics Association{{cite web|title=Collier 1970-1979 Recipients|url=https://naa.aero/awards/awards-and-trophies/collier-trophy/collier-1970-1979-winners|website=naa.aero|publisher=The National Aeronautic Association|access-date=14 May 2018}}
Reed Aeronautical Award, 1979, by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics ("the most notable achievement in the field of aeronautical science and engineering"){{cite web|title=Reed Aeronautics Award Recipients|url=https://www.aiaa.org/HonorsAndAwardsRecipientsList.aspx?awardId=10ba0453-cdb4-4fb3-a055-e0687427901c|website=aiaa.org|publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics|access-date=14 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141702/https://www.aiaa.org/HonorsAndAwardsRecipientsList.aspx?awardId=10ba0453-cdb4-4fb3-a055-e0687427901c|archive-date=June 12, 2018|url-status=dead}}
Edward Longstreth Medal, 1979, by the Franklin Institute{{cite web|last1=Geyelin|first1=Peter|title=Letter of congratulations|url=http://maccready.library.caltech.edu/islandora/object/pbm%3A20324#page/1/mode/2up|website=library.caltech.edu|publisher=California Institute of Technology|access-date=14 May 2018}}
Engineer of the Century Gold Medal, 1980, by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers{{cite news|last1=Martin|first1=Douglas|title=P. B. MacCready, 81, Inventor, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/31/us/31maccready.html|website=The New York Times|date=August 31, 2007|access-date=14 May 2018}}
Spirit of St. Louis Medal, 1980{{cite web|title=Spirit of St. Louis Medal|url=https://www.asme.org/about-asme/participate/honors-awards/achievement-awards/spirit-of-st-louis-medal|website=asme.org|publisher=American Society of Mechanical Engineers|access-date=14 May 2018}}
Inventor of the Year Award, 1981, by the Association for the Advancement of Invention and Innovation{{cite web|title=Inventor Paul MacCready to Speak at Caltech|url=http://www.caltech.edu/news/inventor-paul-maccready-speak-caltech-42|website=caltech.edu|publisher=California Institute of Technology|access-date=14 May 2018}}
Klemperer Award, 1981, Organisation Scientifique et Technique du Vol à Voile, Paderborn, Germany{{cite web|title=OSTIV Awards|url=https://ostiv.org/about/awards.html|website=ostiv.org|publisher=Organisation Scientifique et Technique du Vol à Voile|access-date=14 May 2018}}
I.B. Laskowitz Award, 1981, New York Academy of Science{{cite journal|last1=Wylam|first1=William|title=Biographical Memoirs|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|date=June 2011|volume=155|pages=217–224|url=http://s.b5z.net/i/u/10069458/f/9MacCready1550210.pdf|access-date=28 May 2018}}
The Lindbergh Award, 1982, by the Lindbergh Foundation ("to a person who contributes significantly to achieving a balance between technology and the environment"){{cite web|title=Dr. Paul B. MacCready, Jr. 1982 Recipient|url=http://lindberghfoundation.org/dr-paul-maccready-jr|website=lindberghfoundation.org|publisher=The Lindbergh Foundation|access-date=14 May 2018}}
Golden Plate Award, 1982, of the American Academy of Achievement{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}{{cite web|title= Paul B. MacCready, Ph.D. Biography and Interview|url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/paul-b-maccready-ph-d/#interview/|website=www.achievement.org|publisher=Academy of Achievement}}
Gold Air Medal, of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
Distinguished Service Award, of the Federal Aviation Administration{{cite web|title=Award certificate|url=http://maccready.library.caltech.edu/islandora/object/pbm%3A20125|website=library.caltech.edu|publisher=California Institute of Technology|access-date=15 May 2018}}
Honorary Doctor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, 1980{{Cite web|url=https://digital.archives.caltech.edu/islandora/object/maccready%3A30854#page/10/mode/1up|title = Stevens Institute of Technology Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree | Caltech Archives}}
Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1981{{Cite web|title=Paul Beattie MacCready|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/paul-beattie-maccready|access-date=2021-10-05|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|language=en}}
Honorary Doctor of Science from Yale University, 1983{{cite web|title=Honorary Degrees Since 1702|url=https://www.yale.edu/search/google/Paul%20MacCready|website=yale.edu|publisher=Yale University|access-date=26 May 2018}}
Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Advance of Applied Meteorology, 1985, American Meteorological Society{{cite journal|title=Annual awards|journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society|year=1984|volume=65|issue=6|pages=611–620|publisher=American meteorological society|doi=10.1175/1520-0477-65.6.611|bibcode=1984BAMS...65..611.|doi-access=free}}
Public Service Grand Achievement Award, of NASA
Frontiers of Science and Technology Award, 1986, first award in this category given by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal{{cite web|title=Maccready Papers|url=http://maccready.library.caltech.edu/islandora/object/pbm%3A40962|website=library.caltech.edu|publisher=California Institute of Technology|access-date=26 May 2018}}
The "Lipper Award", 1986, for outstanding contribution to creativity, by the O-M Association (Odyssey of the Mind){{cite web|title=Awards and Ceremonies|url=https://www.odysseyofthemind.com/wf2017/awards-and-ceremonies/?|website=odysseyofthemind.com|publisher=Creative Competitions|access-date=28 May 2018}}
Guggenheim Medal, 1987, jointly by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers{{cite web|title=Guggenheim Medal Recipients|url=http://www.guggenheimmedal.org/Pages/Medalists.aspx?Year=1987|website=guggenheimmedal.org|publisher=Guggenheim|access-date=14 May 2018}}
National Air and Space Museum Trophy for Current Achievement, 1988{{cite web|title=National Air And Space Museum Trophy|url=https://airandspace.si.edu/trophy-awards/national-air-and-space-museum-trophy-1988-paul-maccready|website=airandspace.si.edu|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=15 May 2018}}
Enshrinement in The National Aviation Hall of Fame, July 1991, Dayton, Ohio{{cite web|title=List of enshrinees|url=https://www.nationalaviation.org/our-enshrinees/page/7/|website=nationalaviation.org|publisher=National Aviation Hall of Fame|access-date=15 May 2018}}
SAE Edward N. Cole Award for Automotive Engineering Innovation, September 1991{{cite web|title=William E. Boeing Distinguished Lecture 2004|url=https://engineering.purdue.edu/AAE/aboutus/lectures/boeing/2004BoeingMacCready|website=engineering.purdue.edu|publisher=Purdue University|access-date=26 May 2018}}
Scientist of the Year, 1992 ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists), San Diego Chapter{{cite web|title=Scientists of the Year|url=https://san-diego.arcsfoundation.org/events/honorees|website=san-diego.arcsfoundation.org|publisher=Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation|access-date=26 May 2018}}
Pioneer of Invention, 1992, United Inventors Association
Chrysler Design Award for Innovation in Design, 1993{{cite web|title=Subjects & Objects: The Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design|url=http://maccready.library.caltech.edu/islandora/object/pbm%3A20602#page/4/mode/2up|website=library.caltech.edu|publisher=California Institute of Technology|access-date=26 May 2018}}
Honorary Member designation, American Meteorological Society, 1995{{cite web|title=List of Honorary Members|url=https://www.ametsoc.org/ams/index.cfm/about-ams/ams-organization-and-administration/list-of-honorary-members1/|website=ametsoc.org|publisher=American Meteorological Society|access-date=26 May 2018}}
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Ralph Coats Roe Medal, November 1998{{cite web|title=Ralph Coats Roe Medal|url=https://www.asme.org/about-asme/participate/honors-awards/achievement-awards/ralph-coats-roe-medal|website=asme.org|publisher=The American Society of Mechanical Engineers|access-date=26 May 2018}}
Howard Hughes Memorial Award, Aero Club of Southern California, January 1999{{cite web|title=Howard Hughes Memorial Award|url=http://www.aeroclubsocal.org/foryou/hhma/|website=aeroclubsocal.org|publisher=So Cal Aero Club|access-date=26 May 2018|archive-date=August 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809192151/http://www.aeroclubsocal.org/foryou/hhma/|url-status=dead}}
Calstart's 1998 Blue Sky Merit Award, February 1999
1999 National Convention of the Soaring Society of America, dedicated to Paul MacCready, February 1999{{cite book|last1=Rittner|first1=Don|title=A to Z of Scientists in Weather and Climate|date=2003|publisher=Facts on File, Inc.|location=United States of America|isbn=0816047979|pages=105–107}}
Special Achievement Award, Design News, March 1999{{cite web|title=1999 Engineering Awards|url=https://www.designnews.com/content/1999-engineering-awards-intro/145860455240301|website=designnews.com|date=October 26, 2016|publisher=UBM Americas|access-date=28 May 2018}}
Included in Time magazine's "The Century's Greatest Minds" (March 29, 1999) series "on the 100 most influential people of the century"
Philip J. Klass Lifetime Achievement Aviation Week Laureate Award, April 1999{{cite web |title=Aviation Week Network's Laureate Awards Past Winners |url=https://laureates.aviationweek.com/en/winners/previous-winners.html |website=laureates.aviationweek.com |publisher=Informa PLC |access-date=31 May 2018}}
Commemorated in Palau stamp, 1 of 16 "Environmental Heroes of the 20th Century", January 2000{{cite web |title=Environmental Heroes |url=http://philatelia.ru/pict/cat2/stamp/6319b.jpg |website=philatelia.net |publisher=Dmitry Karasyuk |access-date=30 May 2018}}
Institute for the Advancement of Engineering William B. Johnson Memorial Award, February 2000
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, National Design Award – Product Design, November 2000
Hoyt Clarke Hottel Award, American Solar Energy Society, April 24, 2001 ("lifetime achievement as an inventor, specifically for inventing the world's first two solar-powered aircraft"){{cite web |title=Hoyt Clark Hottel Award |url=https://www.ases.org/about/awards-fellows/hoyt-clarke-hottel-award/ |website=ases.org |publisher=American Solar Energy Society |access-date=30 May 2018}}
2001 World Technology Award for Energy, England, July 2001
Prince Alvaro de Orleans Borbon Fund, First Annual Award, October 2001, from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Switzerland
The 2002 Walker Prize, Museum of Science, Boston, March 2002{{cite web|title=Walker Prize|url=https://www.mos.org/walker-prize|website=mos.org|publisher=Museum of Science, Boston|access-date=15 May 2018}}
International von Karman Wings Award, Aerospace Historical Society, May 2002{{cite web|title=The International von Karman Wings Award|url=http://galcit.caltech.edu/ahs/recipients/|website=galcit.caltech.edu|publisher=California Institute of Technology|access-date=15 May 2018}}
Member of the American Philosophical Society, 2002{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Paul+B.+MacCready&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-10-05|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}
The 9th Annual Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy and Employment, 2003{{cite web |title=The Heinz Awards |url=http://www.heinzawards.net/recipients/paul-maccready |website=heinzawards.net |publisher=The Heinz Awards |access-date=9 June 2018}}
Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science, 2003{{cite web|title=The Franklin Institute Awards|url=https://www.fi.edu/laureates/paul-b-maccready-0|website=fi.edu|date=January 10, 2014 |publisher=The Franklin Institute|access-date=15 May 2018}}
Honorary Doctorate, Washington & Jefferson College, May 2007
Included in the Pantheon of Skeptics of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (Formerly Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal)(April 2011){{cite web|title=The Pantheon of Skeptics|url=http://www.csicop.org/about/the_pantheon_of_skeptics|website=CSI|publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|access-date=30 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131054129/http://www.csicop.org/about/the_pantheon_of_skeptics|archive-date=31 January 2017|url-status=live}}
Included in Flying magazine's list of the "51 Heroes of Aviation" (July 24, 2013){{cite web |url=https://www.flyingmag.com/photo-gallery/photos/51-heroes-aviation#page-15 |title = 51 Heroes and Heroines of Aviation - FLYING Magazine| date=September 10, 2020 }}
Inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame, 2015{{cite web|title=National Inventors Hall of Fame|url=http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=512|website=invent.org|publisher=National Inventors Hall of Fame|access-date=26 May 2018}}

Other interests

MacCready was a secular humanist, which he defined as someone who "does not believe in God, and doesn't steal."{{cite web|last1=Kurtz|first1=Paul|author-link=Paul Kurtz|title=Is Secular Humanism a Religion?|url=http://www.theharbinger.org/articles/plural/kurtz.html|website=theharbinger.org|publisher=The Harbinger|access-date=15 May 2018}} He was a laureate of the International Academy of Humanism.{{cite web|title=Laureates of the International Academy of Humanism|url=https://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php/3258|website=secularhumanism.org|publisher=Council for Secular Humanism|access-date=15 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330192331/https://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php/3258|archive-date=March 30, 2018|url-status=dead}}

He was involved with scientific skepticism from its early days, being a member of the board of directors of the Southern California Skeptics in 1985.{{cite web |title=A Skeptical View : Doubting Academics Waging a Flamboyant Battle to Debunk Society's Fascination With Popular Theories |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-04-21-mn-13148-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |date=April 21, 1985 |access-date=31 May 2018}} Skeptic and author Michael Shermer credits MacCready with his introduction to the skeptical movement. MacCready was admitted posthumously to the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry's Pantheon of Skeptics in 2011.

Since 2013, MacCready has been listed on the Advisory Council of the National Center for Science Education.{{cite web |url=https://ncse.com/about/advisory-council |title=Advisory Council |website=ncse.com |publisher=National Center for Science Education |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810112828/https://ncse.com/about/advisory-council |archive-date=2013-08-10 |access-date=2018-10-30}}

MacCready was also a passionate environmentalist who was concerned about humanity's role in the depletion of natural resources. "Environmentally conscious, technologically clever, and culturally grand, Paul wanted to change the world through reason, intelligence, and creativity", Shermer wrote of him in an obituary.{{cite web |title=A Fond Farewell to Jerry Andrus & Paul MacCready |last1=Shermer|first1=Michael|author-link=Michael Shermer|url=https://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/07-09-05/ |website=skeptic.com |date=September 5, 2007 |publisher=The Skeptics Society |access-date=31 May 2018}}

Appearances

MacCready lectured widely at both industry and educational venues, with an emphasis on creativity. Enthusiastic about spreading his message to as many as possible, he would speak to anyone he thought he could influence, including children. Michael Shermer described his delivery as "completely unpretentious, conversing in the same manner whether he was talking to a room full of undergraduate students or Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners."{{cite web |title=Skepticism Loses Two Stars |url=https://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/07-09-05/ |website=skeptic.com |date=September 5, 2007 |publisher=The Skeptics Society |access-date=7 June 2018}}

In February 1998, MacCready spoke at a TED conference on the topic of nature versus humans, continuing his environmental theme of "doing more with less".{{cite web|title=Nature vs. humans|url=https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_maccready_on_nature_vs_humans|website=www.ted.com|date=October 22, 2008 |publisher=TED|access-date=14 May 2018}}

And in February, 2003 he delivered another TED talk entitled "A Flight on Solar Wings"{{cite web |title=A Flight on Solar Wings |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_maccready_flies_on_solar_wings |website=ted.com |date=September 26, 2007 |publisher=TED Conferences, LLC |access-date=31 May 2018}}

Quotes

{{blockquote|Over billions of years on a unique sphere, chance has painted a thin covering of life -- complex, improbable, wonderful and fragile. Suddenly, we humans, (a recently arrived species, no longer subject to the checks and balances inherent in nature), have grown in population, technology and intelligence to a position of terrible power: we now wield the paintbrush.}}

{{blockquote|Anyone who's not interested in model airplanes must have a screw loose somewhere}}

{{blockquote|I'm more interested in a world that works than what sells{{cite journal |last1=Hoffman |first1=Carl |title=Aero Boy |journal=Popular Science |date=June 2003 |pages=58}}}}

Publications

{{citation |date=November 1985 |author=Paul MacCready |title=The Great Pterodactyl Project |journal=Engineering & Science |pages=18–24 |url=http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/596/2/MacCready.pdf |access-date=October 20, 2010}}
{{citation |year=1995 |author=Paul MacCready |title=Unleashing Creativity |series=A keynote presentation at the Lemelson Center's symposium, "The Inventor and the Innovative Society," November 10, 1995 |url=http://invention.smithsonian.org/resources/online_articles_detail.aspx?id=349 |access-date=October 20, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101020213911/http://invention.smithsonian.org/resources/online_articles_detail.aspx?id=349 |archive-date=October 20, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20060926222454/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/mac0bio-1 Biography]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20020815055412/http://web.mit.edu/invent/www/ima/maccready_bio.html Perseverance: Paul MacCready]. Short biography from MIT Press. Text adapted from Inventing Modern America.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080820143740/http://www.adventurersclub.org/Slenderest_Threads.htm MacCready reflects on being stuck and rescued from the side of a cliff in 1993]
[http://ovirc.free.fr/McCready.php Photos and videoclip of MacCready's pterosaur replica]. See link at bottom of page for videoclip of the machine flying.
[http://maccready.library.caltech.edu/ Paul B. MacCready Papers, Digitized Collection] Caltech Archives, California Institute of Technology.
[https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_MacCready_P Interview with Paul B. MacCready] Caltech Oral Histories

Category:1925 births

Category:2007 deaths

Category:American aerospace engineers

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Category:California Institute of Technology alumni