Pillar to the Sky by William Forstchen
http://www.amazon.com/Pillar-Sky-Wil.../dp/0765334380

Same author as One Second After


The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
http://www.amazon.com/The-Wright-Bro.../dp/1476728747

At this point in my career, the only good thing I can say about travel is the ability to read or listen to a book. These were both good books and make a nice bookend, one fiction, the other biography non-fiction. Both involve inovation of new technology that most believed improbable. Any advancement requires risk and often results in death before success. Imagine a world where Lt. Thomas Selfridge did not die but the US government did not buy a Wright flyer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Selfridge