Contact: Maridith Geuder
A Public Broadcasting System documentary on the Wright Brothers' historic flight 100 years ago this month is featuring a Mississippi State faculty member.
Gary L. Bradshaw has maintained a longtime interest in the history of flight that includes an extensive personal Web site ( http://invention.psychology.msstate.edu/air_main.shtml ). An associate professor of psychology at the Starkville university, he is among a host of experts included in the two-hour program titled " Kitty Hawk : The Wright Brothers' Journey of Invention."
Narrated by pioneer astronauts Neil Armstrong (the voice of Orville Wright) and John Glenn (Wilbur Wright), " Kitty Hawk " features hundreds of rare and unpublished photos, insights from leading authorities and sequences of Wright replica aircraft in flight. The documentary was created over a three-year period by David Garrigus Productions of Woodway, Texas .
"David Garrigus found me through my Web site," Bradshaw said Tuesday. "Though you may miss [my interview] if you blink, it is a great honor to be included among the blue-ribbon panel of aviation historians he filmed."
Bradshaw's site, "To Fly is Everything," is an extensive virtual museum about the invention of the airplane and features a 1903 Wright Flyer simulation, among other resources. Visitors can also view 25 different video clips of early airplanes in flight or examine more than 1,000 photographs.
Bradshaw said creation of the collection is a reflection of his academic interest in the psychology of scientific discovery and invention. Since its 1994 inception, the online resource has recorded more than 400,000 visitors, he added.
"To Fly" has been named an Exploratorium "Cool Site" by the Science Learning Network and an "Editor's Choice" by Bonus.com, a site of games, puzzles and activities for kids. AeroLink, a Web directory for the professional and commercial aviation industry, also has designated it among the "100 Best Aviation Web sites."
In addition to his Web site, Bradshaw maintains an extensive interactive Web site titled "ePsych," an introduction for psychology students to the way the mind works. ePsych has been featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education and other national educational journals.
Bradshaw, who joined the MSU faculty in 1999, holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Missouri and a doctorate from Carnegie-Mellon University .
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information on "To Fly is Everything," telephone Dr. Bradshaw at (662) 325-0550.