How Air Travel Shrank the World

1980 Words8 Pages
How Air Travel Shrank the World Russell A. Freeman Academy College “At the beginning of the 21st century it is difficult to even imagine our world without aircraft. Airplanes are everywhere, and rapid air transport has become one of the necessities of our time.”. (Dierikx, 2008). Every single person alive has somehow been involved in, or benefited from the existence of aviation. This is the result of the ingenuity of man. Man has a habit of solving problems to make our lives easier, which is the driving force behind any technological advancement. This theory pertains to anything from work, education, health, or pleasure. Air travel has enabled man to travel to any part of the world much more quickly than ever before. It has been said that the world is shrinking, which is due in large part to the use of air travel. This of course does not mean that the world is physically shrinking, but air travel gives us the ability to reach even the farthest corners of our globe. Distances that used to take days or weeks to cover can now be accomplished in just a matter of hours. Air travel benefits from a number of attributes; including efficiency, safety, economy, and availability. These features have made air travel one of the greatest inventions relating to economics, military abilities, business, and pleasure. The California gold rush in the mid-1800’s sparked a mass migration of people from around the world. The travel method of choice was horse and buggy, which was a very inefficient and dangerous means of travel. Many prospective 49ers lost their lives in transit due to hunger, disease, and crime. Around the turn-of-the-century, the automobile provided a more efficient and less taxing means of travel. At this time, industries had already seen great expansion, and the Industrial Revolution was already in full swing. The railroad had connected the coasts and in
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