The closest thing to magic...

Planes are mixed blessings, as any climate scientist will affirm, but they are also the most profound wonders of our world.

Daniel Bernoulli (a physicist) showed that mechanised flight was possible when he formulated what we now know as the Bernoulli Principle. This states that as the velocity of a fluid increases it's pressure decreases. This means that when fluid (such as water or air) flows over an aerofoil the pressure on the curved side will be lower than that on the flat surface; so if the upper surface is curved and the lower one is flat then there is lift, which explains how a plane can fly.

I've known this since watching an explanation on Blue Peter at least 45 years ago….BUT it still seems like magic!