"Distinguished African Americans in Aviation and Space Science" offers brief, readable entries that describe the lives and careers of 80 men and 20 women who defied poverty and prejudice to excel in the fields of aviation and space exploration. Each essay begins with birth and death dates, educational institutions attended and degrees earned, positions held, and awards won. A short summary of the individual's contribution to aviation or space science is followed by a biographical narrative divided into three sections: Early Years, Higher Education, and Career Highlights. Often based on the authors' correspondence with the subjects themselves, or with family members, this illustrated volume provides the fullest and most accessible biographical information available for many of these figures.

"Invisible Wings" is the only reference book on Blacks in aviation. More than 1,600 entries give the bibliography the scope and length that will enable scholars, researchers, and students to delve into this little studied aspect of the Black experience. This annotated bibliography includes citations on pilots, flight attendants, air traffic controllers, mechanics, doctors, engineers, scientists, astronauts, and others whose achievements in aeronautics, commerical and military, are unrecognized. The first four chapters highlight the major figures, and the next five chapters annotate books and articles on airlines, Chicago, discrimination, history, and women. The work covers three quarters of the twentieth century from 1916 to 1993, with one of the earliest articles describing the world's first Black pilot, Eugene J. Bullard, and one of the most recent covering the first African American in space, Guion S. Bluford.