Who Owns the Sky? by Stuart Banner
A collection of curious tales questioning the ownership of airspace and a reconstruction of a truly novel moment in the history of American law, Banners book reminds us of the powerful and reciprocal relationship between technological innovation and the law.
Banner claims that with this work he has written an intellectual history of American aviation law in the first half of the 20th centuryAnd he has done exactly that--very well...This book is not only a great repository of the history of the question it poses, but is also a great yarn. Banner's friendly writing style gets one through the stickier details, and one simply feels better--not just better informed--for having read the book. -- James T. Crouse * Times Higher Education *
At the heart of this clever, intricate, elegant book is the improbable fact that, for over fifty years, an arcane statute devised by medieval European scholars managed, in the twentieth century, to impede the growth of aviation in the very nation that invented it. -- Alexander Frater * Times Literary Supplement *
[An] engaging book...Historically, British and then US common law declared that property in one's land extended from the center of the earth to the heavens. Yet ownership of the sky was all but impossible until the inventions of the 19th and 20th centuries made it accessible. At the very moment that ownership was possible, laws recognizing that property right were challenged. Banner narrates a terrific story, discussing how technology, first with the balloon and then other air travel, challenged the law and eventually changed it. The book weaves together the Wright brothers, legal scholarship, the emergence of the airline industry, and eventually the Supreme Court, offering fascinating details about the law on airspace. These changes climax first in a landmark decision by the Supreme Court clarifying airspace property rights, and then the 1967 Outer Space Treaty declaring the universe a common heritage beyond ownership...This is a fun, well-written, and informative book. -- D. Schultz * Choice *
At the heart of this clever, intricate, elegant book is the improbable fact that, for over fifty years, an arcane statute devised by medieval European scholars managed, in the twentieth century, to impede the growth of aviation in the very nation that invented it. -- Alexander Frater * Times Literary Supplement *
[An] engaging book...Historically, British and then US common law declared that property in one's land extended from the center of the earth to the heavens. Yet ownership of the sky was all but impossible until the inventions of the 19th and 20th centuries made it accessible. At the very moment that ownership was possible, laws recognizing that property right were challenged. Banner narrates a terrific story, discussing how technology, first with the balloon and then other air travel, challenged the law and eventually changed it. The book weaves together the Wright brothers, legal scholarship, the emergence of the airline industry, and eventually the Supreme Court, offering fascinating details about the law on airspace. These changes climax first in a landmark decision by the Supreme Court clarifying airspace property rights, and then the 1967 Outer Space Treaty declaring the universe a common heritage beyond ownership...This is a fun, well-written, and informative book. -- D. Schultz * Choice *
Stuart Banner is Norman Abrams Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780674030824 |
| ISBN 10 | 0674030826 |
| Title | Who Owns the Sky? |
| Author | Stuart Banner |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Harvard University Press |
| Year published | 2008-11-01 |
| Number of pages | 360 |
| Prizes | Nominated for David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal History or Biography 2008, Nominated for Herbert Jacob Book Prize 2009, Nominated for Littleton-Griswold Prize 2009, Nominated for Pfizer Award 2010 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |