CONTENTS
[ BALLOONS AND AIR JOURNEYS. ]
[ PART I. THE CONQUEST OF THE SKIES.—1783. ]
[ Chapter II. Attempts in Ancient Times to Fly in the Air. ]
[ Chapter III. The Theory of Balloons. ]
[ Chapter IV. First Public Trial of the Balloon. ]
[ Chapter V. Second Experiment. ]
[ Chapter VI. Third Experiment. ]
[ Chapter VII. Fourth Experiment. ]
[ Chapter VIII. Men and Balloons. ]
[ Chapter IX. The First Aerial Voyage—Roziers and Arlandes. ]
[ Chapter X. The Second Arial Voyage. ]
[ PART II.The History of Aerostation from the Year 1783. ]
[ Chapter II. Experiments and Studies—Blanchard at Paris—Guyton de Morveau at Dijon. ]
[ Chapter V. First Aerial Voyage in England—Blanchard Crosses the Sea in a Balloon. ]
[ Chapter VI. Zambeccari’s Perilous Trip Across the Adriatic Sea. ]
[ Chapter VII. Garnerin—Parachutes—Aerostation at Public Fetes. ]
[ Chapter VIII. Green’s Great Journey Across Europe. ]
[ Chapter IX. The “Geant” Balloon. ]
[ Chapter X. The Necrology of Aeronautic ]
[ PART III. Scientific Experiments—Applications of Ballooning. ]
[ Chapter I. Experiments of Robertson, Lhoest, Saccarof, &c. ]
[ Chapter II. Ascent of M. Gay-Lussac Alone—Excursions of MM. Barral and Bixio. ]
[ Chapter III. Ascents of the Mssrs. Welsh, Glaisher and Coxwell. ]
[ Chapter IV. Balloons Made Useful in Warfare. ]
Many other illustrations may be viewed in the List of Illustrations below
PREFACE
“Let posterity know, and knowing be astonished, that on the fifteenth day of September, 1784, Vincent Lunardi of Lucca, in Tuscany, the first aerial traveller in Britain, mounting from the Artillery Ground in London, and traversing the regions of the air for two hours and fifteen minutes, on this spot revisited the earth. In this rude monument for ages be recorded this wondrous enterprise successfully achieved by the powers of chemistry and the fortitude of man, this improvement in science which the great Author of all Knowledge, patronising by his Providence the inventions of mankind, hath graciously permitted, to their benefit and his own eternal glory.”