The Golden Age of Balloons

Authors: Jean Bellis, Jean Molveau
Reference: 1590
I.S.B.N.: 9782364935907
Year of publication: 2017

1783 marks a break in the continuum of human evolution, virtually on a par with the appearance of the wheel some 5,300 years earlier. In that year, man realized his ancestral dream of flying, of overflying the planet to which he might have thought himself permanently chained. That year, beyond legends, mythological and fantastical tales, attested by thousands of witnesses from all walks of life, duly recorded in minutes initialed by leading figures, the reality of human flight was proven.
Never before has anyone been able to freely break free from the earth's gravitational pull. And on November 21, 1783, a rapid process of methodical experimentation led to the turning point. Trials of scale models, then on a larger scale with no one on board, animal flights and captive ascents were the reasoned stages of the advent, before intrepid individuals - later to be known as aeronauts - embarked on this magnificent exploration. What's more, the invention of aerostats, a veritable paradigm shift, turned out to be twofold, as man found himself with two types of flying machine (albeit based on the same principle) at his disposal: hot-air balloon and charlière!
Icarus' dream came true in France, in the heart of the Age of Enlightenment, the culmination of a unanimous enthusiasm for science. The Montgolfier brothers, Charles and Robert, opened the gates of the sky for one year, without the slightest accident!
From then on, mankind never ceased to multiply his aerostatic experiments. Like a tidal wave, they spread from the capital to the provinces, from France to Europe, before crossing the Atlantic...
As instruments of scientific research, sport and pleasure, balloons reached their apogee at the beginning of the 20th century.
Through the highlights of the golden age of aerostation, this book retraces the origins and key stages of the revolution in aerial navigation.