Ballast is a term applied to heavy matter, such as stone, sand, iron, or water placed in the bottom of a sailing ship or other vessel to sink it in the water to such a depth as to enable it to carry sufficient sail without oversetting. The term ballast is also applied to the sand placed in bags in the car of a hot-air balloon to steady it and to enable the aeronaut to lighten the balloon by throwing part of it out. Ballast is also the name for the material used to fill up the space between the rails on a railway in order to make it firm and solid. Research Ballast
Ballooning is a form of un-powered flight dependant on the inflation of a usually spherical fabric container with a gas that is lighter than air, such as heated air. The container (balloon) rises, carrying the pilot and passengers in a basket beneath it. Descent is effected by the controlled release of the gas, through a valve in the top of the container, operated by a cord from the basket. Research Ballooning
Globe-fish is a popular name applied to several fish of the genera Diodon and Tetraodon of the order Plectognathi, on account of their ability to assume a globular form by swallowing air or water which inflates a ventral sac and inflates the whole animal like a balloon. Research Globe-fish
Francois Blanchard was a French aeronaut. He was born in 1753 and died in 1809. In 1785 he crossed the Channel in a balloon, for which feat he received a pension from the French king. He made many remarkable ascents in various parts of the world. His wife, born in 1778, was his companion in many of his voyages, and was killed by her balloon catching fire in 1819. Research Francois Blanchard
Henry Coxwell was an English aeronaut. He was born in 1819 and died in 1900. At a young age he began to make balloon ascents, and devoted great part of his life to ballooning. In 1862 he made a famous balloon ascent in company with Dr. James Glaisher. He published a book in two volumes, entitled My Life and Balloon Experiences, published between 1887 and 1889. Research Henry Coxwell
James Glaisher was an English aeronaut and meteorologist. He was born in 1809 and died in 1903. He was for a long while connected with the Greenwich Observatory, and was the author of various books. His balloon ascent with Henry Coxwell in 1862 of 37,000 feet (11,278 meters) was the highest on record for some years. Research James Glaisher
Louis Joseph Gay-Lussac was a French chemist and physicist. He was born in 1778 at St. Leonard (Haute-Vienne) and died in 1850. He was educated in the Ecole Polytechnique from 1797 to 1800, and afterwards in the Ecole des Fonts et Chaussees, but preferring chemistry, he entered Berthollet's Ecole Laboratory. In 1802 he returned to the Polytechnique as demonstrator of chemistry, and in 1804 performed his two balloon ascents for scientific purposes, the first with Biot, the second by himself, an account of which appeared in the Journal de Physique.
In 1806 he was elected to the Academy of Sciences. In 1808 he was appointed professor of physics at the Sorbonne, a post he held for twenty-four years, in 1809 professor of chemistry in the Ecole Polytechnique, and then succeeded Fourcroy as professor of general chemistry in the Jardin des Plantes. In 1831 he entered the chamber of deputies, and in 1839 he was made a peer of France, but he never took an active part in politics. He was especially celebrated for his researches into the chemical and physical properties of gases and vapours. For many years he edited, in conjunction with Arago, the Annales de Chimie et de Physique; and many of his numerous memoirs were published in this or in the Comptes Rendus. He also published, along with Thenard, Recherches Physico-chimiques, in which some of their most important discoveries are described. Other works are his Cours de Physique and Lecons de Chimie. Research Joseph Gay-Lussac
Leon Michel Gambetta was a French orator and statesman. He was born in 1838 at Cahors and died in 1882 in a shooting accident. Of a family of Genoese extraction, he was educated for the church, but finally decided in favour of a career in the law, and repairing to Paris became a member of the metropolitan bar in 1859. In November 1868 he gained the leadership of the republican party by his defence of Delescluze, a noted republican. In 1869, having been elected by both Paris and Marseilles, he chose to represent the southern city; and in the Chamber of Deputies showed himself an irreconcilable opponent of the empire and its measures, especially of the policy which led to the war with Prussia.
On the downfall of the empire, after the surrender of Sedan in 1870, a government for the national defence was formed, in which Leon Gambetta was nominated minister of the interior. The Germans having encircled Paris, he left that city in a balloon, and set up his headquarters at Tours, from which, with all the powers of a dictator, he for a short time organized a fierce but vain resistance against the invaders. After the close of the war he held office in several short-lived ministries, and in November, 1881, accepted the premiership, The sweeping changes proposed by him and his colleagues speedily brought a majority against him, and after a six weeks' tenure of office he had to resign. The accidental discharge of a pistol caused his death at Paris in December, 1882. Research Leon Gambetta
Louis Joseph Gay-Lussac was a French chemist and physicist. He was born in 1778 at St. Leonard (Haute-Vienne) and died in 1850. He was educated in the Ecole Polytechnique from 1797 to 1800, and afterwards in the Ecole des Fonts et Chaussees, but preferring chemistry, he entered Berthollet's Ecole Laboratory. In 1802 he returned to the Polytechnique as demonstrator of chemistry, and in 1804 performed his two balloon ascents for scientific purposes, the first with Biot, the second by himself, an account of which appeared in the Journal de Physique.
In 1806 he was elected to the Academy of Sciences. In 1808 he was appointed professor of physics at the Sorbonne, a post he held for twenty-four years, in 1809 professor of chemistry in the Ecole Polytechnique, and then succeeded Fourcroy as professor of general chemistry in the Jardin des Plantes. In 1831 he entered the chamber of deputies, and in 1839 he was made a peer of France, but he never took an active part in politics. He was especially celebrated for his researches into the chemical and physical properties of gases and vapours. For many years he edited, in conjunction with Arago, the Annales de Chimie et de Physique; and many of his numerous memoirs were published in this or in the Comptes Rendus. He also published, along with Thenard, Recherches Physico-chimiques, in which some of their most important discoveries are described. Other works are his Cours de Physique and Lecons de Chimie. Research Louis Gay-Lussac
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Ballast
