For centuries people have wanted to defy the laws of gravity and fly. in 1783 the Montgolfier brothers successfully launched the first hot-air balloon, and soon Jacques Charles put a helium balloon into the air. People had discovered the excitement of flight, and the race into the atmosphere above the earth was on. As balloons flew higher and higher, people began to ask questions. How would the direction and speed of a balloon vary with the changing winds in different layers of the atmosphere? How would the change in air pressure affect balloonists' ability to breathe? As more was discovered about the lower atmosphere, balloonists began to soar higher to examine the top of the cloud cover, the ozone layer, and the cosmos. This book tells about the people who were curious about what happens to the air high above the earth, the balloons they designed to take them there, and the answers they found to their questions. - from Amzon