Kindle Edition Amazon Category:  History Publisher: Dandelion Flower Publishing Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 45 Copyright: April 1, 2018 ISBN-13: 9780995723030 Price: $2.70 (eBook) This is the true story of scientist Auguste Piccard and his friend and collaborator, Paul Kipfer's fantastic journey to the stratosphere. This is the true story of an incredible perilous journey that took place in 1931. It is a great adventure and a momentous historical event. Auguste Piccard was a physicist, balloonist and, later, hydronaut. He attracted world acclaim by flying to the stratosphere, something which had never been done before. In a spherical pressurised cabin, which he designed himself, he risked his life to conduct scientific experiments in high altitudes. His short story has been translated into English and is told by Auguste Piccard himself. There are a number of additional photographs and reports of the event, plus additional information about Piccard and his family. Piccard's flight to the stratosphere is given little or no attention in these media driven days of block buster movies and exciting video games, yet it is worthy of the former and infinitely better than the latter. Enjoy! Excerpt In 1931 Auguste Piccard attracted world acclaim by being the first man to reach the stratosphere. In a unique pressurised cabin attached to a balloon he climbed to 51,775 feet (15,780 metres). A physicist, balloonist and, later, hydronaut he wanted to conduct scientific experiments in high altitudes including studying the cosmic rays which bombarded the Earth. This is the story of that famous journey. The central story of this book (Chapter 2) is told by Auguste Piccard himself. It is taken from the book In Balloon and Bathyscaphe written by Piccard and published by Cassell & Co Ltd in 1956. The original wording was translated into English by Christina Stead and has not been changed. Headings have been added to help the reader better grasp the sequence of events. Remember this was the early 20th century and writing was often a lot more formal. In fact, the first few paragraphs of the story could almost be described as rather dull considering the great adventure that was about to unfold! However, it doesn't take long for a tangible sense of excitement to emerge. There were more than a few life threatening problems that occurred during the flight. It is of great interest to read the varying ways in which these were resolved including, on one occasion, the liberal use of Vaseline! As a point of interest, there were actually two men in the cabin that made the ascent that day. Auguste Piccard was joined on the journey by his friend and collaborator on the project, Paul Kipfer.

"Piccard balloon drifts helplessly above Alps; scientists feared dead" and "Oxygen believed gone" - NYT (28 May 1931)
1) Why I chose this book : Always interested in reading about the lives of famous individuals I had yet to know of before
2) Type of book : Short biography of famed high-altitude balloonist (and history of the Piccard family)
3) Formatting/Editing : Well done
4) Best/Worst aspect of book : Author warns you of material being a bit dry (technical) at first but then becomes a most interesting tale of survival several miles above the earth past the stratosphere (that predates Apollo13 by nearly 40years). Full of entertaining trivia (and original photos) like how a door handle from the crashed cabin was returned nearly 60years later, what was used to plug a leaking hole, the materials brought to sustain the breathing habitat of the cabin and why the balloon was painted differently on each sides among other noteworthy items.
5) Favorite passage: "The sun is going down. The balloon, now colder, descends faster and faster..."
6) Bottom line - Very good, informative read that I did enjoy and would recommend to others!

especially because Piccard was experimenting on himself and Kipfer rather than sending some poor dog or chimp into the unknown
This little book is an epic in miniature. It tells the unlikely story of the first human venture into the stratosphere, in 1931. The words are Piccard's own, published in 1956, but here they are neatly parcelled in with a brief introduction and some fascinating photographps. We go right inside the tiny pressurised capsule which Piccard himself designed, and share the ups and downs (!) and life threatening accidents on the way. Also on board was Piccard's colleague Paul Kipfer, who possibly doesn't get enough credit, to my mind. Their mission was to study cosmic rays, which at that time were only theoretical. In more than one way this was a heroic enterprise, especially because Piccard was experimenting on himself and Kipfer rather than sending some poor dog or chimp into the unknown. The little iron cabin was hardly big enough to stand up in, let alone carry the extraordinarily tall Picard and another grown man. They certainly have a white-knuckle journey, lurching from crisis to crisis, between farce and tragedy at nine miles high. 'You just couldn't make it up!'

Picard writes in a rather deadpan old fashioned style as befits his era, his profession, and his photographs - the photos alone make book worth having. It's the Picard style of writing combined with the almost farcical accident-ridden story that give the narrative its unintended edge (almost reminds me of 'Three Men in a Boat'....). It's a very enjoyable read especially if you like adventure and would like to find out about how to pierce the stratosphere with early 20th century equipment!

I really can't fault this book and I've given it top marks because it does what it sets out to do and in a nutshell gives us a True Adventure!