Seeing further: the story of science & the Royal Society — 7 RICHARD HOLMES

1. 1. Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, publicly dismissed ballooning as 'ballomania' but privately exchanged extensive correspondence with Benjamin Franklin and others, showing deep fascination.
2. 2. Benjamin Franklin predicted the first manned balloon flight and famously compared the invention to a newborn baby, asking 'what's the use of a newborn baby?'
3. 3. Erasmus Darwin celebrated ballooning in his poem 'The Loves of the Plants', envisioning a fantasy voyage through the solar system, from the moon to Saturn and beyond.
4. 4. Early balloon flights failed to demonstrate navigability; experiments with oars, wings, and rudders produced no observable effect on flight path.
5. 5. John Jeffries made the first truly scientific record of a balloon ascent in November 1784, measuring altitude, temperature, humidity, and electrical charges.
6. 6. Tiberius Cavallo's 1785 treatise 'A History and Practice of Aerostation' became the authoritative early work on ballooning, emphasizing its potential for meteorology.
7. 7. Despite initial enthusiasm, the Royal Society never funded balloon experiments; Banks stated in 1800 that the Society had no funds for such projects.