Jacques-Alexandre-César Charles is famous for his contribution to ballooning, (the science of aerostation). He was the first to use hydrogen ("inflammable air") instead of hot air in an aeronautical balloon, and designed and developed almost all the essential components of a balloon so perfectly that few changes or additions have been made in the ensuing 200 years of ballooning.

Charles was born in Beaugency on November 12, 1746. The only information surviving about his childhood is that he received a liberal education with no scientific focus. When he moved to Paris, he worked at the bureau of finances and in 1799 became interested in nonmathematical, experimental physics. By 1781, he began giving public lectures and experimental demonstrations, attracting a large number of attendees, among them people who had already achieved considerable notoriety. He was ultimately appointed a resident member of the Académie de Sciences in 1795. He also became professor...