Gaston Tissandier

Gaston Tissandier (November 21, 1843 – August 30, 1899) was a French chemist, meteorologist, aviator, and editor.

He and companions Joseph Crocé-Spinelli, journalist, and Théodore Sivel, naval officer, were able to reach in a balloon the magnificent altitude of 8,600 meters (28,200 feet).

He also authored several books: Besides these scientific works, Tissandier also published several titles for the youth, such as Les récréations scientifiques ou l'enseignement par les jeux (1880), perhaps the very first title in the genre of books of simple science experiments that anybody can conduct in their own home.

Its chapters were in part based on the column "physique sans appareils" (physics without apparatus) in La Nature.

This text is based in part on articles from old public domain encyclopedias in German[permanent dead link‍] and Swedish.