JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post I came upon this small, rare
item in the early aviation box here. Its the inaugural address
establishing the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, the even
held at the residence of the Duke of Argyll (Campden Hill) on 12
January 1866. The text is by James Glaisher, who was a
significant experimentalist/balloonist in addition to running
the Department of Meteorology and Magnetism at the Royal
Greenwich Observatories for 34 years. The document is only 7×4
inches, but it winds up being quite dense (literally and
figuratively), with about 800 words packed onto one side of this
double-column sheet. Gibbs-Smith, in his interesting and very
useful Aviation, an Historical Survey states: “One of the most
important dates in flying history is the year 1866, when there
was founded in London the Aeronautical Society (now Royal) of
Great Britain. Although not the earliest society devoted to
flying it was by far the most important and. influential . It
soon attracted men who realized that m