首页> 外文期刊>History of Science: A Review of Literature and Research in the History of Science, Medicine and Technology in Its Intellectual and Social Context >'BALLOON MADNESS': POLITICS, PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT, THE TRANSATLANTIC SCIENCE OF FLIGHT, AND LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA
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'BALLOON MADNESS': POLITICS, PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT, THE TRANSATLANTIC SCIENCE OF FLIGHT, AND LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA

机译:“气球疯狂”:政治,公众娱乐,飞行的跨大西洋科学和18世纪后期的美国

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During the early summer of 1789, the arrival in the United States of a British-born mechanic called Joseph Deeker prompted the publication of a broadside in New York. Declaring that Deeker "is perfectly acquainted with the nature and construction of AIR BALLOONS", the broadside then went on to announce that: "As the novelty of an exhibition of this nature may afford some amusement to the Public, at the request of a number of respectable characters in this city, he proposes to open a SUBSCRIPTION for supplying the materials necessary for constructing and filling one of twenty-five feet diameter."' Despite the anonymous author's faith in the generosity, and curiosity, of the American public, however, Decker's visit to the new republic was not universally welcomed. In late July, for example, an exasperated citizen of Pennsylvania wrote a letter to the Freeman's journal which addressed itself "To the Air-Balloon Maker". "Confound you and your ballooning — had you built such a thing and gone off in it to Nova-Scotia, Rhode Island, or to old nick, it would not signify sixpence to me", the author complained, "but you are so full of your invention, that nothing less than the public papers must give information of your intended flight; by which you have set my whole house in confusion". 2 Although clearly shot through with comic hyperbole (the author goes on to describe how he lost his wife after she built her own balloon and disappeared into the heavens), this essay in the Freeman's journal is nonetheless making a very serious point. Ballooning in late eighteenth-century America was not only hugely popular and much discussed, it was also a source of persistent anxiety.
机译:在1789初夏期间,一位名叫约瑟夫·迪克(Joseph Deeker)的英国出生的机械师抵达美国,促使在纽约发行了宽面镜。宣布迪克尔“完全了解气球的性质和结构”之后,宽边接着宣布:“由于这种性质的展览的新颖性可能应公众的要求给公众带来一些乐趣。对于这个城市中受人尊敬的人物,他建议开放一份订阅书,以提供建造和填充25英尺直径之一所需的材料。”尽管匿名作者对美国公众的慷慨和好奇心充满信心。 ,德克尔对新共和国的访问并未受到普遍欢迎。例如,在7月下旬,宾夕法尼亚州的一个生气的公民写信给Freeman的日记,信中写着“致气球制造者”。作者抱怨说:“让您和您的气球感到困惑-如果您建造了这样的东西,然后去了新斯科舍省,罗德岛或老尼克,那对我来说就不等于六便士了”根据您的发明,除了公开文件外,其他任何信息都不能提供您打算飞行的信息;由此您将我的整个房子弄得一团糟。” 2尽管清楚地看到了漫画夸张(作者继续描述了妻子在建造自己的气球并消失于天堂后是如何失去妻子的),但《弗里曼日报》上的这篇文章却提出了非常严肃的观点。在18世纪后期,美国的气球热潮不仅广受欢迎,而且引起了广泛的讨论,也成为持续焦虑的根源。

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