Book Review: Around the World in 20 Days
Book Review: Around the World in 20 Days: The Story of Our History-Making Balloon Flight, by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones. Hardcover, 307 pages, $24.95. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1999.*****
The Story
On March 20, 1999, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones became the first people ever to complete an around-the-world balloon flight. This book tells the story of two previous attempts that failed, and their successful third flight in the balloon Breitling Orbiter 3.
In late February of 1999, the two men had almost given up on the idea of attempting the flight for that year. Because balloon flight is unpowered, pilots are completely dependent on the vagaries of the jet stream and other winds, and with a series of bad weather patterns, the prospects of completing a flight seemed slim. When their meteorological team told them that a perfect weather window would open on March 1, they leaped at the chance, and lifted off from Switzerland on their epic voyage.
During their 30,000-mile flight, they weathered many crises-two days without communication with their ground crew, a loss of all heat with outside temperatures at 58 below zero, and a dangerous respiratory illness caused by unidentified fumes in their minivan-sized gondola. By the time they reached the Atlantic Ocean-the last sea crossing before their intended landing in North Africa-they were dangerously low on fuel and thought they would be forced to land in the ocean or crash in the desert without reaching their goal. Exceptional winds carried them much farther, however, to a safe landing in Egypt, the first balloon circumnavigation of Earth, the world balloon flight distance record, and the world balloon flight duration record. When asked the key to their success, both men credited and "invisible hand" that seemed to help and guide them throughout the flight.
Piccard, in fact, had sensed this guidance long before, when he was considering becoming a balloonist but was unsure if this was the right path to take. On a trip to China, he noticed a bowl of brass medallions inscribed with Chinese character in an antique shop. One in particular interested him, and he asked the shopkeeper what it meant. "When the wind blows in the same direction as your path," the shopkeeper read, "it brings you great happiness."
The Pilots
Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss psychiatrist, seemed born to adventure. His grandfather, Auguste Piccard built his own balloon and became the first person to enter the stratosphere and see the curvature of the earth with his own eyes. He also invented the bathyscaph, a vehicle capable of descending to great ocean depths. Piccard's father Jacques built the first tourist submarine, as well as a submarine designed to drift with ocean currents-much as a balloon drifts with the wind.
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