Human flight began with the balloonists of late-eighteenth-century Paris. During the subsequent Age of Revolution dozens of aeronauts made thou-sands of ascents. It was not until that age had passed, however—in fact until the passage of a full century from the first human flight—that two Frenchmen devised an effective steering mechanism and made balloons dirigibles—“directables.” ^[7] The aeronauts of the Age of Revolution, motivated by the values of spectacle, skill, and self-promotion, launched them-selves above the crowd, but once aloft they lost control and never knew where their flight would end.