Piccard, Auguste (ōgüst` pēkär`), 1884–1962, Swiss physicist, b. Basel. He became a professor at the Univ. of Brussels in 1922. He and his twin brother Jean Felix (d. 1963) are known for their balloon ascents into the stratosphere; in Aug., 1932, Auguste ascended to 55,500 ft (16,916 m). He was a collaborator with Albert Einstein Einstein, Albert (īn`stīn), 1879–1955, American theoretical physicist, known for the formulation of the relativity theory, b.
..... Click the link for more information. in developing instruments for measuring radioactivity. From 1946 he focused on the ocean depths, making several notable dives with his son,

Jacques Piccard, 1922–, off the African and Italian coasts in a bathyscaphe of his own design. In 1960 Jacques Piccard, with U.S. Navy Lieutenant Donald Walsh, descended to 35,800 ft (10,912 m) in the Marianas Trench Marianas trench, Marianas trough, or Marianas deep (mâr'ēăn`əz)
..... Click the link for more information. . Jacques's son

Jacques Piccard, 1958–, is also a balloonist; in Mar., 1999, he and Briton Brian Jones Jones, Brian, 1947–, British balloonist, b. Bristol. A former Royal Air Force pilot, he entered the world of ballooning in the 1980s, and in 1997 became an organizer for the attempt of the British-built, Swiss-sponsored Breitling Orbiter 3
..... Click the link for more information. became the first to circle the earth nonstop, in the Breitling Orbiter 3. They wrote Around the World in 20 Days (1999). With Jones he wrote Around the World in 20 Days (1999) about the flight.

Piccard, Auguste

Auguste Piccard, 1961

(credit: Horst Tappe/EB Inc.)

(born Jan. 28, 1884, Basel, Switz.—died March 24, 1962, Lausanne) Swiss-born Belgian physicist and balloon and undersea explorer. He studied and taught physics in Zürich and later at the University of Brussels (1922–54). In 1930 he designed a balloon with an airtight, pressurized cabin to ascend into the stratosphere to study cosmic rays. In 1932 he ascended over 55,500 ft (16,650 m). The undersea bathyscaphe he designed with his son, Jacques (b. 1922), descended in 1953 more than 10,000 ft (3,000 m). His grandson Bernard Piccard made the first round-the-world balloon flight in 1999.