1.) Koko the Gorilla
3.) Around at Last
The
Koko Foundation involves teaching American Sign Language to two lowland
gorillas, Koko and Michael, in an attempt to find out more about the gorilla’s
intelligence. The Gorilla Language
Project is both an effort to gather data about gorilla language and a case
study of observed gorilla behavior. It
was only 25 years ago when we were calling the gorilla an untamed beast of the
jungle, and now we look at it is as nearly an equal with a personality,
feelings and the capability to make their own decisions. This knowledge is crucial to all animal
advocacy efforts, from the prevention of cruelty to animals to the conservation
and preservation of endangered species, as well as a great contribution to the
study of learned behavior.
Teaching Koko and Michael has involved a series of formal and informal tests of vocabulary comprehension and of the understanding of relationships between objects and words, as well as standard child intelligence tests. There are also periodic video sessions and audio taped recordings. In addition to intensive studies of vocabulary acquisition, the project has investigated spontaneous gorilla language use. Many tests have persisted with Koko and Michael. The tests involve the study of innovative linguistic strategies, invention of new signs and compound words, simultaneous signing, self-directed signing, displacement, prevarication, reference to time and emotional states. There is also the testing of reaction to humor, argument, insult, threat, fantasy play, storytelling, and moral judgment. (Patterson Koko) These tests began when the chimps were a little over a year old and have progressed up to today, nearly 30 years later.
Koko
was just an ordinary gorilla when she was born in San Francisco, California
back in July of 1971. She was an
undernourished infant who was taken away from the care of her incapable mother. This is when she caught the eye of Francine
Patterson, a young graduate student in Psychology at Stanford. Francine had little inkling that this
malnourished baby gorilla would become her constant companion in the nearby
future. Within a year what is known as
Project Koko was created, and in just two weeks of teaching, Koko could sign
gestures for food and drink and many other signs as well. Koko was taught with constant repetition, as
most children need. Patterson would
hold a banana up and then create the gesture for it, and she would repeat this until
Koko would make this sign and of course the treat would come with the correct
response. Then she would teach Koko
more complicated scenarios such as “do you want a banana,” by pointing to her
then using a gesture of both hands bringing the banana to her chest. This would be done everyday slowly
graduating on to other words. It
wasn’t long before Koko was making her own requests such as “NEW MOVIE,”
“LIGHTS ON,” “LIGHTS OFF,” CLOSE THIS” and “HUNGRY”. (Patterson Koko)
Despite
their intelligence Koko and Michael both behave and act like gorillas. Michael being a silverback (an adult male
gorilla) he retains respect from his group both human and non-human, and like a
silverback watches over everyone.
Michael often paces back and forth in his cage when strangers are around
acting as guard on the lookout would.
He would be caught taking notice of every staff member’s coming and
going and noticeably fretting if too many were gone at one time. Both gorillas have constructed elaborate
night nests when they settle in for long rests. Koko often tucks a “baby” into the crook of her thigh during
rest, just as she would with a real infant.
They both enjoy a rich supply of sturdy plastic toddler toys to
encourage both their interaction and individual manipulation (Patterson Michael). In more recent years, like many gorillas
that are housed in a zoo, these gorillas have each had a T.V. outside their
living quarters. Koko prefers
videotapes such as Free Willy, where Michael prefers shows like Sesame Street
(he especially likes Elmo). They both
enjoy music and each have a tape player in their rooms; Michael especially
likes classical music. The keepers like
to say, “we let gorillas be…gorillas, two of them just happen to be able to
communicate in sign language- and that adds to the richness of everyone’s day.”
(Patterson Michael) Yet
Koko doesn’t always act like a gorilla she has many human traits such as
happiness, depression, devious and sadness.
Susan
Hayward has had many human trials with Koko and she often sees Koko teaching
her self-how to be more human. Susan
and Koko will sit around outside relaxing, then Koko will get up and wander
away, a few minutes later Koko bangs on the mesh next to Susan and then runs
away. Susan jumps into the air scared
to death every time Koko does that and Koko loves to see Susan’s reaction and
she laughs in gorilla like way. Koko’s
favorite request is food. “She asks me
for that about once every five minutes,” Susan exclaims. (Hayward Super) Koko’s urge to eat is constant, though her
mood can change in the blink of an eye.
Koko also has her silly mood. An
example of this state of mind came when she tried to scare Susan with a toy
alligator. Koko shaked the alligator
wildly at Susan, and Susan said “Oh my what a scary alligator” and Koko got
excited. (Hayward Cyber) Another day, Koko was decidedly cranky,
no matter what Susan would do Koko refused to pay attention to her or anyone
and Susan left her to do some work.
Then Susan heard a tap tap tap and went into the next room to find Koko
under a blanket, Susan said, “where’s Koko, she disappeared,” and then Koko
peeked out of the blanket and then quickly disappeared. After a couple minutes Koko threw the blanket
off and with Susan’s excitement Koko would begin to grin and make excited
gorilla noises. (Hayward Cyber)
These acts of behavior resemble that of a 2-3 year old child, as does
the vocabulary she possesses. A
question that arises is do these gorillas learn so easily because of the
similarities between their info intake, and that of human child. With Koko and Michael the process has been
slow in moving them to the level of a 3year old (Hayward Cyber). In the beginning Koko had learned 500 words
in about 5years and now 25years later she has only doubled that vocabulary
understanding. Perhaps Gorillas learn
as we do, fast in the beginning and as they mature more slowly. That is what Susan and many others are there
to find out.
Many
questions arise when addressing this topic, and create hesitation in the minds
of many scientists. One question that
arises is whether they are just mimicking a response to whoever is signing to
them, rather than thinking of the answer on their own. Francine Patterson firmly answers back that
she knows Koko thinks as an individual because she often catches her signing to
herself the different objects she picks up, or certain things she may be
thinking. This self-signing happens
when no one is around so there is no one to mimic. Another question arises when explaining Koko and Michael’s
intelligence. Are they prodigy gorillas
or gorilla geniuses? Patterson answers
that they are indeed not gorilla geniuses but two random gorillas picked to
grow in a more human environment and taught as elementary children would be
taught. (Patterson Michael)
They are gorillas that are treated as humans with the exception of the
artificial animal environment created to attend the needs required by a natural
animal of the wild. As a result they
have shown an intelligence that has shocked the scientific world. They act like humans in many ways; example:
when Koko hides or tries to scare the trainer.
They have made comfort requests as humans do, such as wanting the lights
on or off or the door open or shut, and scientists of the Koko organization are
beginning to believe they think as humans do, referring to their ability to
communicate in sign language or the observations of Koko manipulating certain
trainers. (Hayward Cyber) It has certainly changed our
perspective of the animal species and perhaps how serious we will take animal
protection in the near future.
Koko and Michael have both learned to communicate with humans using sign language, and gestures and in the process they have shown remarkable human qualities. Could this be a turning point in the way the world treats animals? We have finally made the effort in this century to communicate with the animals God gave us, and it has proved to be an enormous success. Now that humans know that gorillas possess this intelligence, we as a human race might be more inclined to protect them and conserve them. After all that is the way we think as a society, it’s o.k. to destroy animals that don’t have feeling or thought but once intelligence is discovered, the word murder comes to mind. Don’t take this to literally it is just my own opinion, your entitled to disagree. Discovering that an animal that has feelings and intellect shouldn’t create more of a reason to protect them, we should conserve this world’s nature automatically, but this discovery might be what it takes to get us to act. I hope this Koko phenomena will turn a few heads and change our views on animal rights. This new science of teaching animals to communicate with humans could turn a world where animals die as a result of our careless mass consumption of resources, to one of co-existence equally balanced in the circle life. Though it is a long way off, I like to think that one day it will come about.
Through the works of Francine Patterson and Susan Hayward Koko and Michael have shown the scientific world that animals can and do possess an intelligence that compares to our own.
Works Cited
Hayward, Susan. “Cyber Gorilla” Koko Organization, March 1999
http://www.koko.org/features/cyber/march%2099.html
Hayward, Susan. “Super Gorilla’s” Koko Organization, November 1998
http://www.koko.org/features/cyber/november98.html
Patterson, Francine. “Koko”, Koko Organization,
http://www.koko.org/koko/koko/koko.html
Patterson, Francine. “Michael”, Koko Organization,
http://www.koko.org/koko/koko/michael.html
The
knowledge of a man can only be discovered when a man displays that
knowledge. A question that arises in my
mind is, when a man acts against the better judgment of that and ignores his
knowledge, does he contain that knowledge, does the doubt of that knowledge,
mean you really don’t know? If there
were doubt it would mean that person really doesn’t know something because he
does not believe it entirely and believing is an enormous attribute to the
ability of knowing. Napoleon was
considered to be a God at the turn of the 1800’s (Cronin). His military tactics were nearly
unstoppable; he was a great dictator and leader with a power over men unmatched
in his time. Napoleon was looked at in
awe by all countrymen and had more than 3000 songs written about him. Napoleon observed, that the words and tunes
were not especially remarkable but the feeling behind them was and so too were
their numbers and spontaneity. (Nap series)
Napoleon was a man of inspiration at the turn of the 19th
century he grew up poor and began a life in the French Army as an average
soldier. He was the living proof that
any soldier could rise up to such a status as Emperor and that even a poor
pauper could become something if he put his heart and soul into his
efforts. Napoleon often gave even the
lowliest soldiers attention and would often be seen walking amongst them
encouraging them with kind words (Nap series).
Napoleon was loved for his noble kindness and revered for his ingenious
ways of dealing with war and politics, but soon the heir to the crown of France
rose to reclaim his throne and eventually Paris gave Napoleon the option to abdicate
himself. (Comptons.) Napoleon did
exactly that, though not without a plan of return. Less than two years later, Napoleon came back and rallied to
regain his power. Though something had
been taken out of Napoleon after the abdication, he had lost a bit of his fire
or instinct. Many events during his
return encouraged an over sense of power and eventually he became arrogant and
over confident in his actions, taking on the meaning power trip. He made many hasty errors (likely as a
result of this) that contributed to the fall of his reign as Emperor.
Napoleon
landed on the French coast in the winter of 1815 and immediately headed toward
Paris. He was on a campaign to take
back control of France, but he had many obstacles up ahead to face. Napoleon confronted many of his old generals
who now were alleged to Louis XVIII.
Grenoble of Northwestern France was first in Napoleon’s path. Napoleon had 1,100 men against 700 at
Grenoble, so he could have easily taken control but he did not want bloodshed. So he had the French guard play Marseillaise,
which was forbidden since the return of Louis XVIII, “The stirring tune had the
effect it electrified the soldiers,” reported one observer. (Cronin) Napoleon then started riding toward the men
of Grenoble and stopped when he was in pistol shot range. When the young captain called out “there he
is, fire.” Napoleon got off his horse
and walked toward them unbuttoning his overcoat revealing his white waistcoat,
“If you want to kill your Emperor,” he called out in a loud voice, “here I
am.” Back came a tremendous shout,
“Long live the Emperor!”(Cronin) The
men of France still had admiration for their former Emperor. Many more incidents like this also
occurred. General Ney (a former general
of Napoleon’s) came to negotiate with Napoleon about turning his army around
but as soon as he took one look at Napoleon he became so over whelmed with
admiration and love for Napoleon, he turned his entire 6,000-man army over to
him right then. (Nap. Series) Louis XVIII continued to send battalion after
battalion to meet and stop Napoleon’s campaign but each time Napoleon won the
admiration of his former commanders and proceeded with his march toward
Paris. As a joke on the royal court
there were letters posted all over Paris saying from Napoleon to Louis XVIII,
“My dear brother there is no need for you to send more troops, I already have
quit enough for my purposes.” (Haythornthwaite) On the night of 19 March, Louis XVIII left Paris without
informing his ministers and headed toward Brussels. Napoleon’s confidence in the knowledge he had of his former
companions, gave him France again, and on the eve of 20 March, Napoleon arrived
in Paris, with 20,000 Parisians crowding his carriage with shouts of joy.
Napoleon
wanted to keep the alliances with Austria, England and other nations that the
bourbons of Louis XVIII had made, and many of these countries wanted the same
peace as Napoleon did. However, one
man, Tallyrand, an Austrian general and Napoleon’s nemesis of old, once again
as in previous years persuaded to raise the nations up against Napoleon. So once again, Napoleon found himself
surrounded by the guns of enemy countries. (Cronin) This was the turning point of Napoleon’s career. Almost immediately he began to make
mistakes. He used what many have
claimed to be a clouded judgment to make decisions and misused his companion’s
capabilities. Napoleon knew the Duke of
Wellington was in Brussels with his Anglo Allied forces and that Prussian
General Blucher was coming from the East, they were his two main threats. His mistake came when he knowingly took his
two best generals Secant, and Dauber, and placed one to guard Paris and the
other to guard southern France in case an attack came from the Black forest,
two very minor tasks Napoleon’s best known generals should not have been
given. What Napoleon should have done
was place them next to his armies, to fight the main battles at Ligny and Mont
Saint-Jean near Brussels and eventually Waterloo, had he done that, many think
major mistakes would have been avoided and the campaign would have been won.
(Haythornwaite) The passing of
information through messengers is one of the keys to any battle. Without that information, generals cannot
strategize a victory. One of the great
mistakes in the two battles came due to the mishandling of orders. Napoleon
needed the I Corps, (which was stationed in between the two battles Ligny and
Monte St. Jean) in order finish off his victory against Blucher and the
Prussians. When general Ney (a brave
but less skilled general) heard about them marching toward Napoleon he thought
the I Corps misread orders, for he needed them as well, though far less
crucially. Therefore, Ney ordered them
back to him, and the result was the I Corps wasting 5 hours of marching and did
not help in either battle. A crucial
opportunity was missed and it proved fatal in the end. Ney’s knowledge of
Napoleon’s strategies was not great, he was courageous but he did not have the
brains to strategize a major battle.
The battle of Waterloo is probably one of the most talked about battles in European military history. It has often been referred to as the battle of mistakes. (Nap Series) When Napoleon was finished at Ligny, thinking that the Prussians were finally on the retreat, he joined Ney to confront The Duke of Wellington at Monte St. Jean (Nap Series). When Napoleon got to Ney he was enraged to find out that Ney had not taken Mont-Saint-Jean and that the first I Corps had been wasted. Over the next few days a storm raged on, drenching both armies and the fighting nearly ceased. But Napoleon could smell victory and so he took that time to rest and talk with soldiers. (Nap Series) When the storm finally cleared he decided to wait for the ground to dry to ensure that the canons would be able to move easily, then around midday finally gave the attack order. The ensuing battle raged for ten hours. Napoleon repeatedly threw his cavalry against the bayonet-wielding British infantry. During one furious cavalry charge the French overran all the British artillery. Had the guns been destroyed or at least made unusable the French cavalry might have won the battle. For a time it looked as though the British ranks would give way under the onslaught but Wellington’s troops were persistent and couldn’t be broken. (Cronin) Wellington eagerly awaited the help the Prussians had promised because he knew his troops wouldn’t last long. Finally, late in the afternoon, General Blucher and his Prussian army arrived. Those few hours of delay in the morning had been decisive. The French made a last desperate attack but were slowly overcome. By 9:00 PM the French defeat had become a rout. Napoleon lost 25,000 men killed and wounded and 9,000 captured. Wellington’s casualties were 15,000 and Blucher’s about 8,000. On June 22, 1815, four days after the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon signed his second abdication in Paris. This ended his rule in France forever. (Haythornthwaite)
Most people say Napoleon was sick, the rumors spread
from fever to hemorrhoids, which were the cause for his poor judgment and the
poor use of knowledge displayed during this final campaign at Waterloo. However, the truth is, Napoleon was over
confident and completely underestimated his opponent. (Nap series) There were many mistakes made that
contributed to the failure of the French.
Many lay with Ney and many lay with other generals but the bulk of the
blame must be given to Napoleon himself.
A notable mistake took place on the mourning of the battle. The earth was still very wet from a previous
storm so Napoleon decided to wait another five to six hours for the earth to
dry in order to move his cannons more easily (Cronin). During that wasted time he attended to the
sick, a noble gesture yes, but a costly one.
In the end, his cannons were not his most valuable assets during his
attack; it was his manpower and time.
If Napoleon had not waited those five hours Blucher’s army would not
have arrived from the East in time to save Wellington from being wiped out and
would have given the French victory.
Napoleons second blunder was misjudging the English. Not only the soldiers who remained cool and
quick witted under fire but also Wellington himself. Napoleon’s tactics remained the same but Wellington had now
learned to foil them and did. (Nap series)
Napoleon showed a lack of creativity assuming what had worked would
always work and underestimated the knowledge of his opponent. A third blunder Napoleon committed could
only be his over confidence while rushing into the battle of Ligny as well as
the assumption he made that Blucher was falling back in retreat instead of
falling back to regroup and eventually would come back to be Wellington’s
saving grace and steal away Napoleons victory at Waterloo.
You have just read only a brief chapter of the life
of Napoleon. In that summary I have
shown you some of the facts of the final campaign of Napoleon’s reign and some
of the arrogant mistakes that were the cause of the French defeat. We all have let arrogance cloud our judgment
and that has lead to a defeat of some type in our lives, at least I know I
have. When I think of Napoleon and his
ending destiny I am reminded of Croesus and the Oracles. When the Oracles prophesied that a great
kingdom would be destroyed at the battle, Croesus only saw victory and not the
possibility of his own demise.
Napoleon displayed much of the same actions; he ignored advice from
friends and did not care to prevent crucial mistakes. Napoleon’s arrogance and over confidence like Creosus’s, was the
cause for his destruction. Napoleon is
a figure we can all learn from and also a reminder that nothing lasts.
Arrogance clouded the use of Napoleon’s knowledge
during his final campaign and his fatal mistakes at Waterloo show how.
. 1. Cronin,
Vincent. Napoleon.
Great
Britain: Harper Collins publishing, 1971
2.
Haythornthwaite, Phillip J. Napoleons Military Machine
Great Britain: Spellmont limited
publishing, 1998
3.
Napoleon.
Compton’s Encyclopedia Deluxe 99. CD-ROM.
Navato, CA, Learning Co. 1998
http://www.historyserver.org/napoleon.series/military/battles/hundred/c_chapter1.html
In the Random House Dictionary teamwork was defined as a cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group (meaning two or more) of person’s acting together as a team or in the interests of a common cause. We all have examples in our lives when teamwork has helped us succeed. My own examples include winning a soccer tournament or maybe working impressively with co-workers. I regretfully cannot say I have used teamwork to any great length of importance or to the point where I have affected the world in a significant way. Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones are a different story though. Together with the all to crucial application of teamwork they completed the world’s first circumnavigated flight in a hot air balloon named the Breitling Orbiter 3.
On
March 1, 1999, Breitling Orbiter3 lifted off from Chateau d’Oex, a small
town in the Swiss Alps, in a daring attempt to become the first piloted balloon
to fly nonstop around the world.
Bertrand Piccard (grandson to the late Augusta Piccard who completed the
first balloon flight into the stratosphere back in 1931), and Brian Jones,
admitted to a moment of fear as they stepped into the minivan size capsule
surrounded by 32 rattling propane tanks.
That fear was soon diminished as they lost their thoughts in the extreme
beauty they witnessed while flying over the Swiss Alps. Bertrand and Brian's teamwork came not only
from working with each other but also from their friends in the control center
in Luzern that according to Piccard, “have such team spirit that their messages
are often written in the first person,” to either Jones or Piccard
directly. (Nat. Geographic) On the
first day their team reported they were traveling too fast at 85 mph. They would have been taken north of the
Himalayas, which would have thrown them off track for the crucial mark at
China’s borders but that was soon corrected when they dropped their elevation
and caught a southern wind drift bringing them back on course. They were able to drift toward Egypt over
Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, then India toward Bangladesh guided from afar
by the Swiss air traffic controllers who helped the team gain access to
forbidden areas. Piccard and Jones were
very excited during these first days.
“There is nothing like making an incredible journey with a good friend,”
said Jones, “and we have the peace of a beautiful world to keep us
company.”(Nat. Geographic)
Each
day Jones and Piccard took eight-hour shifts in the pilot’s seat. “While one of us flies the balloon the other
crawls beneath the covers in the bunk to sleep. We spend the rest of the time, plotting our route on maps,
discussing flight strategies, making repairs and preparing food in the tiny
kitchen area,” commented Piccard. (Nat. Geographic) Their teamwork was unavoidable on this mission. They needed at least one person awake at all
times, in order to detect problems, change fuel and keep the proper
elevation. On day 4 Piccard found
himself in rather odd situation, he was hanging off of the balloon chipping
10-foot long ice cycles off the bottom of the capsule with a pick ax 6000 feet
above the Sahara dessert. That was just
one of the many chores that were involved in the mission. As Piccard and Jones caught the easterly
winds across Africa, the Middle East and India they constantly thought about
the coming problem ahead, China. Nine
days from their rendezvous they reached the border of China. It was only a year before on a previous
attempt to fly around the world that Bertrand Piccard and Andy Elson were
forced to land the balloon because they did not have permission to fly over
China. The crucial need of team
coordination made itself known as they got a message from the Chinese air
traffic control. “HB-BRA, remember, it
is forbidden to fly north of 26 degrees.”
“As we drift as close as 25 miles to the restricted area the Chinese
authorities ask us to prepare for an emergency landing.” Writes Piccard. “But as if by a miracle the wind brings us
back on track.” The next morning when
the sky brightened they found China almost completely covered in clouds and so
during the rest of there 15 hour crossing they keep their eyes fixed on the
magic numbers of their instruments, which were also a big part of their
team. As soon as they crossed the
western border of China, the crew in the control center popped open the first
bottles of Champagne and help Piccard and Jones celebrate the triumph over what
was to them the most difficult part of the journey. But next for them lay an
almost equal challenge, to cross the vastness of the Pacific Ocean.
The
decision to cross the Pacific was irreversible, ahead laid 10,000 miles of
water and the team in Geneva were not quite certain where to send them. It had only been 3 days earlier when Colin
Prescot and Andy Elson (also attempting a circumnavigate flight in a balloon)
were forced down by a storm off the coast of Japan and thankfully, were safely
rescued. So they headed out through the
mist of clouds for the great blue.
Jones writes “Bertrand and I are still talking to each other. The only thing that annoys me is the
dehydrated food. But if it’s the only
problem I think we can survive.”(BBC News)
For five days they drifted across nothing but the vastness of the ocean,
weaving through fearsome cumulonimbus storms that at any moment were able to
tear the fragile skin of their balloon in their turbulence. “It was as if we were guided by an invisible
force,” said Piccard.(Nat. Geographic)
Piccard and Jones relied on each other for many things; company,
judgment and friendship were among a few components they attribute to their
journey’s success. Then on Wed 17
March, after five uneasy days, drifting over nothing but ocean, they reached
the coast of Mexico, becoming the first balloonists to cross the Pacific during
a nonstop round the world attempt. “So
that little puddle was what they call the Pacific.” Mr. Jones joked in a conversation with the Geneva control
center.(BBC News) The worst was over
for them. Their only worry was fuel and
the frightening problem of losing communication contact with their team, which
they had not yet encountered. When
their speed dropped below 25 mph the aluminum coating of their balloon blocked
the telephone and fax communications with their team, which in a few words
leaves them blind to any forth coming problems. They became very frightened Piccard reports, when they realized
they had only 4 out of 32 fuel tanks left, barely enough to get them across the
Atlantic Ocean. But in sharing their
fear and giving each other encouragement, they kept up their wills. It wasn’t long before they found them selves
in a jet stream traveling at 105mph and with their hopes soaring they welcomed
a very real hope of creating history.
As they reached the African coast on the morning of the 20th,
they did not let them selves relish victory yet, even with the shouts of joy
from their team in Geneva. But at 9:54
that morning the Champagne exploded in Geneva as the exhausted Piccard and
Jones crossed the finish line at Mauritania then made a double bounce landing
in the sands of the Sahara Desert. “We
clasp hands and gave each other a hug.
We have achieved the craziest of our crazy dreams, the first non-stop
flight around the world,” Piccard writes as his final note.
In
my opinion teamwork was the main attribute to this historical success. It took an enormous amount cooperation and
encouragement to endure 21 straight days in a capsule the size of a minivan and
to work through all the unpredictable scenarios. It would take an incredible
amount of patience and cooperation to withstand the amount of nervous stress
Piccard and Jones were later treated for. (BBC News) Patience and cooperation, I feel are two enormous factors when
creating successful teamwork. The
success of the mission cannot be credited to Piccard and Jones’ team play
alone. Without the help of the team in
Geneva, the cooperation of hundred’s of countries, and the support of friends
and fellow balloonists it could not have happened. So all can claim a part in the last of great victories in human
aviation. As Bertrand Piccard and Brian
Jones accept the awarded prize of $1,000,000 given by Anheuser Busch, they
graciously thanked everyone for their part in this triumphant world team
effort.
Teamwork
has shown to be an incredibly valuable asset for Balloon engineers Bertrand
Piccard and Brian Jones as they completed the first around the world balloon
flight.
2.) BBC News. “The Great Balloon Challenge”. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1998/11/98/great_balloon_challeng…?300114.st
.