Jacques Alexandre Charles was most famous in his day for his experiments in ballooning. The first balloon flights were made by the Montgolfier brothers in June of 1783 in a hot air balloon made of linen and paper. In August of the same year, Charles filled a silk balloon with hydrogen gas. It took several days to react 500 lbs of acid with 1000 lbs of iron to produce the hydrogen. A huge crowd watched the launch. After drifting for 45 minutes and traveling over 15 miles, the balloon landed near a village. The frightened villagers tore the balloon to shreds.
In 1787 Charles showed that at constant pressure, the volume of a gas varies directly with the absolute temperature. This relationship became know as Charles' Law.