Lana Terzi's airship. 19th-century illustration of the airship design proposed by Italian priest and mathematics and physics professor Francesco Lana Terzi (1631-1687), considered the father of aeronautics. It is thought that Lana Terzi's ideas led to the development of the balloon and the first balloon flight in 1783. Lana Terzi's design involved thin copper spheres from which the air would be evacuated, an unworkable design that was never built. Artwork from 'Aerostation - Aviation' (1911) by French civil engineer Max de Nansouty (1854-1913), part of the 'Les merveilles de la science' series of 1867-1891 by Louis Figuier.