This book explores the history of food in flight from hydrogen balloons to the space station: what was served, how and why; the problems with heating, cooling, and serving technology; logistics; overcoming cultural barriers; and the effect of altitude on our senses of taste and smell.

Acknowledgments Introduction: The First Toast 1: The Forerunners: Lessons From The Balloon Era 2: Luxury In The Skies-The Zeppelin Era 3: The Early Days of The Airplane Age (1920-1930) 4: Sidebar-The Technology of Heat in Flight before 1940 5: From 1930 to the Second World War-Diverging Paths 6: Land-based Craft From 1930 to the Outbreak of War 7: Sidebar-A Window Into The Design Process 8: World War II and the Postwar Bonanza (1941-50) 9: Sidebar-Physiology of Taste in Flight 10: Competition, Regulation, and the Jet Age (1950-58) 11: Sidebar: Airline Food in Popular Culture 12: Jet Age Mass Transit and Luxury Competition (1958-66) 13: Sidebar: Technology of Heat in Flight, Part Two 14: Jumbo Jets, Excess, and Cultural Expression (1966-75) 15: Sidebar-The Elusive History of Special Meals 16: Years of Chaos and Change (1975-85) 17: Sidebar-Designing The Flying Meal 18: The Decline And Fall of Inflight Dining (1985-Present) 19: Tubes and Cubes: Food in space (1961-65) 20: Commercialization of Space Food on Earth 21: Apollo, Soyuz, and Variety In Space (1966-1994) 22: Sidebar-The Difficulties of Cooking in Space 23: Shuttles, The ISS, and Taikonauts (1981-Present) 24: Recipes Recommended Reading: Books and Websites Appendix: Unsolved Questions Index