Serendipity led to the discovery of the stratosphere in 1900. An innovative program of unmanned balloon soundings of the upper atmosphere by the French physicist Teisserenc de Bort unexpectedly revealed a large region with constant temperature that he named the "stratosphere". read more
The discovery of the stratosphere was made independently by a French meteorologist named Leon Philippe Teisserenc de Bort and German meteorologist Richard Assmann. They both announced the discovery of the stratosphere in the year 1902, which means that they are both credited with this important discovery. read more
He named the lower layer the troposphere, from the Greek words meaning “sphere of change,” and the upper layer the stratosphere, from the Greek words meaning “sphere of layers.” Teisserenc de Bort’s discovery is still the basis of our understanding of the atmosphere. read more
The discovery of the stratosphere was made independently by a French meteorologist named Leon Philippe Teisserenc de Bort and German meteorologist Richard Assmann. read more