"At the end of the 19th century, a brilliant inventor, Professor Jonathan T. Buck, crafted a beautiful steam-powered airship for an expedition to South America's Amazon River Basin in search of a magnificent lost city--hidden from terrestrial explorers for centuries by its surrounding dense forests. But something mysterious happened in the heart of the jungle--Buck, his crew and the Air Paddle Steamer Claire vanished. More than a century later, an expedition sent to look for any trace of the Claire vanished and its crew discovered a single, discarded trunk lodged high in the forest canopy.Inside was this notebook: a riveting--firsthand account that reveals not only just how Buck drew up the plans for his airship, but what fate befell the expedition. Professor Jonathan T. Buck's Mysterious Airship Notebook is unlike any adventure story before. Part drawing guide, part historical saga, this book will transport readers to a world before modern technology, when steam power, gadgets, gases and gizmos took us into the skies."--Page 4 of cover.