Undersea Exploration

The ocean we know - the one we swim, fish and play in - is very different from the deep water far from land. The deep ocean has no light, and the water pressure is so great it can shatter human bones! But that hasn't stopped explorers and inventors developing and improving underwater machines and equipment that have eventually taken people to the deepest places on Earth. Why? To see what's there, of course. Reading Level 29/F&P Level U

The noted marine archaeologist and treasure-hunting diver's history of diving, from the free divers of the ancient world to those using modern research equipment. Subjects such as underwater archaeology, sunken treasure, oceanography and skin diving are explored along with the evolution of SCUBA equipment, submarine warfare, and more. 46 photographs.

“[An] amiable, in-depth examination of the most critical era for the development of modern oceanography” (Publishers Weekly). In a history at once scientific and cultural, Helen Rozwadowski shows us how the Western imagination awoke to the ocean's possibilities?in maritime novels, in the popular hobby of marine biology, in the youthful sport of yachting, and in the laying of a trans-Atlantic telegraph cable. The ocean emerged as important new territory, and scientific interests intersected with those of merchant-industrialists and politicians. Rozwadowski documents the popular crazes that coincided with these interests?from children's sailor suits to the home aquarium and the surge in ocean travel. She describes how, beginning in the 1860s, oceanography moved from yachts onto the decks of oceangoing vessels, and landlubber naturalists found themselves navigating the routines of a working ship's physical and social structures. Fathoming the Ocean offers a rare and engaging look into our fascination with the deep sea and into the origins of oceanography?origins still visible in a science that focuses the efforts of physicists, chemists, geologists, biologists, and engineers on the common enterprise of understanding a vast, three-dimensional, alien space. “Rozwadowski greatly expands our own understanding, all while telling a story that is original, wide-ranging, and illuminating.” —Margaret Deacon, Southampton Oceanography Centre, author of Science and the Sea: The Origins of Oceanography “Required reading for anyone wanting to understand how the oceans have come to play the role that they do in Western knowledge.” —Eric L. Mills, Dalhousie University and author of Biological Oceanography: An Early History, 1870-1960 “Chronicles the birth of deep-sea oceanography, from early observations by Benjamin Franklin to the voyage of HMS Challenger in the 1870s. [Rozwadowski] weaves a rich narrative from the world of renowned as well as lesser-known oceanographers.” —Nature

Jason Project year 4.

"Featuring a new preface by the author."