Stars Beneath The Sea by Trevor Norton

[DaleC]

Star Beneath The Sea; The Pioneers of Diving by Trevor Norton
Carroll & Graf Publishers Inc, New York. 1999. ISBN 0-7867-0750-X
This edition: HC, 282 pg's with B/W photos.

A collection of short biographies of some of the progenitors of diving and its associated underwater activities. The list of subjects include:

Guy Gilpatric - Early skin diving popularist.
Henri Milne Edwards - Naturalist. First to observe subjects "in situ" with open bottom helmet.
Roy Miner - Naturalist/Curator American Museum of Natural History static reef display.
William Beebe - Zoologist/Bathysphere developer (along with Otis Barton).
Jack Kitching - Intrepid English Zoologist.
John Haldane - Doctor/Physiologist. First dive tables 1907.
JBS Haldane - Scientist. Various studies regarding diving physiology.
Cameron Wright - Experimental Physiologist. Developer of deep bouyant ascents for submarines.
Lous Boutan - Adventurer/Naturalist. First viable UW photography.
Ernest Williamson - Engineer/Film maker. Inventor of the Williamson Underwater Tube.
Hans Hass - Zoologist/Adventurer/Popularist. Early rebreather diving.
Frederic Dumas - Professional diver/Adventurer/UW archeology developer. Contemporary of JYC
Peter Throckmorton - Archeologist/Historian. Discoverer of many shipwrecks.

I was thrown off initially as the author writes in a sometimes casual manner (and I was anticipating a more historical type text) but as I read on I was pleasantly surprised by all of the stories contained within. JBS Haldanes story, in particular, is simply amazing.

A great short biographical anthology of some known (and lesser known) pioneers for those interested in diving history.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Dale C,
Great book!

One of the few current historical diving books and at a reasonable price!

Except for the LA County program the modern diver certainly is not exposed to this type of information in the super duper pooper dive classes any more...

Yes the Haldanes are unique and certainly interesting in the history of diving---and probably 1 in 10,000 divers do not know of their contributions

Keep up the book store searches -- you are doing great!

SDM

 

[DaleC]

Thanks Sam.

One part of this book that I did not mention is the extensive bibliography that Trevor provides at the end. In a sense, the reader could use "Stars" as a general primer and the bibliography for further reference if one wanted to learn more about a certain person. I will list some books from the bib. when I have more time (off to work right now). But, as luck would so often have it, I remembered one of Peter Throckmortons books listed when I was poking around in a used book store yesterday and came up with this:

 

[DaleC]

Some of the books from the bibliography that interest me (and may interest others who enjoy this kind of reading):


The Compleat Goggler Guy Gilpatric 1938 (original)
The Complete Goggler G. Gilpatric 1957 (reprint)
The Rock Pool C Connolly 1947 (any idea what this book is about?)
Man Explores the Sea James Dugan 1960
Adventure on Land and Under the Sea Otis Barton 1954
Half Mile Down William Beebe 1935
Natural Man, the life of William Beebe R.H. Welker 1975
The Life and Work of J.B.S. Haldane R. Clarke 1968
The Lost ships, an Adventure in Undersea Archeology Peter Throckmorton 1965
Diving for Treasure P. Throckmorton 1977
The Sea Remembers, Shipwrecks and Archeology P. Throckmorton 1996
Twenty Years Under the Sea J.E. Williamson 1935
Diving to Adventure Hans Hass 1952
Under the Red Sea H.H. 1952
Men and Sharks H.H. 1954
We Come From the Sea H.H. 1958
To Unplumbed Depths H.H. 1972
The Silent World Jacques Cousteau and Frederic Dumas 1953
The Living Sea J. Cousteau and J. Dugan 1963
The Undersea Adventure Phillipe Diole 1954
4000 Years Under the Sea P. Diole 1954
The Seas of Sicily P. Diole 1955
The Memoirs of Falco, Cheif Diver of the Calypso P. Diole and A. Falco 1976
30 Centuries Under the Sea F. Dumas 1976
Under the Mediterranean Honor Frost 1963
To Hidden Depths Phillipe Tailliez 1954
Archeology Beneath the Sea George Bass 1975
Louis Boutan (Any english language texts available?)
Cameron Wright (Any Biographies available?)

All this looking at the bibliography got me wondering about the references for Cousteau/Dugan's "Captain Cousteau's Underwater Treasury" an anthology of dive related stories. Some books of interest from there:

I like Diving Tom Eadie 1929
Undersea Patrol Edward Young 1952
Man Under Sea James Dugan 1956
Treasure Divers of Vigo Bay John Potter 1958 (is this about more than the 1957 body recoveries?)
Danger is my Life Victor Berge
Ordeal by Water Peter Keeble and William Kerr
Wonders of Salvage David Masters

 

[vrakis]

Another of those rare books that I personally rank as 5 out of 5.

It’s an interesting book about pioneers that helped to bring diving to where it is today. It is written with a LOT of humour, and tells stories most of us would never even had heard of if it wasn’t for this book. If your interested in diving history, this will be a great book for you, but you might not find all those names that you expected to find, but instead find some names new to you.
The book will make great reading for non-divers as well due to its humour and interesting facts.

Safe Diving!
Vrakis