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John Lee AP English/Senior Project Research Paper December 3, 2009 The History of Scuba Diving and how it is Used Today  Looking back to the time of early man, humans’ curiosity and the allure of the seas have sent divers exploring underwater. Yes, the interesting history of scuba diving reaches back in time to several centuries ago! Before any equipment was invented for diving, people were driven to explore below the water. Man was not aware of the dangers or changes to the human body that would occur underwater, but was curious, enthralled and fascinated with the sea and ready to dive in!  Even though early divers faced incredible obstacles underwater; increased water pressure, the lack of oxygen, and unforeseen dangers, evidence of underwater diving is recorded in history. What enticed humans to chance a dive into the seas? Humans were diving for a variety of reasons; a wealth of food and material resources, attack on their enemies during warfare, plus the beauty and mystery of the waters enticed humans to explore underwater regions. First, man realized the sea was a rich source of food. The need for food sent people diving into the seas. Divers could retrieve a variety of fish, crabs, mussels, oysters and other seafood. Next, materials for jewelry and ornamental decoration, such as pearls or red coral, also lured divers to the sea. An admiration for pearls was found from India to China to Rome. Women adorned their dresses and couches with pearls. Pearls were extremely valuable and illustrated one’s wealth. Mother-of-pearl decorations found in Egyptian pyramids are also proof of very early diving. (Ward 1)  Likewise, Homer’s epic works, __The Iliad__ and __The Odyssey__ (800 BC), tell of sponge fishermen from Greece who would dive almost 100 feet by holding a heavy rock, known as the “skandalopetra”. These divers felt the increase in pressure underwater, especially in their ears. To ease the pressure, the Greek divers would pour oil into their ears and hold oil in their mouth. When they reached the sponges, they would spit out the oil, cut as many sponges as possible and be pulled to the surface by a tether. As in this story, the early attempts of diving without equipment were really breath-holding techniques. Some divers of the past would be able to stay under water for several minutes simply by holding their breath. When realizing the underwater forces to overcome, it is amazing that humans were diving with nothing more than their own strength and courage. (Marx 8-9)  Furthermore, searching for sunken treasure and naval strategies during wartime are other reasons humans were diving underwater in early times. Ancient artifacts found in Greece portray divers involved in hunting for sponges or actively defending their country. Around 500 BC, the famous Greek historian, Herodotus, tells a story of Scyllis. Scyllis was hired by the Persian King, Xerxes I, to recover sunken treasure. Once Scyllis discovered the sunken treasure, King Xerxes I refused to pay the offered reward and held Scyllis hostage aboard ship. Scyllis discovered that Xerxes was also planning to attack the Greek fleet. Knowing that, Scyllis took a knife and jumped into the sea. Scyllis could not be found by the Persian army and the soldiers were convinced he had drowned. Scyllis swam to Xerxes’ fleet and cut the mooring from every ship. To keep hidden in the water, Scyllis used a reed for a snorkel. He then rejoined his fellow soldiers. (Smith 798)  More stories of underwater war strategies are recorded throughout history. Diving was a factor for early military strategies. Many times people of ancient cultures understood the advantage of diving as part of their military maneuvers. Pictures on vases from Egypt and Phoenicia tell the stories of underwater attacks. Again, Homer’s __Iliad__ mentions the use of divers during military procedures. During the Trojan War, divers drilled holes in vessels and cut anchor cables to release the ships from the harbor. Divers became an important component in the regiment of early armies. (Marx 13) Diving, not only important to the military success of a country, also was instrumental to the discovery of the beauty underwater and began to solve the mystery of the underwater world that beckoned. When a dive produced a valuable resource or brought forth news of the unknown, humans were tempted and persuaded to dive deeper and longer. Successful diving became a cyclic activity. A successful dive lead to heightened interest to dive longer and deeper, divers found a new resource or reached the edge of a new discovery, and therefore, the need to improve man’s ability to dive increased. With the desire to dive longer and deeper, humans sought ways to improve man’s ability to stay underwater. For these reasons, the question arose, //“How to improve man’s ability to stay underwater?”// This need resulted in a variety of inventions in diving equipment. The history of diving equipment is based on the challenge to man to overcome the demands of the seas. The divers experienced the difficulties of the underwater world; difficulty breathing, increased pressure on their bodies, and a drop in temperature of the environment. Divers needed a means to breathe while underwater and prolong his staying time below the surface. Over the centuries, people have challenged the depth and time limitations imposed by diving without breathing equipment in several different ways. Men have been diving to the seas in everything from birthday suits to diving bells to bathyscaphes. Aristotle indicated the use of an air-supplying diving bell in 360 BC. A kettle was submerged in the water, keeping the edges level so the kettle would remain filled with air, not water. In 332BC, stories are told that Alexander the Great made several dives in a crude bell holding air so he could prolong his underwater time. The success, although small, of these diving bells produced more wondering, planning and experimentation. (Marx 30) From as early as the 16th century, people continued experimenting with diving bells and leather diving suits. In 1535 Guglielmo de Loreno created a different style of diving bell. His diving bell was the shape of a barrel and covered the diver’s head and body. This large barrel or diving bell kept a pocket of air surrounding the diver as the diver descended into water. Guglielmo de Loreno’s goal was to assist the diver to discover the location of buried treasure from two galley ships. The diver, submerged inside the diving bell, managed to remain under water for nearly an hour at a time. After a few weeks, the diver was successful in locating the treasure. News of this diving bell success spread quickly. (Marx 33) These successes lead to other designs and styles of diving bells. Larger bells were built, some large enough to hold two men. In 1538 two Greek inventors created a large diving bell capable of holding two divers. The divers also carried a candle to illuminate the darkness as they descended their depth in the water. To the amazement of all on shore, when the divers and the bell surfaced, the candle was still lit. Following this was a new idea to stretch the practical use of the bell. The divers would leave the bell but then return to it to replenish their air supply. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">(Marx #2 8) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Consequently, during the late 1600’s and early 1700’s more experimentation was conducted with diving bells. In 1691, Edmund Halley patented a diving bell with nearby weighted barrels of air. The bell was connected by pipes to the barrels that refilled the diving bell’s space with more air. This would be the first step towards a scuba tank. (Marx 31-32) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">As small successes continued with the use of the diving bell, men were looking for ways for divers to have more freedom of movement underwater. The first serious attempt was made by Leonardo da Vinci when he created a drawing for the first scuba gear, or self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. His fascination with the world around him led him to many inventions and designs. This was true with da Vinci’s fascination with water. Da Vinci’s idea for scuba gear appeared in the famous Codex Atlanticus, a twelve-volume set of his drawings and notes of inventions. His design for scuba gear combined air supply with buoyancy control in one unit. It was somewhat of a beginning snorkel design. The design had a mask that covered the diver’s mouth and nose which was connected by a hose to an air reserve carried on the diver’s chest. Leonardo also drew designs of diving suits, fins, webbed swimming gloves and various diving masks. However, history does not prove if he ever built his scuba suit complete with a reserve of air. (Hanauer 22) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">History illustrates that humans were determined to conquer the sea, one way or another. Men continued to experiment by designing and testing different features with custom diving bells. While some were tinkering with diving bells, other inventors looked for ways and ideas to directly supply air to the diver. Some scientists were more concerned with the underwater forces on the human body. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">For example, Robert Boyle was interested in the effects of water pressure on the human body. In 1667, he experimented with compression and decompression for divers. He observed a gas bubble in the eye of a viper that had been compressed and then decompressed. When a quantity of a gas is compressed, the volume is decreased and the density is increased. Boyle’s Law states the volume of a gas varies inversely with the pressure but the density varies directly with the pressure. The mathematical equation for Boyle's law is: //pV=K// where p denotes the pressure of the system, V is the volume of the gas and K is a constant value representative of the pressure and volume of the system. Understanding compression and volume changes, Boyle’s Law, is very important for the safety of divers. (Graver 106) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Experimentations with diving equipment continued. In 1797 the first diving suit was designed and created. A German mechanic, Karl Heinrich Klingert, built a diving suit of a jacket and pants made of waterproof leather and a helmet with an opening door. This helmet was attached to a hoses and an air reserve. The air reserve was limited and could not be refilled, so the diving time was also limited. In 1825, English inventor William James built a system that is considered to be the first true scuba (self contained underwater breathing apparatus). The system used tanks of compressed air and a full diving suit, a cylindrical iron "belt" attached to a copper helmet. The belt held about 450 psi of air; enough for a seven-minute dive. The design had limits on depth and duration so it did not become widely used. Just a few years later, in the 1830s, the surface-supplied air helmet was perfected well enough to allow extensive salvage work in depths up to 60 feet. However, the helmet did not fasten or attach to the diver’s suit. If the diver bent over, the helmet would fill with water and the diver drowned. However, the quest to dive underwater continued. Several men accepted patents for closed dress (helmet attached or sealed to the diving suit) diving apparatus during the 1830s. In 1837, Augustus Siebe attached and sealed the helmet to a watertight, rubber suit. (Hanauer 23) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Another step of progress for scuba diving came in 1865, when Benoit Rouquayrol and Aguste Denayrouse created equipment for underwater breathing. The apparatus was made of a horizontal steel tank of compressed air carried on a diver’s back. The tank was connected to a mouth piece. A hose from the surface pumped fresh air into the tank, operating at low pressure. The air was regulated through a controlled “demand” valve. This valve would also compensate for the water pressure surrounding the diver. This valve is very similar to the demand valve used in scuba diving today. (Hanauer 24) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In 1869, Jules Verne wrote the story, //20,000 Leagues under the Sea//. His story of Captain Nemo commanding his submarine, the Nautilus, brought the adventure of the underwater world to the public. In //20,000 Leagues under the Sea// the travelers also geared up with diving suits to go on undersea expeditions away from the ship. This story made the idea of scuba diving very popular. (Marx 45) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">During the late 1800s and early 1900s, more experimentation was carried out on the effects of compression and decompression while diving. Decompression tables were calculated and recorded, then put into use by the English Navy and the United States Navy, saving many divers from the “bends” or decompression illness. More studies helped explain effects of water pressure on the body and defined safe limits for compressed air diving. At the same time, improvements in technology such as compressed air pumps, carbon dioxide scrubbers, and air pressure regulators, made it possible for people to stay underwater for periods up to three hours. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In 1917, The Draeger Company from Germany that manufactured gas valves and firefighting equipment, produced a true scuba system that combined tanks containing a mixture of compressed air and oxygen, or oxygen enriched air. Over the next few years improvements were made in the helmets and rebreather technology. Scientists experimented with the mixture of helium and oxygen as a breathing gas for divers. (Dorfman) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In 1925, Captain Yves Le Prieur, a pioneer of independent diving, perfected an open-circuit, compressed-air device. There was one problem: the continuous flow of air limited how long the device could be used. Yves Le Prieur is given credit for developing a successful scuba unit. During the 1930s others contributed to improvements of goggles, face masks, fins, and snorkels. In 1933, Yves Le Prieur continued his work when he combined a demand valve with a high-pressure air tank to free the diver from hoses and diving lines reaching to the surface. (Hanauer 26) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The desire to improve diving equipment continued as new devices were invented and tested. In 1937, Frenchman George Comheines combined the ideas of others’ valve systems with Le Prieur’s system of air tanks. Comheines used two or three tanks of air, allowing the diver 25 to 40 minutes of dive time. Although Comheines drowned on one of his first dives, his equipment and plan were a breakthrough for scuba divers. (Hanauer 27-28) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan designed and tested the first aqua-lung. The most familiar type at the time was the twin-hose open-circuit scuba. The aqua-lung consisted of a high pressure diving cylinder and a diving regulator that supplied the diver with breathing gas at a comfortable pressure by using a demand valve. Before this, there were a few attempts at constant-flow compressed-air breathing sets. The aqua-lung was a huge improvement and brought about many changes in the sport of diving. With improvements in technology and equipment, divers were able to stay underwater safely for longer periods of time and at greater depths. (Hanauer 29) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In the same manner and comparable to the recorded history of diving, humans continue to dive for the same reasons; a wealth of food and material resources, attack on their enemies during warfare, plus the beauty and mystery of the waters continue to entice humans to explore underwater regions. Scuba diving is related to many other activities such as recreational diving, commercial diving, military diving, scientific diving, and technical diving which would include deep diving, wreck diving, cave and ice diving. //“Everyone needs to do this and learn to dive for the experience. It is a great adventure.”// (Guenther). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Indeed, an estimated 500,000 scuba divers are certified yearly in the United States. Training and certifying for diving occurs worldwide. Another 2.5 to 3.5 million Americans participate in recreational diving. Scuba diving is a sport that does not require great physical strength, only the basic training and the curiosity and desire to dive. //“One of the first sensations you notice underwater is the feeling of being weightless, like you are floating in space.”// (Crockett 8). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Due to the popularity of recreational diving, scuba resorts and scuba magazines continue to emerge, dive computers increase in use and demand, and scuba travel has transformed into a big business. Recreational diving is very popular and connected with travel to warm, sunny islands. In North America alone, recreational diving is quickly becoming a multi-billion dollar industry. Recreational divers can find employment anywhere there is water, from the South Pacific to the Great Lakes to Cozumel, Mexico. People everywhere want to learn to dive. Divers could work at a local pool or YMCA, or aboard a boat in the Caribbean, at a dive shop in Mexico, or a cruise line in the Bahamas. There are many different choices for recreational divers. Recreational divers often work seasonally and keep their certification current long after their employment. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Many divers extend their diving knowledge and time to become a commercial diver. Commercial divers work in intense underwater settings; waves, depths of darkness, pressure, currents, and cold temperatures. To handle conditions like these, commercial diving requires the diver to be physically fit, strong, well-trained, and confident in their skills. //“If you watch someone who really knows what they’re doing they plan everything out, their movements are very economical and they’re part of the ocean rather than fighting with it.”// (Hanna 96). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Commercial diving offers employment through the oil industry, government, or law enforcement. Oil industry work could include exploring or drilling and underwater testing. Commercial diving jobs for oil companies are probably the best way to a big paycheck as a diver. With experience, an oil industry diver could earn $80,000 yearly. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Offshore commercial diving usually leads to employment with oil companies. Unlike onshore diving, the hours for offshore divers can be hectic and long. Work with offshore oil rigs located out in the ocean take divers to many places. This work could include underwater welding, pipeline exploration, or oil drilling. Offshore commercial divers can travel the world working on pipelines and oil rigs, both onshore and offshore. Oil rigs are found in Alaska, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and anywhere else where oil is discovered offshore beneath the surface of the Earth. In an oil career, the diver follows the jobs traveling to new oil sites. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Onshore commercial diving involves diving in lakes, harbors, and streams. Divers might be hired to inspect the steel in a bridge, check a ship for damage or corrosion, or complete repair work on a dam. Jobs like underwater welding, underwater inspections, and salvage work are potential employment. Commercial divers are basically underwater construction workers. These underwater construction jobs can be onshore or offshore and are often contract work. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Underwater warfare and military strategies have been found throughout history of diving and continue to be important today. Every navy employs divers to be part of their military strategies. Military personnel are trained as clearance divers to locate and deliver safe mines. Divers serve on mine hunting ships and diving ships along the coasts of the world. Navy operational diving teams are requested to help other government departments with general maintenance and repairs, as well as to act as back-up crews during disaster and salvage operations on sea. Saturation divers are some of the most qualified divers around. Staying underwater for days at a time while in diving bells is common. Demolition divers are needed to demolish or blow things up underwater. The Navy trains divers to become specialists in underwater demolition. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Underwater conservation is a growing field of employment for divers. Climate studies involving the polar ice caps or protecting species of life found on coral reefs involve diving. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Interests in finding what undiscovered creatures lurk in the depths of the sea beckon divers to explore. // “If discovery drives you, welcome to inner space. It’s somewhat cliché, yet true, that we know the surface of the moon better than we know the bottoms of the ocean”// (PADI Open Water Manual 2). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Usually scientific divers are scientists (marine biologists, geologists, or climatologists) first, and divers second. They use scuba diving as their means to study science, to make observations underwater, and to collect data. Our world and its changes are taking scientists on a journey under the sea to explore. //“The underwater world is an almost magical place. Often, what appears to be plants are actually living animals, what may look like rocks are frequently living coral “villages” of millions of microorganisms”// (Crockett 6). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Media divers use photography and videography underwater. Creativity and enjoyment of diving are important characteristics for media divers. Dive shops hire divers to video and photograph their clients. Changes in the light underwater would require practice and experimentation with photos. Some divers are freelance underwater photographers and sell their photos to magazines. Being a media diver would be an incredible career, but the jobs are few and far between and pay varies greatly. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Technical diving is also a new and expanding means of employment. In technical diving, divers use advanced technology including mixed gases and enriched air, full face masks with underwater voice communication, and propulsion systems. Technical diving is indicated by diving at greater depths, longer bottom time, mandatory staged decompression and possibly a switch to a different gas supply during the ascent. Technical diving offers opportunities to dive inside a wreck or venture through a cave of rock or coral. Diving in caves of underwater areas where no light penetrates can be very dangerous. Untrained divers become confused, disoriented, and lost. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The underwater world has long called out to be explored. The progression of scuba diving continues to show improvements not only in technology and gear, but, hand in hand, advancements are also being made regarding safety. Scuba diving means rising to new challenges. It’s one of those rare activities that deliver adrenaline and intensity, or serenity and peace (PADI Open Water Manual 2). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">In the final analysis, as seen throughout history and to today’s time, the sea has called to humans to explore its wealth, beauty and mysteries. For some it's the excitement of encountering the beauty of the coral reef and the marine life that inhabits it, or for others it's the thrill of discovery deep inside a cave or a sunken ship. Everyone had different reasons for diving, but the satisfaction of experiencing the underwater world, a world so different from ours, brought forth rewards and the inspirations to continue improving man’s ability to explore the waters of our world. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Works Cited <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Crockett, Jim. The Why-To of Scuba Diving. Minneapolis: Aqua Quest Publications, Inc., 2002. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Dorfman, Mark "Chronology of the Recreational Diving Industry." Hanauma Bay Dive Tours-Snorkeling-Scuba-Dolphin-Tours. Web. 08 Dec. 2009. <http://www.hanaumabaydivetours.com/About_scuba_diving.htm>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Graver, Dennis. Scuba Diving. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2003. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Hanauer, Eric. Diving Pioneers. Minneapolis: Aqua Quest Publications, Inc., 1994. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Hanna, Nick. The Art of Diving And Adventure in the Underwater World (Ultimate Sports). New York: The Lyons, 2007. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Jackson, Jack. Complete Diving Manual. London: NEW HOLLAND PUBLISHE, 2005. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Marx, Robert F. History of Underwater Exploration. New York: Dover Publications, 1990. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Marx, Robert F. Treasure Lost at Sea: Diving to the World's Great Shipwrecks. Buffalo, N.Y: Firefly Books, 2004. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">PADI Open Water Diver Manual. Santa Ana, CA: PADI, 1996. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">"Scuba diving." Guenther, David. Telephone interview. 12 Oct. 2009. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">SCUBA Diving Jobs and Dive Careers: Cool Summer Jobs, Seasonal Jobs, and Interesting Careers in the U.S. and Abroad – JobMonkey 08 Dec. 2009 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Smith, William. A New Classical Dictionary Of Greek And Roman Biography, Mythology And Geography V1. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger, LLC, 2006. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Ward, Fred. "NOVA Online | The Perfect Pearl | The History of Pearls." PBS. Nov. 2000. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pearl/time.html>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">SCUBA Diving Jobs and Dive Careers Cool Summer Jobs, Seasonal Jobs, and Interesting Careers in the U.S. and Abroad – JobMonkey 08 Dec. 2009