cover image Stars Beneath the Sea: The Pioneers of Diving

Stars Beneath the Sea: The Pioneers of Diving

Trevor Norton. Carroll & Graf Publishers, $25 (282pp) ISBN 978-0-7867-0750-8

At the intersection of science and adventure, pioneers of deep-sea diving risked their lives to explore the ocean's depths. To honor them, British marine biologist Norton has constructed a delightful portrait gallery of 13 scientists, inventors, daredevils, eccentrics and archeologists. Henri Milne Edwards, a Belgian-born French zoologist, invented the portable diving bell in 1844 and explored the Mediterranean around Sicily, becoming the first marine biologist to describe living subtidal communities. William Beebe, a world traveler and naturalist who built the Bronx Zoo's aviary, observed sea creatures new to science by descending more than 3,000 feet in a bathysphere in the Bahamas. Among Norton's unsung heroes appear several profiles in courage: English zoologist/diver Jack Kitching had himself dumped in the icy north Atlantic in order to test the survival suit that he designed for downed pilots during WWII; scuba diver Fr d ric Dumas (a collaborator with Jacques Cousteau) fearlessly explored sunken ships; and geneticist J.B.S. Haldane used physiological research to help British soldiers in WWII escape from submarines. Norton writes with a light touch and a wonderful feel for his material. Illustrated with photos and drawings, his survey of lives changed by an obsession with the sea--and its depths--swims with serendipitous adventures, odd twists and dark moments. (June)