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Diving into the unknown 
Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910-1997) opened up more of the Earth's surface to human endeavor than any other explorer in history. That's a big statement. But the ocean, covering more than three-fifths of the Earth surface, is a big place. Through his books, films, and undersea explorations, the French explorer, inventor, photographer, and filmmaker brought the oceans and all their life into the world's living rooms. He didn't merely go on expeditions; his life was an expedition.
Travel log: The converted 66-foot minesweeper called the Calypso burnished Cousteau in the public mind. He overcame the age-old problem of funding his projects by transforming the boat into a self-sustaining media attraction. For decades, Cousteau and his first wife, Simone, sailed the world demonstrating the latest in undersea technology and shedding light on the mystery of the ocean floor. The Calypso's motto: We must go and see for ourselves.
Early adventures: Cousteau was in his early 20s when he first began exploring the sea. As a French naval officer during World War II, he filmed his travels to the South Pacific, notably an encounter with pearl divers who searched for oysters wearing peculiar-looking goggles. He also helped salvage marble columns from a 2,000-year-old Roman wreck off the coast of Tunisia.
For the history books: Thank Cousteau on your next dive: He helped to develop the very first self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, or "SCUBA" gear, setting divers free to explore to depths of 100 feet and beyond. Before Cousteau, the only options available for undersea exploration were the diving bell and the helmeted diving suit, which were expensive and burdensome equipment that severely restricted an explorer's movements. His 1953 book, The Silent World, a first-person account detailing the development and promise of scuba diving, made Cousteau a worldwide celebrity, and his first films won prizes at the Cannes Film Festival. In the 1960s, he set out to prove that humans could live and work on the ocean floor--specifically, on the continental shelf, a submerged ledge that extends from the coast of all the continents to depths of some 600 feet. A 1963 expedition called Conshelf II sent five men to live for a month 35 feet below the surface of the Red Sea in a pressurized submersible dubbed Starfish House. The dwelling boasted many creature comforts, including air-conditioning, Plexiglas windows with views of the local flora and fauna, and gourmet meals washed down with cognac. For Conshelf III in 1965, Cousteau assembled a fleet of 12 support ships in the Mediterranean. Half a dozen so-called oceanauts, including his son Philippe, descended 330 feet, nine times deeper than the Conshelf II expedition.
Words to live by: "From birth," Cousteau once wrote, "man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to the earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free. Buoyed by water, we can fly in any direction--up, down, sideways--by merely flipping his hand. Underwater, man becomes an archangel.”
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