adventurer and for the next quarter century traveled extensively through asiaand south america with a succession of attractive female assistants whose jobs wereinventively described as “historian and technicist” or “assistant in fish problems。” hesupported these endeavors with a succession of popular books with titles like edge of thejungle and jungle days； though he also produced some respectable books on wildlife andornithology。
in the mid…1920s； on a trip to the galápagos islands； he discovered “the delights ofdangling；” as he described deep…sea diving。 soon afterward he teamed up with barton； whocame from an even wealthier family； had also attended columbia； and also longed foradventure。 although beebe nearly always gets the credit； it was in fact barton who designedthe first bathysphere （from the greek word for “deep”） and funded the 12；000 cost of itsconstruction。 it was a tiny and necessarily robust chamber； made of cast iron 1。5 inches thickand with two small portholes containing quartz blocks three inches thick。 it held two men； butonly if they were prepared to bee extremely well acquainted。 even by the standards of theage； the technology was unsophisticated。 the sphere had no maneuverability—it simply hungon the end of a long cable—and only the most primitive breathing system： to neutralize theirown carbon dioxide they set out open cans of soda lime； and to absorb moisture they opened asmall tub of calcium chloride； over which they sometimes waved palm fronds to encouragechemical reactions。
but the nameless little bathysphere did the job it was intended to do。 on the first dive； injune 1930 in the bahamas； barton and beebe set a world record by descending to 600 feet。 by1934； they had pushed the record to 3；028 feet； where it would stay until after the war。 bartonwas confident the device was safe to a depth of 4；500 feet； though the strain on every bolt andrivet was audibly evident with each fathom they descended。 at any depth； it was brave andrisky work。 at 3；000 feet； their little porthole was subjected to nineteen tons of pressure persquare inch。 death at such a depth would have been instantaneous； as beebe never failed toobserve in his many books； articles； and radio broadcasts。 their main concern； however； wasthat the shipboard winch； straining to hold on to a metal ball and two tons of steel cable；would snap and send the two men plunging to the seafloor。 in such an event； nothing couldhave saved them。
the one thing their descents didn’t produce was a great deal of worthwhile science。
although they encountered many creatures that had not been seen before； the limits ofvisibility and the fact that neither of the intrepid aquanauts was a trained oceanographer meantthey often weren’t able to describe their findings in the kind of detail that real scientistscraved。 the sphere didn’t carry an external light； merely a 250…watt bulb they could hold upto the window； but the water below five hundred feet was practically impenetrable anyway；and they were peering into it through three inches of quartz； so anything they hoped to viewwould have to be nearly as interested in them as they were in it。 about all they could report； inconsequence； was that there were a lot of strange things down there。 on one dive in 1934；beebe was startled to spy a giant serpent “more than twenty feet long and very wide。” itpassed too swiftly to be more than a shadow。 whatever it was； nothing like it has been seenby anyone since。 because of such vagueness their reports were generally ignored byacademics。
after their record…breaking descent of 1934； beebe lost interest in diving and moved on toother adventures； but barton persevered。 to his credit； beebe always told anyone who askedthat barton was the real brains behind the enterprise； but barton seemed unable to step fromthe shadows。 he； too； wrote thrilling accounts of their underwater adventures and even starredin a hollywood movie called titans of the deep； featuring a bathysphere and many excitingand largely fictionalized encounters with aggressive giant squid and the like。 he evenadvertised camel cigarettes （“they don’t give me jittery nerves”）。 in 1948 he increased thedepth record by 50 percent； with a dive to 4；500 feet in the pacific ocean near california； butthe world seemed determined to overlook him。 one newspaper reviewer of titans of the deepactually thought the star of the film was beebe。 nowadays； barton is lucky to get a mention。
at all events； he was about to be prehensively eclipsed by a father…and…son team fromswitzerland； auguste and jacques piccard； who were designing a new type of probe called abathyscaphe （meaning “deep boat”）。 christened trieste； after the italian city in which it wasbuilt； the new device maneuvered independently； though it did little more than just go up anddown。 on one of its first dives； in early 1954； it descended to below 13；287 feet； nearly threetimes barton’s record…breaking dive of six years earlier。 but deep…sea dives required a greatdeal of costly support； and the piccards were gradually going broke。
in 1958； they did a deal with the u。s。 navy； which gave the navy ownership but left themin control。 now flush with funds； the piccards rebuilt the vessel； giving it walls five inchesthick and shrinking the windows to just two inches in diameter—little more than peepholes。
but it was now strong enough to withstand truly enormous pressures； and in january 1960jacques piccard and lieutenant don walsh of the u。s。 navy sank slowly to the bottom of theocean’s deepest canyon； the mariana trench； some 250 miles off guam in the western pacific（and discovered； not incidentally； by harry hess with his fathometer）。 it took just under fourhours to fall 35；820 feet； or almost seven miles。 although the pressure at that depth wasnearly 17；000 pounds per square inch； they noticed with surprise that they disturbed a bottom…dwelling flatfish just as they touched down。 they had no facilities for taking photographs； sothere is no visual record of the event。
after just twenty minutes at the world’s deepest point； they returned to the surface。 it wasthe only occasion on which human beings have gone so deep。
forty years later； the question that naturally occurs is： why has no one gone back since？ tobegin with； further dives were vigorously opposed by vice admiral hyman g。 rickover； aman who had a lively temperament； forceful views； and； most pertinently； control of thedepartmental checkbook。 he thought underwater exploration a waste of resources and pointedout that the navy was not a research institute。 the nation； moreover； was about to beefully preoccupied with space travel and the quest to send a man to the moon； which madedeep sea investigations seem unimportant and rather old…fashioned。 but the decisiveconsideration was that the trieste descent didn’t actually achieve much。 as a navy officialexplained years later： “we didn’t learn a hell of a lot from it； other than that we could do it。
why do it again？” it was； in short； a long way to go to find a flatfish； and expensive too。
repeating the exercise today； it has been estimated； would cost at least 100 million。
when underwater researchers realized that the navy had no intention of pursuing apromised exploration program； there was a pained outcry。 partly to placate its critics； thenavy provided funding for a more advanced submersible； to be operated by the woods holeoceanographic institution of massachusetts。 called alvin； in somewhat contracted honor ofthe oceanographer allyn c。 vine； it would be a fully maneuverable minisubmarine； though itwouldn’t go anywhere near as deep as the trieste。 there was just one problem： the designerscouldn’t find anyone willing to build it。 according to william j。 broad in the universebelow： “no big pany like general dynamics； which made submarines for the navy；wanted to take on a project disparaged by both the bureau of ships and admiral rickover； thegods of naval patronage。” eventually； not to say improbably； alvin was constructed bygeneral mills； the food pany； at a factory where it made the machines to producebreakfast cereals。
as for what else was down there； people really had very little idea。 well into the 1950s； thebest maps available to oceanographers were overwhelmingly based on a little detail fromscattered surveys going back to 1929 grafted onto； essentially an ocean of guesswork。 the navy had excellent charts with which to guide submarines through canyons and aroundguyots； but it didn’t wish such information to fall into soviet hands； so it kept its knowledgeclassified。 academics therefore had to make do with sketchy and antiquated surveys or relyon hopeful surmise。 even today our knowledge of the ocean floors remains remarkably lowresolution。 if you look at the moon with a standard backyard telescope you will seesubstantial craters—fracastorious； blancanus； zach； planck； and many others familiar to anylunar scientist—that would be unknown if they were on our own ocean floors。 we have bettermaps of mars than we do of our own seabeds。
at the surface level； investigative techniques have also been a trifle ad hoc。 in 1994； thirty…four thousand ice hockey gloves were swept overboard from a korean cargo ship d