Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World

by Tim Ecott

Book Overview

In Neutral Buoyancy, journalist and diver Tim Ecott takes you on a guided tour of the history of undersea exploration and the emergence of diving culture. He tells the extraordinary story of man's attempts to breathe underwater, from the sponge divers described by Aristotle, to the development of sixteenth-century diving bells, to the invention of modern scuba equipment. Along the way, Ecott intersperses the story with his own thrilling adventures,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802139078
• ISBN13: 9780802139078
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A master wordsmith contemplates on the world underwater

Understanding Neutral Buoyancy requires understanding the author. Tim Ecott is a reporter and producer for BBC World Service and has been writing for numerous prestigious international magazines and papers. He is a certified divemaster and a marine environmentalist. However, unlike the ultimate expert divers that have authored other diving books, Ecott is almost a reluctant diver. His father was a military man, and so young Ecott, a sickly, bronchitic child in his early childhood Wales fared much better in Malaya where his father was stationed for several years. A return to Ireland was a return to "varying shades of grey" for him. Though a lifelong swimmer, he came to scuba relatively late and his first experience was "just, well, fine." That daramtically changed later, but it's clear that this is a man who views diving as an emotional thing much more so than macho daring, socializing, or a scientific quest. Tellingly, those who picked up Neutral Buoyancy with the anticipation of finding educational or instructional content regarding that important and celebrated aspect of diving will find it described in just one paragraph, an introduction to a chapter. The technical aspects are incidental; this book is really a collection of a wide variety of thoughts on diving, recorded by a deep and different soul, organized by an experienced journalist's mind, and crafted in exquisite language. Ecott, unlike many diving book autors, is a true writer, a professional, a master of language. Journalists and writers master the art of reporting facts and perhaps adapting them to the medium in which they will be published. In this instance, the medium is Ecott's own book where he is free to not just report, but also give his thoughts his personal spin. Neutral Buoyancy is organized into a dozen chapters that each center on one general aspect of of things under the sea. There's, for example, a 30 page chapter entitled "Organic Gold" dedicated entirely to the sponge. Another deals with underwater habitats. There's "Flickering Images" that centers around Austrian diving pioneer Hans Hass and his wife Lotte, whom he seeks out and interviews. There's "Diving Free" that examines breathdiving record attempts and the whole experience around it. Or "In the Shadow of the Fire God" that describes a trip Ecott took to the Bismarck Sea. "Advanced French" deals with the various findings and advances a number of French pioneers brought to diving, most importantly, though not necessarily in Ecott's eyes, Jacques Cousteau (who he largely sees as a publicity grabbing egotist). There are other chapters dealing with underwater dangers, diving history, underwater warfare, pioneers, all presented in beautifully crafted language. Ecott is a true citizen of the world. His world only, for sure, but of the world nonetheless. He travels to the places he seeks, delves deeply into them. His research is not just academic, no, he seeks out and interviews the pioneers, visits the places where

Combining knowledge and pleasure

I read any diving book I can find. This has been the best ever. A very personal account of discovering the history and pleasure of diving. Being a divemaster, this book gave me a chance to brush up on diving history, and much of the forgotten technical knowledge learnt in training several years ago. The diving and travel descriptions are beautifully written and make you feel like you are his buddy/ travelling companion. Highly recommended to divers and armchair travellers. If this doesn't make you want to dive, you're barely breathing!

Interesting reading about diving

It's a little hard to imagine that any thinking person who is a diver, or maybe wants to be a diver, would not enjoy and be informed by this book. I know I learned lot. There is a lot of history of diving, combined with modern diving anecdotes. I would say the history part I found most interesting and informative was the discussion about the bends. Of course all divers today take this knowledge for granted, but if you stop and think about it, the connection between working in a tunnel, for example, and pain in the joints, and sometimes painful death, is not obvious. The author does a good job of telling this medical detective story. His visit to volcano-ravaged Rabaul is also particularly interesting, and I would have thought the topic of free-diving was of no interest to me, but it turned out his treatment of this subject held my attention completely. I first got certified to dive in 1967 when PADI and NAUI were both infants. I recently got re-certified, and now dive actively in the Philippines. Diving is a great sport, and this book is a useful and delightful addition to the literature on the subject. I will almost certainly re-read this one.

Well written and extensively researched personal odyssey

Neutral Bouyancy, is somewhat different to waht i had expected from reading various reviews and the book jacket, and thankfully it exceeded my expectations. The book is a history of diving interspersed with personal accounts and anecdotes, which balances nicely.Being an avid diver i have often wondered about some of the early pioneers and evolution of the apparatus which is used, and this books answered a lot of my questions and filled ina lot of gaps.It was interesting to read about Jaques Costeau, James Bond and other subliminal influences to my own diving ambitions.Ecoot travels and dives inthe four corners of the earth, to research his book, and his passion shines through on every page.a must read for british divers.

Love and Incredible Insight...

Tim Ecott's love for diving comes through these pages in myriad ways -- it should be read by everyone interested in man's experience in the undersea world, from the beginning recreational diver to the experienced marine scientist. These 'adventures in a liquid world' trace the history, motivations, and science of our efforts to be free under the waves -- from Aristotle's 4th century BC sponge divers, to the diving bells and barrels of three hundred years ago, through the development of scuba equipment in the 1900s and today's very modern technical and deep sea free divers. Throughout Ecott brings us to the source -- he takes us with him to Tarpon Springs, for years a major center of sponge diving; we meet with him the veterans of Sealab; we're with him to talk and dive with Umberto Pelizzari, a legend in the world of free diving. Ecott weaves and intersperses the history of man's adventures beneath the surface, the science of changes in the body at varying depths, and the subculture of the modern sport of diving with his own very personal experiences of the wonderful silent weightlessness to be found under the waves. He shares with us his open and soul revealing delight -- the mustering of courage needed as he enters the sea in the dark of night, the awe of the underwater city-like arches deep off the coast of the Seychelles, the bewitching peaceful calmness of a chance meeting with a pod of gray-steel dolphins hunting mackerel in the shimmering blue space -- certain that this is their first encounter with man. Rarely does a writer capture the spirit and color of the experience so well. Read it -- he's been there -- he knows...