SSQSSSSSOSQSSSS B3 Laboratory Library s Marine Biological CI Woods Hole, Mass. HI I ID ^^"^^'^ Presented by Oxford miv. Press, Inc« August, 1959 CI s SSSSSSSSBQSSOSEa é o o o EARTH, SKY AND SEA Professor Piccard and his son Jacques, the designers of the Trieste EARTH, SKY AND SEA by Auguste Piccard translated by Christina stead New York OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1956 © 1956 by Auguste Piccard Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 56-92-76 Published in April 1956, under the title In Balloon and Bathyscaphe, by Cassell & Company Ltd. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA To MY SON JACQUES PICCARD Croix de Guerre in recognition of his invaluable help which made possible the construction of the Trieste and its deep-sea diving. ' . replenish the earth, and subdue it : and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.' Genesis i. 28 The translator wishes to thank Mr. L. J. W. Hall who carefully read and annotated the manuscript in translation. Contents Chapter Page Introduction XI Part One FROM THE STRATOSPHERE TO THE SEA-BED In the Stratosphere . I Man Beneath the Waters . 3 The Principle of the Bathyscaphe 29 4 The Construction of the FNRS 2 40 5 En Route for Dakar . 51 6 Diving at Cape Verde 54 7 ThQ FNRS 3 .... 67 Part Two THE TRIESTE I The Float 74 2 The Cabin 83 3 Equipment of the Cabin 92 4 Off to Castellammare di Stabia 104 5 The First Dives of the Trieste 107 6 Diving to 594 Fathoms off Capri 113 7 Diving to 1700 Fathoms 125 Part Three IN THE FUTURE 1 What the Dolphin Taught Us . 137 2 The Mesoscaphe, the Submarine Helicopter 142 3 The Oceanography of Tomorrow 146 [vii] 7.5.'ï.5« Part Four TECHNICAL APPENDICES Chapter Page I Strength Tests made on Model Portholes 149 2 Magnetic Valves and Electro-magnets 152 160 3 Form of the Float .... 4 Transverse Partitions of the Float 161 Thickness of Metal Sheets of the Float i6t, 5 * 6 The Keels ..... 164 7 Different Methods of Checking the Homogeneity of the Metal in the Cabin 166 8 Graph of Hinge Moments on the Door 167 9 Passage of the Electric Cables and Tubes through the Cabin Wall 169 10 The Reciprocating Valves 176 II The Control Valve . 179 12 Low-pressure Gauge 182 An Attempt at a Restatement . 183 Acknowledgments . 189 viii [ ] List of Plates Professor Piccard and his son Jacques, the designers of the Trieste Frontispiece Plate Facing page I The FNRS takes off for its ascent to lo miles, i8th August 1932 ....... 18 II The cabin of the FNRS, with Professor Piccard at the manhole. The emergency parachute can be seen top left ........ 19 III The launching of the i^A^i?vS' 2, Dakar, 1948 . 34 IV The float of the FNRS 2 is filled with petrol, Dakar, 1948 . ... .34 V The FNRS 3 -35 VI Completing the formation of one of the hemispheres . 66 VII One of the hemispheres on the lathe after stamping . 66 VIII The float under construction. Notice the corrugated- steel bulkheads ...... 67 IX A model of the Trieste undergoing hydrodynamic tests 82 X The iron shot used for ballast ..... 82 XI The Trieste is launched at Castellammare ... 83 XII The Trieste off Capri . .98 XIII Capri. The Trieste at the start of its dive to 594 fathoms 98 XIV Some sediment from the sea-bed deposited in a metal fairing under the porthole after the dive ofl" Capri . 99 XV Sample of the sediment shown in Plate XIV, greatly magnified. The diameter of the particles varies from o-i to 0-2 mm. ..... 99 [ix] Plate Facing page XVI The TrzWe off Ponza, 29th September 1953 . .114 XVII Before the dive off Ponza, Salvio cleans the large window of the antechamber. Note the door on the left, and (above) the magnetic ballast valve . -115 XVIII Checking the unballasting device . -115 XIX Professor Piccard at the top of the lock . .130 XX Inside the cabin. Jacques Piccard checks the Draeger apparatus for purifying the air . .130 XXI The Trieste breaks surface after diving to 1732 fathoms 131 XXII Returning to Castellammare after the last dive . -131 [x] Introduction THIS book is not a manual: it is not my intention to explain to engineers how one must go about constructing a bathyscaphe. If that were my object, this work would contain many more technical details and the m.ajority of its readers would find it trying: that is why I have avoided, as far as possible, formulae and figures.^ This work likewise does not attempt to keep its readers breathless : the deep-sea dives effected with the Trieste conformed too closely to our forecasts to be dramatic. If, when we were on the sea-floor, we had had any trouble about releasing ballast and if we had barely managed to rise again after twenty-four hours, I could easily have dramatized this account. But, to me, a book of such a nature would have no reason for existence : on the contrary, I wish to show that the bathyscaphe is a dependable device, in which the father of a family may trust himself without anxiety. The construction of an abyssal submarine is certainly not child's play: it requires the solution of an infinity of problems. But, in the end, there is no insurmountable difficulty : that is what I wanted to prove. I have tried to express myself in such a way that anyone, even if he never had to deal with technical problems, may understand me. In particular, I have had in mind young people who do not yet possess the scientific equipment they will acquire later on, but who are already passionately interested in the achievements of science and modern industry. But while getting a better grasp of the difficulties they will, I hope, share with me the joy felt in overcoming them. People have often asked me why, after the stratospheric balloon, I wanted to build the bathyscaphe, a submarine designed for great depths. We will see in the next few chapters that the analogies between the two machines are striking, although they are intended for dia- metrically opposed purposes. It is probable that destiny wished to make these analogies fruitful by entrusting the same physicist with the working out of both types of apparatus. And how can we set ourselves against our destiny, especially when the end in view is so fine ; when 1 Certain technical details will be found in the Appendices at the end. [xi] it is to play our part in one of the splendid tasks set for men, the con- quest of our world ? To discover new countries, to climb the highest peaks, to travel through new areas of celestial space, to turn our searchlights upon domains of eternal darkness, that is what makes life worth living. However, the modern scientific seeker should not cast himself head foremost into these perils. The sport of the scientist consists in utilizing all that he knows, in foreseeing all the dangers, in studying every detail with profound attention, in always using the admirable instrument of mathematical analysis wherever it can shed its magic light upon his work. If he is convinced that in advance he has avoided all imaginable risks, and has neglected nothing in his plans, the scientist then has the serenity necessary to achieve success. Of what use is océanographie research ^ This question has been asked me more than once. It is pointless. Two kinds of research exist. To begin with, the scientist works out of a love of research, without a determinate object, without always perceiving direct practical applications of his work. He discovers new facts, unknown relations. Even if this appears insignificant, a day will come when the results obtained will prove useful. It is then, but only then, that research turns towards the practical. Industry with its great resources then takes a hand. The most disparate discoveries are adjusted like pieces of a Meccano set, and what is missing is discovered in new researches. Then a new scientific edifice is built, something from which humanity will benefit. We can make the following statement without risk of being con- tradicted by future events : each discovery, even the most apparently insignificant, will end by being of use to man. To support what we have just said, innumerable examples could be cited. Here are two; the Danish physicist Oersted (who discovered aluminium) observed that an electric current caused the compass to deviate. A fine discovery, of course, quite unexpected too. But of what use could it be ? Then decade followed decade. The magnetic needle was made larger, the current stronger. Oersted's single loop was replaced by a coil. The result is the electro-magnet, the electric motor, the dynamo, the whole electrical industry, all those modern techniques of which we are so proud. In less than a century, the eight-hour day has replaced the fourteen-hour day. Was it really of so little importance for humanity, that, in a little laboratory, the needle in a compass turned a quarter of a circle.'^ Here is another example, more recent. In this case the [xii] fundamental discovery and its practical utilization came close together. A British scientist, Alexander Fleming, took an interest in certain species of bacteria, keeping them alive on gelatine, taking care that no foreign spore entered his culture. Nevertheless, a spore of mould did enter. A green spot arose and developed. Fleming recognized it as the Pénicillium notatum^ in which he was in no way interested.