Some of the most important breakthroughs in the conquest of the submarine occurred during Verne's time, around the year 1870. As early as 1776, the American David Bushonel built the first submarine, the Turtle, during the War of Independence against the British, and in the Civil War in 1863, the submarine Hunley sank a warship of the north
Yehuda Melamed
Dedicated to the memory of David Friedman, researcher of life in the Red Sea, who passed away last month
"You have come as far as the depths of the sea and in exploring the abyss you have walked"? - Quoting this verse, verse 37 of chapter XNUMX of the book of Job, Jules Verne ends his wonderful story about Captain Nemo and his Nautilus submarine. The verse is quoted in the book from the mouth of Professor Arronx when he, his servant and Ned the bell ringer (Kirk Douglas in an unforgettable role in the film) were thrown onto the island after escaping from Captain Nemo's submarine, where they reluctantly remained for the entire twenty thousand mile (XNUMX thousand kilometer) journey under water as described in the book
In the book of Job, God slams these words before Job as proof of man's smallness. Prof. Arunks, after the entire underwater journey of the novel "Twenty Thousand Miles Under Water" and his friends, says that only he, the professor, and Captain Nemo were able to answer this question at the time. Verne wrote his book in 1875, and today, 130 years since and a hundred years after Verne's death, many can answer this question. The researchers of the sea and its north, into its depth and content, those who deal with marine biology, physiology and medicine, the engineers and technicians and many others who come and dive in the depths of the sea and explore the abysses bring to humanity useful knowledge in many areas of our lives.
Some of the most important breakthroughs in the conquest of the submarine occurred during Verne's time, around the year 1870. As early as 1776, the American David Bushonel built the first submarine, the Turtle, during the War of Independence against the British, and in the Civil War in 1863, the submarine Hunley sank a warship of the north In 1865, a French mining engineer, Benoit Rouquayrol, and a French naval officer, Auguste Denayrouze, invented the first diving device, filling it with compressed air and inserting a breathing regulator that operates according to demand and releases air at ambient pressure.
A very accurate description of this diving device is given in the book by Captain Nemo, who dresses his guests in the diving equipment before taking them on a trip to the depths of the sea outside the submarine. 78 years later, in 1943, Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gauguin recreated this diving mechanism, upgraded it and claimed to be its inventors. Their claim was disproved, and at the same time they paved the way for the technological progress of diving as it is today.
The greatest researcher of human physiology under changing environmental pressures when exposed to the depths of the sea or climbing and flying to heights, was also a Frenchman who lived at the time of Verne, Paul Brett (1886-1833). Brett was a physiologist who studied hyperbaric physiology - pressure higher than the atmosphere - and hypobaric (pressure lower than the atmosphere). His research done on pressure cells was a milestone in many fields of medicine and physiology, especially in diving medicine, aviation and space medicine, and hyperbaric medicine, which uses pressure cells as a therapeutic device in the various branches of medicine.
Paul Burt summarized his research and observations in his 1877 book (La Pressure Barometrique). There is no doubt that Warren knew the main points of Brett's scientific work and used this knowledge as a scientific basis for the book. This was Verne's way of writing: he based himself on exact scientific facts that were known at the time and took them in his imagination to another dimension, a dimension of another time and another space.
When Prof. Arunks explains to Land the effect of environmental pressure on the human body, before they are about to leave the submarine resting on the sea floor and the water pressure outside the submarine is a hundred times more than the pressure of the one atmosphere in the submarine; Or when Captain Nemo explains to his guests the principles and virtues of the diving device, which is able to provide air pressure for breathing exactly as the ambient pressure so that the diver's health the pressure is equal to the pressure of the water environment, and therefore they can walk in the depths.
Verne did not know about the physiological limitations of breathing compressed air at depth, and Verne's heroes go and stay in seabeds at depths that are only feasible nowadays, such as divers diving at depths of up to 300 meters in the oil fields in the North Sea.
In remotely controlled systems, underwater work is done at depths of kilometers. Manned research submarines camera volcanic eruptions in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 3,000 meters and discover creatures with biological systems different from those known to date, from which it is possible to understand the beginning of the creation of life on Earth.
The sport of diving is in constant development and about five million divers are engaged in it in the United States and Israel. Their number already exceeds 150 thousand. Verne's technological-scientific vision is thus coming true. Man learns and perfects his ability to penetrate the depths of the sea, learns to know his physiological limitations.
Dr. Yehuda Melamed is the director of the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Diving at Rambam Elisha Hospital in Haifa. One of the founders of the Association for Underwater Activities in Israel. Chief diving instructor and chairman of the training committee of the diving association, and one of the founders of the Israeli Society for Hyperbaric Medicine and Diving.
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