The sun beneath the sea

by Jacques Piccard

Sm Quarto, , PP.405,

Genres: Science

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Tommy Owens]

Jacques Piccard's interesting account of the construction of the Grumman/Piccard PX-15 mesoscaphe "Ben Franklin", and the 30-day mission to explore the Gulf Stream current in the western Atlantic. The exploration was accomplished by submerging the vessel to a depth of 200 meters and allowing it to be advected along by the current. This mission received little attention in the media as it occurred at the same time as the Apollo 11 moon mission. Operating at times in waters 5000m deep, had a malfunction occurred that sank the vessel, they would have been as unreachable as astronauts in space. At times, Piccard's account glosses over some of the technical difficulties that they encountered, but it was still an enjoyable read.