Columbia Science Review
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Team
  • Blog
  • Events
    • 2022-2023
    • 2021-2022
    • 2020-2021
    • 2019-2020
    • 2018-2019
    • 2017-2018
    • 2016-2017
  • Publications
  • COVID-19 Public Hub
    • Interviews >
      • Biology of COVID-19
      • Public Health
      • Technology & Data
    • Frontline Stories >
      • Healthcare Workers
      • Global Health
      • Volunteer Efforts
    • Resources & Links >
      • FAQ's
      • Resource Hubs
      • Student Opportunities
      • Podcasts & Graphics
      • Mental Health Resources
      • Twitter Feeds
      • BLM Resources
    • Columbia Events >
      • Campus Events
      • CUMC COVID-19 Symposium
      • CSR Events
    • Our Team
  • Contact

80 Years Later: Beebe, Barton, and the Bathysphere

11/22/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Julia Zeh
Edited by Aishwarya Raja

On August 15th, 1934, William Beebe (pronounced “Beebee”, not “Beeb”) and Otis Barton went where no humans had ever gone before. Although they did not leave the confines of the Earth’s atmosphere, they did travel to a world which, until then, had been unknown to man. This past summer marked the 80th anniversary of the pair’s journey 3,028 feet below the surface of the ocean into the home of a multitude of alien species.

To give a little background, Otis Barton was an engineer pursuing a postgraduate degree at Columbia University when he came up with the idea for the bathysphere, a large metal sphere in which he and Beebe would later explore the deep sea. William Beebe was a naturalist for the Wildlife Conservation Society, had been a founding ornithologist at the Bronx Zoo, and had also attended Columbia University.

When they were kids, Barton and Beebe had created their own diving helmets to explore shallow waters. Interestingly enough, both would eventually grow up to live out their dreams of exploring deeper waters. Barton designed the bathysphere and brought it to Beebe in the hopes of finding a partner for his ocean exploration project. His first meeting with Beebe was so successful that his design for the bathysphere went on to be manufactured. Eventually, the two would squeeze into this dark, metal sphere only four feet in diameter and make history together.

Starting in 1930, the pair began diving off the coast of Nonsuch Island, Bermuda, and would continue diving for the next four years. In the summer of 1934, Beebe and Barton made a dive that would make history. The pair dove to a world record-breaking 3,028 feet, a record that would stand for 15 years until Barton would dive deeper with his own improvements on the original bathysphere.

During this incredible dive, Beebe transmitted his observations via radio to scientists above the surface. These scientists recorded everything Beebe said and sketched the various organisms he described. Beebe and Barton had entered an entirely new world with animals that no one had ever seen before. Outside the portholes of the bathysphere, they witnessed firsthand bioluminescent animals that glowed in the dark. In a paper written in 1932, Beebe described the illumination, the temperature, the pressure, and the animal life at these great depths. He devoted a great deal of his time and writing to identifying fish species he observed during his dives. In particular, Beebe became so accustomed to the different flashes of light that he could associate them with specific fish species. His team also spent time trawling and recording data. Fish from their nets were described in Beebe’s paper and were another important aspect of his identifications of various deep sea fish.
​
The surprisingly small hunk of metal that took Beebe and Barton down to the mysterious depths of the ocean now finds its home at the New York Aquarium, where thousands of people walk by it every day. Though it looks unimpressive among the walruses and brightly colored fish, the bathysphere marks an important development in scientific history, bringing knowledge of the deep to humans on the surface.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Artificial Intelligence
    Halloween 2022
    Winter 2022-2023

    Archives

    April 2024
    January 2024
    February 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    June 2022
    January 2022
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    July 2009
    May 2009

Columbia Science Review
© COPYRIGHT 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Photos from driver Photographer, BrevisPhotography, digitalbob8, Rennett Stowe, Kristine Paulus, Tony Webster, CodonAUG, Tony Webster, spurekar, europeanspaceagency, Christoph Scholz, verchmarco, rockindave1, robynmack96, Homedust, The Nutrition Insider
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Team
  • Blog
  • Events
    • 2022-2023
    • 2021-2022
    • 2020-2021
    • 2019-2020
    • 2018-2019
    • 2017-2018
    • 2016-2017
  • Publications
  • COVID-19 Public Hub
    • Interviews >
      • Biology of COVID-19
      • Public Health
      • Technology & Data
    • Frontline Stories >
      • Healthcare Workers
      • Global Health
      • Volunteer Efforts
    • Resources & Links >
      • FAQ's
      • Resource Hubs
      • Student Opportunities
      • Podcasts & Graphics
      • Mental Health Resources
      • Twitter Feeds
      • BLM Resources
    • Columbia Events >
      • Campus Events
      • CUMC COVID-19 Symposium
      • CSR Events
    • Our Team
  • Contact