Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 797
EAN: 9780802139078
ISBN: 0802139078
Label: Grove Press
Manufacturer: Grove Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2002-06-06
Publisher: Grove Press
Studio: Grove Press
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Kinda boring
Comment: Can't say I loved it. I was expecting more thrilling stories about scuba diving, but it's more of a history of underwater exploration. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not written terribly well either. There's a whole chapter on sponges; this is not riveting stuff.
You know what bugged me for some reason? When he talks about those old-school diving helmets with portholes in them and guys pumping air from the boat - you know, like from Tintin? - he visits some guys who still use them, but he doesn't try it himself. Why not? Jeez, dude, get in the game.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Neutral Buoyancy
Comment: Good book, well written, interesting facts and also for the non diver a good read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great book
Comment: The first time I read this book I was in the process of completing my Divemaster certification and also reading PADI's Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving. Neutral Buoyancy covers about 75% of the same information as found in the ERD text; but does so written in a travel memoir style from the authors personal experience, allowing for a much more approachable format for the general reader. The book is well written and I found it difficult to put down, a must read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A great read even for a non-diver
Comment: I thought this book would be a technologically driven, marine-laden book about the sport. I gave it a try. What a surprise after only a few pages! Tim Ecott wrote a passionate book filled with historical chapters and memoirs of some of the best diving spots in the world, and he always includes the plants and animals as part of the experience. He introduced the underwater world to us landlubbers in such a way that the "underworld" becomes that which it truly is: another habitat that happens to be under water.
However, as the chapters rolled on, the book became a "history of diving" that showed the depth of research Mr Ecott did for this book. Jaques Cousteau and the Aqualung of the 1940s are what hastened SCUBA diving as we know it today; only the race to the moon is what slowed research down once the 1960s came.
This book is highly recommended to those spouses, friends and lovers who nag the SCUBA-obsessed divers. Give them this book and make them read it. They will then better understand the passion and beauty that's found only below the sea. Sea for yourself!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good book! Fast service!
Comment: I bought this book as a gift for a scuba diver. It came quickly, and is exactly the kind of book scuba divers love to read!
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Editorial Reviews:
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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, from the waters of the South Pacific to the remote islands of the Seychelles, from explorations in the clear, flowing tides of Sardinia to a near-death experience in the cold gray depths of the English Channel. Filled with engaging stories of humanity's conquest of the undersea world -- and heart-pounding action that will leave you breathless -- Neutral Buoyancy is a compelling blend of history and adventure, an exciting overview of the world of undersea diving. "As elemental, entertaining, and stimulating as the environment it traces." -- Kirkus Reviews "Engaging ... Neutral Buoyancy will certainly become cult reading for divers." -- Alexander Urquhart, The Times Literary Supplement "Ecott's encyclopedic recounting of diving history ... should be awarded a place on any diver's reference shelf." -- Paul McHugh, San Francisco Chronicle
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