w.atching the w.orld unw.ind

Today's lyric:
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"And when the roses are half-bud soft flowers
And lovely as the king of flies has come
It was a fleeting visit, all too brief
In three short minutes, he had been and gone

He rested there upon an apple leaf
A gorgeous opal crown sat on his head
Although the garden is a lovely place
Was it worthy of so fine a guest?"

Fleetwood Mac: "Dragon Fly"
From the album: "The very best of (Peter Green's) Fleetwood Mac"

I had to seriously refrain from putting up Queen's lyrics to accompany today's post, but thought NiC might appreciate this one instead?

As a trainee sport* diver, you're taught a certain amount about physics, chemistry and biology. Enough to make you understand the physiological effects of being under water and keep you out of trouble while there.

In the late 19th century, the father and son team of JS and JBS Haldane did a lot of research into the effects of pressure on the human body, primarily to help understand the illnesses suffered by submariners and divers during the early days of those occupations.

The table that they produced - which (still) works today - allows you to calculate the safe time to stay underwater and at what depth. Perhaps even more importantly - for those of us of the "let's do that again" mentality, it lets you calculate when you can next sink yourself beneath the surface. Inevitably, wrist-mounted computers now use algorithms to follow your every vertical movement at depth and tell you when to Get back up here!, but a fundamental understanding of the principles may save your life in the event of computer failure.

According to the entertainingly-researched book by Bill Bryson (over there, on the right) the Haldanes experimented on each other - often to the point of achieving unconsciousness - but also roped in friends and family:

"Sent on a simulated descent, his wife once had a fit that lasted thirteen minutes. When at last she stopped bouncing across the floor, she was helped to her feet and sent home to cook dinner."

What a guy!

* Being also of the nerdy persuasion, I differentiate between someone who dives for the fun of it and commercial - so-called 'deep sea' divers - for whom it's a living.

It's the same for anglers - who fish with rod and line, and fishermen, who go trawling. The result's the same, but one gets paid for it.

And yes, I know it's unseasonably warm, but thought you might like some snowflakery?

Labels: scuba