Diving Science Paperback – April 28, 2004

I purchased this book to give me more information on the science of scuba diving for my Dive Con and Dive Instructor courses.The book give detailed information on the various theories, gas laws and how they interact with the human body. Examples of real life stories are also given.If you are interested in get truly advanced knowledge of the effects of scuba diving on the body, I would highly recommend this book.

This book is very good if you want to understand what goes on in your body when you dive. It takes the form of comparative physiology; what are the adaptations that diving mammals have, which humans do not. The book is well written (not too heavy in the sciences)so that the non-science minded individual can understand it. It also has good diagrams. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a greater understanding of the effects of increasing pressure (with depth) on the various organ systems within the body.

What this book does well is the section on the physics of diving - maybe because it hasn't changed much over the years. But the standard training manuals from BSAC, NAUI, PADI etc do a good job of this too, so (unless you don't have your course materials) it's not worth spending $[...] for redundant information.I had high hopes for this book, based on the other Amazon reviews. And when I started to write this, my intent was to ultimately recommend it too. However when I realized how outdated the bibliography was, I changed my mind.Specifically...1) The large font (seems to be a feature of Human Kinetics Press - the otherwise excellent 'Scuba Diving Safety' from HKP is the same) immediately reminded me of those large print books for old people. No harm in that, but the prospective reader of this is likely to be young and fit with good eyesight. Perhaps the real reason is to pad out the text to make it big enough to publish?.2) The silly anecdotes. For example the 'Diving Scenario' on page 16. Are we trying to rescue the victims before the explosion? In which case they're not victims (needing rescuing) yet. Or perhaps we're meant to rescue them after the explosion? But they've just had a free cremation courtesy of the negligent chamber operator...so not much point. This could have been a plausible example of the universal gas law with sensible editing.Another silliness? From page 12: 'Archimedes described the principles of buoyancy over 2000 years ago, and they are as valid today as they were then' Why wouldn't they be? Scientific principles don't have expiration dates...3) The typos. Normally totally forgivable, but the faults with the rest of the book make them stand-out. For example, Table 1.1 on page 6: 'inches of mercury' are not 'mmHg'4) The irrelevant anecdotes - page 19. 'Tragically, an explosion occurred in the Apollo 1 space capsule. .. The caspule was pressurized to 1.2 ATA .. All the astronauts in the cabin were immediately incinerated'. It's true, and it's tragic - but what's it got to do with anything sub-aquatic? More padding?5) The mistakes: Page 79 - aspirin does NOT prevent red blood cells from sticking together: it's platelets that are affected by aspirin. (To be fair, the authors get this right 50 or so pages later).6) Out of date material. Some history is always a good thing, but I was astonished to see the citations in the scientific bibliography are mostly from the 1940's, 1950's, 1960's and 1970's. The most recent citations are: three from the 1980's, one from 1991 and one from 2000 (this is just a general physiology text).In summary this book feels like a 1970's PhD thesis that's been rewarmed for publication. I know most of my criticisms are just pedantic - these should have been fixed by the editor. The authors are clearly passionate about diving - I've no doubt they are professional, diligent and expert physicians who I'd want treating me if I were bent. But they've been badly let down by Human Kinetics Press who failed to edit the book professionally.The real problem is the accumulation of these irritations - on the stuff I know about - is enough to make me unsure of the stuff I don't know anything about - do I believe it or not?If you need a good text on underwater science and medicine, there're several to choose from. The 2nd edition of 'Deeper into Diving' for example. Though it's pricy - and I had to order it from Australia - is a much better bet.PS - to the authors: Feel free to counter-attack - I can be reached at [...]

Expert information. Also a very good format for reading and referring to topics

Be ready for that dive emergency that nobody sees coming. Belive me when I say it's coming sooner than you think.

For a good many students in a scuba class, "diving science" means memorizing just enough facts about the gas laws to answer the multiple choice questions in the tests, and perhaps a few other physiological facts affecting the human body underwater. They'll remember to never hold your breath while scuba diving and not to exceed ascend rates or bottom times. However, a few individuals want to know more about the underlying science of diving, and they should read Diving Science by Doctors Michael Strauss and Igor S. Aksenov who are both hyperbaric medicine experts as well as experienced divers.Diving Science is sort of a mix between medical textbook and general purpose reading for an interested non-medical audience. The writing style is clear and concise so that it can easily be understood, but it never talks down to the reader. Expect a good share of medical terms and terminology, but everything is well explained and illustrated. The overall purpose of the book is to help divers anticipate, recognize, understand, and react to the physical, physiological and psychological stresses encountered in recreational diving.Diving Science is organized into three major sections:The first -- The Underwater Environment -- explains the basics of diving, not unlike what one learns in a diving certification course but with considerably more detail.The second -- Physiological Responses to the Underwater Environment -- describes in detail how the various parts of the human body react to diving: heart and vascular system, the respiratory system, blood and muscles, and how the body reacts in cold water, how it best moves and orients itself. This section also contains fascinating comparisons betwen human divers and diving mammals. For example, did you know they breathe out before they dive, not in?The third, and longest, section deals with the Medical Aspects of Sports Diving. That includes medical preparation, fitness and nutrition, and then the numerous potential problems a diver may encounter on the surface, while descending, while at the bottom, and while ascending. This third part reads a bit more like a medical textbook but frequent Bringing it all Together summaries that describe real world scenarios help readers understand.The book closes with an excellent Diving Medicine from A to Z appendix that concisely describes numerous diving facts, and reference sections on diving organizations, medical texts and manuals, recommended equipment and supplies, a very detailed glossary, suggested reading, and even a list of luminaries in diving medicine.Overall, Diving Science should be required reading for anyone who wants to know more about the medical and scientific aspects of diving than what is included in the certification class manuals. While there is a lot of medical detail, readers also learn numerous interesting facts and statistics as well as how all this science affects divers in specific real world scenarios.

The book is more about the physiology of diving in general than about the science of SCUBA. It's coverage of breath hold diving and diving mammals is interesting, but it's not really a resource for SCUBA divers. There isn't much information here on decompression algorithms, recompression schedules, etc.

A bit complicate.Good value.