The Bathysphere Boys: The Depth-Defying Diving of Messrs. Beebe and Barton

by Ted Enik, G.F. Newland (Illustrator)

Overview

The true story of the invention, disasters, and adventures of the first bathysphere—a small, cramped, bare-bones spherical deep-sea submersible that set the world record for deepest dive in 1934. Explorer William Beebe and engineering grad student Otis Barton teamed up despite mismatched personalities and disagreements and changed deep-sea exploration forever. Told through engaging rhyme, this playfully illustrated addition to the Unhinged History series follows their journey from frustrated inventors to international celebrities. The tiny bathysphere was miserable to be in, with terrible lighting, little room to move, stale air, and minuscule portholes—but still the scientist-adventurers went far under the waves to experience the mysterious waters as no one ever had. After near calamities and false starts, Beebe and Barton saw, for the very first time, deep-sea creatures in their home environment, broke world records, and made history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780764357930
Publisher:	Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
Publication date:	09/28/2019
Series:	Unhinged History , #2
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.25(d)
Lexile:	890L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

As a veteran illustrator, Ted Enik has applied his versatility to original children's book art as well as popular characters. He recently switched hats and is now happily writing (and rhyming) up a storm.

Illustrator/designer G. F. Newland has held a long chain of odd jobs over the years, and to pass the time he doodled. Some of them appear in this very book! Learn more about the aforementioned odd jobs and doodles here: www.gfnewland.com

Editorial Reviews

nbsp;The word play is speedy and hits with a sense of ridiculousness while still sitting on fact and telling the tale of how the two men achieved their goals. It's never boring and raises more than a few eyebrows along the way. In other words, its a refreshing and fun way to bring across a piece of history.

Bookworm for Kids

2019-07-14
A rhyming account of the invention of the bathysphere.

Fascinated by the ocean depths, Will Beebe dives in to invent a way to explore beyond the shallow depths that diving equipment of the 1920s allows. His designs and "silly proposals and doodles" from other inventors go "straight to the trashcan," however, until Otis Barton gets involved. Barton, an engineer, "[has] his heart set on—PLOP!—disappearing / Beneath the sea's surface and breaking all records / For deepness" and knows that Beebe's "soda-can shape" will crumple under deepwater pressure. Beebe adopts Barton's stronger, spherical design, and, luckily, Barton's family is rich enough to fund its construction. Despite personality clashes, minor design failures, seasickness, and the Great Depression, Beebe and Barton create a two-person vessel that descends almost a half mile. Today, the original bathysphere is displayed outside the New York (City) Aquarium. Next to Barb Rosenstock's prose account in Otis & Will Discover the Deep (illustrated by Katherine Roy, 2018), Enik's playfully rhyming couplets feel lightweight, but the backmatter, which includes the bathysphere's schematic, a timeline of human diving progress, and a biography of Gloria Hollister (the first mate and recorder on deck), provides some heft. Cartoon illustrations portray Beebe, Barton, and Hollister as white adults.

Per the series promise, a slightly "unhinged" celebration of daring diving developments. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews