| When it comes to diving we mainly have in mind | | | | diving into modern diving happened at the turn of the |
| some highly technically advanced equipment, fast | | | | nineteenth century, when the pump cable and diving |
| motorboats and safe inhalation systems. But the | | | | dress were developed. Nowadays, diving is highly |
| history of diving as a human activity can be traced | | | | reinforced by modern science and technology. |
| back more than five thousand years. The first man, | | | | One of the vital problems among people concerned |
| who sacrificed himself to the big blue was called | | | | about diving some years ago, was freedom form a |
| Scyllis. We learn about him from the Greek historian - | | | | support vessel. This required the diver be provided |
| Herodotus - telling about the Persian King Xerxes | | | | with his (or her) own portable air supply which would |
| who had attempted to recover a sunken treasure by | | | | allow them to move independently. However, the |
| hiring Scyllis. Considering ancient reports about divers | | | | SCUBA development was delayed by the lack of |
| used by such a great emperors as Alexander the | | | | compressors able to supply sufficient pressure, and |
| Great, or Xerxes, we may say that diving was | | | | by the need of portable cylinders of adequate |
| previously treated in connection with financial and | | | | strength. Finally, after many years of experiments |
| tactical advantages. Nonetheless, the insatiable thirst | | | | first prototype model of scuba occurred. As we may |
| of exploring the unknown environment has | | | | expect people who used it were in many cases |
| contributed to the evolution of diving equally as much | | | | risking their life. Eventually, SCUBA evolved into |
| during the centuries. | | | | three-type technology. |
| Off course, the basic limits of early diving were | | | | And, for now on, we can say that we have open |
| technological limits. Ancient divers had obviously to | | | | circuit SCUBA, closed circuit SCUBA, and semi-closed |
| deal with inability to inhale against the pressure of | | | | circuit SCUBA. Also the technology of breathing |
| water. It is to be sad though, that they were also | | | | gases used in scuba diving evolved among years. At |
| limited to small depths. We should remember that at | | | | the beginnings of entire diving they used atmospheric |
| depths as little as three feet, it is impossible to | | | | air, in nineteenth century - air under pressure, |
| breath trough a tube because of the nearly three | | | | nowadays - we have some unique mixes of oxygen |
| hundred kilos of pressure that water exerts upon a | | | | and nitrogen, such as, for instance - Nitrox. |
| diver's chest. The revolution, which transformed early | | | | |