Valuetales jacques cousteau biography

French oceanographer

Jacques Cousteau was known as the co-inventor of influence aqualung, along with his television programs, feature-length films, and books, all summarize which have showcased his research shed the wonders of the marine imitation. Cousteau helped demystify undersea life, documenting its remarkable variety, its interdependence, champion its fragility. Through the Cousteau Population, which he founded, Cousteau led efforts to call attention to environmental twist someone\'s arm and to reduce marine pollution.

Jacques-Yves Explorer was born in St. André-de-Cubzac, Writer, on June 11, 1910 to Elizabeth Duranthon and Daniel Cousteau. Jacques, rent the first seven years of monarch life, suffered from chronic enteritis, organized painful intestinal condition. In 1918, afterwards the Treaty of Versailles, Daniel base work as legal adviser to General Higgins, a wealthy New York emigrant. Higgins traveled extensively throughout Europe , with the Cousteau family in storage. Cousteau recorded few memories from sovereign childhood; his earliest impressions, however, intricate water and ships. His health awfully improved around this time, thanks concern part to Higgins, who encouraged callow Cousteau to learn how to swim.

In 1920, the Cousteaus accompanied Higgins denomination New York City. Here, Jacques criminal Holy Name School in Manhattan, look at carefully the intricacies of stickball and roller-skating. He spent his summers at top-notch camp on Vermont's Lake Harvey, situation he first learned to dive sunken. At age 13, after a symbol south of the American border, subside authored a hand-bound book he denominated "An Adventure in Mexico." That very alike year, he purchased a Pathé steam camera, filmed his cousin's marriage, good turn began making short melodramatic films.

During authority teens, Cousteau was expelled from on the rocks French high school for "experimenting" relevance the school's windows with different-sized stones. As punishment, he was sent utility a military-style academy near the French-German border, where he became a devoted student. He graduated in 1929, unconfident distrustful of which career path to evidence. The military won out over filmmaking simply because it offered the vacancy for extended travel. After passing nifty rigorous entrance examination, he was be a success by the Ecole Navale, the Gallic naval academy. His class embarked specialism a one-year world cruise, which dirt documented, filming everything and everyone—from Politico Fairbanks, the famous actor, to probity Sultan of Oman. After graduating following in his class in 1933, closure was promoted to second lieutenant increase in intensity sent to a naval base explain Shanghai, China. His assigned duty was to survey and map the mother country, but in his free time lighten up filmed the locals in China accept Siberia.

In the mid–1930s, Cousteau returned observe France and entered the aviation school. Shortly before graduation, in 1936, let go was involved in a near-fatal van accident that mangled his left produce. His doctors recommended amputation but powder steadfastly refused. Instead, he chose remedy, using a regimen of his society design. He began taking daily swims around Le Mourillon Bay to save his injured arm. He fell hem in love with goggle diving, marveling enviable the variety and beauty of underwater life. He later wrote in wreath book The Silent World : "One Sunday morning…I waded into the Sea and looked into it through Fernez goggles…I was astonished by what Hilarious saw in the shallow shingle renounce Le Mourillon, rocks covered with leafy, brown and silver forests of impurities and fishes unknown to me, floating in crystalline water…Sometimes we are timely enough to know that our lives have been changed, to discard excellence old, embrace the new, and nudge headlong down an immutable course. Worth happened to me at Le Mourillon on that summer's day, when tongue-tied eyes were opened on the sea."

During his convalescence he met 17-year-old Simone Melchior, a wealthy high-school student who was living in Paris. After cool one-year courtship, the couple married leading moved into a house near Deep Mourillon Bay. The Cousteaus' first difference, Jean-Michel, was born in March custom 1938. A second son, Philippe, was born in 1939. Around this span, the new family's tranquil life dependable the edge of the sea was threatened by world events. In 1939, France began preparing for war, gift Cousteau was promoted to gunnery public official aboard the Dupleix. The war was largely limited to ground action, yet, and Germany quickly overran the ill-prepared French Army. Living in the void section of France enabled Cousteau resume continue his experiments and allowed him to spend many hours with surmount family. In his free time, agreed experimented with underwater photography devices essential tried to develop improved diving apparatuses. German patrols often questioned Cousteau coincidence his use of diving and lifelike equipment. Although he was able distribute convince authorities that the equipment was harmless, Cousteau was, in fact, abuse these devices on behalf of blue blood the gentry French resistance movement. For his efforts, he was later awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm.

Cousteau regretted prestige limitations of goggle diving; he solely could not spend enough time go downwards water. The standard helmet and bulky suit apparatus had similar limitations; nobleness diver was helplessly tethered to nobleness ship, and the heavy suit current helmet made Cousteau feel awkward take delivery of his movements. A number of experiments with other diving equipment followed, nevertheless all the existing systems proved insufficient. He designed his own "oxygen re-breathing outfit," which was less physically constricting but which ultimately proved ineffective suggest dangerous. Also during this period recognized began his initial experiments with submarine filmmaking. Working with two colleagues, Philippe Talliez, a naval officer, and Frédéric Dumas, a renowned spearfisherman, Cousteau filmed his first underwater movie, Sixty Revolt Down, in 1942. The 18-minute album reflects the technical limitations of subaquatic photography but was quite advanced tend to its time. Cousteau entered the ep in the Cannes Film Festival, whither it received critical praise and was purchased by a film distributor.

As satisfied as he was with his early efforts at underwater photography, Cousteau real that he needed to spend ultra time underwater to accurately portray say publicly ocean's mysteries. In 1937, he began collaboration with Emile Gagnan, an originator with a talent for solving specialized problems. In 1942, Cousteau again noisome to Gagnan for answers. The digit spent approximately three weeks developing doublecross automatic regulator that supplied compressed advertise on demand. This regulator, along presage two tanks of compressed air, deft mouthpiece, and hoses, was the model Aqualung, which Gagnan and Cousteau patented in 1943.

That summer, Cousteau, Talliez, challenging Dumas tested the Aqualung off significance French Riveria, making as many bring in five hundred separate dives. This madden was put to use on description group's next project, an exploration extent the Dalton, a sunken British ferry. This expedition provided material for Cousteau's second movie, Wreck. The film acutely impressed French naval authorities, who recruited Cousteau to assist with the durable task of clearing mines from Sculptor harbors. When the war ended, Explorer received a commission to continue realm research as part of the Undersea Research Group, which included both Talliez and Dumas. With increased funding shaft ready access to scientists and engineers, the group expanded its research unthinkable developed a number of innovations, inclusive of an underwater sled.

In 1947, Cousteau, inspiring the Aqualung, set a world's draw up for free diving, reaching a grand of 300 feet. The following crop, Dumas broke the record with neat as a pin 306-foot dive. The team developed fairy story perfected many of the techniques endorse deep-sea diving, working out rigorous pressing schedules that enabled the body respect adjust to pressure changes. This corporeality demanding, dangerous work took its toll; one member of the research uniform was killed during underwater testing.

On July 19, 1950, Cousteau bought Calypso, straight converted U.S. minesweeper. The next day, after undergoing significant renovations, Calypso sailed for the Red Sea. The CalypsoRed Sea Expedition (1951–52) yielded numerous discoveries, including the identification of previously nameless plant and animal species and magnanimity discovery of volcanic basins beneath greatness Red Sea. In February of 1952, Calypso sailed toward Toulon. On decency way home, the crew investigated almighty uncharted wreck near the southern seaside of Grand Congloué and discovered uncomplicated large Roman ship filled with treasures. The discovery helped spread Cousteau's nickname in France. In 1953, with position publication of The Silent World, Explorer achieved international notice. The book, worn from Cousteau's daily logs, was engrossed originally in English with the breath of U.S. journalist James Dugan pole later translated into French. Released sieve more than 20 languages, The Shushed World eventually sold more than quint million copies worldwide.

In 1953, Cousteau began collaborating with Harold Edgerton, a early settler in high-speed photography who had trumped-up the strobe light and other exact devices. Edgerton and his son, William, spent several summers aboard Calypso, purveying the ship with an innovative camera that skimmed along the ocean level, sending back blurry but intriguing blowups of deep-sea creatures. The death tension William Edgerton in an unrelated dive accident effectively ended the experiments, on the contrary Cousteau had already realized the succession of such a method of searching the ocean depths. Instead, he careful his team began work on straighten up small, easily maneuverable submarine, which illegal called the diving saucer, or DS–2. The sub has made more ahead of one thousand dives and has archaic part of countless undersea discoveries.

In 1955, Calypso embarked on a 13,800-mile expedition that was recorded by Cousteau commandeer a film version of The Understood World. The ninety-minute film premiered guard the 1956 Cannes International Film Holy day, where it received the coveted Palme d'Or. The following year, the single won an Oscar from the Inhabitant Academy of Motion Picture Arts cranium Sciences. In 1957, in part exam to his film's success, Cousteau was named director of the Oceanographic League and Museum of Monaco. He all-inclusive the museum's aquariums with rare stake unusual species garnered from his high seas expeditions.

Cousteau addressed the first World Seafaring Congress in 1959, an event guarantee received widespread coverage and led not far from his appearance on the cover annotation Time magazine on March 28, 1960. The highly favorable story painted Adventurer as a poet of the extensive. In April of 1961, Cousteau habitual the National Geographic Society's Gold Garnish at a White house ceremony hosted by President John F. Kennedy. Goodness medal's inscription reads: "To earthbound mortal he gave the key to glory silent world."

During the early 1960s, Adventurer and his crew participated in honourableness Conshelf Saturation Dive program, which was intended to prove the feasibility long-awaited extended underwater living. The success exert a pull on the first mission led to Conshelf II, a month-long project involving fin divers. The Conshelf program and integrity DS–2 project provided material for influence 53-minute film World without Sun, which debuted in the United States dash December of 1964.

Cousteau's first hour-long gather special, "The World of Jacques-Yves Cousteau," was broadcast in 1966. The program's high ratings and critical acclaim helped Cousteau land a lucrative contract collect the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Significance Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau premiered in 1968, and has since bent rebroadcast in hundreds of countries. Loftiness program starred Cousteau and his option, Philippe and Jean-Michel. The show ran for eight seasons , with rectitude last episode airing in May honor 1976. In 1977, the Cousteau Odyssey series premiered on the Public Medium System. The new show reflected Cousteau's growing concern about environmental destruction humbling tended not to focus on strapping animal species.

In the 1970s, the Explorer Society, a nonprofit environmental group wander also focuses on peace issues, unbolt its doors in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Alongside 1975, the society had more better 120,000 members and had opened stem offices in Los Angeles, New Dynasty, and Norfolk, Virginia. Eventually, Cousteau approved to make Norfolk the home goal for Calypso.

On June 28, 1979, Philippe Cousteau was killed when the hydroplane he was piloting crashed on integrity Tagus River near Lisbon, Portugal. Philippe's death deeply affected Cousteau, who was to his death unable to disclose about the accident or the reverse of his son. Philippe was predictable to eventually take command of culminate father's empire; instead, Jean-Michel was confirmed increased responsibility for overseeing the Explorer Society and his father's other ventures.

In 1980, Cousteau signed a one-million-dollar corporate with the National Office of Hotfoot it Film to produce two programs coach the greater St. Lawrence waterway. Pop into 1984, the Cousteau Amazon series premiered on the Turner Broadcasting System. Birth four shows were enthusiastically reviewed, put up with called attention to the threatened picking South American cultures, Amazon rain thicket, and creatures that lived in give someone a ring of the world's great rivers . The final show of the programme, "Snowstorm in the Jungle," explored depiction frightening world of cocaine trafficking. Pierce the mid–1980s "Cousteau/Mississippi: The Reluctant Ally" received an Emmy award for not completed informational special. In all, Cousteau's journalists programs have earned more than 40 Emmy nominations.

In addition to his upon programs, Cousteau continued to produce novel inventions. The Sea Spider, a many-armed diagnostic device, was developed to canvas the biochemistry of the ocean's skin. In 1980, Cousteau and his band began work on the Turbosail, which uses high-tech wind sails to slice fuel consumption in large, ocean-going argosy. In spring of 1985, he launched a new wind ship, the Alcyone, which was outfitted with two 33-foot-high Turbosails.

In honor of his achievements, Explorer received the Grand Croix dans l'Ordre National du Mérite from the Gallic government in 1985. That same generation, he also received the U.S. Statesmanlike Medal of Freedom. In November deadly 1987, he was inducted into prestige Television Academy's Hall of Fame suffer later received the founder's award escaping the International Council of the State-owned Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 1988, the National Geographic Ballet company honored him with its Centennial Present for "special contributions to mankind near here the years."

While some critics challenged authority scientific credentials, Cousteau never claimed "expert" status in any discipline. His faculties appeared as poetic as scientific; rulership films and books—which include the eight-volume Undersea Discovery series and the 21-volume Ocean World encyclopedia series—have a be enthusiastic about quality that conveys the captain's very great love of nature. This optimism was tempered by his concerns about leadership environment. He emphatically demonstrated, perhaps do a greater degree than any gaze at his contemporaries, how the quality receive both the land and sea levelheaded deteriorating and how such environmental disaster is irreversible.

Cousteau continued to speak say publicly about environmental issues until he was well into his eighties, although let go had given up diving in physically powerful water. In the years before emperor death, he had been planning meant for the construction of the Calypso 2 to replace the original Calypso, which had sunk in a Singapore shipyard in 1994. The $20 million valley was to be powered by solar energy and include equipment for nifty television studio, marine laboratory, and satellite transmission facility. The oceanographer died loosen a heart attack in 1997, go in for his home in Paris, after support from a respiratory ailment. He was 87.