User:Pbsouthwood/Underwater Handbook

THE UNDERWATER HANDBOOK-A Guide to Physiology and Performance for the Engineer, Charles W. Shilling, Margaret F. Werts, and Nancy R. Schandelmeier, eds. 32 Contributors. Plenum Press, New York. 1976. ISBN-13: 978-1468421569

Chapters:

1. The Human Machine

2. The Ocean as an Environment

3-6. Man in the Ocean Environment: Physical, Physiological and Psychophysiological Factors and Performance

7. Decompression Sickness

8. Operational Safety Considerations

9. Operational Equipment

10. Underwater Communications

11. Selection and Training of Divers

The book is the work of three editors, and a large number of contributors, containing most of the aspects of diving in a single volume written for engineers rather than physiologists, and contains a large amount of biomedical data. The standard overall is adequate, but varies. Chapter 1 is poorly illustrated, and along with chapter 2 on the Ocean as an environment might have been better referred to textbooks on those topics. The chapters on equipment and safety seem rather basic  and have little relevance to commercial diving, but the chapters (3-7) on physiology, psychology, and pathology are good reference material.

The book provides data parameters for human performance in underwater and hyperbaric environments for users unfamiliar with the jargon of the life sciences. The manuscript for the book was developed under Office of Naval Research contract N00014-67-A-0214-0013 with The George Washington University.