If you are short of reading matter - try Life at the Extremes by Frances Ashcroft. I am taking part in a Science Festival event discussing physiology of extreme environments with her next month and have just read the book.
Some of the diving and freediving stuff in there is a little out of date and/or questionable (all the world records are years old and she does say that women can hold their breath longer than men - well maybe that's true) but it is full of great info, not only about diving but also about the hypoxic affects of altitude and the way speed, space, heat, cold etc make the body work differently, intriguing.
My favourite fact in the whole book
PLATYPUSES do STATIC!!!
"Platypuses seemingly like to meditate underwater, as they often lodge themselves under tree roots and lie at the bottom of a stream for considerable periods"
watch out Deepest Bear - you wait til I find myself a platypus! any of you Southern Hemisphere types got one living nearby we could catch???
Sam
Some of the diving and freediving stuff in there is a little out of date and/or questionable (all the world records are years old and she does say that women can hold their breath longer than men - well maybe that's true) but it is full of great info, not only about diving but also about the hypoxic affects of altitude and the way speed, space, heat, cold etc make the body work differently, intriguing.
My favourite fact in the whole book
PLATYPUSES do STATIC!!!
"Platypuses seemingly like to meditate underwater, as they often lodge themselves under tree roots and lie at the bottom of a stream for considerable periods"
watch out Deepest Bear - you wait til I find myself a platypus! any of you Southern Hemisphere types got one living nearby we could catch???
Sam
