The Wetsuit: Where did it come from? | Stuff of Genius

Описание: Today wetsuits are considered essential equipment for most divers -- but this wasn't always the case. Tune in to learn how a brilliant physicist created this Stuff of (underwater) Genius.

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Behold…the wetsuit. But where did it come from?

Meet Hugh Bradner, born in Nevada in 1915.

Hugh was born in Nevada, but he grew up in Ohio.

Although he loved swimming and diving, he was a physicist by trade.

Hugh took a position with J. Robert Oppenheimer on the Manhattan Project.

During his time with Oppenheimer’s group, Hugh worked on everything from the bomb’s trigger mechanism to the layout of the test site.

After the war he began teaching, but he still made time for his favorite hobby.

At this time divers worked in a cold, often uncomfortable climate.

For people like Navy frogmen, who spent hours in cold water, this problem could be intolerable.

What if, thought Hugh, you don’t have to be dry to stay warm?

He started tinkering around in the basement, and between 1951 and 1952 he came up with his Stuff of Diving Genius.

Today, we call this nifty creation the wetsuit. But what makes it so special?

The answer is a synthetic substance called neoprene.

Thanks to gas bubbles inside neoprene, the material acts like an insulator.

Hugh’s wetsuit allowed water to seep inside.

The water becomes trapped between the diver’s body and the neoprene.

It heats up to match the body’s temperature, keeping divers warm.

Hugh started a company to sell these wetsuits, but he didn’t patent the invention.

Although most people credit him with the invention of the wetsuit, it was a matter of intense debate for years afterwards.

Eventually, most people came to agree with Hugh's claim, and today he is known as ‘the father of the wetsuit.’