Wetsuit Inventor Dies
http://www.divermag.com/online/articles/49/1/Wetsuit-Inventor-Dies/Page1.html
Stephen Weir
Stephen Weir is a well-known Toronto based communicator. He has been writing and taking photographs for Diver Magazine for almost 30 years.
By Stephen Weir
Published on 06/18/2008
Hugh Bradner, a US physicist who is credited with inventing the neoprene wetsuit, has died at his home in San Diego at the age of 92.
Funeral for a Friend
Hugh Bradner, a US physicist who is credited with inventing the neoprene wetsuit, has died at his home in San Diego at the age of 92.
According to his obituary notice, Dr. Bradner worked on the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War Two and developed the first atomic bomb's triggering mechanism. As well, during the War, he, “talked to Navy frogmen about the problems of being immersed in cold water for long periods of time.”
Working in his basement, in 1951, experimenting with neoprene, a synthetic rubber-like substance, he found that it "would trap the water between the body and the neoprene, and the water would heat up to body temperature and keep you warm”.
Dr. Bradner and a few of his colleagues created a small company to market what was called the "EDCO Sub-Mariner" suit, $45 for the short version and $75 for the "full suit," as an ad in a 1954 edition of Skin Diver magazine put it. Unfortunately he never patented his invention and his company eventually went under.
According to his obituary notice, Dr. Bradner worked on the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War Two and developed the first atomic bomb's triggering mechanism. As well, during the War, he, “talked to Navy frogmen about the problems of being immersed in cold water for long periods of time.”
Working in his basement, in 1951, experimenting with neoprene, a synthetic rubber-like substance, he found that it "would trap the water between the body and the neoprene, and the water would heat up to body temperature and keep you warm”.
Dr. Bradner and a few of his colleagues created a small company to market what was called the "EDCO Sub-Mariner" suit, $45 for the short version and $75 for the "full suit," as an ad in a 1954 edition of Skin Diver magazine put it. Unfortunately he never patented his invention and his company eventually went under.