Meet Jacques Cousteau: The Man Who Opened the Sea
MentorMinds
An accident and an invention
A car accident ended Jacques Cousteau’s training as a naval pilot; he took up swimming in the sea to rebuild his arms. In 1943 he and the engineer Émile Gagnan developed the Aqua-Lung, the first practical scuba regulator.
Bringing the sea home
His book The Silent World became a bestseller; the film won the Palme d’Or and an Academy Award. Television followed, and millions saw the ocean floor for the first time.
A change of heart
His early films show crews dynamiting a reef and killing sharks, which he later regretted. He led the campaign against dumping nuclear waste in the Mediterranean in 1960, and founded the Cousteau Society in 1973.
Why they belong at your table
Seat Cousteau when curiosity and responsibility pull in different directions — he lived on both sides of that line.
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