Whether using a scuba tank or a submarine, the Art of Living Underwater, as Sir Edmond Halley called it, is a complex one. Though oceans cover 71% of our planet, their depths are, in some ways, less accessible to us than the edge of space. And sometimes, the overconfident, greedy, impatient, destructive process of exploring those depths can bring out the worst in us.

This is part two of a two-part series examining why, despite the crushing pressure and freezing cold, despite failures and fatalities, despite the deep sea turning the very chemistry of our bodies against us, the world underwater stirs in us what Jules Verne called "that tendency which disposes the human mind in favour of the marvelous."

Written and produced by Steven Carson

Cover Art by Bree Seeley

Music by Audionautix.com

From early diving bells to Oceangate, our history beneath the waves has been a tug-of-war between finding riches and breakthroughs, and paying a dreadful price in pursuit of them. It's a history marked by astonishing discoveries, technological achievements, missteps and expeditions that traded precautions for progress.

This is part one of a two-part series examining why, despite the crushing pressure and freezing cold, despite failures and fatalities, despite the deep sea turning the very chemistry of our bodies against us, the world underwater stirs in us what Jules Verne called "that tendency which disposes the human mind in favour of the marvelous."

Written and produced by Steven Carson

Cover Art by Bree Seeley

Music by Audionautix.com

In this short Fieldnotes episode of Why We Explore, we correct some inaccuracies from our last episode, share some stories that didn't make the cut, and give an introduction to the writer who might as well be the patron saint of this podcast: Jules Verne.

Written and produced by Steven Carson

Cover Art by Bree Seeley

Music by Incompetech.com