The American author of a new book about marine scientist and explorer William Beebe will be taking Bermudians down into the depths with a talk at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR) tomorrow night.

Dr. Carol Gould, author of the new biography, 'The Remarkable Life of William Beebe, Explorer and Naturalist', will give a lecture on Dr. Beebe's years in Bermuda.

Dr. Beebe used a specially designed cylindrical sphere called a bathysphere to explore the deep oceans around Bermuda in the 1920s. In the 1930s he used the bathysphere to make the deepest dives on record at the time. During his long life he wrote 26 books about the natural world.

The lecture, 'Into the Abyss with William Beebe' will feature many of his photos, paintings and films.

"Bermuda was utterly critical to Beebe's work," said Dr. Gould. "People in Bermuda were very friendly to him. They gave him so much. They let him use Nonsuch Island. They loaned him a tug to use. He lived in a house called New Nonsuch. It is now called Little Nonsuch.

"The access at Nonsuch Island was very difficult so they towed in an old wreck called the Sea Fern to be used as a breakwater. That is still there."

Bermuda was perfect for Dr. Beebe's explorations because of the sharp slope of the seabed. It was just a short trip to get to the deeper depths from Bermuda, but if he was in the United States it would have taken him a day and a half by boat before he got to the deeper waters.

"The social life here was also great," said Dr. Gould. "He and the crew loved to throw costume parties. His wife lived in a hotel in St. George's leaving him to do what she called his 'messy stuff'. He lived with his crew, bathing with sea water. He must have smelled terrible considering the sea creatures he was dealing with. His wife liked the quiet life and did not like socialising. She didn't like the tropics and Bermuda was really the only place where they could live together. When Dr. Beebe left Bermuda to go to Trinidad she refused to go with him. He bought a house for her in Vermont. He always visited her there. She never visited him in the tropics. Yet, their letters to one another always begin 'dearest' and there seemed to be real affection between them."

She said that Dr. Beebe and his wife had a relationship that was considered very modern by the standards of the 1920s and 1930s. They led separate lives. His wife wrote historical romances known affectionately as "bodice rippers" under the pen name Elswyth Thane.

Dr. Beebe also had an affair with one of his female colleagues. When he died he left his papers to the female colleague, asking that she not release them until after his wife died.

"He didn't want his wife to write his biography because she didn't know anything about science," said Dr. Gould.

Dr. Gould met the elderly colleague through her husband who is a scientist.

"He had a professor who studied bats," she said. "The professor was married to a woman who was an expert on fiddler crabs. She had spent thirty years with William Beebe. She was his companion and colleague. He left all his papers to her.

"She didn't do anything again with them because she wanted to find the right biographer.

She waited so long that as a result the world seemed to forget about Dr. Beebe and his accomplishments."

The original bathysphere had been at the New York Aquarium, but when Dr. Gould started to research Dr. Beebe, it was sitting in a dump. Thanks to her book, it has now been put back on display at the aquarium.

"She convinced me that I was the right person to write the biography," said Dr. Gould. "At first I didn't feel that I was the right person because I didn't have the science background. She gave me his papers, and then she would send me cartoons and drawings that he had done to pique my interest."

Dr. Gould said Dr. Beebe started with helmet diving. He pioneered the study of coral reefs.

"Hardly anyone had studied coral reef ecology before," Dr. Gould said.

The original bathysphere was designed by engineer Otis Barton. The first one they brought to Bermuda weighed five tons. When the captain of the ship that would take them to sea looked at it, he refused to allow them to bring it on board. The winch to lower it into the water would never carry it.

"They hadn't thought of that," said Dr. Gould. "They had to send the whole thing back to the United States, have it melted down and recast until it weighed just two tons."

The lecture will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by an informal reception. Admission is free for BBSR donors and $10 for non-donors. Space is limited. Call 297-1880 ext. 204 or visit www.bbsr.edu for information.