David M. Owen papers

Dave Owen was born and brought up in Saco, Maine. He became interested in oceanography through a family friend who was a member of the scientific staff of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He joined the organization in 1946 after attending Bates College and serving as a radar operator with the U.S. Navy. Although he had no previous scientific training, he became a scientific observer on board the Atlantis . In the winter of 1947-48, Owen took part in a six month expedition on board the Atlantis to the Mediterranean Sea. Always interested in photography, he was the logical choice to operate the newly developed deep sea camera designed by Dr. Maurice Ewing. During subsequent years, Owen made many improvements in deep sea underwater photographic equipment, including the development of stereoscopic equipment. His photographs are among the most widely published underwater photographs in the world. It was only logical that Owen would become interested in shallow water diving techniques with self-contained equipment. Having taken courses required by the U.S. Navy, Owen became the chief underwater diver at WHOI and trained many other members of the staff. In 1955, David published A Manual for Free-Divers Using Compressed Air, one of the nations first scuba diving manuals and considered to be a classic today.

[Biographical information taken from the advertisement for Owen’s A Manual for Free-Divers written by Jan Hahn.]