[squidhunter]

The book "Descent: The Heroic Discovery of the Abyss" by Bradford Matsen is all about Otis Barton, William Beebe, and the Bathysphere. The idea of locking yourself into a steel sphere and descending an order of magnitude deeper than any human had previously (and coming back alive) is wild. It's an excellent book that I found at a used book sale and it kinda sent me into a deep sea exploration rabbit hole. "Seven Miles Down: The Story of the Bathyscaph Trieste" by Jacques Piccard descending down to the bottom of the Challenger Deep is also a good one.