Jacques Cousteau and Pierre-Antoine was released in 1954. During the 1940s, Cousteau is credited with improving the aqua-lung design which gave birth to the open-circuit scuba technology used today. According to his first book, "" (1953), Cousteau started diving with Fernez goggles in 1936, and in 1939 used the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus invented in 1926 by Commander Yves le Prieur. Cousteau was not satisfied with the length of time he could spend underwater with the Le Prieur apparatus so he improved it to extend underwater duration by adding a demand regulator, invented in 1942 by Émile Gagnan. In 1943 Cousteau tried
Simone Melchior Simone Melchior Simone Melchior Cousteau (19 January 1919 – 1 December 1990) was the wife and business partner of undersea explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The first woman scuba diver and aquanaut, Simone was at Jacques's side during his major underwater accomplishments. She led him to the men and money who would build his scuba invention, she helped buy their beloved ship Calypso, saved the ship during a storm, and made sure each exploration achieved its objective. Although never visible in the "Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau" series, Simone played a key role in the operation at sea. Acting as mother, healer,