The method was invented in the 1950s by Nathan Lifson and colleagues at the University of Minnesota. However, its use was restricted to small animals until the 1980s because of the high cost of the oxygen-18 isotope. Advances in mass spectrometry during the 1970s and early 1980s reduced the amount of isotope required, which made it feasible to apply the method to larger animals, including humans. The first application to humans was in 1982, by Dale Schoeller, over 25 years after the method was initially discovered. A complete summary of the technique is provided in a book by British biologist John Speakman.