Getting up close and personal with the sharks

IN 1943, Jacques Cousteau co-invented the aqualung, the self-contained breathing apparatus which revolutionised underwater exploration, writes Richard Collins.

His book, The Silent World, appeared in 1956. Three years later, a documentary film, Le Monde du Silence, co-directed by Cousteau and a young Louis Malle, was released. It won the Palme d’Or that year and an Academy award the following one.