Twenty thousand patents under the sea!

For a long time, the sea has been perceived as an imaginary and magical world, perfect for science fiction. Those who ventured beyond the shore became adventurers and aquanauts, highly specialised in underwater expeditions.

Today, by looking back at the history of underwater techniques and technologies through INPI’s historical archives, we can build up a picture of French knowledge regarding underwater engineering between 1791 and 1901.

Over this period, more than 1,800 patents were identified for technologies directly related to the sea and the deep sea, such as diving suits, diving machines and bells, and processes for seeing and breathing underwater. Whether they were simple attempts, failures or something more successful, these inventions are testament to the great interest that existed in laying claim to this underwater world.

As part of a CIFRE agreement, Marine Bally, a PhD student in the history of art and the history of technology, has been given the task of finding out the range of these French underwater and marine engineering technologies, learning about their inventors, and determining what knowledge of the aquatic environment existed from the 19th to the 20th century.

Her work will enrich our collections and will be the subject of an online exhibition on this website.