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The Decompression Matrix by Bob Cole
The Decompression Matrix by Bob Cole
Halfway through the third chapter of Bob Cole's The Decompression Matrix, my left foot is tingling.
My symptoms remain stable through Chapter 4, which is about women and diving. By Chapter 6 I have an aching left shoulder. Getting up for a pee, my right leg has gone to sleep. I notice that the urine looks darker than usual.
Reading about decompression brings out the hypochondriac in me. The better the book, the worse my symptoms. The Decompression Matrix covers decompression theory, diving practices and decompression illness.
It is based on the author's tried and tested lecture material, with the slides carried across and used as graphics in the book, though in some cases I would have liked them to be reproduced a little larger. Towards the end of it, I am enviously eyeing the O2 cylinder from my rebreather lying in the corner of the room. By that measure, it must have been a good read.
Bob Cole's explanation of decompression models is both clear and frustrating. He provides one of the best explanations of the basic principles I have yet read but, as with all books on the subject, there isn't enough theory to allow you to sit down and program the model on a spreadsheet. You have to read scientific papers for the hardcore mathematics and I have yet to find a book that nicely bridges the gap.
Those hungry for the latest on decompression theory will be left salivating. The Reduced Gradient Bubble Model (RGBM) is briefly introduced, as is the concept of deep stops, but there is no discussion of the controversial practice of reducing shallow stops. Gradient factors are only hinted at.
Nevertheless, this is a book that should be in every diver's collection. It is concise, readable and contains more than 95% of what divers will ever need to know.
I have to stop writing now, and scratch that rash on my shoulder.
John Liddiard
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The Decompression Matrix by Bob Cole (Dive Information Company, ISBN 0-9520934-2-1). Softback, 160pp. £15.99
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