Her new book, Chamber Divers, is about research conducted by scientists at UCL [University College London] before and during World War II โ including protocols for operating the miniature submarines used on scouting missions in advance of D-Day.
"These tiny subs had a smaller gas volume, which made the rules of breathing physiology even more time critical," Lance explains. "The scientists ... did this experiment by just putting themselves in a tank, closing the door and waiting to see how long they could physically handle the amount of carbon dioxide in there before they ended up with migraines and projectile vomiting."
Lance notes that UCL scientists subjected themselves to extremes that would be considered "wildly unethical and illegal today." Some sustained serious injuries โ including seizures and broken spines โ in the hyperbaric chamber.
"One of them ... dislocated her jaw five times in the same dive," Lance says. But, she adds, "they were doing it because they were in this context of the Blitz and the bombings and the horrors of World War II happening around them."