Inventor of the Wet Suit

[Tamara Thomsen]

I just received a clipping in the mail that my mother cut from The Washington Post about the death of the inventor of the wet suit.  I found it very interesting.


Hugh Bradner Cited as Wet Suit Inventor

Hugh Bradner, 92, a physicist and oceanographer who was known for blending his research with a sense of fun and adventure and was widely credited with inventing the protective wet suit worn by divers, surfers and cold-water swimmers, died of pneumonia May 5 at his home in San Diego.

Bradner contributed to the development of nuclear weapons and was part of a small group of scientists selected by J. Robert Oppenheimer to set up the Los Alamos atom bomb laboratory in New Mexico.

He had a PhD in physics from the California Institute of Technology and studied not only the constituents of the atom but also the floor of the ocean.

“He had more dimensions that just a scientist,” said his daughter, Bari Cornet.  “He was truly a teacher “who enjoyed getting people to turn scientific inquiry into fun. 

Competing claims as to who invented the wet suit have been entered on behalf of several people.  A variety of published accounts make strong claims for Bradner, although his assertions on his own behalf appear modest.

One account, published last year on the Surfpulse Web site, addresses itself to the task of finding the father of the suit.  Written by veteran surfer Mike Wallace, the online account describes a major chapter in the quest as “a tale of one unsung hero, a patriotic and humble university physicist, Hugh Bradner.”

Bradner “first solved the riddle of keeping mankind both wet and warm in the ocean,” Wallace wrote.