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leer en español        Two Greek families crossed the Mediterranean from the Dodecanese island of Symi to Cadaqués in 1850. The men were free-divers, with the lungs and skill to harvest the coral that carpeted the seabed.One day, the exiled writer Narcís Monturiol—branded a communist by the authorities—watched a diver rise dead to the surface. Just as fishermen far out at sea engage in a death dance with every storm, the coraleros risked their lives with every descent.By the time Monturiol returned to his lodgings, he had found his mission. He sent away for books, read engineering journals, and traced the history of man’s ancient desire to breathe underwater.At the temples of Thebes, divers are depicted spear-fishing with hollow reeds as snorkels. In 1515, Leonardo da Vinci sketched a suba...