Bert, Paul

(born Oct. 17, 1833, Auxerre, Yonne, France—died Nov. 11, 1886, Hanoi) French physiologist, founder of modern aerospace medicine. He taught for many years at the Sorbonne and served as a deputy in the government from 1872–86. His research on the effects of air pressure on the body helped make possible the exploration of space and the ocean depths. Bert found the main cause of altitude sickness to be low atmospheric oxygen content and showed decompression sickness to be due to nitrogen bubbles formed in the blood during rapid drops in external pressure.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica