Robert William Hamilton Jr. (1930 – 16 September 2011), known as Bill, was an American physiologist known for his work in

hyperbaric Hyperbaric medicine is medical treatment in which an ambient pressure greater than sea level atmospheric pressure is a necessary component. The treatment comprises hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), the medical use of oxygen at an ambient pressure ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

Family

He was predeceased by his first wife Beverly, son Beto and daughter Kitty. He was survived by his wife Kathryn (née Faulkner) of nearly 40 years, daughters Lucy and Sally, grandsons, Felix, Bobby, Zach, Tyler and Truman.

Education

He earned his degree in liberal arts at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, followed by a master's degree in animal

reproductive biology Reproductive biology includes both sexual and asexual reproduction. Reproductive biology includes a wide number of fields: * Reproductive systems * Endocrinology * Sexual development (Puberty) * Sexual maturity * Reproduction * Fertility Human ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. He earned his Doctoral degree in physiology and

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...

in 1964 from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

Military service

Hamilton served as a fighter pilot in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, earning the rank of major. He was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross,

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

, and other decorations. He helped solve equipment problems on unsuccessful bailouts as a Life Support Officer, which earned him a National Academy of Sciences recommendation to

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

as a Scientist Astronaut.

Underwater sciences

Hamilton left the Air Force with and moved to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, in 1964, where he met Heinz Schreiner and began his work on the undersea world as a scientist and director of the Ocean Systems environmental physiology and diving research lab in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...

Research

Hamilton investigated the effects of gases in hyperbaric and

hypobaric A hypobaric chamber, or altitude chamber, is a chamber used during aerospace or high terrestrial altitude research or training to simulate the effects of high altitude on the human body, especially hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypobaria (low ambien ...

environments which led to the development of

decompression model Decompression theory is the study and modelling of the transfer of the inert gas component of breathing gases from the gas in the lungs to the tissues and back during exposure to variations in ambient pressure. In the case of underwater diving a ...

ling tools and operational procedures for divers, astronauts, hyperbaric chambers, and tunnel and caisson workers. He was both the physiologist and test subject on the first manned laboratory

saturation diving Saturation diving is diving for periods long enough to bring all tissues into equilibrium with the partial pressures of the inert components of the breathing gas used. It is a diving mode that reduces the number of decompressions divers working ...

to the continental shelf pressure of 12 ATA (200 msw) in 1965. He founded Hamilton Research, Ltd. (1976), for decompression and hyperbaric research, which developed procedures and techniques to mitigate the effects of High Pressure Neurological Syndrome, and the Diving Computational Analysis Program (DCAP), which he co-developed with David J. Kenyon. Hamilton was the principal investigator of the NOAA Repex Oxygen Exposure tables to assist divers in avoiding

oxygen toxicity Oxygen toxicity is a condition resulting from the harmful effects of breathing molecular oxygen () at increased partial pressures. Severe cases can result in cell damage and death, with effects most often seen in the central nervous system, lu ...

. These became the basis for most oxygen exposure calculation methods used for saturation and repetitive diving exposures to oxygen in breathing mixtures. In the late 1980s, he developed project-specific custom

decompression tables There are several categories of decompression equipment used to help divers decompress, which is the process required to allow divers to return to the surface safely after spending time underwater at higher ambient pressures. Decompression o ...

. His work with decompression tables, physiological effects of gases, and methods of managing exposure to oxygen, helped to open up the new field of

technical diving Technical diving (also referred to as tec diving or tech diving) is scuba diving that exceeds the agency-specified limits of recreational diving for non-professional purposes. Technical diving may expose the diver to hazards beyond those normally ...

. This included work with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) developing "Monitor Mix" breathing gas for dives to the USS ''

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

''. This breathing gas became NOAA Trimix I, with decompression tables designed by Bill Hamilton published in the NOAA Diving Manual.

Publications

R.W. Hamilton contributed to, and authored, a large number of scientific and technical papers, reports, and diving medical and safety workshop Proceedings. Some of these are listed here: * * * * Hamilton Jr, RW. 1999. Round Table Discussion. In: Hamilton RW, Pence DF, Kesling DE, eds. . Nahant, MA: American Academy of Underwater Sciences. * R.W. Hamilton (et al.); with Richard Dunford, Merrill P. Spencer, Drew Richardson. Tarrytown, NY : Hamilton Research, c1994. * Hamilton RW, Schreiner HR (eds). . 9th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number WS2-28-76. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1975; 272 pages. * Neubauer RA, Gottlieb SF, Huan G, Hamilton RW. Letter: . J. Hyperbaric Med 1992; 7(1):57-61. * Hamilton RW, Kizer KW (eds). . 29th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number 64WS(NN)4-26-85. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1985; various pages. * Hamilton Jr, RW. 1999. . In: Hamilton RW, Pence DF, Kesling DE, eds. Assessment and Feasibility of Technical Diving Operations for Scientific Exploration. Nahant, MA: American Academy of Underwater Sciences. * Hamilton Jr, RW, In: Blogg, S.L., M.A. Lang, and A. Møllerløkken, editors. 2012. . August 24, 2011, European Underwater and Baromedical Society Symposium, Gdansk. Trondheim: Norwegian University of Science and Technology. * Hamilton Jr, RW; . SPUMS 1997 Volume 27 Number 3. * Hamilton Jr, RW; . SPUMS 1996 Volume 26 Number 3. * Faesecka, K-P; Sterk, W; Hamilton, RW Jr.(eds). . 49th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number . Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 2001; 135 pages. * Freitag, M, Hamilton Jr, RW; 1974 Jun;1(2):175-9. * Schmidt TC, Dorr VA, Hamilton Jr RW. 1973. . Ocean Systems, Inc. UCRI-721 * Hamilton Jr, RW. . In: Jaap, WC (ed). Advances in Underwater Science 90. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences Tenth annual scientific diving symposium. Held October 4–7, 1990 at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, Florida * Hamilton RW, Kenyon DJ, Peterson RE. . Technical Report 88-1B. Rockville, MD: NOAA Office of Undersea Research, May 1988. * Hamilton RW, Schane W. 1990 October. . Research report 90-1. Silver Spring, MD: National Undersea Research Program. * Lang, M.A. and R.W. Hamilton (eds.). 1989. . USC Catalina Marine Science Center. 231 p. * Hamilton Jr, RW. Shi, ZY. Schane, W. Chen, BS.. Lee, YC. Fan, ZH. Gu, ZZ, Zhang, LB; . Undersea Biomedical Research, Vol. 15, No. 1 Supplement, March 1989 * Butler, GL; Mastro, SJ; Hulbert, AW; Hamilton Jr, RW. . In: Cahoon, LB. (ed.) Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences Twelfth Annual Scientific Diving Symposium "Diving for Science 1992". Held September 24–27, 1992 at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC. American Academy of Underwater Sciences. * Schneiner HR, Hamilton RW (eds). . 37th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number 74(VAL)1-1-88. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1989; 167 pages. * Hamilton, RW Jr. (ed). . 44th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number 81(DC)6-1-94. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1995; 71 pages * Hamilton RW, Kenyon DJ, Peterson RE, Butler GJ, Beers DM. . Technical Report 88-1A. Rockville, MD: NOAA Office of Undersea Research, May 1988. * Brubakk, AO. Tonjum, S Holand, B. Peterson, RE. Hamilton Jr, RW. Morild, E. Onarheim, J; . Undersea Biomed Res. 1982 Jun;9(2):81-90.] * Dituri, J. Parsley, K. Hamilton Jr, RW. Whelan, HT; Undersea Hyperb. Med. 2008 July-Aug;35(4) * Hamilton Jr, RW. Powell, MR. Kenyon, DJ. Freitag, M. , ONR Project NR-201-088, Contract N00014-74-C-0424 * Linnarsson, D. Ostlund, A. Sporrong, A. Lind, F. Hesser, CM. Hamilton Jr, RW; Undersea Biomedical Research, Vol. 16, No. 1 Supplement, March 1990 * Hamilton Jr, RW. Cockrell, WA. Stanton, GR. . Undersea Biomedical Research, Vol. 16, No. 1 Supplement, March 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Robert William Jr. 1930 births 2011 deaths People from Midland, Texas University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War American Korean War pilots American Vietnam War pilots Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) 20th-century American psychologists Decompression researchers