 In June 1747 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.He was the inventor of a primitive diving suit in 1775, which he called a "scaphandre" from the Greek words "skaphe" (boat) and "andros" (man) in his book "Traité de la construction théorique et pratique du scaphandre ou du bateau de l'homme" (Treatise on the theoretical and practical construction of the "Scaphandre" or human boat).The invention of the Abbé de la Chapelle consisted of a suit made of cork which allowed soldiers to float and swim in water.