Scientists and the Sea, 1650û1900: A Study of Marine Science

by Deacon,Margaret

• ISBN13: 9781859283523
• ISBN10: 1859283527
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2018-04-10
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Scientists and the Sea is a history of how the scientific study of the sea has developed over a period of nearly 2500 years. Beginning with the speculations of Greek philosophers it carries the story forward, showing how curiosity about the ocean appeared in many different forms and locations before, in the late 19th century, the first deep-sea researches heralded the foundation of the science known today as oceanography. Originally published in 1971, this book has never been superseded as the most comprehensive and wide-ranging treatment of the emergence of marine science within the western scientific tradition. After three introductory chapters dealing with knowledge up to the Renaissance, the main part of the work shows how pioneers of scientific observation at sea during the 17th and 18th centuries made notable discoveries, but that it was not until the middle of the 19th century when, aided by the advance of technology, scientists were able to undertake the first explorations of the ocean depths. This second edition contains a new introduction and bibliography.

Table of Contents

Foreword to Second Edition	vii	(2)
Preface to First Edition	ix	(6)
Acknowledgements	xv	(2)
Introduction to Second Edition	xvii
THE BACKGROUND TO THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY MOVEMENT	3	(66)
1. The Ancient World	3	(17)
2. The Middle Ages	20	(19)
3. The Renaissance	39	(30)
MARINE SCIENCE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY	69	(106)
4. The Seventeenth Century Movement towards a Science of the Sea	69	(24)
5. Theories and Observations of Tides	93	(24)
6. Marine Science in the Works of Robert Boyle	117	(15)
7. The Currents in the Strait of Gibraltar	132	(22)
8. Robert Hooke and the Vanishing Harvest	154	(21)
AN AGE OF PHILOSOPHY AND CURIOUS NAVIGATION	175	(76)
9. Reawakening Interest in the Sea, 1700-1800	175	(24)
10. Widening Horizons: The Last Quarter of the Eighteenth Century	199	(21)
11. Marine Science in the Early Nineteenth Century: A Period of Growth	220	(31)
THE UNSATISFIED OCEAN	251	(156)
12. Wild-Meeting Oceans: the Study of Tides	251	(25)
13. The Threshold of the Deep Ocean	276	(30)
14. The Magnificent Generalization	306	(27)
15. The Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger	333	(33)
16. Edinburgh and the Growth of Oceanography at the end of the Nineteenth Century	366	(41)
APPENDIX 1 Propositions of some Experiments to be made by the Earl of Sandwich in his present Voyage	407	(2)
APPENDIX 2 Experiments made by Captain Robert Holmes on 2 and 30 May 1663	409	(1)
APPENDIX 3 Other Inquiries Concerning the Sea	410	(1)
Select Bibliography to First Edition	411	(6)
Bibliography to Second Edition Introduction	417	(14)
Index of Persons	431	(12)
Subject Index	443