HISTORY OF OCEANOGRAPHY

Sverdrup et al, Chapter 1

Students should be able to:

1. Describe the general history of our knowledge of the oceans.

2. Discuss the changes in reasons for use of the oceans over human history

3. Discuss specific significant advances/discoveries/achievements of selected individuals or groups.

EARLY HISTORY - trade, fishing 

Phoenicians: approx. 1000 BC  

Greeks: approx. 500 BC

· Erathosthenes, librarian at Alexandria (about 200 BC) – circumference

· Pliny the Elder – linked phases of moon to tides

· Ptolemy (150 AD) – ocean much more vast; used latitude and longitude

Middle Ages: approx. 500 AD; almost 1000 years with little exploration

· Vikings: approx. 1000 AD

· Arabs: explored Indian Ocean

Polynesians: especially important from 300 - 600 AD

AGE OF DISCOVERY: 1492-1522; economic, political and religious reasons

Portugal:

· Prince Henry the Navigator

· Bartholemeu Dias (1487)

· Vasco Da Gama (1498)

Spain:

· Columbus (1492)

· Vespucci (~1500)

· Balboa (1513)

· Magellan (1522)

· Spanish Armada defeated in 1588 by British; end of Spanish rule of seas

Discovery with some scientific interests:

· James Cook: 1768-1780 - HMS Endeavour – used accurate chronometer

· Ben Franklin: 1769

· Matthew Fontaine Maury: early 1800s – Naval Depot of Charts

SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS

· CHALLENGER EXPEDITION: 1872-1876; first wholly oceanographic expedition

· Fridtjoh NANSEN (Norwegian; end of 1800s)

· Meteor Expedition (1925-27) – led by Germans

MODERN OCEANOGRAPHY: complex instruments, international, interdisciplinary, complex experiments, modern technology