History of oceanography: origin and development

A presentation to study the origin and development of oceanographic science in details from the ancient peoples to the modern period. This presentation will be very much helpful for the learners of this discipline.

1. History of Oceanography: Origin and Development Department of Fisheries Management Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur-1706 Shoaibe Hossain Talukder Shefat Faculty of Fisheries Sylhet Agricultural University , Sylhet-3100

2. Rise of Oceanographic Institutions Development of Modern Oceanography Oceanography from the 1880s to the 1930s Voyaging in Eighteenth Century Voyaging in Seventeenth Century The Age of European Discovery Voyages of the Oceanian Peoples Voyaging in Alexandrium Period Early Voyaging and Discovery Why to Study Oceanographic History? Oceanography Contents

3. S tudy of the ocean (sea) Includes ecosystem dynamics Ocean currents, tides and waves Plate tectonics and ocean floor geology Physical and chemical properties of the ocean Oceanography

4. Why to Study Oceanographic History? To Understand how and why people apply marine sciences today. To know Oceanography’s history is about people , not just oceans and test tubes. [email protected]

5. Early Voyaging and Discovery History of marine science is associated with the history of voyaging. Ocean transportation offers people the benefits of mobility and greater access to food supplies. Voyaging means traveling on the ocean for a specific purpose . The first direct evidence of voyaging comes from records of trade in the Mediterranean Sea.

6. Early Voyaging and Discovery Greek seafarers noticed a current running from north to south beyond Gibraltar. Greeks began ocean exploration in the Atlantic Ocean around 700-900 B.C. They decided that this great mass of water is part of an immense flowing river. The Greek name for this river was okeanos . Our word “ocean ” is derived from oceanus , a Latin variant of that root.

7. Mediterranean traders first developed charts of journeys which evolved into the science of cartography. Charts are graphic representations of water and related information. Maps primarily represent land information. Early Voyaging and Discovery Phoenician sailors were also very much at home in this “river,” but like the Greeks, they rarely ventured out of sight of land. [email protected]

8. Early mariners began to record information to make their voyages easier and safer- location of rocks, landmarks, sailing times and direction of currents etc. The Chinese began to engineer an extensive system of inland Waterways connected with the Pacific Ocean, to make long-distance transport. All these early travelers were skilled at telling direction by the stars and by the position of the rising or setting sun. Early Voyaging and Discovery

9. Marine science, the organized study of the ocean , began with the technical studies of voyagers. Progress in applied marine science began at the “Library of Alexandria” in Egypt. Library of Alexandria was really a university (first university in the world) in Egypt (by Alexander the Great). Voyaging for Science ( Alexandrium Period)

10. Eratosthenes of Cyrene, a Greek astronomer, philosopher and poet first calculated the circumference ( ~ 40,000 km) of Earth. The Greek Pythagoreans had realized Earth was spherical by the sixth century b.c.e ., but Eratosthenes was the first to estimate its true size. Demonstrated knowledge of geometry and that earth wasn't flat. Divided the earth into 360° north-south and east-west and invented Latitude and longitude. Voyaging for Science ( Alexandrium Period)

11. Voyages of the Oceanian Peoples The Oceanian Peoples made impressive travels in small boats. Polynesian Diaspora from Philippines to Micronesia (north) and Melanesia (south) all the way to Easter Island off S.A. Meanwhile, Viking (fast, strong and stable ship) made it from Scandonavia to Africa and the Arabian Penninsula . Again made it to North America about 860 A.D. The Polynesians are one of four cultures that inhabited some 10,000 islands scattered across nearly 26 million square kilometers of open Pacific Ocean.

12. By 1086, the Chinese philosopher Shen Kuo had deduced that Earth was of great age and shaped by sedimentary deposit, rock formation, uplift and erosion over great spans of time. Admiral Zheng commanded a voyage including 317 ships and 37,000 men and explored Indian Ocean to Africa. The Age of European Discovery [email protected]

13. The Age of European Discovery Prince Henry, (Son of Portugal royal family) established a center at Sagres for the study of marine science and navigation “. . . through all the watery roads .” Henry’s explorers pushed south into the unknown and opened the west coast of Africa to commerce. He sent out small, maneuverable ships designed for voyages of discovery and manned by well-trained crews. His mariners used the compass—an instrument (invented in China in the fourth century b.c.e .) that points to a magnetic pole.

14. 1480 to 1520 - Europeans (re)discovered the Americans and first sailed the Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans. A master mariner, Christopher Columbus “discovered” the New World quite by accident . Native Americans had been living on the continent for about 11,000 years. The Norwegian Vikings had made about two dozen visits to a functioning colony on the continent 500 years before his noisy arrival The Age of European Discovery

15. Prince Henry of Portugal founded the first school for navigation and sent ships to explore western Africa in (1420). Europeans discovered the Americans and first sailed the Pacific , Indian, and Southern Oceans (1480-1520). Charts were drawn as early as 1507 included the New World from that Ferdinand Magellan get inspired to open a trade route. The Magellan expedition’s return to Spain in 1522 marks the end of the European Age of Discovery The Age of European Discovery

16. Voyaging for Science in the Seventeenth Century Franklin measured water temperatures and first explained the Gulf Stream's cause . Franklin and T. Folger printed the first map of the Gulf Stream in 1769-1770. Captain James Cook made three voyages of scientific discovery in (1768-79) Conveyed members of the Royal Society to observe the transit of Venus in front of the sun.

17. Voyaging for Science in the Seventeenth Century Determined the outline of Pacific Ocean and discovered New Zealand, Australia, Hawaiian Islands. Measured surface ocean conditions and made first accurate map of ocean using chronometer. Sir James Ross successfully collected deep water sample from 2000first meters using various device. Fridtjof Nansen invented a deep water sampling container still used called Nansen bottle. [email protected]

18. Alexander Marcet (1819 ) s howed that average salinity of sea water behaves differently from fresh water. James Rennell wrote the first scientific textbook on current of Indian and Atlantic ocean (18 th -19 th century ). Sir James Clark Ross took the first modern sounding in deep sea in 1840. The First Scientific Expedition towards Galapagos Island was made by HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin (1831-36 ). Voyaging for Science in the Eighteenth Century

19. Charles Darwin published a paper "Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs“ in ( 1842 ). Charles Darwin made a voyage to South America and pacific islands and first contributor to marine biology by “Natural Selection”. Robert Fitz Roy published a report on the three voyages of the Beagle. Edward Forbes undertook dredging in the Aegean Sea and founded marine ecology (1841–1842). Voyaging for Science in the Eighteenth Century

20. M . F. Maury, the first superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory (1842–1861) studied marine meteorology, navigation and charted prevailing winds and currents. “Physical Geography of the Sea” by M. F. Maury (1855 ) was the first textbook of oceanography O ceanographic observations were sent to Maury, then he and his colleagues would evaluate the information and gave the results. Voyaging for Science in the Eighteenth Century

21. The First modern deep-ocean scientific expedition (The HMS Challenger expedition) was made in (1872-76 ). Voyaging for Science in the Eighteenth Century Charles Thomson invented “Oceanography”, the science of oceans. Measured conditions of Deep Ocean (chemistry, temperature, biology, bottom sediment). Measured depth of ocean in several hundred locations with Deep Ocean sounding (cannonballs and ropes ).

22. Manganese nodules were discovered. They made a hypothesis that- Voyaging for Science in the Eighteenth Century “There would be no life below ~550 m because of lack of light and high pressure”. Finally it has been proved “Wrong”! [email protected]

23. Oceanography from the 1880s to the 1930s Marine sciences developed through several local, national and international agencies (1880s-1930s) First oceanographic ship, the " Albatros " was built in 1882. Murray’s Scottish Marine station was established in 1880s for scientific research. “North Atlantic Expedition” by Sir John Murray and Johan Hjort (1910 ) was the most ambitious research The classic book The Depths of the Ocean was written in 1912.

24. Oceanography from the 1880s to the 1930s The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (The First Oceanographic Organization) was established in 1902. The first acoustic measurement of sea depth was made in 1914 General Bathymetric Chart of the ocean was made by Prince Albert of Monaco(1921). Fridtjof Nansen (1893) obtain first oceanographic, meteorological and astronomical data from the Arctic Ice The Meteor " expedition gathered 70,000 ocean depth measurements using an echo sounder from the Mid Atlantic Ridge (1925-1927).

25. Development of Modern Oceanography Sverdrup and Fleming (1942) published "The Ocean" Maurice Ewing and Bruce Heezen (1953) identified the Great Global Rift along the Mid Atlantic Ridge. The nuclear submarine Nautilus made the first journey under the ice to the North Pole in 1958. The nuclear submarine Nautilus made the first journey under the ice to the North Pole in 1958.

26. Development of Modern Oceanography The Ocean Drilling Project started in 1966. “Encyclopedia of Oceanography” was published by Rhodes Fairbridge (1966). The U.S. Congress created a National Council for Marine Resources and Engineering Development in 1966. "The Sea" (covering physical oceanography, seawater and geology ) was Published in 1962.

27. Development of Modern Oceanography The World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) started in 1990 and continued until 2002. Geo-sat seafloor mapping data became available in 1995. Deep sea vents were iscovered by John Corlis and Robert Ballard in 1977. The application of large scale computers started from 1970s to allow numerical predictions of ocean conditions.

28. Rise of Oceanographic Institutions Prince Albert I of Monaco Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (MIT) Scrips Institution of Oceanography Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory NASA (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena) [email protected]

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