1 2 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES Oceanography and Marine Biology

1: 2 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES Oceanography and Marine Biology began as a necessity - not a science. Some of the greatest leaders are alive today! Minoans and Phoenicians used the Mediterranean for trade. Greeks calculated the Earth’s size, shape, and latitude lines. The Vikings colonized Iceland by 700 A. D. and landed in North America approximately 1000 A. D. (that expedition to Newfoundland commonly believed led by Leif Erickson) 1

Arabs and Chinese developed the compass and navigation. Polynesians used the stars to explore Micronesia in double-hulled canoes. Voyages of Columbus (1492) and Magellan (1522) began the “Age of Discovery”. Columbus Ponce de Leon found the Gulf Stream by accident en route to Cuba. In 1760, John Harrison solved the problem of calculating longitude by using time. 2

Diving Bell – first described in the 4 th century by Aristotle Diving Helmet Used in early attempts for viewing the ocean floor 3

In 1768, Capt. James Cook’s 3 voyages discovered Australia, New Zealand circumnavigated Antarctica. He and his crew were killed in Hawaii. Ben Franklin named and mapped the Gulf Stream while serving as Postmaster General for the colonies. The Gulf Stream by Benjamin Franklin. Courtesy of NOAA Photo Library. 4

NOAA Matthew Fountaine Maury is called the Father of Oceanography. He published the first oceanography text as a military tool for use during the Civil War. NOAA 1872 - H. M. S. Challenger was the first scientific voyage. It lasted only 3 years, but it took 20 years to analyze all the data they collected. 5

1900 - Prince Albert of Monaco established the first Oceanographic School. 1904 - The Steamer Albatross, under Alexander Agassiz, acquired data in some of the most remote stretches of Pacific Ocean. 1925 - An expedition on the German ship, Meteor, made 14 crossings to survey the south Atlantic Ocean. 6

Bathysphere Will Beebe and Otis Barton descended to 3028 feet in 1934. NOAA 7