16 – 18 May 2017, Sesimbra, Portugal The sixth conference in the Oceans Past series will be held by CHAM-FCSH, NOVA/UAc with the support of Sesimbra Municipality (Portugal) under the main theme: “Historical Perspectives on the Elements and Dynamics of the Marine Socio-Ecological System.” The conference is open to all students and researchers interested in… Read More Call For Papers: Oceans Past VI
By Vera Schwach ICHO and the Hjort Centre for Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, Bergen, Norway, is organizing a combined marine science and history of marine science symposium: In 2019 we will celebrate the 150-year anniversary of the birth of Johan Hjort (1869-1948). His research was foundational to the development of modern fisheries science. In particular, Hjort’s… Read More Challenging the scientific legacy of Johan Hjort: Is it time for a new paradigm shift in marine research?
A few weeks ago I visited some friends who live on Long Island. We had planned to go to Sagamore Hill, the country estate of Theodore Roosevelt. However, upon learning that we needed advance reservations, we decided instead to visit the ‘Eagle’s Nest,’ the less well-known estate of William K. Vanderbilt, grandson of the American… Read More When Billionaires Trusted in Science
A few days ago Outside Magazine published an obituary for the Great Barrier Reef. The article soon went viral. Since then, coral reef scientists have condemned the story as “wildly irresponsible.” The Great Barrier Reef they point out, while under threat, is not yet dead. To announce its demise, they argue, is to give up hope. Declarations… Read More The ‘Dying’ Ocean of the Anthropocene
By Jane Insley and A.D. Morrison-Low Historians of oceanography were saddened to hear of the death of Dr Anita McConnell, FRGS, FRSA, FRMetS, in April 2016. For many of us, her scholarship had shown what could be done to great effect with the material culture of museums in relation to particular sciences, which had its beginnings… Read More Obituary: Anita McConnell 1936-2016
By Vera Schwach Bo Poulsen, Global Marine Science and Carlsberg. The Golden Connections of Johannes Schmidt (1877–1933), (Brill) Leiden/Boston, 2016, 524 pages, (illustrated, references and with an index). By a historical coincidence, the celebrated brewery, Carlsberg, helped promote marine science during the period from around 1900 to 1930. The key actor in cajoling support from… Read More Book Review: “Global Marine Science and Carlsberg”
Hemingway’s novel, The Old Man and the Sea, opens with a scene of fishermen preparing their catch for market in a Cuban port. “Those who had caught sharks,” Hemingway writes, “had taken them to the shark factory on the other side of the cove.” Here the sharks were “hoisted on a block and tackle, their… Read More Sharks and Chemists
When I used to walk across the University of Washington campus, I sometimes passed the window of a laboratory in which a large stuffed albatross was prominently displayed. This deceased bird was mysteriously placed in a large metal birdcage. The peculiarity of the spectacle was enhanced by the fact that the laboratory housing the bird… Read More Looking for Albatross in the Archives
Exactly seventy years ago today Japan surrendered to the United States, bringing an end to World War II and signaling the start of the American occupation. Under the direction of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, General Douglas MacArthur, and his protégé General Bonner Fellers, the U.S. military began the process of Japanese war-crimes prosecutions.… Read More Emperor Hirohito: The Marine Biologist Who Ruled Japan
One of the hashtags often used by the U.S. Navy in their various social media feeds is #PlatformsMatter. The term now frequently pops into my head while I’m doing research – a 21st century mantra for the marine historian. The importance of engineering and design for marine work is something I’ve thought about with respect to… Read More #PlatformsMatter: Design and the Marine Environment
History of Oceanography 