The document traces the ancient roots of oceanography back to Greek and Roman scholars like Aristotle, who studied the sea and addressed problems related to it. It developed slowly over time as a scientific discipline, with early contributions from natural philosophers and scholars. Key developments included the foundation of the Royal Society in 1660 and seminal works by scientists in the 16th-19th centuries like Marsili, Boyle, and Maury, culminating in the comprehensive Challenger expedition of 1872-76. The science of the sea matured in the 19th century into the field of oceanography we recognize today.

1. Ancient roots, modern definition.
University of Warwick, BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012
Lisa Taramaschi <lisa.taramaschi@ingv.it>
Università degli studi di Genova (Italy)

2. Margaret Deacon,
“”Scientists and the sea,
1650-1900.
A study of marine science”.
“The development (of
marine science) was a
slow process,
chequered by
interruptions and
reverses, but it is often
possible to see an
underlying continuity of
ideas and methods.”

3. We can find a process of growth of oceanography, which
has its roots in the Greek-Roman world, even in
cosmological elaborations of religions and myths of the
great civilizations, to reach finally the natural
philosophers, in search of the arché that substantiates
and gives rise to the world.
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

4. The roots of the
science of the
sea in the past:
Strabo (64/63 BC-24 AD)
Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD)
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

5. The ipse dixit: Aristotle’s thought
The Greek philosopher (384-322 BC)
faced the sea and its problems in the
four books of “Meteorologia” and in
some of its “Problemata”.
Its position and the ideas he proposed
becomes the reference for the entire
Middle Ages and the following period.
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

6. The Renaissance: the commentaries
on the Aristotle’s “Metereologia”
Alexander Aphrodisiensis, “In
quattuor libros
metereologicorum Aristotelis
commentatio lucidissima”, 1545.
Niphus Augustinus, “In libris
Aristotelis metereologicis
Commentaria…”, 1547.
Ludovicus Buccaferreus,
“Lectiones, in secundum ac
tertium meteororum Aristotelis
libros”, 1570. etc.
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

7. The XVIth treaties on the sea
Girolamo Borro, “Dialogo
del flusso e riflusso del mare”,
1561.
Nicolò Sagri, “Ragionamenti
sopra la varietà dei flussi et
riflussi del Mar Oceano
Occidentale”, 1574.
Giovanni Botero, “Aggiunte
fatte di Giovanni Botero alla
sua Ragione di Stato… con una
Relatione sul Mare”, 1598.
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

8. The first technology
Olaus Magnus (1490-1558)
wrote in 1555 his
masterpiece, “De gentibus
septentrionalibus, earumque
diversis statibus, moribus,
ritibus, superstitionibus…”
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

9. Camillo Agrippa published in 1595
his book, “Nuove inventioni di
Camillo Agrippa milanese”.
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

10. Some great scientists and the sea
Galileo Galilei, “Dialogo sopra i due
massimi sistemi del mondo”, 1632.
René Descartes, “Les Principes de la
Philosophie”, in “Oevres”, 11 vols, 1644.
Athanasius Kircher, “Mundus
subterraneus”, 1665.
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

11. The central period: the 1660s
In the 1660 there was a
fundamental step: the
foundation of the Royal
Society.
From the Gresham College
group, on 28 November the
1660 committee of 12
announced the formation of
a "College for the Promoting
of Physico-Mathematical John Evelyn, who
helped found the
Experimental Learning“. Royal Society.
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

12. The fathers of the oceanography:
Luigi Ferdinando Marsili
Luigi Ferdinando Marsili (1658-
1730) wrote two fundamental
textes:
“Osservazioni intorno al Bosforo
Tracio”, 1681;
“Histoire Physique de la Mer”,
1725.
He was elected a fellow of the
Royal Society in November 1691.
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

13. Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
studied the sea in its
physical and chemical
characteristics.
He was able to:
• summarize the best idea
in the air that time;
• join together academic
knowledge and know-how
from sailors’ world;
• have a very modern
scientific approach to the
sea.
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

14. The XIXth century
Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806-1873) wrote in 1855 the
“Physical Geography of the Sea”, one of the first books
dedicated to the oceanography.
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

15. The myth of the Challenger
The cruise of the Challenger
(1872-1876) was the first
oceanographic campaign,
with systematic experiments,
scientists on board (as
Carpenter, Murray,
Buchanan) and a big amount
of data collected.
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi

16. To sum up…
Oceanology Oceanography
The science of the sea The science of the sea after
before the XIXth century, the XIXth century, with the
when canonization of the
scholars were naturalists science of the sea thanks to
with encyclopedic scientific and
interests and the discipline technological progress.
still lacked of systematic
order, of specific theories
and methodological
statute.
The History of oceanography BSHS Postgraduates Conference, 4-6 January 2012 | Lisa Taramaschi