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CHAPTER 5
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_Restless Energy ,
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Waves, Âtides
currents mare
other feature have aroused
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curiosity about the oceans,«and study of themiled— directly
the
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start ofoceanography. Matthew Fontaine »Maurÿz’s* b‘ooh,The Physical. .
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Geographyof the Sea, published in 1855, set the style. The rst ;
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Chapter
devoted to the Gulf
rst plate, a chart,
included, the results of I, I 59, 353 separate observations on the tr'ce and
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direction of the wind as well as some roo,ooo-barometricreadings' taken
atsea. Maury realized that only by such painstahing recording of the
physicalface ofthe oceans could man ever hopeto move sajèly over them
and place them in his service. The modern oceanographer can call upon
sophisticated instruments to provide data, and number—‘crunching’ com—_ «
puters to process this information. Nevertheless, the prime object of his
studies has changed little from Maury’s day, for the physical inuences
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of the ocean still have by far the greatest impact on life on the Earth. _
IT IS no accident that many countries record their earliest involve—
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ment in the study of the oceans with the estab1ishment of hydro—
graphic and meteorolog—ical ofces usually attached, at least initially,
to…_ the navy. These ofces were responsible for colleÇting data_on
Winds, waves and currents
the -=seäsQ Ït15
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accident that these
frequently tracetherrongln
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back to Maury’s attempts to organize a
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to collecng data at sea. Indays When c0mpuæfs and automatrc …
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data
were unknown; theonly hope
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detail âoutcondîtions
invitétheco—opera—
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’tiOh,ofshïps of all
reCeîŸe”d}bhälätë£ 'ïÎ iv‘Ïï
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containing thousands of
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Inthedays;bf$àil, a lmowledgeof11kelyW1nd conditi0'sand
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