Tides of History: Ocean Science and Her Majesty's Navy Hardcover - 2008

In the first half of the nineteenth century, the British sought to master the physical properties of the oceans; in the second half, they lorded over large portions of the oceans' outer rim. The dominance of Her Majesty's navy was due in no small part to collaboration between the British Admiralty, the maritime community, and the scientific elite. Together, they transformed the vast emptiness of the ocean into an ordered and bounded grid. In the process, the modern scientist emerged. Science itself expanded from a limited and local undertaking receiving parsimonious state support to worldwide and relatively well financed research involving a hierarchy of practitioners.Analyzing the economic, political, social, and scientific changes on which the British sailed to power, Tides of History shows how the British Admiralty collaborated closely not only with scholars, such as William Whewell, but also with the maritime community —sailors, local tide table makers, dockyard officials, and harbormasters—in order to systematize knowledge of the world's oceans, coasts, ports, and estuaries. As Michael S. Reidy points out, Britain's security and prosperity as a maritime nation depended on its ability to maneuver through the oceans and dominate coasts and channels. The practice of science and the rise of the scientist became inextricably linked to the process of European expansion.

Details

• Title Tides of History: Ocean Science and Her Majesty's Navy
• Author Michael S. Reidy
• Binding Hardcover
• Edition 1st printing of
• Pages 392
• Volumes 1
• Language ENG
• Publisher University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, U.S.A.
• Date April 1, 2008
• Illustrated Yes
• Features Bibliography, Dust Cover, Glossary, Illustrated, Index, Maps, Table of Contents
• ISBN 9780226709321 / 0226709329
• Weight 1.49 lbs (0.68 kg)
• Dimensions 8.93 x 6.48 x 1.2 in (22.68 x 16.46 x 3.05 cm)
• Themes
  • Chronological Period: 19th Century
  • Cultural Region: British
• Library of Congress subjects Great Britain - History, Oceanography - Research - Great Britain -
• Library of Congress Catalog Number 2007028060
• Dewey Decimal Code 359.009