ABSTRACT
THERE are few indications in the Royal Society minutes during the first five years of its existence that the problem of tides was arousing much interest among members. Questions included in the Directions for Seamen and similar guides for research brought in some information about the behaviour of tides in places as diverse as Greenland and St Helena (see Ch. 4, pp. 85-86) but the theoretical aspects were not explored at meetings. This was an unusual reversal of the tendency which had persisted since ancient times to discuss tides at the expense of the other characteristics of the sea.
