ABSTRACT
THE interest shown by the Royal Society as a corporate body in marine science in general declined after 1663 and in the same way discussion about tides gradually faded out of their meetings in 1667 (see Chs 4 and 5). On both occasions the questions which had been raised were taken up by individuals, not always members of the Society or even within its immediate sphere. If one wishes to point to the most productive period of the age as far as interest in the sea is concerned it is perhaps the years just before and after 1670 that were the most fruitful. This period saw Childrey's controversy with Wallis, ended by Childrey's death in August 1670 (see Ch. 5, pp. 102-108), the publication of Boyle's four essays on the sea (see Ch. 6) and the work on currents at Tangier (see Ch. 7).
