ABSTRACT

Understanding the Oceans brings together an internationally distinguished group of authors to explore the enormous advances in marine science made since the voyage of HMS Challenger a century ago. The book draws inspiration from the seminal contributions stemming from that voyage, and individual chapters show how succeeding generations of scientists have been influenced by its findings. Covering the whole spectrum of the marine sciences, the book has been written and edited very much with the non-specialist reader in mind. Marine scientists, whether students or researchers, will welcome this authoritative comprehensive overview of their subject and its history; other scientists will find the book to be an accessible and informative introduction to marine science and its historical roots.

chapter |23 pages

Introduction

part 1|62 pages

The historical context

chapter 1|22 pages

The Challenger Expedition

The end of an era or a new beginning?

chapter 2|7 pages

‘Big science' in Victorian Britain

The Challenger Expedition (1872–6) and its Report (1881–95)

chapter 3|13 pages

Oceanographic sovereigns

Prince Albert I of Monaco and King Carlos I of Portugal

chapter 4|18 pages

Expedition to investigation

The work of the Discovery Committee

part 2|66 pages

Ocean basins

chapter 2|4 pages

Introduction

The exploration ofthe sea floor

chapter 6|16 pages

Silent, strong and deep

The mystery of how basins fill

chapter 7|14 pages

Palaeoceanography

Tapping the ocean's long-term memory

part 3|70 pages

Ocean circulation

chapter 3|3 pages

Introduction

Ocean circulation

chapter 9|15 pages

Polar dreams and California sardines

Harald Ulrik Sverdrup and the study of ocean circulation prior to World War II

chapter 10|20 pages

Direct measurement of subsurface ocean currents

A success story

chapter 11|19 pages

Oceanography from space

Past success, future challenge

chapter 12|11 pages

Transient tracers and tracer release experiments

New tools for the oceanographer

part 4|65 pages

The ocean ecosystem

chapter 4|3 pages

Introduction

chapter 13|23 pages

‘Problem children of analytical chemistry'

Elucidating the seasonal cycle of marine plankton production through nutrient analysis

chapter 14|10 pages

Why is the sea salty?

What controls the composition of ocean water?

chapter 15|11 pages

Deep-sea biology in the 1990s

A legacy of the Challenger Expedition

chapter 16|10 pages

The Challenger legacy

The next twenty years

chapter 17|6 pages

Postscript

The Challenger Expedition on postage stamps