Book Review . . .
Stephanie Showalter

Fathoming the Ocean: The Discovery and Exploration of the Deep Sea
Helen M. Rozwadowski (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2005).

In Fathoming the Ocean, Helen Rozwadowski traces the events of the nineteenth century that lead to the emergence of oceanography as a recognized scientific discipline. Over the years, the work of a few enthusiastic naturalist-dredgers and yachtsmen, many amateurs who collected marine specimens as a hobby, evolved into organized field trips and excursions which eventually received government sponsorship. Naturalists, who explored the deep sea through dredges and soundings, originally working from rowboats, improved and adapted their gear to work from the deck of Navy vessels. Accounts of ocean voyages, as well as other types of maritime literature, rose in popularity during this time driven by rising literacy rates and the expansion of hydrographic surveying activities. The attempts of Britain and America to lay a trans-Atlantic telegraph cable focused all eyes on the deep sea. The discipline of oceanography developed over the course of a century as the public, the scientific community, and governments realized the importance of the oceans.

Fathoming the Oceans reminds the reader that humanity has a long history with the deep ocean, much longer than most people realize. The first systematic attempt to sound the deep ocean, for example, occurred during Sir John Ross’s expedition to Baffin’s Bay in 1817-1818. “The deep ocean is a realm with an identifiable, historical relationship to human activity, one that began in the era of the mid-nineteenth-century imperialism and industrialization and has intensified with time. The midcentury discovery of the ocean’s depths set precedents for resource use that continue today; nowhere but on the sea are we still primarily hunters rather than farmers.”

Rozwadowski’s interdisciplinary approach paints a picture of the nineteenth century unlikely to be readily gleaned from other sources. Fathoming the Ocean contains details not only of the scientific voyages from which oceanography grew, but also the commercial interests (whaling and shipping) and societal changes (rise of yachting and trans-Atlantic travel) that compelled men and women to look to the sea. Societal forces are once again shaping our relationship with the ocean and before we more forward with new policies and studies, it is important to know where we came from. Rozwadowki presents a history lesson that all involved with ocean policy and science can benefit from.

Rozwadowski is Assistant Professor of History and Coordinator of Maritime Studies, University of Connecticut at Avery Point.