Oceanography 1966: Achievements and Opportunities

207 Pages·1967·3.801 MB·English

by  coll.

oceanography
1966
achievements
and
opportunities
NATlONAL ACADEMY OF SClENCES
NATlONAL RESEARCH COUNClL
I
An ocean is forever asking questions
and writing them aloud along the shore.
E.A.Robinson

A REPORT OF THE
COMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY
DIVISION OF EARTH SCIENCES
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
oceanography 1966
achievements and opportunities
PUBLICATION 1492
National AcademyofSciences National Research Council
WASHINGTON, D.C.
1967
Firstprinting,March 1967
Secondprinting,June1967
Available from
Printing and Publishing Office
National Academy of Sciences
2101 Constitution Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20418
LibraryofCongress CatalogCardNumber: 67-60017
cover: Taking a meridian altitude observation of the sun with an astrolab
(1545). From Plate XVIII of The Art of Navigation in England in Eliza
bethan and Early Stewart Times by D. W. Waters (Yale University Press,
New Haven, Connecticut, 1958).
committee on oceanography
milner schaefer, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Chairman
karl banse, University of Washington
wayne burt, Oregon State University
PAUL fye, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
john knauss, University of Rhode Island
sumner pike, Lubec, Maine
donald pritchard, The Johns Hopkins University
roger revelle, Harvard School of Public Health
athelstan spilhaus, University ofMinnesota
henry stommel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
george woollard, University of Hawaii
richardc.vetter,NationalAcademyofSciences-National
Research Council, Executive Secretary

preface
The first Committee on Oceanography of the National Academy of
Sciences was appointed in 1927. The activities and reports of that
Committee extended over a 10-year interval during which time funds
were provided from private sources for the endowment of ocean-
research institutions on both U.S. coasts and for the construction of
ships and buildings; and oceanographic research in the United States
becameestablishedon asystematicbasis.
During World War II, the science and scientists provided by the
ocean-research institutions were of great value. With the establish
ment of the Office of Naval Research in 1946, additional support
was provided for the expansion of ocean research at oceanographic
institutions. At the same time, applied ocean research related to de
fenseproblemswasbeingexpandedintheNavy's ownlaboratories.
The extensive use of ocean science during the war led to a marked
increase in public awareness of the field of oceanography in the post
war period. Accordingly, in 1949, the Academy appointed a second