The Brussels maritime conference standardises ocean observation
A conference convened at Brussels on the invitation of the United States, organised by Maury, agreed a uniform system for recording meteorological and oceanographic observations at sea. It was adopted by the naval and merchant fleets of most European maritime nations and is generally counted among the first international scientific congresses devoted to a single subject. Every long marine record used to detect circulation change today rests on the habit of standardised observation this meeting established.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Matthew Fontaine Maury · person · United States · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
The Physical Geography of the Sea
The first comprehensive treatment of ocean winds and currents as a system, compiled from standardised ships' logbooks; commonly described as the first textbook of modern oceanography. The digitised volume was identified but not read; biographical facts about Maury come from Naval History and Heritage Command and encyclopaedia entries read via search summary.
Harper & Brothers, New York · 1855 · Partly verified
Maury, M. F., The Physical Geography of the Sea (1855); digitised copy at Smithsonian Libraries, library.si.edu/digital-library/book/physicalgeograp00maura
Recorded on Matthew Fontaine Maury
- Maury issues the Wind and Current Chart of the North Atlantic
- The Brussels maritime conference standardises ocean observation
- The Physical Geography of the Sea is published
- The Gulf Stream is found not to explain Europe's mild winters
Related
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