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Hi there, This will be of interest to some. Patricia L. Chalmers Halifax Public Talk: Eric Mills Facing the Atlantic: How the Marine Sciences began on Canada's East Coast Maritime Museum of the Atlantic 1675 Lower Water Street Halifax Tuesday, November 3 7:30 pm Canada's first marine biological stations were established in 1908 in St Andrews, NB and Nanaimo, BC. They were the outcome of a campaign by Canadian scientists to bring the country's marine sciences up to international standards, and to provide research opportunities for themselves. But the marine sciences had been studied in Canada long before 1908. This exensively illustrated talk outlines the background of science in Canada before the early 20th century, placing it in its unique historical setting. Oceans have had a mysterious allure for centuries, inspiring fears, myths and poetic imaginations. By the early twentieth century, however, scientists began to see oceans as physical phenomena that could be understood through mathematical geophysics. The Fluid Envelope of Our Planet by Eric Mills, explores the scientific developments from the middle ages to the twentieth century that illuminated the once murky depths of oceanography. Tracing the transition from descriptive to mathematical analyses of the oceans, Professor Mills examines sailors' and explorers'observations of the oceans, the influences of Scandinavian techniques on German-speaking geographers and the eventual development of shared quantitative practices and ideas. Eric Mills is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, and Inglis Professor and former Director of the History of Science and Technology Programme at the University of King’s College in Halifax. Beginning in 1967, Eric taught and did research in biological oceanography at Dalhousie University, following an undergraduate degree at Carleton and a MS, PhD at Yale. In 1994, after a transition from the marine science to the history of science, Eric helped transform and ultimate lead as Director, the joint History of Science and Technology Programme at the University of King’s College and Dalhousie. Since “retirement” in 2002, Eric has continued to teach and research the history of the marine science and oceanography, specializing in 19th century history, the development of biological oceanography, and the origins of physical oceanography.
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