Maury
Full Name: Matthew Fontaine Maury
Achievements: Oceanography
Born: January 14, 1806; Fredericksburg, Virginia
Died: February 1, 1873; Lexington, Virginia (Aged 67)
Field & Discipline: Science: Oceanography; Meteorology
Language: English
Father:: Richard Maury
Mother: Diana Minor
Siblings: Charles; John Minor; Richard
Spouse: Ann Hull Herndon
Children: Betty; Eliza Hull; Lucy Minor; Mary Herndon; Matthew F.; Richard Launcelot
Education: Harpeth Academy
Major Work:
“Wind and Current Charts” (1847)
“The Physical Geography of the Sea” (1855)
Life & Times:
In 1825, Maury joined the US Navy as a midshipman. By 1836, he had published two papers and a textbook, later adopted by the Navy: “A New Theoretical and Practical Treatise on Navigation.”
His distinguished seafaring career was cut short in 1839 after he was involved in an accident when a stage coach overturned, badly breaking his leg and making him lame for several months. During convalescence he began to write about areas of the Navy in need of reform, work published in the “Southern Literary Messenger,” under the pseudonym Harry Bluff. The popular articles caused anger in Washington and his career suffered when he was named as the author in 1841.
In spite of that setback, in July 1842 he was made head of the Navy’s Depot of Charts and Instruments, which supplied equipment to the fleet, and included an astronomical observatory. Other responsibilities included the calculation of time by observation of the sun. Meteorological studies, navigational charts and all the nautical books of the Navy came under his care.
Over time he found that most US Naval charts were of foreign origin and some important areas, like the Gulf of Mexico, were not covered at all. The Depot held logs of every voyage made by the US Navy since its establishment and, together with his team of midshipmen, Maury began to search the material. From this work, he was able to extract details concerning unusual ocean currents, force of winds, fog and all weather conditions that had been encountered by ships.
In 1844 he was given the job of Superintendent of the new National Observatory. Part of his work there was to produce a listing of about 1,200 stars and seven star-catalogues. Using information from the Depot, Maury then published his “Wind and Current Charts,” in 1847, and in 1848 “Abstract Log for Use of American Navigators.”
The charts were issued free of charge to naval and merchant ships in return for logs of their voyages. Eventually, the charts reduced sailing times considerably, with voyages from New York to San Francisco, which had previously taken 180 days, being completed in 130 days.
In 1849, Maury was given permission to begin taking soundings of the Atlantic seabed to establish its depth and contours. He amassed data between 1849 and 1853 and prepared the first Bathymetrical Map of the North Atlantic, expressed in 1,000-fathom contours.
As a result of this work he was consulted by [collaborated with] Samuel Morse* in February 1854 regarding the viability of laying a submarine cable across the Atlantic. He then advised [commissioned by] Field*, who ran the project, that the cable would need sufficient slack to overcome the resistance of the water. Disregarding this advice, Field’s cable, laid in 1857, failed when it snapped mid-voyage, delaying a successful conclusion until 1858.
Early in that decade, meteorological reporting became widespread using the new telegraph and the Dutch scientist, [work related to] Buys Ballot*, called for standardization of meteorological observations.
At the instigation of [collaborated with] Quetelet*, in 1853, Maury organized the first International Maritime Meteorological Conference in Brussels, Belgium. Naval delegates attended from most of the European countries, as well as the United States and Russia. It was decided that all participating nations would receive Maury’s charts in return for sending him abstracts of logs for analysis.
The conference also discussed standardization of meteorological instruments. The universal system of meteorological observations was also launched and Great Britain enlarged its participation by creating the Meteorological Bureau of the Board of Trade, with [work related to] Fitzroy* at the head.
Maury travelled to Berlin to meet [met] Alexander von Humboldt*, who encouraged him to press for the expansion of the universal system to incorporate observations on land as well as at sea. In 1855, he published “The Physical Geography of the Sea,” a work which played an important part in founding the science of oceanography.
In 1858, Maury was given retroactive promotion to the rank of commander and, with the outbreak of the American Civil War, he joined the Confederate Navy in 1861. He was put in charge of harbor defenses In 1862 he was sent to England to lobby for support for the South and on his way back in 1865 he heard that the war had ended.
Instead of returning home Maury went to Mexico, where he tried but failed to agree a plan with Emperor Ferdinand Maximilian to settle exiled Confederates. He then returned to England, where he wrote geography textbooks, before returning to the United States in 1868. On his return, he became Professor of Physics at Virginia Military Institute, a job he held until his death.
Extra Connections:
His work related to that of [work related to] Mauchly*, [work related to] Ferrel*, [work related to] Foucault*, and [work related to] Coriolis*.
After a weather-related disaster during the [work related to] Crimean War*, [influenced] Napoleon III* instituted the first national meteorological reporting.
The loss of much of the British fleet in a hurricane during the Crimean War led to the first international weather-forecasting conference, organized by the American Maury*
Assessment: Maury’s ideas spread internationally and helped the worldwide development of meteorology and the science of oceanography.
Oneliner: Matthew Maury, oceanographer and early meteorologist
Bibliography:
- Frances Leigh Williams, Matthew Fontaine Maury: Scientist of the Sea, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick and New Jersey, 1963.