Place, People, Tools. Oceanography in the Mediterranean and Beyond. Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress For the History of Oceanography

For millennia, the ocean has served both as the habitat for an immense variety of organisms, known and unknown, and the dominant connection between nations and continents. Thus, it has always challenged the desire of humankind to become its master. Explorers, technicians, scientists, politicians, fishermen, and naval personnel have contributed with their gifts, training, and expertise to further the frontiers of knowledge of the oceans. Oceanography is not a straightforward academic discipline. Rather it is a complementary interaction of places, be they ships or labs, of people with diversified missions, and of instruments that mediate between the ocean and its observers. This variety of approaches characterizes each Congress for the History of Oceanography. The eighth Congress has been the second to take place on the shores of the Mediterranean - after Monaco in 1966 - and the Naples Zoological Station, the place where interdisciplinary research in marine biology originated, served as an ideal venue. Participants came from 15 nations (Great Britain, USA, Russia, Germany, Romania, Greece, Egypt, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Monaco, Canada, France, Croatia and Italy) to share their historical research results on oceanography in the Mediterranean and beyond.