-
Jan 7, 1513
AD ferdinaned magellan
In 1513 the Spanish
captain, Ferdinand
Magellan, circumnavigated
the globe through a passage
way at 52° S latitude now
called the Straights of
Magellan. -
AD James cook
James Cook (1728-1779) Using Astronomy and
Mathematics he began calculating Longitudes and
published his findings in the royal Society’s
Philosophical transactions for 1767 which gained him
notoriety and several more voyages charting New
Zealand, East coast of Australia, southern India
Ocean. South Pacific, rediscovered Easter Island and
many others along the way. -
AD Benjamin Franklin
Discovering Surface currents
and therefore in 1777 published
the first map of the Gulf
Stream. -
AD Mathew Maury
US Navy officer who compiled
Navel Charts and Instrumentations that when
used, logged, and compiled allowed sailors to
avoid catastrophic weather conditions,
currents, and tides. -
AD challenger expedition
First large-scale voyage with the
purpose of increasing knowledge of the
distribution of life in the ocean and of
the chemical and physical properties of
the ocean -
Pytheas
Pytheas is also responsible for contributions to early
navigation methods that we still use today. -
bc Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes in 276-192 BC first determined
the world’s circumference by using
observations obtained while looking down a
well on the summer solstice, when the sun is
directly over head at the Tropic of Cancer.
He noticed that the well was totally
illuminated at noon and made several
mathematical assumptions and calculations
based on distances of two cities, angles, and
circumference of a circle.
