Matthew Fontaine Maury
Military Person
1806 – 1873
Who was Matthew Fontaine Maury?
Matthew Fontaine Maury, United States Navy, was an American astronomer, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and educator.
He was nicknamed "Pathfinder of the Seas" and "Father of Modern Oceanography and Naval Meteorology" and later, "Scientist of the Seas," due to the publication of his extensive works in his books, especially The Physical Geography of the Sea, the first extensive and comprehensive book on oceanography to be published. Maury made many important new contributions to charting winds and ocean currents, including ocean lanes for passing ships at sea.
In 1825 at age 19, Maury joined the United States Navy as a midshipman on board the frigate USS Brandywine. Almost immediately he began to study the seas and record methods of navigation. When a leg injury left him unfit for sea duty, Maury devoted his time to the study of navigation, meteorology, winds, and currents. He became Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory and head of the Depot of Charts and Instruments. Here, Maury studied thousands of ships' logs and charts. He published the Wind and Current Chart of the North Atlantic, which showed sailors how to use the ocean's currents and winds to their advantage and drastically reduced the length of ocean voyages. Maury's uniform system of recording oceanographic data was adopted by navies and merchant marines around the world and was used to develop charts for all the major trade routes.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Jan 14, 1806
Spotsylvania County - Nationality
- United States of America
- France
- Confederate States of America
- Profession
- Lived in
- Virginia
- Died
- Feb 1, 1873
Lexington city
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Matthew Fontaine Maury." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/matthew_fontaine_maury>.
Discuss this Matthew Fontaine Maury biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In