Timeline:
– 4500 BC: Cultures in Greece and Rome start sea exploration for food, commerce, and possibly warfare.
– 4000 BC: Egyptians develop sailing vessels in the eastern Mediterranean.
– 4000 BC – 1000 AD: Polynesians colonize South Pacific Islands.
– 1800 BC: Basic depth measuring in Egypt.
– 1500 BC: Middle Eastern exploration of the Indian Ocean.
From Early Exploration to Present:
– 1492-1504: Christopher Columbus reaches America seeking a sea route to the Indies.
– 1498: Vasco da Gama sails around Africa to India.
– 1519-1522: Ferdinand Magellan’s ships circumnavigate the world.
– 1620: Dutch inventor Cornelis Drebbel builds the first submarine.
– 1768-1780: James Cook explores the southern oceans using a marine chronometer.
Human-powered:
– 20th century sees a renaissance in ocean exploration with human-powered expeditions.
– Pioneering becomes the goal of modern ocean explorers.
See also:
– Deep-sea exploration investigates ocean conditions beyond the continental shelf.
– Exploration is the process of investigating unfamiliar things.
– Lists of explorers and maritime explorers.
– Ocean is the saltwater covering most of Earth.
– Oceanography studies physical, chemical, and biological processes in the ocean.
References:
– “The Forgotten Revolution” by Lucio Russo.
– “An Introduction to the World’s Oceans” by Keith A. Sverdrup, Alyn C. Duxbury, and Alison B. Duxbury.
– Guinness World Records.
– Interactive Timeline of significant events in NOAA’s history.
– History of Oceanography by USC Earth Sciences.
External links:
– Ocean Explorer – Public outreach site for explorations sponsored by the Office of Ocean Exploration.
– NOAA Ocean Explorer History.
– NOAA Ocean Explorer Gallery – Collection of images, video, audio, and podcasts.
Ocean exploration is a part of oceanography describing the exploration of ocean surfaces. Notable explorations were undertaken by the Greeks, the Romans, the Polynesians, the Phoenicians, Phytheas, Herodotus, the Vikings, the Portuguese and Muslims. Scientific investigations began with early scientists such as James Cook, Charles Darwin, and Edmund Halley. Ocean exploration itself coincided with the developments in shipbuilding, diving, navigation, depth, measurement, exploration, and cartography.
