Matthew Fontaine Maury, the Pathfinder of the SeasLewis, Charles Lee
History
Matthew Fontaine Maury, the Pathfinder of the Seas
Lewis, Charles Lee
Maury, Matthew Fontaine, 1806-1873
Abroad, on the contrary, Maury received almost universal recognition,
and the rulers of Europe seemed to vie with each other in conferring
medals and decorations upon him. Up to the time of the outbreak of the
Civil War, he had been made a member of some 45 learned societies,
about 20 of which were in foreign countries. He was made a knight
of the Order of Dannebrog by the King of Denmark in 1856, and the
following year a knight of the Order of St. Anne by the Czar of Russia
and a commander of the Legion of Honor by the Emperor of France; while
in 1859 he had conferred upon him the Order of the Tower and Sword by
the King of Portugal. Moreover, between the years of 1854 and 1859
gold medals were presented to him by the rulers of Norway and Sweden,
Prussia, the republic of Bremen, Holland, Austria, Sardinia, and
France; and in addition a medal of honor was awarded him for his charts
at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855, and only the year before
the beginning of the Civil War the Pope sent him a set of thirteen
beautiful silver medals. There were two gold medals from Prussia;
namely, the medal designed for distinguished works of science and the
Cosmos Medal, which had been struck by the King of Prussia to honor
Humboldt upon the publication of his “Cosmos” and which was given to
Maury because of the warm personal friendship that had long existed
between the two great scientists.
Thus was Maury’s resourcefulness and perseverance in investigating the
winds and currents of the sea and in presenting the results of his
research in a practical form for the use of the mariners of the world
crowned with success; and whatever the future might hold in store for
him, he must have then realized that he had gained for himself an
entrance into that small company of the world’s most distinguished
scientists.
CHAPTER VI
HIS PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA
Maury’s investigations of the winds and currents of the sea led him
into researches connected with all the phenomena of the ocean, the
results of which were so extensive and so valuable as to win for him
the right to be called the first great oceanographer of the world.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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