Revtew. Fathoming the Ocean: The Discovery accelerated as US shipping grew five-fold and Exploration of the Deep Sea, by between 1830 and 1860. More than a dozHelen M. Rozwadowski (Belknap Press en exploring expeditions were launched of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, under the leadership of the US Navy. MA, 2005, 276pp, illus, maps, notes, inA fascinating discussion of attempts dex, ISBN 0-674-01691-2; $25.95hc) to lay the earliest transAtlantic telegraphic Noted underwater explorer Sylvia A. cable in the 1850s weaves into the narraEarle notes in her forward to Fathoming tive. Issues of ocean depth and terrain dethe Ocean: The Discovery and Exploration manded knowledge of the sea floor. Some of the Deep Sea, "Imagine what it would students of the oceans believed a cable be like to fly in a plane slowly, thousands would never sink to the bottom, instead of feet in the sky above becoming suspended . ;~' -" '~\ Boston, London, Sydat an unknown depth . F A T H , 0 M I N G :. Broken and lost cables ney, or Tokyo, a thick blanket of clouds obwere finally followed ______:__ scuring the view below. by the successful layWhat could be discoving of a transAtlantic The Di,1c 0Pny a11iJ ered about such places cable from the decks E.t"ploratio11 if you had to rely on of the huge Great Eastof the Dup Sea the time-honored ern in 1866. These exoceanographic techpeditions, sponsored niques-lowering nets by the American and or open-ended metal British navies, conboxes from high in the tributed greatl y to sky, then dragging such knowledge abo ut the devices across the sursea floor and ocean life. Edward Forbes's face of whatever is below or dropping baited azoic theory, that hooks fastened ro long there was no marine lines to see if some unlife below 300 fathwary creature could be enticed to bite and oms, was sternly challenged and eventube taken from its realm onto ours for care- ally dismissed. This volume is a treasure of interestful examination? For many decades, methods such as these were used ro try to piece ing information punctuated with intrigutogether knowledge of the oceans by ob- ing illustrations, such as the "Curious servers sailing aboard naval ships, private Objects often seen on the Seashore at Low yachts, and eventually, dedicated ocean Water," a scene of the shore filled with research vessels." amusing Victorian beachcombers from an Helen Rozwadowski's study of deep 1858 cartoon in Harper 's Weekly. Other ocean exploration focuses on the mid- illustrations are matched with excursions nineteenth century when British scientists through the visions of poets, painters, and took to sea in several government-funded authors of the new literary genre of the sea. expeditions. She examines not only the ef- For them, oceans were much more than an forts to launch these ventures, but also the aven ue for trade and conquest. cultural factors that made exploring the Rozwadowski brings us to the present oceans a worthy objective. The 1823 edi- in the epilogue where she notes that the tion of the Encyclopedia Britannica entry 2000 US Presidential Commission recomfor "sea" reads, "Through want of instru- mended a commitment of $75 million per ments, the sea beyond a certain depth has year to open-ended ocean exploration. Albeen found unfathomable." Nonetheless, though not yet funded at that level, the OfSir John Ross had conducted systematic fice of Ocean Exploration was created withsoundings on his voyage to Baffin Bay in in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 181 7-18, as later did Lt. Charles Wilkes, Administration (NOAA). The author's inleader of the US Exploring Expedition , clusion of maritime heritage, the involve1838-42. American interest in the oceans ment of humans with the seas and inland
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SEA HISTORY 112, AUTUMN 2005
waterways, elevates the cultural element as an important complement to marine science. Cultural resources, including submerged resources, are incorporated in the mission and research programs of Ocean Exploration and also NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries Program. Fathoming the Oceans is not only an excellent read but a pathfinder through the history of oceanography, which indeed "remains a science whose relationship to political and cultural interests continues to be dynamic." TIMOTHY
J. RUNYAN
Greenville, North Carolina
That Anvil of Our Sou/,s by David Poyer (S imon and Schuster, New York, 2005, 414pp, ISBN 0-684-87135; $25hc) That Anvil of Our Souls, a novel of the historic battle between Monitor and Merrimack (Virginia), is the third volume of David Payer's fictional "Civil War at Sea" cycle. Poyer created a throng of Yankee and Confederate characters in his first two Civi l War maritime adventures, Fire on the ~ters and A Country of Our Own. That Anvil of Our Souls moves his surviving characters plus a few more through the most extraordinary naval engagement of the Civil War. Poyer, a master storyteller, creates "you are there" scenes surrounding the construction and conflict of Monitor and Merrimack through his characters in a framework of historical figures like Ericsson, Mallory, Seward, Stanton, and Welles. The story interlaces governmental interferences, engineering problems, attempted bribes, an impending hanging for piracy, spy searches, and an escaped slave's struggle with his past and newly-found freedom. Payer's characters create a plausible tale for one of the most significant conflicts in American naval history. That Anvil of Our Souls appears purposely written in an old-fashioned style, giving the impression that it is contemporary to the period. The author frequently employs unusual terminology or outdated definitions of words. Stunted sentences or 43