When one thinks about the universe and its endless depth, the ocean and marine life isn’t necessarily the next thing that comes to mind. These two areas seem quite contrasting at first thought. This planet’s bodies of water are teeming with life in the deepest parts, whereas outer space appears to be teeming with almost nothing.
Yet one thing these areas have in common is how much they have sparked human’s curiosity. Once we had settled, and become content with our knowledge of the land, we moved onto the seven seas. Dreams got bigger, and thoughts started rising about what may be beyond this atmosphere.
Helen Rozwadowski, associate professor of history at the University of Connecticut and director of the Maritime Studies program at the Avery Point campus, discussed these topics Oct. 23, in the Moulton Lounge in the Bartels Campus Center. Her discussion, titled “The Ocean and Outer Space Frontiers of Arthur C. Clarke,” was open to Honors students and the campus community.
In the 1950s and 1960s, after World War II, Americans knew that our country was a force to be reckoned with. With the war came a plethora of new technologies— penicillin, radar, nylon, and the atomic bomb. People placed trust and had confidence in science and technology. “Ideas that seem so outlandish now, seemed possible then,” Rozwadoski said. Writers were inspired by what seemed to be an exponential increase in possibilities and ideas.
Rozwadowski focused most of her presentation on Arthur Clarke, a science fiction writer. Clarke had scientific knowledge of the oceans and outer space, and incorporated it into his works of fiction. Clark was an avid believer in space travel, as much as he was a dedicated scuba diver, being known as the “prophet of the space age.”
Rozwadoski discussed how exploration of both space and the oceans came to be what technologies and people inspired it. She mentioned the invention of the Aqua Lung, a device that allowed humans to breathe underwater, and was thereby a turning point in sea exploration. The most interesting technological advancement discussed, which Rozwadowski herself agrees with, is milking of whales in prior centuries. This brought criticism from Buddhists, and the idea eventually fell through.
Rozwadowski herself studied English and Biology as an undergraduate, and it was in graduate school when she had a course regarding the History of Science. She had to complete fieldwork and was interested in oceanography. Rozwadowski spent time on a boat for six weeks studying maritime history and culture. She was always intrigued in both the scientific and cultural aspects of technological advances in ocean and space.
Fathoming the Ocean: The Discovery and Exploration of the Deep Sea is an award-winning book of hers, telling the story of how scientists and sailors of the 19th century began to explore the ocean’s depths. Rozwadowski writes on the beauty of the ocean as professed by writers, and its practical uses of warfare, exploration, and commerce. So far in her career, Rozwadowski has won the Ida and Henry Schuman Prize from the History of Science Society, and was awarded the William E. & Mary B. Ritter Fellowship of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She currently teaches at the University of Connecticut.
