Neptune's Laboratory: Fantasy, Fear, and Science at Sea
|
Harvard University Press, 2019
We have long studied and described the oceans, seeking “to pierce the profundity” of their depths. In studying the history of marine science, we also learn about ourselves. Neptune’s Laboratory explores the ways in which scientists, politicians, and publics have invoked ocean environments in imagining the fate of humanity and of the planet—conjuring ideal-world fantasies alongside fears of our species’ weakness and ultimate demise. Oceans gained new prominence in the public imagination in the early nineteenth century as scientists pierced the depths and marine fisheries were industrialized. Concerns that fish stocks could be exhausted soon emerged. In Europe these fears gave rise to internationalist aspirations, as scientists sought to conduct research on an oceanwide scale and nations worked together to protect their fisheries. The internationalist program for marine research waned during World War I, only to be revived in the interwar period and again in the 1960s. During the Cold War, oceans were variously recast as battlefields, post-apocalyptic living spaces, and utopian frontiers. The ocean today has become a site of continuous observation and experiment, as probes ride the ocean currents and autonomous and remotely operated vehicles peer into the abyss. Embracing our fears, fantasies, and scientific investigations, I tell the story of our relationship with the seas. |
Neptune's Laboratory - News and updates
- An early review was published in Nature, Vol. 574 (17 October 2019)
- Popular Science published an excerpt from Neptune's Laboratory on the mid-twentieth-century effort to design and build “an undersea utopia”—even as, far above, astronauts were taking their first steps on the moon.
- A review was published on January 29th, 2020 in Issues in Science and Technology.
- Interview on CBC Radio Newfoundland & Labrador, On The Go. Listen here.
- A review was published on February 24th, 2020 by Global Maritime History.
- A review was published in the April 2020 issue of the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings.
- Interview on the history of science and exploration podcast Time to Eat the Dogs. Listen here.
- Online book talk hosted by 'The Greenhouse' Environmental Humanities Initiative, University of Stavanger. Watch here.
- Discussant in an "Ocean History" panel as part of the BSHS Global Digital History of Science Festival. Watch here.
- A review was published in The Mariner's Mirror [106(3), 2020].
- A review was published in Sea History Magazine (Summer 2020).
- A review was published in the Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (22 July 2020).
- Shortlisted for the Mountbatten Award for Best Book, Maritime Foundation (October 2020)
- Honourable Mention, 2020 Keith Matthews Best Book Award, Canadian Nautical Research Society.
- A review was published in the Isis journal of the History of Science Society, 112(1), 2021.
- A review was published in the British Journal for History of Science, March 2021.
- Interview with Robert Kunzig for his article on Prince Albert 1st of Monaco published in National Geographic online.
- A review was published in Centaurus: An International Journal of the History of Science and its Cultural Aspects (April 2021).
Book Chapters
“Oceans,” Handbook of the Historiography of the Earth and Environmental Sciences, ed. by Elena Aronova, David Sepkoski, and Marco Tamborini (Springer, forthcoming).
“Science: Histories, Imaginations, Spaces,” The Routledge Handbook of Ocean Space, ed. by Kimberley Peters, Jon Anderson, Andrew Davies, and Philip Steinberg (Routledge, 2022).
“Legitimizing Marine Field Science: Albert Ist of Monaco,” Understanding Field Science Institutions, ed. by Patience Schell, Christer Nordlund, Karl Grandin, and Helena Ekerholm (Science History Publications, 2017).
"The Hybrid Shore: The Marine Stations Movement and Scientific Uses of the Littoral (1843 - 1910)," Soundings and Crossings: Doing Science at Sea, 1800 - 1970, ed. by Katharine Anderson and Helen Rozwadowski (Science History Publications, 2016).
“Science: Histories, Imaginations, Spaces,” The Routledge Handbook of Ocean Space, ed. by Kimberley Peters, Jon Anderson, Andrew Davies, and Philip Steinberg (Routledge, 2022).
“Legitimizing Marine Field Science: Albert Ist of Monaco,” Understanding Field Science Institutions, ed. by Patience Schell, Christer Nordlund, Karl Grandin, and Helena Ekerholm (Science History Publications, 2017).
"The Hybrid Shore: The Marine Stations Movement and Scientific Uses of the Littoral (1843 - 1910)," Soundings and Crossings: Doing Science at Sea, 1800 - 1970, ed. by Katharine Anderson and Helen Rozwadowski (Science History Publications, 2016).
Journal Articles
"Deep Horizons: Canada's underwater habitat program and vertical dimensions of marine sovereignty," Centaurus, Special Issue: Verticality in the History of Science, (2020). Click here for a link to text.
"When Pasteurian Science Went to Sea: The Beginnings of Marine Microbiology" [co-authored with Erik Dücker], Journal of the History of Biology, Vol. 51, Issue 1 (2018), 107 - 133. Click here for a link to text.
"The Capture and Curation of the Cannibal 'Vendovi': Reality and Representation of a Pacific Frontier," The Journal of Pacific History, Vol. 49, Issue 3 (2014), 255 - 282. Click here for a link to text.
“The Ship as Laboratory: Making Space for Field Science at Sea,” Journal of the History of Biology, Vol. 47, Issue 3 (2014), 333 - 362. Click here for a link to text.
“From the Pacific to the Patent Office: The US Exploring Expedition and the Origins of America’s First National Museum,” The Journal of the History of Collections, Vol. 23, Issue 1 (2011), 49 - 74. Click here for a link to text.
“Uncharted Seas: European-Polynesian Encounters in the Age of Discovery,” Terrae Incognitae, Vol. 40 (2008). Click here to link to text. *Winner of the 2008 Society for the History of Discoveries Essay Prize*
"When Pasteurian Science Went to Sea: The Beginnings of Marine Microbiology" [co-authored with Erik Dücker], Journal of the History of Biology, Vol. 51, Issue 1 (2018), 107 - 133. Click here for a link to text.
"The Capture and Curation of the Cannibal 'Vendovi': Reality and Representation of a Pacific Frontier," The Journal of Pacific History, Vol. 49, Issue 3 (2014), 255 - 282. Click here for a link to text.
“The Ship as Laboratory: Making Space for Field Science at Sea,” Journal of the History of Biology, Vol. 47, Issue 3 (2014), 333 - 362. Click here for a link to text.
“From the Pacific to the Patent Office: The US Exploring Expedition and the Origins of America’s First National Museum,” The Journal of the History of Collections, Vol. 23, Issue 1 (2011), 49 - 74. Click here for a link to text.
“Uncharted Seas: European-Polynesian Encounters in the Age of Discovery,” Terrae Incognitae, Vol. 40 (2008). Click here to link to text. *Winner of the 2008 Society for the History of Discoveries Essay Prize*
Book Reviews
Review of Norman Polmar and Lee J. Mathers’ ‘Opening the Great Depths: The Bathyscaph Trieste and the Pioneers of Undersea Exploration,’ H-Environment (February, 2022). URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=56757
Review of ‘Why Study Biology by the Sea?’ Ed. by Karl S. Matlin, Jane Maienschein, and Rachel A. Ankeny, Pacific Circle Bulletin (April, 2021).
Review of Ann Elias' "Coral Empire: Underwater Oceans, Colonial Tropics, Visual Modernity." Environmental History (first available online 12 February 2020).
Review of Samuel A. Robinson's "Ocean Science and the British Cold War State." Isis, Vol. 110, No. 4 (2019).
Review of Helen Rozwadowski's "Vast Expanses: A History of the Oceans." Earth Sciences History, Vol. 38, Issue 2 (2019).
Review of Jeremy Vetter's "Field Life: Science in the American West During the Railroad Era." Annals of Science (first online 14 June 2017).
Review of James Fairhead's "The Captain and the 'Cannibal': An Epic Story of Exploration, Kidnapping, and the Broadway Stage." Journal of Pacific History (December 2015).
Review of Brian Rouleau's "With Sails Whitening Every Sea: Mariners and the Making of an American Maritime Empire." Published online by H-War (June 2015).
Review of ‘Why Study Biology by the Sea?’ Ed. by Karl S. Matlin, Jane Maienschein, and Rachel A. Ankeny, Pacific Circle Bulletin (April, 2021).
Review of Ann Elias' "Coral Empire: Underwater Oceans, Colonial Tropics, Visual Modernity." Environmental History (first available online 12 February 2020).
Review of Samuel A. Robinson's "Ocean Science and the British Cold War State." Isis, Vol. 110, No. 4 (2019).
Review of Helen Rozwadowski's "Vast Expanses: A History of the Oceans." Earth Sciences History, Vol. 38, Issue 2 (2019).
Review of Jeremy Vetter's "Field Life: Science in the American West During the Railroad Era." Annals of Science (first online 14 June 2017).
Review of James Fairhead's "The Captain and the 'Cannibal': An Epic Story of Exploration, Kidnapping, and the Broadway Stage." Journal of Pacific History (December 2015).
Review of Brian Rouleau's "With Sails Whitening Every Sea: Mariners and the Making of an American Maritime Empire." Published online by H-War (June 2015).
Other Writing
"Foreword to 'On Some Organisms Living at Great Depths in the North Atlantic Ocean,'" [co-authored with Rika Anderson] in Compendium of Astrobiology Classics, Perspectives on Foundational Texts (Seattle: Habitable Press, 2019).
"Journey to the Bottom of the Atlantic," Lateral Magazine (December 2018).
"A Letter from Japan: Internationalism and Pacific Oceanography in the Early 20th c.," The Bulletin of the Pacific Circle (April 2014).
"How might marine scientists and historians benefit from collaboration?," Deep - Sea Life, Issue 2 (October 2013).
I have written blog posts for the International Commission for the History of Oceanography, a directory of my posts can be found here.
"Journey to the Bottom of the Atlantic," Lateral Magazine (December 2018).
"A Letter from Japan: Internationalism and Pacific Oceanography in the Early 20th c.," The Bulletin of the Pacific Circle (April 2014).
"How might marine scientists and historians benefit from collaboration?," Deep - Sea Life, Issue 2 (October 2013).
I have written blog posts for the International Commission for the History of Oceanography, a directory of my posts can be found here.
