First published in 1989, Eric L. Mills’s comprehensive history of biological oceanography has been praised as ‘superb’ (BioScience) and ‘proof that history need not be dull’ (The Northern Mariner). This first history of the field, which chronicles the scientific work and creativity of its chief contributors, tells a riveting
story that is far from narrowly scientific and thoroughly accessible to general readers.

Mills shows how the work and ideas of the main actors are inseparable from some seemingly unrelated factors, including Prussian imperialism, agricultural chemistry, microbiology, and the problems of German universities. Mills also illustrates the significant roles played in the field’s development by the failures of commercial fisheries, the development of analytical chemistry, the establishment of international scientific organizations, and sheer scientific curiosity.

This new edition of Biological Oceanography includes a fresh introduction by the author, as well as an original foreword by noted oceanographer John Cullen. It makes an excellent companion to Mills’s recent history of mathematical and physical oceanography, the multi-award-winning and widely acclaimed The Fluid Envelope of Our Planet.

Eric L. Mills is a professor emeritus in the Department of Oceanography at Dalhousie University and former director of the History of Science and Technology Program at the University of King’s College. He is the winner of the Jehuda Neumann Memorial Prize for the History of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography from the Royal Meteorological Society.

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‘The book is a must-read for everyone interested in biological oceanography and meets a high standard of scholarship.’

Science

‘A richly detailed and yet accessible look at the development of biological oceanography.’

Isis

‘Eric L. Mills’s Biological Oceanography gives proof that history need not be dull … He writes with ease and grace, and with the characters at his disposal he tells a fine story.’

The Northern Mariner

‘[A] superb treatise on the early history of biological oceanography … Mills has constructed an enormously appealing, readable, and intellectual history of biological oceanography that transcends the subject area and delves into the philosophy of science and its management.’

BioScience