Matthew Fontaine Maury
1806–73
American naval officer, astronomer, hydrographer, and meteorologist. Superintendent of the Depot of Charts and Instruments and of the Naval Observatory, Washington, 1841. Published a series of wind and current charts with sailing instructions for all the oceans. His 1855 study, The physical geography of the sea, laid the foundation for the science of oceanography. Resigned in 1861 and was commissioned in the Confederate States Navy. Agent in Britain for the Confederate government from 1862. Professor of meteorology, Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, 1869–73.
Sources
ANB
DAB
DSB.
Bibliography
ANB: American national biography. Edited by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. 24 vols. and supplement. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1999–2002.
DAB: Dictionary of American biography. Under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies. 20 vols., index, and 10 supplements. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons; Simon & Schuster Macmillan. London: Oxford University Press; Humphrey Milford. 1928–95.
DSB: Dictionary of scientific biography. Edited by Charles Coulston Gillispie and Frederic L. Holmes. 18 vols. including index and supplements. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1970–90.
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