Histoire physique de la mer : Ouvrage enrichi de figures dessinées d'après le naturel

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Marsili (1658-1730), a founder of the Accademia delle Scienze dell'Instituto di Bologna, combined his love of travel wiht the sharp eye of an observer imbued with the Galilian method.

The first treatise on oceanography, HISTOIRE PHYSIQUE DE LA MER treatedproblems which until then had been veiled by error and legend. Marsili examined every aspect of the subject: the morphology of the basin and relationships between the lands under and above water: the water's properties (color, temperature, salinity) and its motion (waves, currents, tides); and the biology of the sea, which foretold the advent of marine botany. Marsili was the precursor of the systematic oceanographic exploration that was to begin half a century later with the famous voyage of the Endeavor.