To master the boundless sea : the U.S. Navy, the marine environment, and the cartography of empire /

Smith, Jason W. 1982-

To master the boundless sea : the U.S. Navy, the marine environment, and the cartography of empire / Jason W. Smith. - Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, (c)2018. - 1 online resource (269 pages) - Flows, migrations, and exchanges .

Includes bibliographies and index.

Cover; Contents; List of Illustrations; Introduction: The Boundless Sea; 1. Wilderness of Waters; 2. Empire of Commerce and Science; 3. The Common Highway; 4. Conquering Old Ocean; 5. 'Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea; 6. Making War upon the Chart; Epilogue: Controlling the Great Common; Acknowledgments; Notes; Bibliography; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; U; W

"As the United States grew into an empire in the late nineteenth century, notions like 'sea power' derived not only from fleets, bases, and decisive battles, but also from a scientific effort to understand and master the ocean environment. Beginning in the early nineteenth century and concluding in the first years of the twentieth, Jason W. Smith tells the story of the rise of the U.S. Navy and the emergence of American ocean empire through its struggle to control nature. In vividly told sketches of exploration, naval officers, war, and, most significantly, the ocean environment, Smith draws together insights from environmental, maritime, military, and naval history, and the history of science and cartography, placing the U.S. Navy's scientific efforts within a broader cultural context"--



9781469640464 9781469640457


United States. Navy --History.


Nautical charts--History.--United States
Cartography.
Imperialism and science.


Electronic Books.

E182 / .T663 2018