Re-inventing the Ship by Don Leggett Richard Dunn

Author:Don Leggett, Richard Dunn [Don Leggett, Richard Dunn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781409483090
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Published: 2013-07-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Where is Bathybius haeckelii? The Ship as a Scientific Instrument and a Space of Science

Anne-Flore Laloë

Introduction: The Ship as a Space of Science

While the ship (in all its shapes and sizes) has always been essential in the exploration of the ocean, the nineteenth century saw it become truly instrumental as a space of science. Furthermore, the ship also superseded the role of scientific instrument that it had occupied during the eighteenth century.1 Whereas in the eighteenth century the ship was notable for its ability to ‘explore new worlds and make images of them’, by the nineteenth century it had also become a scientific space in its own right.2 Indeed a number of ships became equipped with laboratories, and new spatial arrangements had to be made to accommodate scientific apparatus and crews. These arrangements were rarely straightforward and the questions they raise are central to understanding the multifaceted ways in which the ship became fully re-invented as a space of science.

This chapter examines the place of the ship in nineteenth century science, extending Richard Sorrenson’s argument in relation to the eighteenth century by considering the spatialities and materialities of the ship as a space of science in the nineteenth century. As a focus it will discuss the story of the ‘non-discovery’ of Bathybius haeckelii,3 considering each of the specific spaces in which its story took place to highlight the interrelations between space, science and the ship. This will put emphasis on the importance of the ship as a both a crucial space of science and as being truly re-invented as a key player in the maritime world, moving away from the notion of the ship as solely a transporter or passive player. First, I introduce Bathybius, drawing from its story the importance of the ship throughout its development. I then focus on the relationship between Bathybius, the laboratory, and the ship as a space of science, critically engaging with notions of scientific practices and venues of science. This will finally lead to a discussion of specific issues linked to the consequential cohabitation of crews and scientists aboard ships in the nineteenth century. As a whole, this chapter aims to further our understanding of ships as active spaces at the core of maritime history; it therefore contributes to current scholarship on the ship by locating it within historiographic understandings of oceanic science in the nineteenth century and bringing to the fore the complexity of its spatial and material characteristics within the enterprise of making science at sea.

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