Portal:Maps/Selected biography/11

Matthew Fontaine Maury (January 14, 1806 – February 1, 1873), USN -  American astronomer, astrophysicist, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, educator.

He was nicknamed Pathfinder of the Seas and Father of modern Oceanography and Naval Meteorology and later, Scientist of the Seas, due to the publication of his extensive works in his books, especially  Physical Geography of the Sea 1855, the first extensive and comprehensive book on oceanography to be published. Maury made many important new contributions to charting winds and ocean currents, including pathways for ships at sea. Maury's work on ocean currents led him to advocate his theory of the Northwest Passage, as well as the hypothesis that an area in the ocean near the North Pole is occasionally free of ice.