Matthew Fontaine Maury
Scientific career
Scientific career
-----------------

Maury's seagoing days ended abruptly at the age of 33 after he broke his right leg in a [stagecoach](/wiki/Stagecoach "Stagecoach") accident. After that he studied naval meteorology, navigation, and charting the winds and currents. He told his family that his work was inspired by Psalm 8, "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands... and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas."

As officer\-in\-charge of the United States Navy office in [Washington, DC](/wiki/Washington%2C_DC "Washington, DC"), called the "Depot of Charts and Instruments," the young lieutenant became a librarian of the many unorganized log books and records in 1842\. On his initiative, he sought to improve seamanship by organizing the information in his office and instituting a reporting system among the nation's shipmasters to gather further information on sea conditions and observations. The product of his work was international recognition and the publication in 1847 of *Wind and Current Chart of the North Atlantic*, causing the change of purpose and renaming of the depot to the [United States Naval Observatory](/wiki/United_States_Naval_Observatory "United States Naval Observatory") and Hydrographical Office in 1854\. He held that position until his resignation in April 1861\. Maury was one of the principal advocates for founding a national observatory and he appealed to a science enthusiast and former U.S. president, Representative [John Quincy Adams](/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams "John Quincy Adams"), for the creation of what would eventually become the Naval Observatory. Maury occasionally hosted Adams, who enjoyed astronomy as an avocation, at the Naval Observatory. Concerned that Maury always had a long trek to and from his home on upper Pennsylvania Avenue, Adams introduced an appropriations bill that funded a Superintendent's House on the Observatory grounds. Adams thus felt no constraint in regularly stopping by for a look through the facility's telescope.

As a sailor, Maury noted numerous lessons that ship masters had learned about the effects of adverse winds and drift currents on the path of a ship. The captains recorded the lessons faithfully in their logbooks, which were then forgotten. At the Observatory, Maury uncovered an enormous collection of thousands of old ships' logs and charts in storage in trunks dating back to the start of the U.S. Navy. He pored over the documents, collecting information on winds, calms, and currents for all seas in all seasons. His dream was to put that information in the hands of all captains.

Maury's work on [ocean currents](/wiki/Ocean_currents "Ocean currents") and investigations of the whaling industry led him to suspect that a warm\-water, ice\-free northern passage existed between the Atlantic and Pacific. He thought he detected a warm surface current pushing into the Arctic, and logs of old whaling ships indicated that whales killed in the Atlantic bore harpoons from ships in the Pacific (and vice versa). The frequency of these occurrences seemed unlikely if the whales had traveled around [Cape Horn](/wiki/Cape_Horn "Cape Horn").

Lieutenant Maury published his *Wind and Current Chart of the North Atlantic*, which showed sailors how to use the ocean's currents and winds to their advantage, drastically reducing the length of voyages. His *Sailing Directions* and *Physical Geography of the Seas and Its Meteorology* remain standard. Maury's uniform system of recording [synoptic oceanographic data](/wiki/Joint_Typhoon_Warning_Center "Joint Typhoon Warning Center") was adopted by navies and [merchant marines](/wiki/Merchant_marine "Merchant marine") around the world and was used to develop charts for all the major trade routes.

[thumb\|Maury in 1855, engraving by [Lemuel Punderson](/wiki/Lemuel_Punderson "Lemuel Punderson")](/wiki/File:Matthew_Fontaine_Maury-wmm6.jpg "Matthew Fontaine Maury-wmm6.jpg")

Maury's Naval Observatory team included midshipmen assigned to him: [James Melville Gilliss](/wiki/James_Melville_Gilliss "James Melville Gilliss"), Lieutenants [John Mercer Brooke](/wiki/John_Mercer_Brooke "John Mercer Brooke"), [William Lewis Herndon](/wiki/William_Lewis_Herndon "William Lewis Herndon"), [Lardner Gibbon](/wiki/Lardner_Gibbon "Lardner Gibbon"), [Isaac Strain](/wiki/Isaac_Strain "Isaac Strain"), John "Jack" Minor Maury II of the USN [1854 Darien Exploration Expedition](/wiki/s:Darien_Exploring_Expedition_%281854%29 "Darien Exploring Expedition (1854)"), and others. Their duty at the observatory was always temporary, and new men had to be trained repeatedly. Thus Lt. Maury was simultaneously employed with astronomical and nautical work, as well as constantly training new temporary men to assist in these works. As his reputation grew, the competition among young midshipmen to be assigned to work with him intensified. Thus, he always had able assistants.

Maury advocated for naval reform, including a school for the Navy that would rival the Army's [United States Military Academy](/wiki/United_States_Military_Academy "United States Military Academy"). That reform was heavily pushed by Maury's "Scraps from the Lucky Bag" and other articles printed in the newspapers, bringing about many changes in the Navy, including his finally fulfilled dream of the creation of the [United States Naval Academy](/wiki/United_States_Naval_Academy "United States Naval Academy").

During its first 1848 meeting, he helped launch the [American Association for the Advancement of Science](/wiki/American_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Science "American Association for the Advancement of Science") (AAAS).

In 1849, Maury spoke out on the need for a transcontinental railroad to join the [Eastern United States](/wiki/Eastern_United_States "Eastern United States") to [California](/wiki/California "California"). He recommended a southerly route with [Memphis, Tennessee](/wiki/Memphis%2C_Tennessee "Memphis, Tennessee"), as the eastern terminus, as it is equidistant from [Lake Michigan](/wiki/Lake_Michigan "Lake Michigan") and the [Gulf of Mexico](/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexico "Gulf of Mexico"). He argued that a southerly route running through [Texas](/wiki/Texas "Texas") would avoid winter snows and could open up commerce with the northern states of [Mexico](/wiki/Mexico "Mexico"). Maury also advocated construction of a railroad across the [Isthmus of Panama](/wiki/Isthmus_of_Panama "Isthmus of Panama").

For his scientific endeavors, Maury was elected to the [American Philosophical Society](/wiki/American_Philosophical_Society "American Philosophical Society") in 1852\.


What were some of the potential benefits of building a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama?