In the first half of the nineteenth century, the British sought to master the physical properties of the oceans; in the second half, they lorded over large portions of the oceans’ outer rim. The dominance of Her Majesty’s navy was due in no small part to collaboration between the British Admiralty, the maritime community, and the scientific elite. Together, they transformed the vast emptiness of the ocean into an ordered and bounded grid.  In the process, the modern scientist emerged. Science itself expanded from a limited and local undertaking receiving parsimonious state support to worldwide and relatively well financed research involving a hierarchy of practitioners.
Analyzing the economic, political, social, and scientific changes on which the British sailed to power, Tides of History shows how the British Admiralty collaborated closely not only with scholars, such as William Whewell, but also with the maritime community  —sailors, local tide table makers, dockyard officials, and harbormasters—in order to systematize knowledge of the world’s oceans, coasts, ports, and estuaries.  As Michael S. Reidy points out, Britain’s security and prosperity as a maritime nation depended on its ability to maneuver through the oceans and dominate coasts and channels. The practice of science and the rise of the scientist became inextricably linked to the process of European expansion.

Michael S. Reidy is associate professor in history and philosophy at Montana State University and coauthor, with Alan G. Gross and Joseph E. Harmon, of Communicating Science: The Scientific Article from the 17th Century to the Present.

"Tides of History provides a splendid prism through which we may view the wider world of Victorian science. . . . Historians of science will have cause to heap praise on this book, but so too will the non-specialists. The author's splendid writing style, at times appropriately Puckish, makes this work an accessible and enjoyable read."

"[The] work is thorough and scholarly. . . . A notable contribution to our understanding of the development of modern science."

"Tidal prediction is only a small part of science overall, yet this book is essential reading for historians of science and (maritime) administration."

"Reidy has made an important contribution to a little known aspect of the history of science. The tides now stand out as they should in the history of nineteenth century science."

"The book is well written and produced, making a valuable addition to the history of geophysics, to the biography of William Whewell, and to the story of collective scientific endeavor in the nineteenth century."

"Reidy's account is particularly valuable as a window into British empirical science. He explores its philosophical justification; its vision of the relationship of theory and observation and computation; its layers of participants; its arguments over funding, collaboration and the exact connection between art and science."

"[A] fascinating, significant and clearly presented story of the steps by which the early Victorians came to develop a scientific understanding of one of the many remarkable natural phenomena . .. the tides."