Thermobatometre on appareil pour mesurer la temperature de la mer a de grandes profundeurs

Artist Charles Alexandre Lesueur (1778-1846)

Engraver Francois Martin Testard (French)

Date1807

Object number00001479

NameEngraving

MediumColoured engraving on paper

DimensionsOverall: 337 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionColoured engraving of three instruments titled 'Physique.Thermobatometre on appareil pour mesurer la temperature de la mer a de grandes profundeurs', ('Apparatus for measuring ocean temperatures at great depths'). Plate XL from 'Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes ... Partie Historique' by Francois Peron, the account of Captain Nicolas Baudin's expedition to Australia.HistoryFrancois Peron (1775-1810) was a French naturalist and physicist who accompanied a French circumnavigation of the globe in 1800-1804. Officially assigned as a trainee zoologoist to the expediation, Peron's interest extended to many other areas of science. One such area was the study of water temperatures at different depths. Due to the relative newness of the field of oceanography, Peron had to devise much of his measuring equipment himself and later commissioned instrument makers in Paris to create stronger versions of his original designs. Significance"To my mind, Peron deserves further recognition for his pioneering place in the history of oceanography. His work on seawater temperatures, for example, has particular resonance today, because ocean temperature studies have provided key baseline indicators in the debate over one of the most important issues facing humanity: global warming and climate change. Determined to use his shipboard time to the fullest, he not only recorded the gradual rise in the surface temperature of the sea after his departure from France in October 1800, but also sought to compare the temperature of the sea at different depths."

Edward Duyker - 'Francois Peron, an Impetuous Life of the Naturalist and Voyager', 2006