• Email Bluesky Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Whatsapp X The Wake of HMSChallenger Gillen D’Arcy WoodPrinceton Univ. • Press(2025) Similar to the global voyage of naturalist Charles Darwin on the HMSBeaglein the 1830s, HMSChallenger’s 1872-76 oceanographic expedition left a vast scientific legacy - although one less familiar than its predecessor’s. • The HMSChallenger’s crew members are “long gone, but the ship’s imprint is still on the world’s oceans”, concludes Gillen D’Arcy Wood, an environmental historian. • Wood’s book revives the importance of the expedition’s “floating marine laboratory” and reveals its relevance to the challenges the oceans face today. • Climate by Proxy Melissa CharenkoUniv. • Chicago Press(2025) “Climate defies easy definition,” writes historian Melissa Charenko in her complex yet accessible book on the scientific study of the climate during the twentieth century.

Article Summaries:

  • The article highlights four recent nonfiction titles that revisit historical scientific endeavors and their relevance today. Gillen D’Arcy Wood’s book restores the legacy of the 1872‑76 HMS Challenger expedition, framing it as a “floating marine laboratory” that still informs contemporary ocean issues. Melissa Charenko’s work examines twentieth‑century climate science, emphasizing the need to merge physical and historical proxies with modern computing. Jamie Woodward offers a concise Earth history, using Stephen Gould’s visual timeline to illustrate the planet’s 4.5‑billion‑year evolution while dedicating a quarter of the text to human history and Earth’s five spheres. Ken Stern’s “Healthy to 100” appears briefly, suggesting a focus on longevity and wellness.
  • Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. Similar to the global voyage of naturalist Charles Darwin on the HMS Beagle in the 1830s, HMS Challenger’s 1872-76 oceanographic expedition left a vast scientific legacy - although one less familiar than its predecessor’s. The HMS Challenger’s crew members are “long

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