Preface 



Oceanography, the science of the ocean, has undergone a rather rapid development 

 during the last decades tending from a more descriptive science towards one working 

 according to exact mathematic-physical principles as appUed in the natural sciences. 

 Oceanography can be subdivided into two fundamentally different parts: (1) The 

 "biology of the oceans" and (2) the "physical oceanography". For the first, physical 

 oceanography can be looked upon as the scientific foundation, since the biology of 

 the oceans dealing with conditions and forms of life of all the Uving beings existing in 

 the oceans requires an exact knowledge of the environmental medium for these beings. 

 Physical oceanography in itself is a subpart of geophysical science. This book involves 

 physical oceanography only, the scientific progress of which has been especially fast 

 during the last 50 years owing to technical improvement of the working methods used 

 on oceanographic research vessels and also to the extensive widening of our physical 

 and chemical views about the phenomena occurring in the sea. 



The start of the manuscript work of this book goes rather far back, to the time 

 when the scientific results of the German Atlantic Expedition on the research vessel 

 Meteor 1925-1927 were almost completed. However, these first compilations took a 

 considerable time and served as the basis of extensive oceanographic lectures at the 

 Institute and Museum of Oceanography (Meereskunde) at the University of Berhn 

 (1925-1945), assembled together in book form. The book was completed in its first 

 form at the end of the Second World War (1945). Of course, at the time, it was im- 

 possible to achieve a publication of the work. Consequently the first manuscript has 

 been rearranged several times and has, on these occasions, been revised rather extensive- 

 ly and completed according to the momentary state of oceanographic research. From 

 one point of view this circumstance may be looked upon as an advantage for the 

 presentation, but from the other as a drawback for the internal uniformity of the book, 

 since it was unavoidable sometimes to present some subjects shorter and others longer 

 than needed. However, a compromise was always tried and found. 



More recently (1957), after some failures to achieve pubhcation of the book, two 

 institutions took interest : On the one hand the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in 

 Bonn, Germany, proposed a generous fund for a publishing house, Dietrich-Reimer, 

 Adrews & Steiner, Berhn. On the other hand the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institu- 

 tion, U.S.A. which by way of the Office of Naval Research, U.S. Navy, arranged with 

 the Pergamon Press, Oxford (Capt. I. R. Maxwell) the pubhcation of the book in the 

 Enghsh language. There were many reasons favouring a pubhcation in the English 

 language. Certainly international oceanographic science was hoped to be better 

 served because of the larger audience possible. 



It was doubtful, besides, if the large funds necessary for publication could have 

 been raised from the German side. 



These circumstances required a translation of the German text into Enghsh. Before 

 approaching this large task, the work had again to be revised completely and brought 



IX 



