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Current Exhibition:The Grand Tour and Development of Tourism, 1600 to 1900 October 4, 2011 - April 28, 2012Curator: Yolanda Theunissen, University of Southern Maine(continued) |
(click on image to view in greater detail) | Benjamin Franklin American, 1706-1790 A Chart of the Gulf Stream Copper engraving, 20.7cm x 25.5cm In: Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: Robert Atkien, 1786) |
A Chart of the Gulf StreamEarly explorers of the North American coast were quick to note the Gulf Stream, with its swiftness of current, distinctive color and temperature. But it remained until nearly the end of the eighteenth century before the general path of the Gulf Stream was worked out, and realized to be one part of the large gyre of current in the North Atlantic. Two men, William De Brahm (Surveyor General of the Southern Coast of North America), and Benjamin Franklin, working independently both published charts showing the path of the Gulf Stream. Of the two, Franklin's chart is better known. As noted in 1606 by the French historian, Marc Lescarbot, the key to determining position of the Gulf Stream is the warmth of its water. During voyages taken in 1775, 1776, and 1785, Franklin took daily water-temperature readings. In 1786 he published the results of his research, with a new map of the Gulf Stream that is displayed here. |
