Reflections on the knowledge of shallow waters

Abstract

This essay traces the trajectory of the conceptual and representational history of maritime and riverain littorals across time and space, as discussed in the case studies presented in this Focus section. From late medieval Chinese cartography to modern hydrographical engineering, the piece addresses the diverse contexts in which scientific questions were formulated and problem solutions sought. The chronological progression guides the reader from the premodern cartographic depiction of shallow waters to an early modern European exploration of the life of the littoral to the emergence of modern scientific formulations on an oceanic scale and, finally, to the colonial and postcolonial collisions of science, politics, and law. Arabic sources on traditional Arabic navigation in the Indian Ocean provide examples that add to our knowledge of Chinese and European hydrographic concepts and practices.