Matthew Fontaine Maury, Father of Oceanography

"Matthew Fontaine Maury focused light on the ills of a clique-ridden Navy, charted sea lanes and bested Great Britain's admiralty in securing the fastest, safest routes to India and Australia. He helped with the laying of the transatlantic cable, forcefully advocated Southern rights, preached Manifest Destiny and revolutionized warfare in perfecting electronically detonated mines"--