摘要：Every year the Earth seems to get smaller. Faster transportation, overnight mail, and instant digital communication encourage this illusion. As an expansive and imposing geographic feature, the World Ocean once inspired an awe and foreboding that, at times, overwhelmed both people and ambition. Today our still awesome marine environment seems more familiar, falls within the enlarged scope of human perspective, and has become an important economic and environmental asset. As international concern for our oceans grows and more people realize the vital role of our oceans, their general interest in maritime history also grows. Naval history, of course, was born on the sea and is just one facet of the broad subject of maritime history. Yet, during the past fifty years, naval history as a discipline has radically changed, as has our impression of the world. Naval scholarship has become more comprehensive. We have expanded beyond the "great leader" and "shot and shell" approach to our discipline. As historians we have broadened our vistas and now examine diverse themes such as logistics, economics, technology, social and cultural topics and comparative studies
