Repository: UIHistories Project: SWE - Proceedings of the First International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists [PAGE 218]

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THE OCEAN--CRADLE OF LIFE AND CHALLENGE TO SCIENTISTS By Mrs. Zinaida A. Filatova Professor and Oceanologist, Academy of Sciences Moscow, U.S.S.R.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to greet you, women engineers and scientific workers from many countries, who are gathered together for the first time at this forum to discuss many questions that interest us all. OCEANOLOGY AND ITS POTENTIAL I have the pleasure to represent a very rare speciality for women -oceanology, the science of studying the ocean. It is well known that seas and oceans cover two-thirds of the surface of our earth, surrounding all the continents. The world ocean is so immense that perhaps our planet could justifiably be called the "Ocean" rather than the "Earth". The ocean is such an organic part of the life of our planet that it represents one of the most important factors in nature. Thanks to the presence of such a mighty water layer (hydrosphere), the existence of an air layer around the earth (atmosphere) also became possible. The ocean and the atmosphere, in their turn, made possible the origin and development of life itself on our planet. The regions of dry land and of ocean populated by living organisms are called the "biosphere" or "living sphere" of the earth. The ocean is justly called the "cradle of life"; because of its remarkable characteristics the sea water is extremely favorable for the development of life. There are more than 30 chemical elements dissolved in sea water, the greater number of them being necessary for the existence, nourishment and respiration of everything that is alive. Sea water heats up gradually and gives off warmth gradually; it easily penetrates the tissues of animals and vegetation. All of these characteristics make it much easier for organisms to exist in sea water. The ocean, in fact, determines all the conditions of existence on the earth's surface. All the varied changes in the weather, the humidity of the tropics and the dryness of the deserts, the destructive typhoons, the ice of the Arctic and Antarctic -- all that, after all, is determined by the interaction of the ocean, the earth's atmosphere and solar radiation. So it is obvious how immensely significant is the study of the ocean. Oceanology is the study of the water layer of our planet -the world ocean. Studying at first the different aspects of the nature of the ocean -- physical, chemical, geological and biological -- and then pooling the results obtained, this science considers the ocean as a whole, as one natural phenomenon, studying the processes going on in it in all their complexity and interaction. For a correct understanding of the general picture of our planet and all the processes taking place in it, in the present, the past, and the future, it is impossible to proceed without deep study of the ocean which covers the biggest part of

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