Consilience in Oceanographic an.PDF

The concept of consilience, describing the 'jumping together' of different scientific disciplines, and recently revived in a book of the same title, authored by B.D. Wilson, is presented, along with some of its implications for work conducted by oceanographers, marine biologists and fisheries and social scientists in the Gulf of Guinea area. It is suggested that maintenance and analysis of time series data, remote sensing of marine primary production, trophic mass balance modelling, and analysis of multi-sectoral coastal transects are eminently consilient in that they not only invite interdisciplinary co-operation, but also impose standards and provide common currencies that makes such co-operation meaningful.