Editing Albert I, Prince of Monaco (section)

==Oceanography, paleontology, geography==
Prince Albert I of Monaco devoted much of his life to the study of the sea and oceans,<ref>Antony Adler''', “Legitimizing Marine Field Science: Albert Ist of Monaco,”''' ''Understanding Field Science Institutions'', ed. by Patience Schell, Christer Nordlund, Karl Grandin, and Helena Ekerholm (Science History Publications / Watson Publishing International, 2017).157 - 191.</ref> and [[Foreign relations of Monaco|Monaco diplomats]] around the world forwarded scientific papers to him.<ref name=RE>{{cite news|title=Consul from Monaco|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lsEhAAAAIBAJ&dq=monaco%20united%20states%20consul&pg=3113%2C4771194|access-date=19 June 2013|newspaper=Reading Eagle|date=20 January 1901|page=7}}</ref> At 22&nbsp;years old, he embarked on a career in the then relatively new science of [[oceanography]]. Understanding the importance of the relationship between living creatures and their environment, he devised a number of techniques and instruments for measurement and exploration. Albert I was also the “instigator and promulgator” of the oceanographic science he contributed to create. He founded the [[Institut océanographique]], Foundation Albert I, Prince of Monaco in 1906, a private foundation recognized of public utility. It has two buildings: The Oceanographic Institute of Paris, now renamed Ocean House, and what became the world-renowned [[Oceanographic Museum]] of Monaco.<ref name="aslo">{{cite web| url=http://www.aslo.org/nice2009/museum.html| title=The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco| publisher=Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography| access-date=6 May 2013| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424110940/http://www.aslo.org/nice2009/museum.html| archive-date=24 April 2012}}</ref> This includes an [[aquarium]], a [[museum]], and a [[library]], with research facilities in Paris.
[[File:Hirondelle II-IMG 1808.jpg|thumb|Scale model of ''Hirondelle II''. On display at the [[Oceanographic Museum]].]]
He owned four, increasingly impressive research yachts, ''Hirondelle'', ''Princesse Alice'', ''Princesse Alice II'' and ''Hirondelle II''.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://yachts.monacoeye.com/files/category-royal-yachts.php| title=Monaco Yachts| publisher=Yachts MonacoEye| access-date=6 May 2013| archive-date=28 May 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528171836/http://yachts.monacoeye.com/files/category-royal-yachts.php| url-status=dead}}</ref> Accompanied by some of the world's leading marine scientists, he travelled the length and breadth of the Mediterranean,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.oceano.mc/en/presentation/the-oceanographic-museum| title=Career of a Navigator| publisher=Oceanographic Museum| access-date=6 May 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513040736/http://www.oceano.mc/en/presentation/the-oceanographic-museum| archive-date=13 May 2015| url-status=dead}}</ref> making numerous oceanographic studies, maps and charts. In 1896, on an oceanographic survey of the [[Azores]], he discovered the [[Princess Alice Bank]].

[[File:Map_of_Albert_I_Land_north.jpg|right|thumb|300 px|Map of the northern part of Albert I Land.]]
From an early age, Prince Albert I of Monaco evidenced a strong fascination for the [[polar regions]]. In the years 1898-1907 he made four scientific cruises to [[Svalbard]] on his yacht ''Princesse Alice''. His efforts are honored by the later naming of [[Albert I Land]] on [[Spitsbergen]].

The first cruise in the summer of 1898 was an [[oceanographic]]al and [[zoological]] reconnaissance, aimed mainly at adding to the collections of the [[Oceanographic Museum]] of Monaco, for which the construction had just started.

On the second expedition, in 1899, the focus was on the [[hydrography]] and [[topography]] of [[Raudfjorden]], on the north-western tip of [[Spitsbergen]], of which a map was published. His efforts are acknowledged by the later naming of [[Albert I Land]], which comprises the part of Spitsbergen west of Raudfjorden.

The third trip, in 1906, [[meteorology]] was added to the range of observations and surveys were pursued. The Prince also provided support for two other expeditions, that of the Scotsman, [[William Speirs Bruce#Arctic voyages|William Bruce]], to [[Prins Karls Forland]], and that of the Norwegian, [[Gunnar Isachsen]], to northwestern Spitsbergen. His funding of the latter lead to regular [[Norway|Norwegian]] scientific expeditions on Svalbard, and in 1928 the foundation of the [[Norwegian Polar Institute]].

The Prince's fourth expedition in 1907, was aimed at completing the results from the previous summer. Prince Albert also lent his support, either financially, or through gifts or loans of oceanographic instruments, to numerous Arctic and [[Antarctic]] explorers. The same year, he provided funds and support for the foundation of the [[Friends of the Natural History Museum Paris|Friends of the French National Museum of Natural History Society]].<ref>Yves Laissus, "Cent ans d'histoire", ''1907-2007 - Les Amis du Muséum'', centennial special, September 2007, supplement to the quarterly publication ''[[Friends of the Natural History Museum Paris|Les Amis du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle]]'', n° 230, June 2007, ISSN 1161-9104 {{in lang|fr}}.</ref> In 1909 he joined the [[Société de Géographie]] and the [[British Academy]]. In 1910 the Prince was the main founder of the Institute of Human Paleontology (''Institut de paléontologie humaine'') in Paris,<ref>Arnaud Hurel, 2015. "La création de l'Institut de paléontologie humaine en 1910. Une étape de la recomposition de la science de l'Homme", ''in'' Christine Laurière (dir.), ''[http://www.berose.fr/?1913-la-recomposition-de-la-675 1913, la recomposition de la science de l'Homme]'', Lahic / DPRPS-Direction des patrimoines, coll. "Les Carnets de Bérose", 7. {{in lang|fr}}</ref> close to the ''[[Jardin des plantes]]'' which is the seat of the [[National Museum of Natural History, France|French National Museum of Natural History]]. Finally, he showed a keen interest in environmental protection, especially in Svalbard. This is demonstrated by his responses to a questionnaire that [[Hugo Conwentz]], a [[Germany|German]] [[botany|botanist]] sent him in 1912.

In 1918, the US [[National Academy of Sciences]] awarded Prince Albert its [[Alexander Agassiz Medal]] for his achievements. The Explorers Club elected Albert I to its highest category of membership — Honorary Member — in 1921. He was also awarded the [[Cullum Geographical Medal]] of the [[American Geographical Society]]. Prince Rainier of Monaco and the [[International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans]] established the [[Prince Albert I Medal]] in the [[physical oceanography|physical]] and [[chemical oceanography|chemical]] sciences of the oceans in his honor.