The earliest non‐governmental programs in oceanography in the United States—and still the most comprehensive—are those of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California. When these were established they were independent of other institutions of science, except administratively, and were physically separated from them. Thus, there was no occasion to define oceanography in relation to the specific activities of other scientific fields.In recent months increasing thought has been given to the importance of our marine environment and to more effective means of studying it. Oceanography is the center of interest of a committee of the National Academy of Sciences; the President's Science Advisory Committee is deeply concerned with its problems; Congress is considering suitable legislation; and President Kennedy has stated that we have neglected oceanography.