What is maritime history? The answer for maritime historians is simple: maritime history is the study of the relationship of humankind with the sea. But the answer is not so simple for everyone, as maritime history means different things to different scholars. And then why maritime history? What difference does this sub-discipline of history bring to History? And something else that can be confusing: is maritime history different from the history of the sea or the ocean? Is maritime history just the history of merchant shipping industry? If not, what is it then? The history of the maritime life of a nation? And what would this include? As it has evolved, maritime history is all the above and more; and it has evolved dynamically as such through the research and dialogue of its practitioners. The papers in this Forum were presented in an International Symposium entitled ‘What is Maritime History?’ that took place in April 2018 in Rethymnon, Crete, to inaugurate the new Centre of Maritime History of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies (IMS) of the Foundation of Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH). For me, this was the attainment of a long-term goal. A goal inspired by Skip Fischer. He was supposed to be there and he had very much looked forward to the meeting. Unfortunately he passed away on 11 February 2018, two months before the symposium took place. We therefore decided to dedicate this First Symposium to him, hoping to continue his work from this part of the world. And I know he was very happy that the Greeks were creating this new Centre for Maritime History in the Mediterranean. The purpose of the Symposium was to bring together some of the maritime historians who have set the course for maritime history over the last 40 years. Professor Lewis R. (Skip) Fischer (1946–2018) was one of the ‘patriarchs’ of maritime history, inspiring its development worldwide since the 1980s. Skip Fischer contributed to maritime history in three ways. First, he played a major part in the initiatives that propelled maritime history forward, especially in the closely linked sphere of publishing. Second, he encouraged and supported literally hundreds of scholars worldwide as well as other organizations in maritime history. Third, Skip’s research, which was imaginative, analytically innovative and trans-national in approach, opened up a range of themes and issues for others to explore.

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论坛介绍：什么是航海史？

什么是航海史？海洋历史学家的答案很简单：海洋历史是研究人类与海洋的关系。但答案对每个人来说都不是那么简单，因为航海史对不同的学者意味着不同的东西。那么为什么是航海史呢？这个历史分支学科给历史学带来了什么不同？还有一些可能令人困惑的事情：海洋历史与海洋或海洋的历史不同吗？航海史只是商船业的历史吗？如果不是，那又是什么？一个国家的海上生活史？这包括什么？随着它的发展，航海历史不仅如此，而且更多。它通过其从业者的研究和对话而动态发展。本次论坛的论文发表在题为“什么是海事历史？”的国际研讨会上。2018 年 4 月在克里特岛的雷西姆农举行，为希腊研究与技术基金会 (FORTH) 地中海研究所 (IMS) 的新海洋历史中心揭幕。对我来说，这是一个长期目标的实现。灵感来自 Skip Fischer 的进球。他应该在那里，他非常期待这次会议。不幸的是，他于 2018 年 2 月 11 日去世，距研讨会召开还有两个月。因此，我们决定将第一届研讨会献给他，希望能继续他在这个地区的工作。我知道他很高兴希腊人在地中海建立了这个新的海洋历史中心。研讨会的目的是汇集一些在过去 40 年中为海洋历史设定方向的海洋历史学家。Lewis R. (Skip) Fischer 教授（1946-2018 年）是航海历史的“先驱”之一，自 1980 年代以来一直激励着其在全球的发展。Skip Fischer 在三个方面为航海历史做出了贡献。首先，他在推动航海史向前发展的举措中发挥了重要作用，尤其是在密切相关的出版领域。其次，他鼓励和支持全世界数百名学者以及航海历史上的其他组织。第三，Skip 的研究富有想象力、分析创新和跨国方法，为其他人开辟了一系列可供探索的主题和问题。