How Food Innovation Helped Spur Advances in Nautical Technology

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Sara Breselor of Wired has a neat piece up right now about the historical marriage between culinary and nautical innovations. She uses as a source the new book Food at Sea: Shipboard Cuisine From Ancient to Modern Times by historian Simon Spaulding. Just as is the case with many industries, shipbuilding has relied on outside technological innovations when taking progressive strides forward. Spaulding’s book offers examples of how nautical vessels evolved alongside advancements in food preservation and preparation.

Breselor’s article highlights some of the most notable instances, from the earliest galley discovered on a sunken Byzantine ship to the calculated utilization of big data is choosing culinary offerings onboard a current Carnival cruise ship. Advancements in preservation enabled colonial navies to conquer the seas. Heat sterilization and the introduction of canned food forever altered the capabilities of merchant ships. Refrigeration has made 5-star cruise ship restaurants possible.

Reading Breselor’s piece led to me to think about space travel. The comparisons between nautical and space exploration aren’t just limited to the etymological. You can similarly link advancements in food preservation and transport to enhanced capabilities to keep humans alive off this planet. One only has to wonder whether some future food innovation could one day help us do things like colonize Mars or travel outside the solar system. Then maybe Sara Breselor’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great grand daughter will one day write the article about how food technology goes hand-in-hand with space travel.

It’s just something fun to think about.

Check out the full piece (linked below) and let us know your thoughts.