Better known as “Spilly” around Woods Hole, Spilhaus was a WHOI oceanographer, engineer, and futurist whose impact on science stretched from the deep sea to outer space.

Spilhaus helped develop the bathythermograph, which made measuring ocean depths and temperatures from a moving vessel possible, but his most well-known accomplishment is the creation of the Spilhaus World Ocean Map Projection, which challenges us to view the planet from an ocean-centric perspective.

Spilhaus once summed up his life in a single sentence: “Work and play should be indistinguishable.” True to those words, he rounded out his career in oceanography by designing experimental cities, creating science comics, and amassing a vast collection of mechanical toys. Spilhaus passed away in 1998 at his home in Middleburg, Virginia.