The Patuxent River starts as a whisper near the four corners of Maryland, where Montgomery, Frederick, Howard and Carroll Counties converge. It is little more than a meandering brook winding its way through farmland, but when it completes a 110-mile journey to Southern Maryland, the Patuxent River runs 120 feet deep, reaches two miles wide and is the source of billions of dollars in industry, research and recreation.

Dr. Ralph Eshelman is a specialist in maritime history, War of 1812, polar exploration, vertebrate paleontology, and cultural resource management. He possesses an impressive resume including Director of the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland from 1974 to 1990, president of the Council of American Maritime Museums, founding vice-president of the National Maritime Preservation Task Force of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and research associate for the Smithsonian. He is widely published in and lectures on both maritime and military history, polar exploration, geology, and paleontology.