This book examines the British Admiraltys engagement with science and technological innovation in the nineteenth century. It is a book about people and gross misunderstanding about the dreams and disappointments of scientific workers and inventors in relation to the administrators who adjudicated their requests for support and about the power of paper to escalate arguments reduce opinions and frustrate hopes. From instructions for naval surveying to debates about rewards to civilians for inventionsampnbspPaper Navigatorsampnbspputs a wide range of primary sources in the context of public debates and explores the British Admiraltys engagement with decisionmaking around and management of questions of value support and funding with citizen inventors the broader public and their own employees. Concentrating on the Admiraltys private internal correspondence to explore these themes it offers a fresh perspective on the Victorian Navys history of innovation and exploration and is a novel addition to literature on the history of science in the nineteenth century.