Innovation is often shaped by the need to know why something happened, and whether it will happen again. In this talk we will look at some of driving forces behind the key advances of the last century, how they shaped the tools we have today, and what they may tell us about the future. The talk will have an ocean focus, both in its liquid and frozen forms (aka sea ice), going through the physics (lots), biogeochemistry (some), and biology (a little). We will begin by exploring the beginnings of numerical modelling in geophysical fluids, then move on to review some of the new exciting tech we are sending down into the deep ocean, going from the humble Argo float to the more sophisticated AUVs available. I’ll talk about how remote sensing has enabled true global observing and review the remarkable capabilities of some of the satellites in our current fleet. Lastly, I’ll provide some examples of how machine learning and AI tools are being used to make sense of the ever-increasing number of data, and look at new tech to keep an eye on over the coming years.