Politics, Statistics and Weather Forecasting, 1840-1910 - Taming the Weather

Weather forecasting is the most visible branch of meteorology and has its modern roots in the nineteenth century when scientists redefined meteorology in the way weather forecasts were made, developing maps of isobars, or lines of equal atmospheric pressure, as the main forecasting tool. This book is the history of how weather forecasting was moulded and modelled by the processes of nation-state building and statistics in the Western world.

List of contents

List of figures

List of tables

Acknowledgements

List of abbreviations

Introduction

CHAPTER 1 - Pre-1850 conceptualizations of storms

CHAPTER 2 - Meteorology and statistics before 1854

CHAPTER 3 - The adoption of an Eulerian approach by state interests

CHAPTER 4 - The Lagrangian approach as a counterweight

CHAPTER 5 - The convergence between statistics and synoptic method

CHAPTER 6 - The hegemony of the Eulerian approach and the beginning of its end

CHAPTER 7 - Behind weather forecasting: national interests and the primacy of public service over research

CHAPTER 8 - Meteorological cartography

About the author

Aitor Anduaga is an Ikerbasque Research Professor (Ikerbasque: Basque Foundation for Science) at the Basque Museum of the History of Medicine and Science, University of the Basque Country.

Summary

This book is the history of how weather forecasting was moulded and modelled by the processes of nation-state building and statistics in the western world.

Product details

• Authors: Aitor Anduaga, Anduaga Aitor
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.03.2021
• EAN: 9780367785505
• ISBN: 978-0-367-78550-5
• No. of pages: 412
• Series: Routledge Studies in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Modern era up to 1918; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Physics, astronomy > Miscellaneous; HISTORY / General, HISTORY / Europe / General, SCIENCE / Physics / General, HISTORY / Modern / 19th Century, SCIENCE / Physics / Geophysics, SCIENCE / Scientific Instruments, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, History of Science, Meteorology & climatology, Meteorology and climatology