This big picture history of atmospheric research examines the first six decades of the twentieth century, from the dawn of applied fluid dynamics to the emergence, by 1960, of the interdisciplinary atmospheric sciences. Using newly available archival sources, it documents the work of three interconnected generations of scientists: Vilhelm Bjerknes, Carl-Gustaf Rossby, and Harry Wexler, whose aspirations were fueled by new theoretical insights, pressing societal needs, and expanded technological capabilities. Radio, radar, aviation, nuclear tracers, digital computing, sounding rockets, and satellites provided new ways to measure and study the global atmosphere -- a huge and dauntingly complex system. Bjerknes brought us a fundamental circulation theorem and founded the Bergen school of weather forecasting; Rossby established the graduate schools of meteorology at M.I.T., Chicago, and Stockholm, which focused on upper-air dynamics and, after 1947, on atmospheric environmental issues; and Wexler brought all the new technologies into the U.S. Weather Bureau and, with his colleague Jule Charney, prepared the foundations for the emergence of the interdisciplinary atmospheric sciences. This history weaves together cold war studies, military history, the rise of government research and development, and aviation and aeronautics with a nascent global awareness. It is a fascinating history of something we all experience--the weather --told through compelling historical characters.
...MoreReview Cornelia Lüdecke (2017) Review of "Inventing Atmospheric Science: Bjerknes, Rossby, Wexler, and the Foundations of Modern Meteorology". Metascience: An International Review Journal for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (pp. 323-324).
Review James Bergman (October 2017) Review of "Inventing Atmospheric Science: Bjerknes, Rossby, Wexler, and the Foundations of Modern Meteorology". Environmental History (pp. 745-747).
Review Carola Dahlke (2016) Review of "Inventing Atmospheric Science: Bjerknes, Rossby, Wexler, and the Foundations of Modern Meteorology". Icon: Journal of the International Committee for the History of Technology (pp. 168-170).
Essay Review Anthony J. Sadar (2018) The Historical Heart of Atmospheric Science. Science and Education (pp. 233-235).
Review Linda Richter (2016) Review of "Inventing Atmospheric Science: Bjerknes, Rossby, Wexler, and the Foundations of Modern Meteorology". British Journal for the History of Science (pp. 652-654).
Review Aitor Anduaga (2017) Review of "Inventing Atmospheric Science: Bjerknes, Rossby, Wexler, and the Foundations of Modern Meteorology". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 214-215).
Essay Review
Anthony J. Sadar;
(2018)
The Historical Heart of Atmospheric Science
(/isis/citation/CBB441966658/)
Book
Ralph Jewell;
(2017)
The Weather's Face: Features of Science in the Story of Vilhelm Bjerknes and the Bergen School of Meteorology
(/isis/citation/CBB177933264/)
Book
Friedman, Robert M.;
(1989)
Appropriating the weather: Vilhelm Bjerknes and the construction of a modern meterology
(/isis/citation/CBB000039012/)
Thesis
Friedman, Robert M.;
(1979)
Vilhelm Bjerknes and the Bergen school of meteorology
(/isis/citation/CBB001563438/)
Article
Harper, Kristine C.;
(2004)
The Scandinavian Tag-Team: Providers of Atmospheric Reality to Numerical Weather Prediction Efforts in the United States (1948--1955)
(/isis/citation/CBB000931766/)
Book
Harper, Kristine;
(2008)
Weather by the Numbers: The Genesis of Modern Meteorology
(/isis/citation/CBB000850353/)
Book
James Rodger Fleming;
(2020)
First Woman: Joanne Simpson and the Tropical Atmosphere
(/isis/citation/CBB898732143/)
Article
Schröder, Wilfried;
(2001)
Otto Jesse and the Investigation of Noctilucent Clouds 115 Years Ago
(/isis/citation/CBB000340308/)
Article
Nöbauer;
(2018)
Von der Goldmine zum Gletscher: All Weather Snow als multiples Frontier-Phänomen. (From gold mine to glacier: All Weather Snow as a multiple frontier phenomenon.)
(/isis/citation/CBB028645396/)
Article
Zwier, Karen R.;
(2011)
John Dalton's Puzzles: From Meteorology to Chemistry
(/isis/citation/CBB001024141/)
Article
Richter, Linda;
(2019)
The Meteorology and Medicine of the Romantic Era in Context: Henrik Steffens’ Ideas on Medical Meteorology (1811) and Its Reception by the Prussian State
(/isis/citation/CBB683986668/)
Book
Randall, David A.;
(2000)
General circulation model development
(/isis/citation/CBB001181678/)
Article
Chen, Zhenghong;
Yang, Guifang;
Wray, Robert A. L.;
(2014)
Shiyan Tao and the History of Indigenous Meteorology in China
(/isis/citation/CBB001422089/)
Article
Proverbio, Edoardo;
Buffoni, Letizia;
(2004)
La meteorologia dei fenomeni estremi alla metà del XIX secolo e il contributo di Angelo Secchi allo studio dei rapporti tra fenomeni meteorologici, magnetici e solari
(/isis/citation/CBB000630826/)
Book
Weikinn, Curt;
Börngen, Michael;
Tetzlaff, Gerd;
(2002)
Quellentexte zur Witterungsgeschichte Europas von der Zeitenwende bis zum Jahre 1850
(/isis/citation/CBB000501786/)
Book
Jerry C. Zee;
(2022)
Continent in Dust: Experiments in a Chinese Weather System
(/isis/citation/CBB267145714/)
Book
Sarah Dry;
(2019)
Waters of the World: The Story of the Scientists Who Unraveled the Mysteries of Our Oceans, Atmosphere, and Ice Sheets and Made the Planet Whole
(/isis/citation/CBB273609964/)
Book
Fleagle, Robert G.;
(2001)
Eyewitness: Evolution of the Atmospheric Sciences
(/isis/citation/CBB000101230/)
Chapter
Liba Taub;
(2016)
Meteorology
(/isis/citation/CBB683361936/)
Article
Bernhardt, Karl-Heinz;
(2004)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethes Beziehungen zu Luke Howard und sein Wirken auf dem Gebiet der Meteorologie
(/isis/citation/CBB000931760/)
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