Ancient Period
Romans – didn’t contribute much except in the field of organization, law, medicine, agriculture and the building of aqueducts Seneca – interested in meteorology Middle Ages – stagnation in the arts and sciences – burned the library in Alexandria Arabs – mathematics, optics and astronomy and the number system
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A Water-Clock
1500 – 1800
Age of Genius and the Age of Reason Copernicus – heliocentric theory of the universe Foundations of modern meteorology laid in Europe with the invention of meteorological instruments and the introduction of meteorological observations

Atmosphere

Also comes from the Greek Atmos = Vapor The atmosphere is a region of vapor
Ancient Period 600 B.C. to 1500 A.D.

Meteorology part of general science Based on pseudo-scientific speculations Scientific discoveries from all parts of the world: Babylonians, Sumerians, Chinese, Hindus, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Arabs
1500 – 1800



Daniel Fahrenheit – temperature scale George Hadley – influence of Earth’s rotation on winds in the tropics Celsius – centigrade temperature scale Ben Franklin – nature of lightning Horace deSaussure – hair hygrometer for measuring humidity Jacques Charles – relationship between temperature and the volume of air

Ancient Period

Greeks – developed geometry, logic and philosophy – also performed meteorological observations and created physical theories Hippocrates: study of climate Aristotle: Meteorologica Theophrastus: meteorological treatise
Word was invented by the Greeks over 200 years ago (Aristotle) meta = beyond eora = suspension Meteoros = high in the air Aristotle meant atmospheric elements such as rain, snow, hail, wind, thunder or lightning, and also earthquakes, comets and the Milky Way Don’t confuse this with the astronomical terms for meteors which are extraterrestrial objects
History of Meteorology
Three General Historical Periods
Ancient
Times: 600 B.C. to 1500 A.D. 1500 A.D. to 1800 A.D. 1800 A.D. to Modern Times
Meteorology

1500 – 1800




Galileo – invented the gas thermometer Toricelli – invented the mercury barometer Pascal and Descartes – showed pressure decreases with increasing altitude Robert Hooke – swing-type anemometer for wind speed Boyle – formulated the gas laws Newton – the laws of mechanics Euler – equations of fluid motion Lavoisier – foundations of chemistry
Ancient Period
Babylonians – foundations of early mathematics and the four cardinal directions Egyptians – defined weights and measures, invented ingenious water-clocks, and introduced the 365 day year Chinese – invented the compass and made astronomical as well as meteorological observations