“We must, however, warn the young student of meteorology … against limiting his conceptions of the Modifications to the particular forms here represented; A correct comprehension of the subject is only to be obtained by a habitual observation of nature.” (Howard viii)
Luke Howard (1772-1864) was a meteorologist who applied the linnaean classification to clouds forms. In his work, Essay on the Modification of Clouds, Howard stresses that the path to knowing more about clouds is through direct observation, saying that the mariner and husbandman is more successful than the philosopher (and his instruments) at recognized clouds and their significance because their labor depends of the frequent observations of clouds. To his knowledge, clouds were made of suspended water vapour, although he acknowledges some other force is at work or else “the study of them be deemed a useless pursuit of shadow, an attempt to describe forms which, being the sport of winds, must be every varying, and therefore not to be defined”(Howard 1). He also connects each cloud type to a time or period of the day/night and what kind of weather the clouds predict. He also tries to explain how water is evaporated in the atmosphere to form clouds.
Luke Howard is a prominant figure in historical cloud observations that I will discuss within the introduction of my thesis. I think I need to not just consider the physical technology, but also inventions like classification systems that act as structures to understand the natural world. There are interesting themes how “gentlemanly” studies natural systems was which connects to the story of the Nonaka’s as told by Andy Bernstein. I think the quote I have up top is a fun motivation for my work and still relevant.