I am gathering information on the history of meteorology and the conception of cloud research. The following are the books I am using to help inform this background. When I find an interesting case, I plan on finding primary documents so I m not simply using someone else’s synthesis. I know one of these cases will be Luke Howard since he pioneered systematic cloud observations and the language to describe their forms.
The Weather Experiment: The Pioneers who sought to see the Future by Peter Moore
Reading the Skies: A cultural history of English weather by Vladimir Jankovic
The Invention of Clouds by Richard Hamblyn
One thing that I want to emphasize in this background is the importance of etymology for understanding the evolution of modern science. The sky could not be scientifically studied until the word atmosphere replaced heavens. Philosophers could discuss meteors (the word I’ll use to refer to any phenomena that happens in the sky like clouds, rainbows, shooting stars, etc) separately from the divine heavens. The atmosphere could be rationally studied like other like other natural subjects, Peter Moore in his book The Weather Experiment: The Pioneers who sought to see the Future says, “unlike the heavens, the atmosphere was as deserving of rational analysis as a human heart, the corolla of a flower or a sandstone rock.”(Moore 4). With a new understanding of gases and a language to describe atmospheric phenomena, meteorology could be studied by anyone, anywhere. Of course, this was not necessarily the case.
The field of meteorology was dominated by white European gentlemen who had the leisure to simply sit, observe, and reflect. These philosophers were often members of societies that discussed all manner of scientific subjects spanning from engineering to botany. Some chose to practice meteorology by detailed logs and some by artistic representation. Some of the more scientific painters used their work to study and observe clouds more closely. Among these were William Gilpin and John Constable. Straddling both the art and the natural philosophy realms, John Constable seems to be criticized from both sides. Moore points our that “Constable’s attitude to painting skies came directly form the intellectual climate of his day – a culture which urges students to observe, distil and record.” (Moore 62). It is also evident that Constable was using Howard’s cloud classification system from his inscriptions on his paintings (Moore insert). The sketches and painted were annotated and described the exact date, location, and weather and sky conditions. Unlike many 19th century meteorologists, John Constable most often portrayed skyscapes depicting everyday skies and recorded his observations of normal cloud conditions.