Storm watchers : the turbulent history of weather prediction from Franklin's kite to El Niño

Anyone who watched the incredible computer-generated graphics of Hurricane Ike nearing the coast of Texas this month might find this book quite fascinating. It traces the history of weather prediction and the development of the science of meteorology over the past 200 years and an interesting story it is, replete with colorful individual geniuses who pushed the frontiers of knowledge forward -- and dumb bureaucrats and politicians who tried to block them at every turn. The book begins with Benjamin Franklin who was the first to notice that the winds in a storm moving northwards might actually be blowing in a southerly direction. But most of the other men profiled in this book who made the most striking contributions to meteoroloy -- Americans, Britons and most noticeably Norwegians and Swedes -- I had never heard of. There was the chemist Luke Howard who classified the different kinds of clouds and gave them the names we know today -- cumulus, stratus, nimbus. William Redfield was not a trained scientist but in 1821 the New Yorker was the first to describe the circular motion of winds in a hurricane. Twenty years later, Elias Loomis, a professor of mathematics and philosophy, was the first to produce a weather map. But for much of the 19th century, weather forecasting faced tremendous opposition from those who said it was contrary to God's will as well as producers of popular almanacs who faced the loss of their business. Robert FitzRoy, who captained the Royal Navy ship The Beagle which took Charles Darwin on his historic voyage to the Galapagos, coined the word "forecasting." But progress in the United States ground to a halt after the Civil War when weather prediction was placed under the control of the Army. Things grew even worse at the end of the 19th century when political appointees hostile to science took over in the administration of Grover Cleveland. The comparison to today's debate over global warming and the Bush administration's refusal for so many years to admit the problem, much less grapple with it, are too obvious to be ignored, though the author of this book does not belabor them. The consequences of blindly ignoring science were graphically and tragically demonstrated in the great hurricane that destroyed Galveston in 1900. Isaac Cline was in charge of weather forecasts in the city, though he was not a leading scientist. He baldly stated, based on no reliable data, there was no chance of a hurricane striking Galveston. He encouraged the city fathers to demolish the sea wall protecting the city. The government also took the distastrous step of denying weather watchers in Cuba access to the telegraph system because "hurricane warnings unnecessarily riled the natives." After the disaster in which he lost his own wife, Cline launched a coverup, falsely stating that he had posted hurricane warnings -- and emerged a hero. There are many fascinating stories in this book which is a stark warning of what happens when politicians and bureaucrats hostile to science start their meddling. In 1944, there was a tremendous battle between two forecasters, one renowned scientist Sverre Petterssen and the other Irving Krick, a charlatan who had somehow built himself a career in the field. They disagreed over the weather on the day set aside for the D-Day landings in Normandy. Thank God Petterssen prevailed. If General Eisenhower had listened to Krick, who assured him the weather would be fine, the landings would have been a disaster. Thankfully he heeded Petterssen's advice and postponed the landings by one day. There are some faults with this book. The writing can be a bit plodding and the characters hardly burst to life from the page. Still, I found it wonderfully interesting and recommend it to anyone who would like to know about the nightly weather forecasts we now take for granted. Storm Watchers The Turbulent History of Weather Prediction from Franklin’s Kite to El Niño......Page 3 Contents......Page 5 Introduction......Page 7 PART I A NEWBORN BABE......Page 9 1. Benjamin Franklin: Chasing the Wind......Page 11 2. Luke Howard: Naming the Clouds......Page 19 3. James Glaisher: Taking to the Air......Page 25 PART II AMERICAN STORMS......Page 31 4. William C. Redfield: Walking the Path of Destruction......Page 33 5. James P. Espy: “The Storm Breeder”......Page 39 6. Elias Loomis: Mapping the Storm......Page 47 7. Joseph Henry: Setting the Stage......Page 57 8. Matthew Fontaine Maury: A Storm of Controversy......Page 63 9. William Ferrel: A Shy Genius......Page 71 PART III THE MAIN ARTERY......Page 79 10. Robert FitzRoy: Prophet Without Honor......Page 81 11. Urbain J. J. Le Verrier: Clouds over Crimea......Page 91 12. Cleveland Abbe: “Ol’ Probabilities”......Page 97 13. John P. Finley: Down Tornado Alley......Page 107 14. Mark W. Harrington: Civilian Casualty......Page 115 15. Isaac Monroe Cline: Taking Galveston by Storm......Page 123 16. Gilbert Walker: The Southern Oscillation......Page 131 17. C. LeRoy Meisinger: Death by Daring......Page 141 PART IV TOGETHER AT THE FRONT......Page 151 18. Vilhelm Bjerknes: The Bergen Schoolmaster......Page 153 19. Lewis Fry Richardson: The Forecasting Factory......Page 161 20. Jacob Bjerknes: From Polar Front to El Niño......Page 169 21. Tor Bergeron: A Gifted Vision......Page 177 22. Carl-Gustaf Rossby: Conquering the Weather Bureau......Page 185 23. Sverre Petterssen: Forecasting for D-Day......Page 195 PART V SUDDENLY NEW SCIENCE......Page 205 24. Jule Gregory Charney: Mastering the Math......Page 207 25. Jerome Namias: The Long Ranger......Page 217 26. Edward N. Lorenz: Calculating Chaos......Page 225 27. Tetsuya Theodore Fujita: Divining the Downburst......Page 233 28. Ants Leetmaa: Out on a Limb......Page 241 Bibliography......Page 249 Index......Page 253 A lively, inspiring account of the pioneers who sought to accurately predict the weather Benjamin Franklin . . . James P. Espy . . . Cleveland Abbe . . . Carl-Gustaf Rossby . . . Jule G. Charney . . . just a few of the remarkable individuals who struggled against formidable odds to understand the atmosphere and predict the weather. Where they saw patterns and processes, others saw randomness and tumult-and yet they strove to make their voices heard, often saving lives in the process. Storm Watchers takes you on a fascinating journey through time that captures the evolution of weather forecasting. From the age when meteorology was considered one step removed from sorcery to the modern-day wizardry of supercomputers, John Cox introduces you to the pioneering scientists whose work fulfilled an ancient dream and made it possible to foretell the future. He tells the little-known stories of these weathermen, such as Ptolemy's weather predictions based on astrology, John Finley's breakthrough research in identifying tornadoes, and Tor Bergeron's new techniques of weather forecasting, which contributed to its final worldwide acceptance. Filled with extraordinary tales of bravery and sacrifice, Storm Watchers will make you think twice the next time you turn on the local news to catch the weather report.

A lively, inspiring account of the pioneers who sought toaccurately predict the weather Benjamin Franklin... James P. Espy... Cleveland Abbe...Carl-Gustaf Rossby... Jule G. Charney... just a few of theremarkable individuals who struggled against formidable odds tounderstand the atmosphere and predict the weather. Where they sawpatterns and processes, others saw randomness and tumult-and yetthey strove to make their voices heard, often saving lives in theprocess. Storm Watchers takes you on a fascinating journey through time thatcaptures the evolution of weather forecasting. From the age whenmeteorology was considered one step removed from sorcery to themodern-day wizardry of supercomputers, John Cox introduces you tothe pioneering scientists whose work fulfilled an ancient dream andmade it possible to foretell the future. He tells the little-knownstories of these weathermen, such as Ptolemy's weather predictionsbased on astrology, John Finley's breakthrough research inidentifying tornadoes, and Tor Bergeron's new techniques of weatherforecasting, which contributed to its final worldwideacceptance. Filled with extraordinary tales of bravery and sacrifice, StormWatchers will make you think twice the next time you turn on thelocal news to catch the weather report.

Benjamin Franklin ... James P. Espy ... Cleveland Abbe ... Carl-Gustaf Rossby ... Jule G. Charney ... just a few of the remarkable individuals who struggled against formidable odds to understand the atmosphere and predict the weather. Where they saw patterns and processes, others saw randomness and tumult - and yet they strove to make their voices heard, often saving lives in the process This is a lively, narrative history of the world's great weather tragedies - the greatest storms in history - and the epic quest by pioneering scientists to figure out how to accurately predict the weather. It tells the story of the development of meterology from the time of Aristotle up to current-day breakthroughs in weather prediction. Traces the development of meteorology from Aristotle's time up to the modern day, and includes the stories of little-known pioneers such as Robert Fitzroy, the first official national weather forecaster.