Newsletter 3, 2010
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History of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography Special Interest Group Newsletter 3, 2010 VIEW FROM THE CHAIR CONTENTS 1 Here’s your ‘starter for ten’. Who wrote the View from the Chair ................................... 1 following, and when? There are some clues to Hot off the press ........................................ 2 when, but who is a bit harder. New pen portrait ........................................ 2 How little we have done to form a connected Request for information ............................. 3 story of the study of weather as disclosed by the An introduction to MetSoc ......................... 3 writings which have come down to us. Men in all The British Antarctic Expedition, Part II ..... 4 ages have been face to face with the problem of the weather. How little do any of us know even Excellent news .......................................... 5 of Clement Ley, of Abercromby, of FitzRoy, of Meteorological terminology ....................... 5 Luke Howard, or of Dalton, of Piddington, or North Atlantic data used by Germans ........ 6 Reid, or Capper, or Loomis, or Ferrel, of Hadley, World War II weather maps ....................... 9 or Halley, or Hooke, or of the still earlier writers Why Dogger? ............................................ 9 on the weather and the early observers before the invention of the barometer and the Meeting report – 15 July 2010 ................. 10 thermometer? What had the astrologers, who Old papers cited most in meteorology ..... 11 were prepared to forecast everything, to say Recent publications ................................. 14 about the weather? Behind all the fantastic Occasional and classic papers ................ 15 explanations which have been discarded there The Summer Meeting in Devon ............... 15 must have been points of view depending upon Norman Lockyer and meteorology ......... 20 experience, which may disclose themselves in Forthcoming meetings ............................. 22 the writings which survive. What meteorological 2010 members of the Group ................... 23 knowledge had the discoverers of America? What sort of wind blew the Norsemen to Flintshire, 1793 to 1835. I wonder how many Labrador? If I have any knowledge of the libraries in country houses possess similar feelings of the Society, it would welcome records, and how much information about the occasional contributions on the history of the salient features of the weather of past years is science, recent or remote, not less warmly than buried in our parish registers and other local an account of personal observations. Mr Bentley records? has already told us about weather in war, and Mr Inwards has given us the meteorology of These words were written by Sir Napier Shaw proverb and folklore. Will not someone tell us of and formed part of the Presidential Address he meteorology in literature? Reculer pour mieux delivered before the Royal Meteorological sauter is as apposite to the progress of science Society on 15 January 1919. They can be found as to any other persistent effort, if by it we may on page 109 of the April 1919 issue of the understand that an occasional survey of the Society’s Quarterly Journal (Vol.45, pp.95-111). past helps us to make sure of the future. Of the Do any readers of this newsletter disagree with 800 of us there must be some who have more Shaw’s words? I think they should inspire us all leisure and opportunity for retrospective study to redouble our efforts to swell the membership than the few exponents of meteorology in its of our History Group. They also focus our modern form, upon whom the Society is attention on the continuing endeavours of Group accustomed to rely for its subjects of discussion. member Rob Allan of the Met Office Hadley Some years ago, the Countess of Denbigh Centre to obtain historical weather observations presented to the Meteorological Office four for the International Atmospheric Circulation volumes of observations taken at Holywell, Reconstructions over the Earth (ACRE) initiative which he directs. See: http://www.met-acre.org/. 1 ‘Starter for ten’ is a catchphrase from the British TV Malcolm Walker quiz show University Challenge, ten being the number of points awarded for an opening question. History Group Chairman 1 HOT OFF THE PRESS All sections are clear and well illustrated and cover the material in a way which will be ideal History Group member John Kington has for members of our Group to use as a quick and recently (September 2010) published another useful reference book. The overall level and book, this one called Climate and Weather. It is detail is certainly well above that of the Manley No.115 in the Collins New Naturalist Library original. Most of the sections are necessarily series and available in relatively brief but cover salient points hardback (ISBN 978-0-00-718501-6) and adequately to provide necessary basic paperback (ISBN 978-0-00-718502-3). information. Compared with the contents of the It has 484 pages and costs original, many of the chapters are either £50 for the hardback edition, updated or additional topics, but there is now £30 for the paperback. rather little detail on local climates. By far the longest chapter is that on anomalies and extremes, which provides a detailed general summary of the British climate from 12,000BC to the 1990s. The second part of the book contains a very densely written 260 pages describing the climate history from the 1st century BC to 2000. It brings together information from very many sources into a unified complete whole in great detail. From 1100 onwards there is an increasingly detailed entry for every single year which will make an invaluable reference book for many climatological and historical research purposes. It is now possible to have a “one stop shop” to answer the question “what was the weather like then?”. A glossary of meteorological terms, bibliography and extensive index are also included which complete what is undoubtedly an important book that does excellent justice to the vast amount of research carried out over the years by the Here is a review of this new book author. by Howard Oliver: At £30 for a paperback copy this still represents Professor Gordon Manley’s Climate and the good value. I can recommend it to all History British Scene was published almost 60 years Group members as a very useful addition to ago as the 22nd volume in the New Naturalist your library which could usefully replace several series. The aim of this new publication, as of the books that are probably already stated by the author, was to present subsequent overflowing your shelves! developments and discoveries made in the study of climate and weather of the British Isles making particular reference to his Climatic NEW PEN PORTRAIT Research Unit work. How much do you know of the Presidents of the The reader gets two for the price of one within Royal Meteorological Society? Pen portraits of this almost 500 page book. them – and Presidents of the two meteorological societies which preceded the present society – The first part is described as “The Principal Acts have been published in Weather since 1992. in the Climate Drama” with chapters on: the general climate and weather of the British Isles; The latest pen portrait appeared in Weather in the atmosphere and its circulation; the key September 2010 (Vol.65, pp.250-252), written processes controlling British weather; seasonal by History Group member Michael Field. characteristics of the climate; sources of Pen portraits of all the Presidents pre-1950 have meteorological data; historical weather mapping; now been published, apart from Thomas cloud study; phenology; climate trends, Sopwith – and Michael is working on that one. anomalies and extremes; climate change. 2 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION AN INTRODUCTION TO METSOC, Can anyone help, please? If so, please contact SOME TIME AGO Storm Dunlop, who writes as follows: by Richard Gregory I am compiling a biographical memoir on Cicely Having experienced the best – and the worst – M (Mary) Botley for the British Astronomical of Western European weather from ground level Association's History Section, the Royal to well over 30,000 feet for about 10 years as a Astronomical Society, and the Royal pilot in the Royal Air Force, the appearance of a Meteorological Society’s History Group. notice in Air Ministry Orders concerning an Miss Botley had encyclopædic interests, and extra-mural course on meteorology at apart from astronomical and meteorological Birmingham University seemed to offer an topics (largely historical), where her facts were intriguing opportunity much too good to miss to always correct and given with impeccable find out rather more than one already knew, references, she submitted letters and other which was precious little, really, about weather. contributions to numerous journals on an The fact that Wally Wallington and David extraordinary range of subjects, ranging from Pedgley were to be jointly responsible for the behaviour of dogs to opera. holding up the lamp of illumination represented She was an inveterate correspondent of The a double bonus, since both had the gift of Times until the outbreak of World War 2, but enthusiasm, coupled with clear, precise suddenly went silent. Nothing appeared during elucidation of the matter in hand. Wally had the war years and there were only a few letters already written his Meteorology for Glider Pilots, to other publications. All women of her age (39) introducing me to the notion that a synoptic were expected to undertake either voluntary or chart was more a snapshot of something alive ‘directed’ work during the war, so it may be than a post-mortem of an inert body! Luckily, I assumed that the same applied to her. had already done my own share of gliding, as a sport closely associated with my service flying. Any information as to what she may have done during those years would be of the greatest The basic gliders which I had flown up till that interest, please.