History of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography Special Interest Group Newsletter 2, 2010 WORKING FOR YOU: CONTENTS THE HISTORY GROUP COMMITTEE Working for you........................................ 1 by Martin Kidds Starting blocks of scientific meteorology... 2 Hon Secretary of the History Group Weather in the diary of Samuel Pepys ..... 9 Here is a short note to give members an insight Howard Oliver meets Oliver Howard ........ 9 into the running of the History Group on their Comment ................................................. 9 behalf and to give early notice of some The What-house Effect?..........................10 forthcoming events. Recommended books .............................10 Throughout the year, your committee works British Antarctic Expedition......................10 hard to put together an interesting and varied In the Archive ..........................................11 programme for the Group’s members, and this British Rainfall Organization meeting.......12 forms the core of our discussions when we Pictures of a rain-gauge ..........................13 meet, which we do three times a year. Planning Weather and the performance envelope..14 for meetings, including consideration of suitable Clarification .............................................16 venues and potential speakers, typically begins Newly-published must-have book............16 about two years before the event itself. Closer to Jehuda Neumann Prize nominations.......17 the time, attention is paid to the details of the Thought for the day .................................17 programme and other arrangements. To give Weather, climate and health meeting ......18 readers an idea, here are some of the matters Forthcoming meetings.............................18 we were considering at our committee meeting Latest publications ..................................18 in March: 2010 members of the Group....................20 Putting the finishing touches to a meeting in London in April marking the 150th Many recent meetings have been adopted by anniversary of the British Rainfall Organization, also the Royal Meteorological the Society and become national Wednesday or Society’s two-day Summer Meeting in Saturday meetings. We always take heart from this, seeing it as recognition of the contribution Exeter in July 2010. The third in a series of ‘Classic Papers’ of the History Group and a greater prominence given by the Society to the history and meetings, this themed on the subject of Turbulence, to be held at the University of development of ideas in the science. We also Reading in November 2010. feel it is important that some meetings are A meeting on polar meteorology, to mark targeted at History Group members and that we the centenary of Scott’s 1910-13 Antarctic maintain a balanced programme to suit their varied interests and backgrounds. Expedition, hopefully at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, in the spring Other tasks that occupy us include keeping a of 2011. careful eye on the Group’s finances and A visit to the Thames Barrier in June 2011, maintaining a publication programme. The the meeting themed around coastal flooding. former, under the watchful supervision of Mick A meeting in the autumn of 2011 celebrating Wood in particular, ensures we have sufficient the centenary of the use of aircraft in reserves to fund suitable events for our meteorology. members and the ‘natural variability’ of our Looking further ahead, we are always keen to subscription income year to year (some of you identify anniversaries of significant naturally prefer to renew each year, others take advantage of the five-year renewal cycle). Many meteorological events or significant scientific advances – something the Society itself actively of our members – including several of the committee – also make contributions to Weather encourages. such as profiles of interesting meteorologists, 1 Past Presidents of the Society and (sadly) Street was the Royal Meteorological Society’s obituaries. Last, but not least, here is our headquarters for many years. Our normal newsletter, largely put together by our meeting place is the Fellows’ Room at the indefatigable Chairman Malcolm Walker. Many Society’s headquarters at Oxford Road in History Group publications are available free via Reading, where the photographs of the Royal Meteorological Society’s website, and distinguished past Presidents of the Society are also available through the National serve as one reminder of the rich history of the Meteorological Library and Archive. science of meteorology we hope to keep alive for the present and future. We are of course always delighted to hear from any members who might have ideas for meetings or, even better, if they can offer us some practical help in organizing them. Please THE STARTING BLOCKS OF SCIENTIFIC also feel free to contact any member of the METEOROLOGY committee if you have a question about the by Maurice Crewe running of the Group. We will always be … an article to mark the 350th anniversary of delighted to hear from you. the founding of the Royal Society Outreach BACKGROUND th This year marks the 350 anniversary of the In the 17th century, there was a boom in the Royal Society. With the BBC and others development of interesting devices, especially commemorating this milestone, and interest in on the continent, where they had contributed to our science ever growing, we thought it was a the introduction of plates to measure the wind good time to reach out to our members and ask speed, tubes to create vacuums, thermoscopes, for their ideas. hygrometers and rain-gauges, although the We are looking for ideas from members to latter had been around for centuries in India. promote the History Group (and the Royal The point is that different people invented Meteorological Society more generally) to a ingenious instruments in different places, but wider audience and of course to support our initially many of them were solutions looking for aims to promote the study of the history of a problem to solve; they had curiosity value but meteorology and physical oceanography. little known practical use. Inventions are only of value when they can be put to some useful If a topic in the development of meteorology or purpose. It was in England under the auspices physical oceanography is of particular interest to of the Royal Society that the value of a few you, would you like to write about it? Could you foreign ideas developed into a practical set of commit to write a few hundred words about it? meteorological instruments with instructions We are hoping a number of Historical Fact about how they should be used. Sheets or ‘articles’ could run alongside our Occasional Papers on the Royal Meteorological THE ROYAL SOCIETY Society’s web site. This could be about a great A key factor in the story is that in the late 1640s weather event you witnessed, about potentially there were informal gatherings of natural exciting ‘stories’ that led to significant philosophers (later becoming scientists) in developments in science. They could perhaps London and Oxford; they called themselves the support a forthcoming meeting. “invisible college”, and when the monarchy was If you have any ideas, please don’t hesitate to restored in 1660 they met more regularly and contact the editor or another member of the openly and then in 1662 they became committee. incorporated formally when Charles II granted a charter to the Royal Society of London for the Historic locations in meteorology Promotion of Natural Knowledge. They were The March meeting of the committee was granted a charter and gained moral support hosted by Meteogroup in a modern office block from the crown but no money, unlike some of in London – but it turned out this was a very the academies and institutes on the continent, historic location for meteorology, as 172 years where the ruler or the state established and paid ago G J Symons had been born just round the for societies but at the cost to their members of corner in what is now Buckingham Palace Road. some of their independence. The ‘Founder Also, 63 Victoria Street nearby was home to the Fellows’ of the Royal Society were elected on Met Office from 1869 until 1910 and 70 Victoria 20 May 1663. 2 Amongst the forty original names on the suggested that it was Boyle who brought the provisional list of members were John Wilkins, first barometer to England when he returned who chaired a preliminary meeting in 1660, from studying on the continent. In 1726, William Dr Jonathan Goddard (one of the most noted Derham claimed that it was Christopher Wren medical men of the time), Sir William Petty (a who suggested to Boyle that he should use a pioneer in the use of statistics), John Wallis (a mercurial barometer to examine the theories of mathematician who wrote on the barometer and René Descartes, thus persuading Boyle to make thunder and set his pupil Isaac Newton on the a practical barometer, and Boyle has also been track of calculus) and then first secretary Henry credited with coining the term ‘barometer’. Oldenberg, who wrote, among other things, on However, Boyle, with help from his assistant the effect of thunder on a ship’s compass (well Hooke, constructed an air pump and he thought it was a good idea at the time!). The investigated the springiness of air – work that most noted early members from our point of eventually led to Boyle's Law – perhaps the only view were Robert Boyle (‘pigeonholed’ for bit of science that many remember from school, PV = a constant), Christopher Wren (known as a but that is just as well because it is not only a builder of churches, especially St. Paul’s), first step in learning about air but it may have Robert Hooke (who most people think just been the first equation ever published relating to stretched a bit of wire) and Edmond Halley (who the quantitative study of the atmosphere. happened to notice a comet that returns every Boyle's interest in air also led him to write ‘New 76 years).