C. L. Jordan on Coriolis and the Florida State University deflective force Tallahassee, Fla.

Coriolis force or deflective force of the Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1922 does Now every meteorology student soon encounters the not carry an item on Coriolis or coriolis force. Begin- name Coriolis in association with the apparent deflective ning around 1930, practically every physics text which force due to the earth's rotation. This association is, how- discusses the influence of the earth's rotation on moving ever, a relatively recent innovation since Coriolis was objects refers to the coriolis force or acceleration. given little recognition by meteorologists for about 100 years following the publication of his 1835 paper deal- Recognition given Coriolis in the 1880-1930 period ing with accelerations in relative coordinate systems The lack of recognition of Coriolis by meteorologists (Coriolis, 1835). In the United States and Great Britain, may have been due to a complete ignorance of his work the terms deflective force and deviating force (of the within some groups and, among others, to a lack of ap- earth's rotation) were in general use until about 1940. preciation of the general applicability of the ideas pre- Widely used texts in the 1930's, such as Brunt (1934) and sented in his 1835 paper. Several references to Coriolis Humphreys (1928), make no reference to Coriolis or to have been noted during the 1880-1930 period (cf. the coriolis force and these items do not appear in the Sprung, 1881; Gunter, 1899; Ekman, 1905; Shaw, 1926) third edition of the Meteorological Glossary (Meteoro- but none of these refer to the deflective force as the logical Office, 1940). There are, however, references to coriolis force. In some cases exclusive credit was not the coriolis force, the coriolis parameter and the coriolis given to Coriolis for describing the deflective force. For factor in research papers published in the United States example, Gunter mentions Coriolis and Ferrel, while Ek- and Great Britain during the 1930's (cf. Rossby, 1936; man mentions Hadley, Coriolis and Ferrel. Shaw (1926) Montgomery, 1937; Sutcliffe, 1938). referred to Coriolis in his bibliography of theoretical The association of Coriolis with the deflective force meteorology, but not in the body of his four-volume probably occurred somewhat earlier in Europe than in treatise, and he incorrectly stated that the 1835 paper the United States or Britain. V. Bjerknes et al. (1933) dealt with "the relation of wind to pressure." and Koschmieder (1933) refer to the coriolis force and There were also papers written in this early period Dr. Erwin R. Biel has informed the writer that this term of dynamic meteorology which should have carried ref- was used in lectures at the University of Vienna in 1924. erences to Coriolis but failed to do so. In a nineteenth- However, many of the well-known texts appearing in century paper dealing with the deflective force, Davis western Europe in the first third of this century, includ- (1885) attributes "the first correct and complete discus- ing Angot (1907), Defant (1926) and Suring (1927) carry sion of the (deflective) force" to Poisson. The same view no reference to Coriolis or the coriolis force. It is inter- was expressed by Abbe (1910) who, in die introduction esting that during the period 1880-1930 practically every of his third volume of translations, stated that: . . it text carried a reference to Buys Ballot but not to Cori- was Poisson who, in 1837, first deduced correctly the olis, while in the recent years the trend is reversed with influence of the earth's rotation on moving solids, and many texts having no reference to Buys Ballot's law. Tracy who in 1843, applied similar views to the rotation of storms." It is indeed surprising that Abbe, who did so Recognition given Coriolis by the physicists much to introduce dynamic meteorology in the United A rather cursory examination of texts in general physics States through his translations made over a period of and mechanics published in the early part of this century more than 30 years, was apparently unaware of the 1835 revealed that most, but not all, authors referred to paper by Coriolis. The paper by Sprung (1881) men- Coriolis in discussing the deflective force but the terms tioned previously which carried a reference to Coriolis coriolis force and coriolis acceleration had not come into was included in Abbe's translations but the date of the use. For example, Routh (1905) and MacMillan (1927) Coriolis paper was erroneously given by Sprung as 1861. refer to Coriolis but speak of the deflective force as the It is interesting to speculate that had it not been for compound centrifugal force. On the other hand, Jeans this error by Sprung, Abbe probably would have in- (1907) makes no reference to Coriolis in discussing the cluded a translation of Coriolis' 1835 paper rather than deflective force. It is of interest that the eleventh edition a portion of one by Poisson. There are other interesting Bulletin American Meteorological Society 401

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/07/21 08:50 AM UTC Vol. 47, No. 5, May 1966 portions of Abbe's introduction previously cited which and, according to Dugas (1955), some felt that Coriolis' suggest that his evaluation of the important early con- work added little, if anything, to Clairaut's principles. tributors to dynamic meteorology was somewhat different Following Coriolis' paper in 1835, which considered rela- than might be gained by reference to current texts. For tive accelerations in a very general manner, Poisson 1 example, he wrote . . the modern study of this sub- (1838) considered the question of the deflection of pro- ject (dynamic meteorology) is properely traceable to the jectiles fired from the earth. The treatment of the deflec- influence of Prof. William Ferrel in America and Prof. tion of air currents, first discussed by Hadley, was William Thomson in England, both of whom cooperated extended by Tracy (1843) who showed by qualitative to put our knowledge of the subject on a firmer basis reasoning that any air current, irrespective of initial than was before possible. Meanwhile, a profound Rus- direction, would be deflected to the right in the North- sian, Braschmann, and the equally profound German ern Hemisphere. The first complete treatment of the scholar, Erman, were independently working over the deflective force from the meteorological point of view is same ground, though their publications have been that of Ferrel who, in the late 1850's, considered the scarcely noticed by technical meteorologists." There is relative accelerations in mathematical terms and derived little doubt that Ferrel, the father of dynamic meteorol- appropriate expressions for inclusion in the equations ogy in the United States, has not received the credit he of motion as applied to the atmosphere. deserves and, as discussed by McDonald (1963) in an It is not the purpose of the note to propose that the article rich in meteorological history, the contributions coriolis force be renamed. It is of interest, however, to of Thomson (Lord Kelvin) to meteorology have been raise the question why Coriolis' name has been given to almost entirely overlooked by meteorological authors in the deflective force in view of the important contribu- this century. tions of some of the individuals cited above. It might Ferrel's contributions seem that, somewhere along the way, some convincing The first complete treatment of the deflective force as articles might have been required to lead the meteoro- applied to atmospheric flow patterns is almost certainly logical community to give priority to Coriolis over Had- due to Ferrel, although the basic concept of accelerations ley, Tracy and Ferrel. In view of the literature pre- in rotating coordinate systems goes back to Coriolis. This viously cited, it would seem that such articles, if they view was expressed by Humphreys (1942) who, in sum- exist, would probably have been written some 80-100 marizing Ferrel's contributions to meteorology, wrote: years following Coriolis' death. A search of the standard "And yet while all the ideas developed in his mathemati- meteorological journals appearing in English, as well as cal papers were original with Ferrel, they nevertheless of Science and Nature, for the period 1925-1940 failed had been anticipated in a general way in 1835 by Cori- to turn up any articles of this type. It may have been olis." Ferrel's work on the deflective force first appeared that little thought was given to priorities and the term in a series of papers in Runkle's Mathematical Journal coriolis force was readily adopted since it represented a in the late 1850's and was summarized in an article in replacement for the rather awkward term deflective force the American Journal of Science and Arts (Ferrel, 1861). of the earth's rotation. There may be much better rea- Actually the approach in the 1861 paper is more mod- sons for the adoption of the term coriolis force by the ern and complete than given in later papers (cf. Ferrel, meteorologists and it is hoped that these will be forth- 1872) in which attempts were made to introduce em- coming from the readers of this article. pirical quantities into the equations to make them more useful for the synoptic meteorologist. Acknowledgments. The writer is indebted to Profes- The matter of credit sors Erwin R. Biel and James E. McDonald for helpful The question of credit for the discovery of a scientific suggestions and to Mr. Silvio F. Lombardi for his assist- principle is usually difficult to establish. This is true in ance in the literature search which was made during the the case of the deflective force of the earth's rotation preparation of this paper. since a number of individuals made contributions. The recognition that moving objects are deflected by the References earth's rotation goes back as far as Newton who, in a Abbe, C. A., 1910: The mechanics of the atmosphere. Smith- letter to Hooke in 1679 (Turnbull, 1960), suggested that sonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 51, No. 4, Washing- measurement of the amount of deflection of a falling ton, 617 pp. object might be used to determine the rate of rotation Angot, A., 1907: Traite Elementaire de Meteorologie. Paris, of the earth. Hadley (1735) considered the deflection of Gauthier-Villars, 417 pp. north-south atmospheric currents in a qualitative sense Bjerknes, V., J. Berknes, H. Solberg and T. Bergeron, 1933: in his classic description of the general circulation of Physikalische Hydrodynmik. Berlin, Julius Springer, 797 pp. the atmosphere. Relative accelerations in moving co- Brunt, D., 1934: Physical and Dynamical Meteorology. New ordinate systems were considered by Clairaut1 (1742) York, The MacMillan Co., 411 pp. i The writer did not have an opportunity to look at the Clairaut, A. C., 1742: Sur quelques principes donnant la papers by Clairaut (1742) and Poisson (1838) but in all other solution d'un grand nombre de problems. Memories de cases the cited papers have been examined. I'Academie des Sciences, 1, 370-372. 402

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/07/21 08:50 AM UTC Bulletin American Meteorological Society Coriolis, G. G., 1835: Memoire sur les equations du mouve- ment relatif des systemes de Corps. J. Ecole Poly technique, 15, 142-154. KEEP CURRENT WITH Davis, W. M., 1885: The deflective effect of the earth's rota- A NEW AMS MONOGRAPH tion. Amer. Meteor. J., 1, 516-524. Defant, A., 1926: Wetter und Wettervorhersage (Synoptische Meteorologie). Leipzig, Franz Deuticke, 339 pp. Dugas, R., 1955: A History of Mechanics. New York, Central Scattered Radiation in the Book Co., Inc., 671 pp. Ekman, W. A., 1905: On the influence of the Earth's rotation Ozone Absorption Bands at on ocean currents. Arkiv for Matematik, Astronomi och Selected Levels of a Terrestrial, Fysik, 2, No. 11, 1-51. Ferrel, W., 1861: The motions of fluids and solids relative to Rayleigh Atmosphere the Earth's surface. Amer. J. Science and Arts, 31, 27-50. , 1874: Relation between the barometric gradient and by J. V. Dave and P. M. Furukawa the velocity of the wind. Amer. J. Science and Arts 44, 343-362. foreword by W. W. Kellogg Gunter, S., 1899: Handbuch der Geophysik, Zwei Bande. Stuttgart, Verlag von Ferdinand Enke, 1009 pp. Hadley, G., 1735: On the cause of the general trade-winds. published jointly by Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. of London, 34, 58-62. American Meteorological Society Humphreys, W. J., 1928: Physics of the Air. New York, Mc- Graw-Hill Book Co., 676 pp. and , 1942: Ways of the Weather. Lancaster, Pa., Jaques Cat- tell Press, 400 pp. National Center for Atmospheric Research Jeans, J. H., 1907: An Elementary Treatise on Theoretical Mechanics. Boston, Ginn and Co., 364 pp. This Monograph represents a pioneering effort. It is the Koschmieder, H., 1931: Dynamische Meteorologie. Leipzig, culmination of a difficult mathematical analysis of a com- plex problem, a problem that has involved the best scien- Akademische Verlagsgessellschaft, 376 pp. tists in this field for many years—to name a few of them: MacMillan, W. M., 1927: Theoretical Mechanics—Statics and S. Chapman, S. Chandrasekhar, Z. Sekera and H. C. van the Dynamics of a Particle. New York, McGraw-Hill Book de Hulst. Co., 430 pp. In the past the solutions to the problem of the radiative McDonald, J. E., 1963: Early developments in the theory of transfer of solar radiation have been incomplete due to the the saturated adiabatic process. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., many theoretical difficulties, and have neglected or only 44, 203-211. approximated such effects as multiple scattering, ground reflection, absorption, and polarization. The numerical study Meteorological Office, 1940: The Meteorological Glossary. presented in this Monograph on the basis of a complete Brooklyn, Chemical Publishing Co., Inc., 251 pp. analytical solution, now allows a detailed study of these Montgomery, R. B., 1937: A suggested method for represent- effects in many diversified problems affected by the absorp- ing gradient flow in isentropic surfaces. Bull. Amer. Meteor. tion and scattering of the solar radiant energy which il- Soc., 18, 210-212. luminates the atmosphere. Rossby, C.-G., 1936: Dynamics of steady ocean currents in The purposes to which these extensive computerized tables the light of experimental fluid mechanics. Massachusetts will be put will be extremely varied depending on the use. Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Understanding the behavior of sunlight (visible, ultraviolet, and infrared) as it passes down through an atmosphere and Institution, Papers in Physical Oceanography and Meteorol- is reflected and scattered out again can be the key to as- °gy> 5, No. 1, 43 pp. sessing the heating of the atmosphere, determining the Poisson, S. D., 1838: Sur le mouvement des projectiles dans distributions of ozone and aerosols, estimating the properties l'air, en avant regard a la rotation de la terre. J. Ecole of the other planetary atmospheres, etc. In a very real sense, sunlight can be used as a probe to measure conditions Poly technique, 18, 1-69. in an atmosphere, and the practical value of this technique Routh, E. J., 1905: Dynamics of a System of Rigid Bodies, is beginning to be explored more widely. The work of J. V. Part II. London, The MacMillan Co., 484 pp. Dave and P. M. Furukawa represents a step toward providing Shaw, N., 1926: Manual of Meteorology. Vol. I, Cambridge, the theoretical-numerical basis for analyzing such measure- The University Press, 343 pp. ments. Sprung, A., 1881: Uber die Bahnlinien eines freien Theilchens auf der rotirden Erdoverflache und deren Bedeutung fur Vol. 7, No. 29—January 1966 die Meteorologie. Wiedemann's Annalen der Physik und Price Price Chemie, XIV (Third Series), 128-149. member $ 6 clothbound nonmember $12 clothbound Suring, R. J., 1927: Leitfaden der Meteorologie. Leipzig, $ 5 paperbound $10 paperbound Tauchnitz, 426 pp. Sutcliffe, R. C., 1938: On development in the field of baro- Send orders to: metric pressure. Quart. J. R. Meteor. Soc., 64, 495-504. Tracy, C., 1843: The rotary action of storms. Amer. J. Science AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY and Arts, 14, 65-72. 45 BEACON STREET Turnbull, H. W., 1960: The Correspondence of Isaac New- BOSTON, MASS. 02108 ton. Vol. II, Cambridge, University Press, 552 pp.

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/07/21 08:50 AM UTC PREPRINTS AVAILABLE SIXTH CONFERENCE ON APPLIED METEOROLOGY (AEROSPACE METEOROLOGY), AMS with AIAA March 28-31, 1966 Los Angeles, California AMS/AIAA MEMBER PRICE—$0.75 each NONMEMBER PRICE—$1.50 each 66-334 Weather Support Problems in the Gemini and Apollo Programs—K. M. Nagler 66-335 Wind Variability Over a Complex Surface—J. F. Appleby and T. H. Pries 66-336 Meteorological Real-Time System Used in Support of Unguided Rocket Firing—V. Cochran and L. D. Duncan 66-337 Solid State Vane and Anemometer—M. H. Norwood, A. E. Cariffe, V. E. Olszewski and R. C. Haskell 66-340 Seasonal Wind Patterns at Wallops Island Applied to Launch Operational Problems—J. A. Cochrane and R. M. Henry 66-342 A Preview—U. S. Standard Atmosphere Supplements, 1966—N. Sissenwine, M. Dubin and S. Teweles 66-344 Temperature Variations in the Tropical Stratosphere and Mesosphere 25 to 80 km—A. E. Cole 66-345 The High-Latitude Density Regime at Rocket Altitudes Inferred From Observations in Opposite Hemispheres—R. S. Quiroz 66-347 Density Profiles for Saturn IB Design—R. K. Steely 66-349 Meteorological Measurement Accuracies for Use in the Design and Operation of Aerospace Vehicles—A. S. Carten, Jr. 66-350 The Alleviation of Aerodynamic Loads on Rigid Space Vehicles—M. H. Rheinfurth 66-352 Wind Shear for Small Thickness Layers—M. Armendariz and L. J. Rider 66-353 Multivariate Statistical Analysis of Wind Sounding Data—C. J. Van Der Maas 66-355 Method for Selecting Atmosphere Density Models for Satellite Systems Studies—R. M. Jones 66-357 On the Prediction of Satellite Orbit Decay and Impact—L. N. Rowell, C. Gazley and G. Schilling 66-358 On the Linearized Atmospheric Contributions to Re-entry Vehicle CEP—F. M. Shinnick, III 66-359 Estimating Ballistic Wind and Density From 500 Millibar Data—D. G. Vincent 66-360 Meteorological Environment Considerations for All-Weather Land Recovery Operations of Lifting Re-entry Vehicles—J. Zvara 66-361 Simultaneous Occurrence and Statistical Distribution of Clouds Over the United States—R. Atlas 66-362 High Altitude Clear Air Turbulence (HICAT)—Menace to the Aerial Highway—N. V. Loving 66-364 Operational Application of a Universal Turbulence Measuring System—P. MacCready, Jr. 66-365 Flight Data Analysis of the Relation Between Atmospheric Temperature Change and Clear Air Turbulence—P. W. Kadlec 66-367 Effects of Atmospheric Gust Criteria on Supersonic Inlet Performance—F. W. Barry 66-368 Stratospheric Moisture Profiles over Northern California—D. D. Grantham, N. Sissenwine, H. A. Salmela and S. Rohrbough 66-369 Effect of Supersonic Aircraft on Cirrus Formation and Climate—H. S. Appleman 66-371 The Frequency Distribution of Route Temperatures at Supersonic Flight Levels—I. Gringorten 66-372 Satellite Sensing of the Lower Stratospheric Temperature Structure to Support SST Operations—E. S. Merritt and D. Chang 66-374 Some Applications of the Laser as an Atmospheric Probe—F. W. Gibson 66-375 Micrometeorology and the Clean Air Act—W. R. Jeffries, III 66-376 Project Adobe—A Study in Atmospheric Diffusion—G. L. Tucker 66-377 Diffusion of Toxic Exhaust Products from Titan III-C Solid Rocket Motors—L. I. Barker 66-378 The Predictability of Winds and Virtual Temperature Profiles for Flight and Static Test Operations—K. W. Veigas, D. B. Spiegler, J. T. Ball and J. P. Gerrity, Jr. 66-379 Ablation Particulate Dispersion in the Atmosphere—C. V. Hendricks 66-380 The Atmospheric Entry Dynamics of Small Particles—R. C. Lee, F. F. Percy, J. E. Francis and R. H. Maynard 66-382 The Gun-Launched Meteorological Sounding System—L. Williamson and E. D. Boyer 66-383 New Low Cost Meteorological Vehicle System for Temperature and Wind Measurements in the 75,000 to 200,000 ft Altitude Region—B. Bollermann and R. L. Walker 66-385 The Measurement of Temperature in the Stratosphere—H. N. Ballard 66-386 The Accuracy of Thermistors in the Measurement of Upper Air Temperature—D. C. Thomson and D. P. Keily 66-388 A Means for Improving the Accuracy and Extending the Maximum Altitude of Mesospheric Temperature Measurements— R. G. Billings 66-389 Solar Observing and Forecasting for Military Operations—C. K. Anderson 66-395 The Electron Distribution From 400 to 1200 km—L. Dubach and C. L. Rush 66-397 The USAF Meteorological Rocket Network—J. Giraytys and F. Rose 66-398 Wind Sensing Capabilities and Rise-Rate Characteristics of Some Ground Launched Rigid Balloon Systems—C. V. Eckstrom 66-399 Description of a New Parachute Designed for Use With Meteorological Rockets and a Consideration of Improvements in Meteorological Measurements—H. N. Murrow and C. V. Eckstrom 66-403 Upper Atmosphere Winds Measured by Gun Launched Projectiles—C. H. Murphy, G. V. Bull and H. D. Edwards Orders should be sent to: Remittance must accompany all mail orders. AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, 45 BEACON ST., BOSTON, MASS. 02108

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