Nstruiiieffl

nstruiiieffl *!i[;ESaftia£S-:j;;tiftu "'W. E. Knowles Middleton ^»Ui!;ii-^:Hianit;tUfritK»::H:K Catalog of Meteorological Instruments in the Museum of History and Technology SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY NUMBER 2 Catalog of Meteorological Instruments in the Museum of History and Technology Prepared by W. E. Knowles Middleton SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION^ PRESS CITY OF WASHINGTO^^ 1969 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $3.25 IV Contents Page Acknowledgments 3 1. INTRODUCTION 3 2. BAROMETERS AND BAROGRAPHS 7 Invention of the Barometer 7 Mercury Barometers and Barographs 8 Aneroid Barometers and Barographs 23 Other Instruments 33 3. THERMOMETERS AND THERMOGRAPHS 37 Early History 37 Liquid-in-Glass Thermometers 38 Maximum and Minimum Thermometers 45 Bimetallic Thermometers 49 Recording Thermometers 50 Other Instruments 55 4. INSTRUMENTS FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF ATMOSPHERIC HUMIDITY 61 Absorption Hygrometers 61 Condensation Hygrometers 64 Psychrometers 66 Other Instruments 70 5. INSTRUMENTS FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF PRECIPITATION AND EVAPORATION 73 Other Instrument 77 6. INSTRUMENTS FOR MEASURING THE SURFACE WIND 79 Wind Vanes and Wind-Direction Recorders 79 Anemometers and Anemographs 82 Other Instruments 89 7. SUNSHINE RECORDERS 91 Other Instrument 93 8. NEPHOSCOPES 95 9. UPPER-AIR INSTRUMENTS, NOT TELEMETERING 97 Meteorographs for Use With Kites or Captive Balloons 98 Meteorographs for Use With Free Balloons (Sounding Balloons) 99 Meteorographs for Use on Aircraft 100 Miscellaneous Apparatus Used in Connection With Upper-Air Observations 102 10, RADIOSONDES 103 Other Instruments 120 11. MISCELLANEOUS METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS 123 Combination Recording Instruments 123 Other Instruments, Not Classified 124 Bibliography 128 Introduction ^ [it' FIGURE 1 Four barometers by Benjamin Pike & Sons, New York (MHT 316,739, MHT 319,958, MHT 323,000, and MHT 326,144). (Smithsonian photo 61909.) Chapter 1 Introduction In dealing with its collections of scientific in Institution's Museum of History and Technology: struments, generally assembled largely by chance, the most numerous instruments are ther a great museum has to pay attention to its func mometers, which do not deteriorate much unless tion as a means of public education, while they are actually broken—though not many are meeting its obligation to provide materials for very old—followed by aneroid barometers and study by specialist scholars. Those who walk in barographs, which are generally kept indoors. the public galleries of such an institution and Mercury barometers are often fairly common, admire the skillfully arranged exhibits seldom and mercury barographs are frequently both have any idea of the mass of matericd, in deposi numerous and well preserved, probably because tories and storerooms, of which only a small even an unhistorically minded meteorologist sample can possibly be displayed. Were they to would hesitate to break up such a complex and visit such a storeroom with its complexities of elegant piece of apparatus. But when it comes to ordered disorder, they would probably be unable things that went on poles, like anemometers, it to make much of what they saw. Nor would they is another story. Only a few are likely to have find what they saw very attractive; for, as every survived. curator knows, old instruments coming to a The collection to which this catalog is devoted museum nearly always need a good deal of expert came to the Museum from many sources, but refurbishing and restoring before they are fit to be put in an exhibition case; and unless they are to be exhibited, they do not receive it. The scholar is often obliged to do a good deal Acknowledgments of mental restoration. This remark applies with Information regarding a number of instru particular force to meteorological instruments ments has been obtained from several people many of which in their years of service have whose kindness is acknowledged in footnotes. necessarily been exposed to the weather. Indeed, Here, the writer must specially refer to the this circumstance conditions the relative num great assistance he received from Mr. Christos bers of meteorological instruments of different Harmantas of the U.S. Weather Bureau in the types to be found in collections. In the European matter of radiosondes, on which Mr. Harmantas museums with which the writer is acquainted, is a recognized authority. the pattern is the same as in the Smithsonian somewhat more than half of these instruments transferred to the Department of Commerce, and came from the principal centers of official in 1966 it became the nucleus of a new bureau, meteorological observation in the United States. the Environmental Sciences Administration. This Federal government activity in relation to mete unusually peripatetic history accounts for the orology seems to date from 1819, when the office miscellany of sources from which the instruments of the Surgeon General, U.S. Army, initiated in this collection derive, for they represent the systematic observation of the thermometer and principal repository of the remains of official wind vane at military posts. In 1855 the young meteorology in the United States. Smithsonian Institution made meteorology one The instruments in this Museum represent of its first concerns, distributing instruments many donors, but the majority came from the around the country and correlating the observa American sources just mentioned. Our particular tions which were reported via the recently gratitude goes to Mr. Robert Wright of the U.S. developed telegraph network. In 1870 the Signal Weather Bureau, who for many years has been Corps, U.S. Army, took on the burden of official alert to the history of his own field, and whose meteorology as a result of a joint resolution of personal intervention has often prevented the the Congress and in accordance with Joseph discarding or cannibalization of important in Henry's dictum that the Smithsonian should not struments which are now in the Museum of become the agency for such scientific work once History and Technology. its permanency had been decided upon. This did In the 19th century it was believed that not terminate Smithsonian meteorology al "science" and "measurement" were almost together, however, for at the end of the century synonymous terms. While this attitude has been the establishment of the Astrophysical Observa modified, it remains true that the availability of tory by Henry's successor, S. P. Langley, re- suitable instruments has at all times been im involved the Institution in observations related mensely important to the advance of science. to solar physics. Meteorology as a scientific discipline began The decade of the 1860s marked the transfor immediately after the invention of the barometer, mation of observational meteorology from a and as a result of it.i In more recent times our largely haphazard occupation of amateur ob knowledge of weather processes has been enor servers, using simple instruments, into a more mously enlarged by the use of instruments for businesslike and systematic procedure pursued measuring temperature, humidity, surface wind, in permanent stations and using sophisticated and other elements, and especially by the develop instruments the results of which were automati ment and use of means of investigating the upper cally recorded or read at a distant point. In the air. Therefore, the history of meteorological in 1870s the Army Signal Corps acquired examples struments is an important part of the story of of most of the existing "systems," and installed the science of meteorology. them in a laboratory for the development of new The most ancient of these instruments is types of instruments. Along with several Euro probably the wind vane for facilitating the ob pean systems shown, there were two from Ameri servation of the direction of the wind. The rain can meteorologist-inventors—George Hough, Di gauge is also of a respectable antiquity. Next rector of the Dudley Observatory, Albany, New came the invention of a crude sort of hygroscope York, and Daniel Draper, who had a private in the 15th century, and one type of anemometer observatory in Central Park, New York City. was envisaged, if not built, at about the same In 1891 U.S. Government Meteorology moved again, this time to the Department of Agriculture, 1 See W. E. K. Middleton, A History oj the Theory oj where it became a subordinate unit with the Rain (London: Oldbovirne, 1965; New York: Franklin title U.S. Weather Bureau. In 1940 the unit was Watts, 1966), especially chapter 4, for evidence of this. time. The wonderful 17th century brought the at appropriate places, but set apart typographi barometer and thermometer, both carried to a cally so that the narrative can easily be read useful degree of precision in the 18th century. through by itself if the reader prefers to do this. The invention of the balloon in 1783 led at once At the end of each chapter will be found a list of to the investigation of the upper air, though more the other instruments in the Museum that have than a century had to elapse before the develop not been discussed in the text. While most of the ment of light instruments for unmanned balloons instruments described are in the collections of the and kites made anything more than sporadic Museum of History and Technology (MHT), a observations possible. Finally, in our own time, few are in the collections of the National Air and the progress of electrical engineering, giving us Space Museum (NASM). The Museum of His the radiosonde and radar, has .made upper-air tory and Technology is naturally rich in appara observations a regular part of the data furnished tus of American origin, and an attempt has been every day to the forecaster. made to cover such specimens in some dejtail This catalog contains a short summary of the without overemphasizing their importance in the history of each type of instrument, accompanied history of meteorological instrumentation.

Load more