PIONEERS IN THE WORLD OF WEATHER AND CLIMATOLOGY Henry who were accomplished in many fields Meteorology was just one of many areas in which they made a mark Their contributions to the atmospheric sciences are well documented especially Franklin's famous experiment with a kite flown during a thunderstorm to test the electrical properties of lightning Yet several of the pioneers featured in this book have dedicated their professional lives specifically to the study of weather and climate These are the people who have conducted the research and created the tools that have advanced the fields of meteorology and climatology Among their number is Wladimir Koppen whose chart ing of world temperatures led him to divide the world into climate regions a landmark event in climatology It could be said that other weather and climate pioneers had their heads in the clouds in the best possible sense Swedish meteorologist Tor Bergeron was known for his work in cloud physics specifically regard ing the question of how precipitation occurs American Vincent Joseph Schaefer was not merely content to study clouds Instead Io
INTRODUCTION he sought to control their output In 1946 Schaefer conducted the first successful cloud seeding which involves treating clouds with chemicals to produce snow or rain Humankind's influence on the weather didn't end there By the middle of the 20th century scientists were beginning to under stand that changes in climate were linked to human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels In 1958 climatologist Charles David Keeling began measuring carbon dioxide levels near an inactive Hawaiian volcano His findings showed that CO levels were rising which scientists claim is one cause of global warming As chairman of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC Swedish meteorol ogist Bert Bolin helped raise awareness of the dangers of climate change In 2007 the IPCC shared a Nobel Peace Prize with for mer U S vice president Al Gore It is unlikely that anyone will ever be able to predict the weather with 100 percent accuracy But thanks to the efforts of these pioneers and others like them there are far fewer mysteries in the worlds of meteorol ogy and climatology than there once were II
CHAPTER 1 ARISTOTLE he ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle one of the greatest thinkers of all time wrote the world s first meteorological trea tise Meteorologica in the 4th century BC Meteorologica remained the standard work on the subject for 2 000 years Born in 384 BC in Stagira on the north west coast of the Aegean Sea Aristotle was the son of the physician who tended to the king of Macedonia As such the boy spent plenty of time at court At 17 Aristotle enrolled at the famous Academy directed by the philosopher Plato Aristotle threw himself wholeheartedly into Plato's pursuit of truth and good ness Plato was soon calling him the mind of the school Aristotle stayed at the Academy for 20 years leaving only when his beloved master died in 347 BC In later years he renounced some of Plato's theo ries and went far beyond him in breadth of knowledge I2
ARISTOTLE A statue of the philosopher Aristotle in his Grecian birthplace His Meteorologica set the standard in meteorology for 2 000 years Panos Karapanagiotis Shutterstock com 13
