Peter Adamson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195181425
- eISBN:
- 9780199785087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195181425.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter shows how al-Kindī interweaves ideas from Greek cosmology to give a theory that can explain the efficacy of astrology and how God’s providence is dispersed by means of heavenly ...
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This chapter shows how al-Kindī interweaves ideas from Greek cosmology to give a theory that can explain the efficacy of astrology and how God’s providence is dispersed by means of heavenly influence. A concrete example is found in al-Kindī’s works on meteorology, since he thinks that weather is produced by celestial causation. The mechanics of this causation are explained differently in different works, which leads to a consideration of the authenticity of On Rays, which is ascribed to al-Kindī, and its place in his corpus. Finally, the chapter considers whether al-Kindī’s account commits him to determinism, and whether he thinks universal causal determinism is compatible with human freedom.Less
This chapter shows how al-Kindī interweaves ideas from Greek cosmology to give a theory that can explain the efficacy of astrology and how God’s providence is dispersed by means of heavenly influence. A concrete example is found in al-Kindī’s works on meteorology, since he thinks that weather is produced by celestial causation. The mechanics of this causation are explained differently in different works, which leads to a consideration of the authenticity of On Rays, which is ascribed to al-Kindī, and its place in his corpus. Finally, the chapter considers whether al-Kindī’s account commits him to determinism, and whether he thinks universal causal determinism is compatible with human freedom.
Yasmin Haskell
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262849
- eISBN:
- 9780191734588
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262849.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
This is the first dedicated study of the classical-style, Latin didactic poetry produced by the Society of Jesus in the early modern period. The Jesuits were the most prolific composers of such ...
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This is the first dedicated study of the classical-style, Latin didactic poetry produced by the Society of Jesus in the early modern period. The Jesuits were the most prolific composers of such poetry, teaching all manner of arts and sciences: meteorology and magnetism, raising chickens and children, the arts of sculpture and engraving, writing and conversation, the social and medicinal benefits of coffee and chocolate, the pious life and the urbane life. The book accounts for this investment in so secular a genre by considering the Society's educational and ideological values and practices. Extensive quotation from the poems reveals their literary qualities, compositional methods, and traditions. The poems also command scholarly attention for what they reveal about social, cultural, and intellectual life in this period.Less
This is the first dedicated study of the classical-style, Latin didactic poetry produced by the Society of Jesus in the early modern period. The Jesuits were the most prolific composers of such poetry, teaching all manner of arts and sciences: meteorology and magnetism, raising chickens and children, the arts of sculpture and engraving, writing and conversation, the social and medicinal benefits of coffee and chocolate, the pious life and the urbane life. The book accounts for this investment in so secular a genre by considering the Society's educational and ideological values and practices. Extensive quotation from the poems reveals their literary qualities, compositional methods, and traditions. The poems also command scholarly attention for what they reveal about social, cultural, and intellectual life in this period.
Gareth D. Williams
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199731589
- eISBN:
- 9780199933112
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199731589.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
Seneca’s Natural Questions is an eight‐book disquisition on the nature of meteorological phenomena, many of which had been treated in the earlier Greco‐Roman meteorological tradition; but what ...
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Seneca’s Natural Questions is an eight‐book disquisition on the nature of meteorological phenomena, many of which had been treated in the earlier Greco‐Roman meteorological tradition; but what notoriously sets Seneca’s writing apart is his insertion of extended moralizing sections within his technical discourse. How, if at all, are these outbursts against the luxury and vice that are apparently rampant in Seneca’s first century CE Rome to be reconciled with his main meteorological agenda? In grappling with this familiar question, The Cosmic Viewpoint: A Study of Seneca’s Natural Questions argues that Seneca is no blinkered or arid meteorological investigator, but a creative explorer into nature’s workings who offers a highly idiosyncratic blend of physico-moral investigation in and across his eight books. More importantly, however, The Cosmic Viewpoint stresses the literary qualities and complexities that are essential to Seneca’s literary art of science: his technical enquiries initiate a form of engagement with nature which distances the reader from the ordinary involvements and fragmentations of everyday life, instead centring our existence in the cosmic whole. From a figurative standpoint, Seneca’s meteorological theme raises our gaze from a terrestrial level of existence to a higher, more intuitive plane where literal vision gives way to conjecture and intuition: in striving to understand meteorological phenomena, we progress in an elevating direction – a conceptual climb that renders the Natural Questions no mere store of technical learning, but a work that actively promotes a change of perspective in its readership: the cosmic viewpoint.Less
Seneca’s Natural Questions is an eight‐book disquisition on the nature of meteorological phenomena, many of which had been treated in the earlier Greco‐Roman meteorological tradition; but what notoriously sets Seneca’s writing apart is his insertion of extended moralizing sections within his technical discourse. How, if at all, are these outbursts against the luxury and vice that are apparently rampant in Seneca’s first century CE Rome to be reconciled with his main meteorological agenda? In grappling with this familiar question, The Cosmic Viewpoint: A Study of Seneca’s Natural Questions argues that Seneca is no blinkered or arid meteorological investigator, but a creative explorer into nature’s workings who offers a highly idiosyncratic blend of physico-moral investigation in and across his eight books. More importantly, however, The Cosmic Viewpoint stresses the literary qualities and complexities that are essential to Seneca’s literary art of science: his technical enquiries initiate a form of engagement with nature which distances the reader from the ordinary involvements and fragmentations of everyday life, instead centring our existence in the cosmic whole. From a figurative standpoint, Seneca’s meteorological theme raises our gaze from a terrestrial level of existence to a higher, more intuitive plane where literal vision gives way to conjecture and intuition: in striving to understand meteorological phenomena, we progress in an elevating direction – a conceptual climb that renders the Natural Questions no mere store of technical learning, but a work that actively promotes a change of perspective in its readership: the cosmic viewpoint.
Monte Ransome Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199285303
- eISBN:
- 9780191603143
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199285306.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
Did Aristotle consider the properties of the elements to be teleologically explicable? According to some commentators, he did not, but considered these to operate according to material, moving, or ...
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Did Aristotle consider the properties of the elements to be teleologically explicable? According to some commentators, he did not, but considered these to operate according to material, moving, or mechanical causes. According to others, he did, and this is evidence of his commitment to an “overall” or “global” teleology. Both of the positions are wrong. Aristotle did consider each of the elements teleologically explicable, but he considered the beneficiaries of their properties and motions to be the elements themselves. This is relatively clear in the case of ether, the element that composes the heavenly bodies: it has a simple motion in a circle, which is a manifestation of the intelligence of the extra-terrestrial bodies. But the other elements are included in a cycle of transmutation that guarantees their perpetual existence. This is a benefit to them according to the axiom: it is better to exist than not exist. Thus, rainfall is a necessary and cyclical process (happening completely independently of the needs of living things), but it is also somehow benefits the elements that are transformed in the process, for in so doing they complete cycles that resemble or imitate the eternal cycles of the heavenly bodies.Less
Did Aristotle consider the properties of the elements to be teleologically explicable? According to some commentators, he did not, but considered these to operate according to material, moving, or mechanical causes. According to others, he did, and this is evidence of his commitment to an “overall” or “global” teleology. Both of the positions are wrong. Aristotle did consider each of the elements teleologically explicable, but he considered the beneficiaries of their properties and motions to be the elements themselves. This is relatively clear in the case of ether, the element that composes the heavenly bodies: it has a simple motion in a circle, which is a manifestation of the intelligence of the extra-terrestrial bodies. But the other elements are included in a cycle of transmutation that guarantees their perpetual existence. This is a benefit to them according to the axiom: it is better to exist than not exist. Thus, rainfall is a necessary and cyclical process (happening completely independently of the needs of living things), but it is also somehow benefits the elements that are transformed in the process, for in so doing they complete cycles that resemble or imitate the eternal cycles of the heavenly bodies.
Maureen Perkins
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198121787
- eISBN:
- 9780191671302
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198121787.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature, 18th-century Literature
The disappearance of weather almanacs in the 1860s was connected with Robert Fitzroy's dissemination of official government reports to the newspapers. It was during the 1860s that newspapers became ...
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The disappearance of weather almanacs in the 1860s was connected with Robert Fitzroy's dissemination of official government reports to the newspapers. It was during the 1860s that newspapers became so cheap that many working-class households could afford them. The belief that weather could be foretold only two days ahead had been widely disseminated, and confidence in the annual predictions of almanacs had been undermined. The weather was still a source of interest, concern, and conversation in the Western world. Its status as a science was assured, although in practice, unpredictability still played havoc with weather forecasts. Long-range weather forecasters who used the position and angular aspects of the planets were still consulted by those whose enterprises depended on the state of the weather, but their status was not recognized by official scientific circles.Less
The disappearance of weather almanacs in the 1860s was connected with Robert Fitzroy's dissemination of official government reports to the newspapers. It was during the 1860s that newspapers became so cheap that many working-class households could afford them. The belief that weather could be foretold only two days ahead had been widely disseminated, and confidence in the annual predictions of almanacs had been undermined. The weather was still a source of interest, concern, and conversation in the Western world. Its status as a science was assured, although in practice, unpredictability still played havoc with weather forecasts. Long-range weather forecasters who used the position and angular aspects of the planets were still consulted by those whose enterprises depended on the state of the weather, but their status was not recognized by official scientific circles.
Phaedra Daipha
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226298542
- eISBN:
- 9780226298719
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226298719.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Science, Technology and Environment
This book draws on a two-year ethnography of forecasting operations at the National Weather Service (NWS) to theorize decision-making in action. Contrary to popular wisdom, weather forecasters are ...
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This book draws on a two-year ethnography of forecasting operations at the National Weather Service (NWS) to theorize decision-making in action. Contrary to popular wisdom, weather forecasters are considerably better than most other so-called expert decision-makers at mastering uncertainty. Following them in their quest for ground truth, therefore, promises to hold the key to the analytically elusive process of diagnosis and prognosis as it actually happens. That is the ultimate objective of this book—by systematically excavating how weather forecasters achieve a provisional coherence in the face of deep uncertainty, how they harness diverse information to project themselves into the future, it endeavors to develop a better conceptual framework for studying uncertainty management in action. Accordingly, the six empirically substantive chapters of the book illuminate key aspects of the process of meteorological decision-making at the NWS: the institutionalized socio-technical environment in which forecasters operate, the forecast production routine; the distillation of atmospheric complexity; the negotiation of accuracy and timeliness in the face of hazardous weather and after a missed forecast; the organization of future anticipation at different time horizons; the tradeoffs of offering expert advice to multiple audiences. The proposed conceptual framework provides the analytic tools to maintain sustained attention to the stable cultural and broader social field of decision-making practice but without losing sight of the situationally-driven micro-context of action and interaction. It reinstates decision-makers as makers of decisions, creatively implementing institutional goals in locally rational ways in order to fashion a workable solution to the decision-making task at hand.Less
This book draws on a two-year ethnography of forecasting operations at the National Weather Service (NWS) to theorize decision-making in action. Contrary to popular wisdom, weather forecasters are considerably better than most other so-called expert decision-makers at mastering uncertainty. Following them in their quest for ground truth, therefore, promises to hold the key to the analytically elusive process of diagnosis and prognosis as it actually happens. That is the ultimate objective of this book—by systematically excavating how weather forecasters achieve a provisional coherence in the face of deep uncertainty, how they harness diverse information to project themselves into the future, it endeavors to develop a better conceptual framework for studying uncertainty management in action. Accordingly, the six empirically substantive chapters of the book illuminate key aspects of the process of meteorological decision-making at the NWS: the institutionalized socio-technical environment in which forecasters operate, the forecast production routine; the distillation of atmospheric complexity; the negotiation of accuracy and timeliness in the face of hazardous weather and after a missed forecast; the organization of future anticipation at different time horizons; the tradeoffs of offering expert advice to multiple audiences. The proposed conceptual framework provides the analytic tools to maintain sustained attention to the stable cultural and broader social field of decision-making practice but without losing sight of the situationally-driven micro-context of action and interaction. It reinstates decision-makers as makers of decisions, creatively implementing institutional goals in locally rational ways in order to fashion a workable solution to the decision-making task at hand.
Stephen Gaukroger
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198237242
- eISBN:
- 9780191597480
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198237243.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Discusses possible reasons for Descartes's move to the Netherlands, and his avoidance of patronage there. Considers his work on optics (including the sine law of refraction and the grinding of ...
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Discusses possible reasons for Descartes's move to the Netherlands, and his avoidance of patronage there. Considers his work on optics (including the sine law of refraction and the grinding of hyperbolic lenses), music, and metaphysics (arguments for the existence of God, his transcendence, and the immortality of the soul). Also deals with Descartes's construction of an artificial, universal language, changes in his thinking about the doctrine of clarity and distinctness, his solution to the Pappus problem, his classification of curves, and his work on meteorology that he expanded into a project to explain the whole of physics. This work was considerably slowed down by his dispute with Beeckman over the authorship of ideas.Less
Discusses possible reasons for Descartes's move to the Netherlands, and his avoidance of patronage there. Considers his work on optics (including the sine law of refraction and the grinding of hyperbolic lenses), music, and metaphysics (arguments for the existence of God, his transcendence, and the immortality of the soul). Also deals with Descartes's construction of an artificial, universal language, changes in his thinking about the doctrine of clarity and distinctness, his solution to the Pappus problem, his classification of curves, and his work on meteorology that he expanded into a project to explain the whole of physics. This work was considerably slowed down by his dispute with Beeckman over the authorship of ideas.
Phaedra Daipha
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226298542
- eISBN:
- 9780226298719
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226298719.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Science, Technology and Environment
Centered on the unfolding and eventual closure of a recent, highly contentious operational transition at the NWS, this chapter introduces readers to the institutionalized environment in which NWS ...
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Centered on the unfolding and eventual closure of a recent, highly contentious operational transition at the NWS, this chapter introduces readers to the institutionalized environment in which NWS forecasters operate today, and to the operational philosophy, technologies, and identity politics through which its logic becomes articulated on the ground. The aim is to provide a balanced perspective on how institutional forces can, and cannot, structure decision-making in action. Attention is drawn to the typically invisible but profound role of technical standards and knowledge infrastructures for forging a community of practice. The argument is richly fleshed out through the experiences, practices, and points of view of meteorologists working at one forecasting office of the NWS.Less
Centered on the unfolding and eventual closure of a recent, highly contentious operational transition at the NWS, this chapter introduces readers to the institutionalized environment in which NWS forecasters operate today, and to the operational philosophy, technologies, and identity politics through which its logic becomes articulated on the ground. The aim is to provide a balanced perspective on how institutional forces can, and cannot, structure decision-making in action. Attention is drawn to the typically invisible but profound role of technical standards and knowledge infrastructures for forging a community of practice. The argument is richly fleshed out through the experiences, practices, and points of view of meteorologists working at one forecasting office of the NWS.
P. Kevin MacKeown
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789888028856
- eISBN:
- 9789882206878
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888028856.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Numerous personality clashes and financial and other intrigues surrounded the early efforts to set up an observatory in Hong Kong. Blending personalities, politics, and practicalities of studying the ...
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Numerous personality clashes and financial and other intrigues surrounded the early efforts to set up an observatory in Hong Kong. Blending personalities, politics, and practicalities of studying the weather, this book provides insights into the public and private controversies growing out of responses to and responsibilities involved in the protection of life and property. This portrait is set firmly in the context of the history of Hong Kong as a British colony on the China Coast and its role as a burgeoning commercial port within the trading complex of the Empire. It brings to life many of the people and institutions in Hong Kong and elsewhere on the development of meteorology on the China Coast. Dr. William Doberck, who became the founding director of the new Observatory, played a crucial role in its development during most of forty years covered by this book. Doberck was an astronomer with little interest in meteorology and a penchant for not suffering gladly those whom he considered to be his inferiors. The book follows many snippets of scandal concerning Doberck and his often cantankerous relationship with his employers and the other stakeholders in the Colony. In later chapters, the book explores the complex dynamics of the contentious interactions between Doberck and the Jesuits in charge of the Manila and Zikawei Observatories. The storms that rage in the narrative as well as the tragedy of the very real storm of 1906 illustrate the drama that played out both locally and internationally in terms of jealousies, rivalries, and many attendant charges and counter-charges animating the controversy.Less
Numerous personality clashes and financial and other intrigues surrounded the early efforts to set up an observatory in Hong Kong. Blending personalities, politics, and practicalities of studying the weather, this book provides insights into the public and private controversies growing out of responses to and responsibilities involved in the protection of life and property. This portrait is set firmly in the context of the history of Hong Kong as a British colony on the China Coast and its role as a burgeoning commercial port within the trading complex of the Empire. It brings to life many of the people and institutions in Hong Kong and elsewhere on the development of meteorology on the China Coast. Dr. William Doberck, who became the founding director of the new Observatory, played a crucial role in its development during most of forty years covered by this book. Doberck was an astronomer with little interest in meteorology and a penchant for not suffering gladly those whom he considered to be his inferiors. The book follows many snippets of scandal concerning Doberck and his often cantankerous relationship with his employers and the other stakeholders in the Colony. In later chapters, the book explores the complex dynamics of the contentious interactions between Doberck and the Jesuits in charge of the Manila and Zikawei Observatories. The storms that rage in the narrative as well as the tragedy of the very real storm of 1906 illustrate the drama that played out both locally and internationally in terms of jealousies, rivalries, and many attendant charges and counter-charges animating the controversy.
P. Kevin MacKeown
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789888028856
- eISBN:
- 9789882206878
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888028856.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter examines nineteenth-century meteorological observatories in relation to the history of the Hong Kong Observatory. It discusses early systematic observations of the weather prior to 1860, ...
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This chapter examines nineteenth-century meteorological observatories in relation to the history of the Hong Kong Observatory. It discusses early systematic observations of the weather prior to 1860, the recording of meteorological phenomena in China and the role of observatories as the main source of information on meteorology. It describes the earliest meteorological institutions in China including the Russian Observatory in Peking and some of the established observatories in the China Coast during the nineteenth century.Less
This chapter examines nineteenth-century meteorological observatories in relation to the history of the Hong Kong Observatory. It discusses early systematic observations of the weather prior to 1860, the recording of meteorological phenomena in China and the role of observatories as the main source of information on meteorology. It describes the earliest meteorological institutions in China including the Russian Observatory in Peking and some of the established observatories in the China Coast during the nineteenth century.
P. Kevin MacKeown
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789888028856
- eISBN:
- 9789882206878
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888028856.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter examines the dissatisfaction that was made manifest with the Hong Kong Observatory in 1887, particularly in matters related to meteorology. The criticisms were centered on director ...
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This chapter examines the dissatisfaction that was made manifest with the Hong Kong Observatory in 1887, particularly in matters related to meteorology. The criticisms were centered on director August William Doberck's antagonism to the Manila Observatory and his over-excessive focus on astronomy and terrestrial magnetism matters. And in keeping with this charge, Doberck made no effort to make weather forecasts, except for the warning of approaching storms.Less
This chapter examines the dissatisfaction that was made manifest with the Hong Kong Observatory in 1887, particularly in matters related to meteorology. The criticisms were centered on director August William Doberck's antagonism to the Manila Observatory and his over-excessive focus on astronomy and terrestrial magnetism matters. And in keeping with this charge, Doberck made no effort to make weather forecasts, except for the warning of approaching storms.
Deepak Kumar
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195687149
- eISBN:
- 9780199081684
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195687149.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
Although science in the metropolis had undergone significant professionalization and specialization, this was not beneficial to India's educational system. As a result, few Indians were able to ...
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Although science in the metropolis had undergone significant professionalization and specialization, this was not beneficial to India's educational system. As a result, few Indians were able to participate in research activities under British rule. Research remained an exclusive governmental exercise for a long time, which had a major effect on the nature and scope of scientific research in the country. The government's excessive control of scientific undertakings naturally hampered the logical development of modern science in India. Most organizations were pressured by the government to work only along economically beneficial lines. This chapter explores the status of scientific research in British India, focusing on areas such as agriculture, geology, medicine, meteorology, and zoology.Less
Although science in the metropolis had undergone significant professionalization and specialization, this was not beneficial to India's educational system. As a result, few Indians were able to participate in research activities under British rule. Research remained an exclusive governmental exercise for a long time, which had a major effect on the nature and scope of scientific research in the country. The government's excessive control of scientific undertakings naturally hampered the logical development of modern science in India. Most organizations were pressured by the government to work only along economically beneficial lines. This chapter explores the status of scientific research in British India, focusing on areas such as agriculture, geology, medicine, meteorology, and zoology.
Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813035406
- eISBN:
- 9780813038377
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813035406.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Early Modern History
These dramatic tales of seafaring and shipwrecks have been translated into English for the first time from the author's sixteenth-century reports on the perils and disasters experienced by travelers ...
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These dramatic tales of seafaring and shipwrecks have been translated into English for the first time from the author's sixteenth-century reports on the perils and disasters experienced by travelers to and from the New World. These narratives contain important information about colonial navigation, meteorology, geography, shipping, trade routes, and sociology. The author's goal in writing about these events is not only to share these captivating stories with others but also “o that men may know the many perils that accompany sea travel.”Less
These dramatic tales of seafaring and shipwrecks have been translated into English for the first time from the author's sixteenth-century reports on the perils and disasters experienced by travelers to and from the New World. These narratives contain important information about colonial navigation, meteorology, geography, shipping, trade routes, and sociology. The author's goal in writing about these events is not only to share these captivating stories with others but also “o that men may know the many perils that accompany sea travel.”
Kristine C. Harper
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262083782
- eISBN:
- 9780262274982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262083782.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This introductory chapter sets out the book’s four main goals: (i) to tell the story of American meteorology’s transformation from a discipline more art than science in the early twentieth century to ...
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This introductory chapter sets out the book’s four main goals: (i) to tell the story of American meteorology’s transformation from a discipline more art than science in the early twentieth century to a sophisticated science by 1955; (ii) to explore the role of national styles in scientific development and practice; (iii) to highlight the importance of Carl-Gustav Rossby as the leader of a research school that profoundly influenced twentieth-century meteorology; and (iv) to give a rightful place to the control of nature as a guiding influence for the Meteorology Project. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter sets out the book’s four main goals: (i) to tell the story of American meteorology’s transformation from a discipline more art than science in the early twentieth century to a sophisticated science by 1955; (ii) to explore the role of national styles in scientific development and practice; (iii) to highlight the importance of Carl-Gustav Rossby as the leader of a research school that profoundly influenced twentieth-century meteorology; and (iv) to give a rightful place to the control of nature as a guiding influence for the Meteorology Project. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
Gregory T. Cushman
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199755356
- eISBN:
- 9780199345090
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199755356.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter analyzes an early case of international collaboration to obtain protection from environmental harm, highlighting the importance of science and new communication technologies to imperial ...
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This chapter analyzes an early case of international collaboration to obtain protection from environmental harm, highlighting the importance of science and new communication technologies to imperial politics. It demonstrates the impact of competition for geopolitical prominence between nation-states on the development of knowledge about hurricanes, while revealing the ability of missionaries, merchants, scientists, and other non-state actors to influence international diplomacy for their own ends. Above all, this story reveals some grave dilemmas posed by human engagement with the ocean and atmosphere—the quintessential transboundary environments. It also challenges our faith in the ability of science and technology to protect us from harm.Less
This chapter analyzes an early case of international collaboration to obtain protection from environmental harm, highlighting the importance of science and new communication technologies to imperial politics. It demonstrates the impact of competition for geopolitical prominence between nation-states on the development of knowledge about hurricanes, while revealing the ability of missionaries, merchants, scientists, and other non-state actors to influence international diplomacy for their own ends. Above all, this story reveals some grave dilemmas posed by human engagement with the ocean and atmosphere—the quintessential transboundary environments. It also challenges our faith in the ability of science and technology to protect us from harm.
Gary Alan Fine
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226249520
- eISBN:
- 9780226249544
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226249544.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Science, Technology and Environment
This introductory chapter begins by outlining the broad theoretical issues addressed in this book, in an attempt to understand the conditions of work of weather forecasters. It then provides a ...
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This introductory chapter begins by outlining the broad theoretical issues addressed in this book, in an attempt to understand the conditions of work of weather forecasters. It then provides a background on the current study, followed by a discussion of the history and memory of weather. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins by outlining the broad theoretical issues addressed in this book, in an attempt to understand the conditions of work of weather forecasters. It then provides a background on the current study, followed by a discussion of the history and memory of weather. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
Gary Alan Fine
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226249520
- eISBN:
- 9780226249544
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226249544.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Science, Technology and Environment
This chapter explores the social contours of the meteorological life. The goal is to situate the occupation within its organizational and social psychological constraints. It argues that the ...
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This chapter explores the social contours of the meteorological life. The goal is to situate the occupation within its organizational and social psychological constraints. It argues that the structure, culture, and interactions of operational meteorologists create the conditions in which weather forecasts are produced. In this case, it is the relationship of meteorology to science, to claims about the future, and to the communication of this knowledge that are at issue. The chapter begins with the place and space in which meteorology is done, moving inward to work relations, the links between humans and machines, and labor under conditions of stress and threat. Although meteorologists work for numerous organizations, the focus is on government employees, the authors of official weather information and keepers of the equipment that produces this information.Less
This chapter explores the social contours of the meteorological life. The goal is to situate the occupation within its organizational and social psychological constraints. It argues that the structure, culture, and interactions of operational meteorologists create the conditions in which weather forecasts are produced. In this case, it is the relationship of meteorology to science, to claims about the future, and to the communication of this knowledge that are at issue. The chapter begins with the place and space in which meteorology is done, moving inward to work relations, the links between humans and machines, and labor under conditions of stress and threat. Although meteorologists work for numerous organizations, the focus is on government employees, the authors of official weather information and keepers of the equipment that produces this information.
Gary Alan Fine
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226249520
- eISBN:
- 9780226249544
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226249544.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Science, Technology and Environment
This chapter focuses on the organizational features of meteorology, particularly the position of operational meteorology as government-sponsored activity. The organization of operational meteorology ...
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This chapter focuses on the organizational features of meteorology, particularly the position of operational meteorology as government-sponsored activity. The organization of operational meteorology highlights the tension between autonomy and control. Scientific domains are integrated into society and cannot be separated from the organizational infrastructure that they help create. Not only do sciences have managers, but they also have audiences. The presence of an audience produces demands for expertise. The chapter examines the implications of the organization of the National Weather Service as a governmental agency devoted to public science. It then explores how this occupation is linked to a set of clients on the output boundary of government meteorology—the public, the media, and private firms.Less
This chapter focuses on the organizational features of meteorology, particularly the position of operational meteorology as government-sponsored activity. The organization of operational meteorology highlights the tension between autonomy and control. Scientific domains are integrated into society and cannot be separated from the organizational infrastructure that they help create. Not only do sciences have managers, but they also have audiences. The presence of an audience produces demands for expertise. The chapter examines the implications of the organization of the National Weather Service as a governmental agency devoted to public science. It then explores how this occupation is linked to a set of clients on the output boundary of government meteorology—the public, the media, and private firms.
Marilina Cesario
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780719097843
- eISBN:
- 9781526135896
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719097843.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
In this chapter Marilina Cesario addresses the subject of weather forecasting in the Middle Ages as revealed in the meteorological prognostics that survive abundantly from throughout the period but ...
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In this chapter Marilina Cesario addresses the subject of weather forecasting in the Middle Ages as revealed in the meteorological prognostics that survive abundantly from throughout the period but particularly from the eleventh century onwards. The chapter focuses in particular on one fifteenth-century medical manuscript from Germany containing an anthology of seven Latin weather texts. Cesario edits and translates the texts for the first time and offers detailed discussion of them. She finds that these treatises contribute to their manuscript’s overarching interest in natural philosophy and that they were mostly given theoretical rather than practical usage, having their place in a context of academic learning (eruditio). One item stands out from the others, however, a puzzling salt prognostication found uniquely here. This text relies not, it is argued, on erudite knowledge but on knowledge acquired empirically and appears to have been designed for practical use.Less
In this chapter Marilina Cesario addresses the subject of weather forecasting in the Middle Ages as revealed in the meteorological prognostics that survive abundantly from throughout the period but particularly from the eleventh century onwards. The chapter focuses in particular on one fifteenth-century medical manuscript from Germany containing an anthology of seven Latin weather texts. Cesario edits and translates the texts for the first time and offers detailed discussion of them. She finds that these treatises contribute to their manuscript’s overarching interest in natural philosophy and that they were mostly given theoretical rather than practical usage, having their place in a context of academic learning (eruditio). One item stands out from the others, however, a puzzling salt prognostication found uniquely here. This text relies not, it is argued, on erudite knowledge but on knowledge acquired empirically and appears to have been designed for practical use.
David Moon
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199556434
- eISBN:
- 9780191747243
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199556434.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
Chapter four considers climate change and the vexed question of whether, and if so why, droughts were becoming more frequent. For much of the nineteenth century, contemporaries believed that the ...
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Chapter four considers climate change and the vexed question of whether, and if so why, droughts were becoming more frequent. For much of the nineteenth century, contemporaries believed that the climate was becoming more extreme, and droughts more frequent, as a result of human activity, in particular deforestation. Over the second half of the century, with the growth of scientific meteorology, a new consensus emerged that climate change was autogenic, and cyclical. Most contemporaries acknowledged, however, that the loss of woodland in the region had removed barriers to the drying winds from the east.Less
Chapter four considers climate change and the vexed question of whether, and if so why, droughts were becoming more frequent. For much of the nineteenth century, contemporaries believed that the climate was becoming more extreme, and droughts more frequent, as a result of human activity, in particular deforestation. Over the second half of the century, with the growth of scientific meteorology, a new consensus emerged that climate change was autogenic, and cyclical. Most contemporaries acknowledged, however, that the loss of woodland in the region had removed barriers to the drying winds from the east.
