Predicting the Weather: Victorians and the Science of Meteorology.PREDICTING THE WEATHER: Victorians and the Science of Meteorology meteorology, branch of science that deals with the atmosphere of a planet, particularly that of the earth, the most important application of which is the analysis and prediction of weather. KATHARINE ANDERSON Once the telegraph escalated the speed of information dissemination, maritime-dependent Great Britain Great Britain, officially United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 60,441,000), 94,226 sq mi (244,044 sq km), on the British Isles, off W Europe. The country is often referred to simply as Britain. in 1854 established a government office to collect data on the weather throughout the British Isles British Isles: see Great Britain; Ireland. . Soon afterward and with mixed results, the officials there began attempting to predict the weather, and thus was born the science of meteorology. The public attention paid to the office and to the new science was so intense and the demands so unyielding, that the chief of the office eventually committed suicide. Anderson, a professor of the history of science at York University in Canada, extends her discussion to the scientific practice of prediction in general as well as to the debate about the responsibilities and boundaries of science that greeted the first weather predictions. University Of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including , 2005, 376 p., b&w illus., hardcover, $45.00. |
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