気象学の創生<br>Weather by the Numbers : The Genesis of Modern Meteorology (Transformations: Studies in the History of Science and Technology)

気象学の創生
Weather by the Numbers : The Genesis of Modern Meteorology (Transformations: Studies in the History of Science and Technology)

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  • 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 308 p.／サイズ 20 illus.
  • 言語 ENG
  • 商品コード 9780262083782
  • DDC分類 551.50973

基本説明

New in paperback. Hardcover was publishied in 2008. Tells the story of the transformation of meteorology from a "guessing science" into a sophisticated physics - and mathematics - based scientific discipline.

Full Description


For much of the first half of the twentieth century, meteorology was more art than science, dependent on an individual forecaster's lifetime of local experience. In Weather by the Numbers, Kristine Harper tells the story of the transformation of meteorology from a "guessing science" into a sophisticated scientific discipline based on physics and mathematics. What made this possible was the development of the electronic digital computer; earlier attempts at numerical weather prediction had foundered on the human inability to solve nonlinear equations quickly enough for timely forecasting. After World War II, the combination of an expanded observation network developed for military purposes, newly trained meteorologists, savvy about math and physics, and the nascent digital computer created a new way of approaching atmospheric theory and weather forecasting. This transformation of a discipline, Harper writes, was the most important intellectual achievement of twentieth-century meteorology, and paved the way for the growth of computer-assisted modeling in all the sciences.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements                                   vii
Introduction                                       1
1 A Stagnant Atmosphere: The Weather Services      11
before World War II
2 Toward a More Dynamic Atmosphere: Discipline     49
Development in the Interwar Period (1919-1938)
3 An Expanding Atmosphere: The War Years           69
(1939-1945)
4 Initial Atmospheric Conditions: Scientific       91
Goals, Civilian Manpower, and Military Funding
(1944-1948)
5 An International Atmosphere: Carl-Gustav         121
Rossby and the Scandinavian Connection
(1948-1950)
6 Creating a Realistic Atmosphere (1950-1952)      151
7 A Changing Atmosphere: From Developmental to     187
Operational Numerical Weather Prediction
(1952-1955)
8 A New Atmosphere                                 225
Notes                                              241
Bibliography                                       279
Index                                              299