ABSTRACT

Weather forecasting is the most visible branch of meteorology and has its modern roots in the nineteenth century when scientists redefined meteorology in the way weather forecasts were made, developing maps of isobars, or lines of equal atmospheric pressure, as the main forecasting tool. This book is the history of how weather forecasting was moulded and modelled by the processes of nation-state building and statistics in the Western world.

chapter |24 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|37 pages

Pre-1850 conceptualizations of storms

chapter 2|44 pages

Meteorology and statistics before 1854

chapter 4|42 pages

The Lagrangian approach as a counterweight

chapter 7|44 pages

Behind weather forecasting

National interests and the primacy of public service over research

chapter 8|63 pages

Meteorological cartography