ABSTRACT
The hydrostatic equation may be thought of as the basic assumption about the atmosphere. The restless nature of the atmosphere is its most obvious characteristic and undoubtedly the first aspect to arouse Man’s curiosity. The synoptic and dynamic approaches both reveal different aspects of the patterns of motions and the processes which cause them, and so each supports the other. A body is something distinct from its surroundings and is, therefore, discrete or individual. Isolated clouds and puffs of smoke testify to the presence of discrete bodies within the air. On the whole, the quicker these develop or disperse, the more vigorous are the motions involved. Since the middle of the last century, air pressure maps have formed the basis of plotting changing weather systems. Appropriately, air pressure and density are the only two primary elements which are not really weather characteristics in themselves but the causes of motion.
