ABSTRACT
The falling of meteors is recorded by many writers, notably Aristotle and Pliny. The latter even went so far as to declare that the one which fell in the Hellespont in 465 B.C. had actually been foretold by Anaxagoras, and although such a claim cannot be maintained it is important to note an attempt to attribute such occurrences to natural, rather than to occult causes. After Pliny there was a gap for many centuries. The Arabs, however, readily seized upon the Meteorologica of Aristotle; from the Arabic it was translated into Latin by Gerard of Cremona (twelfth century) and in this way it became available to western civilisation. The meteorological lore of the Middle Ages was largely determined by this treatise, but many centuries were yet to elapse before a scientific treatment of the subject could begin. There were two reasons for this. In the first place it should be remembered that man was still familiar with but a limited portion of the earth's surface, certainly not enough to admit of precise generalisations which are fundamental to the study of any science. Secondly, he lacked the instruments with which meteorological observations could be made. Not until the barometer and the thermometer had reached a high degree of perfection does the study of meteorology begin to assume a scientific aspect.
