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Title: The Invention of Clouds: How an Amateur Meteorologist Forged the Language of the Skies by Richard Hamblyn ISBN: 0-312-42001-3 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 03 August, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 (15 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Man Who Named the Clouds
Comment: "The Invention of Clouds" is an endearing little book about a generally forgotten moment in the history of science. It seems obvious to us today but until Englishman Luke Howard, a chemist with an interest in the then-young science of meteorology, gave a public lecture on cloud classification in London in 1802, nobody had been able to categorize cloud formations in an easily-understood and consistent manner. The terms we take for granted-cumulus, cirrus, stratus and so forth-were applied by the 30 year-old Howard for the first time. He drew upon his classical education to find suitable Latin names for what he termed "the modifications of clouds." He understood that clouds pass through stages and in his lecture he described the changes they underwent. His audience understood immediately the importance of his lecture and it was published soon afterwards to great acclaim.
Luke Howard became famous throughout the world. It is clear that he must have viewed this with mixed feelings. As a modest Quaker, he did not seek celebrity but as a scientist he was undoubtedly proud of his accomplishment. It is a beautiful achievement. By naming that which was ever-present but unnamed, Luke Howard helped forge the language of meteorology and provided some of the most important tools for weather observation and forecasting. His Latin names speak to the universality of climate and his detractors, who felt that the classifications should have been in English, were soon silenced. The book describes the reaction of artists as well. On the one hand, there were those who believed that clouds, as objects of great natural beauty and a symbol of freedom, would lose something by being systematically classified, as if they were species of beetles, but others, including the painter Constable, used the classification of the clouds as a basis for their art. The great genius of the period, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, completely enchanted by Luke Howard's work and personality, dedicated a series of marvellous poems to him, with each stanza based on one of the new cloud-forms.
But even having poetry dedicated to you by Goethe is not enough to claim enduring fame. Luke Howard seems to have lived a quiet existence, marked by some success in business and a happy family life. He died at the age of 91, remembered fondly by only his relatives. Richard Hamblyn, in writing this book, must have struggled to develop enough material as it appears that the lecture of 1802 was the high point of Luke Howard's scientific life and his attention was then taken up more by commerce and religious issues. Mr. Hamblyn gives us a history of the earlier attempts to define clouds, reaching back to Aristotle. He throws in the story of the Beaufort Wind Scale, which was inspired by but not as readily-accepted as Luke Howard's cloud system. He deals with the subsequent amendments to the cloud classifications and we learn of the International Meterological Conference and its winsomely-named Cloud Committee, which was to produce the International Cloud Atlas.
All very interesting, but it is in the sections about Luke Howard and his contemporaries, fascinated by the rapid progress in science at the end of the 18th Century, where the book is most alive. Richard Hamblyn ably paints a picture of London's crowded lecture halls where science was popular culture, of dangerous experiments and fantastic personalities. Men of brilliant and adventurous minds, often denied higher education due to their religion, could look into the future and stake a claim. The author, in sharing Luke Howard's triumph with us, has written an elegant work brimming with enthusiasm.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent book regarding clouds and their names
Comment: This oddly shaped (5.5 inches tall by 8 inches long) historical volume deftly captures the societal context and impact of pharmacist Luke Howard's classification of cloud types in the early 1800s. Hamblyn, a British historian of geophysical sciences, superbly limns the self-improving scientific ethos of Howard's Quaker working-class milieu. This portion of the book is excellent history, not just excellent history of science. However, the center of the book does not quite hold: Howard and the invention of his cloud scheme can be covered in far fewer than 403 pages. The last quarter of The Invention of Clouds strays farther and farther from the title, e.g., with a diverting chapter on the Beaufort wind scale. Hamblyn's failure to fully examine Howard's classification scheme in light of modern cloud observations will frustrate meteorologists. Even more frustrating for the general reader is the lack of any cloud photographs--despite the fact that the design of the book is perfect for landscape-oriented plates. Nevertheless, Hamblyn's prose brings Luke Howard, his time, and his clouds to life for the first time, a praiseworthy accomplishment. Suitable for most readers; the meteorology is explained at the introductory level.
Rating: 4
Summary: The creation of a new language of science and art.
Comment: A young man, obsessed with clouds and their formation, makes a detailed study of them. All this has been done before, but never in such a concise, visionary way, nor with a naming convention as brilliant in its simplicity, expressiveness and utility as Luke Howard's.
His story is dealt with in a series of chapters that digress from the main thrust of the book to outline the history of the philosophical changes that were taking place, in Europe particularly. Almost any cockeyed idea found a ready audience, who were equally ready to dismiss ideas out-of-hand. The trick was presentation. Many of the famous names in science at the end of the 18th century were showmen, financing their researches by giving displays or private shows... getting your name known was half the battle.
Luke Howard was born into a world where being in the right place at the right time meant more than any social connections or political clout.
But, being a Dissenter, he had no formal education, no political clout and no social connections - not much chance for him to get his ideas aired, it seemed. Nor was he a showman - his Quaker upbringing saw to that - so luck, and dedication, came to his assistance.
Philosophical societies and journals were in their infancy, and were ready to embrace anyone who could increase membership or circulation. This was the chance, and in an hour-long presentation, young Howard captivated his audience and introduced a naming system for clouds, which is still in use today, 200 years on. This was what meteorology had been waiting for - a standard method of logging cloud formations. This was invaluable too for poets and writers, who suddenly found a new addition to their descriptive vocabulary. Small wonder that cirrus, cumulus and nimbus quickly entered everyday conversation (the Englishman's main topic being the weather).
The book is very well written, giving us a feel for the social, political and philosophical climate in the Napoleonic era. By various pertinent descriptions of people and events directly and indirectly connected with Howard, we are introduced to some of the greats of the Age of Enlightenment; but none of it feels contrived or beside the point, nor is it ever boring.
This is an enthralling read, illustrating how easily a single person or idea can change the direction and thrust of a science... Well worth reading.
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Title: Air Apparent: How Meteorologists Learned to Map, Predict, and Dramatize Weather by Mark S. Monmonier ISBN: 0226534227 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: April, 1999 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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Title: The Map That Changed the World : William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester ISBN: 0060931809 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Book of Clouds by John A. Day ISBN: 0760735360 Publisher: Silver Lining Books Pub. Date: 28 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Measure of All Things : The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World by Ken Alder ISBN: 0743216768 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Measuring America: How the United States Was Shaped by the Greatest Land Sale in History by Andro Linklater ISBN: 0452284597 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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