E-Book Overview
During the course of this century, meteorology has become unified, physics-based, and highly computational. Calculating the Weather: Meteorology in the 20th Century explains this transformation by examining thevarious roles of computation throughout the history of meteorology, giving most attention to the period from World War I to the 1960s. The electronic digital computer, a product of World War II, led to great advances in empirical, theoretical, and practical meteorology. At the same time, the use of the computer led to the discovery of so-called"chaotic systems,"and to the recognition that there may well be fundamental limits to predicting the weather.One of the very few books covering 20th century meteorology, this text is an excellent supplement to any course in general meteorology, forecasting, or history of science.
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Calculating the Weather This is Volume 60 in the INTERNATIONAL GEOPHYSICS SERIES A series of monographs and textbooks Edited by RENATA DMOWSKA and JAMES R. HOLTON A complete list of books in this series appears at the end of this volume. Calculating the Weather Meteorology in the 20th Century Frederik Nebeker IEEE CENTER FOR THE HISTORY OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING RUTGERS UNIVERSITY NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY ACADEMIC PRESS San Diego N e w York Boston Sydney Tokyo Toronto London Front cover photograph: NOAA-8 visual imagery of Hurricane Gloria, September 25, 1985, at 12:39 GMT. The islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico are faintly visible near the bottom of the print. Courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; National Climatic Data Center; and Satellite Data Services Division. This book is printed on acid-free paper. (~) Copyright 9 1995 by ACADEMIC PRESS, INC. All Rights Reserved.