Archives, Libraries, and Bibliography
in the History of Meteorology Prior to 1900
Roy E. Goodman
Curator of Printed Materials
American Philosophical
Society Library
Philadelphia, PA USA
Bibliographical tools and guides are important components for
promoting research in the history of meteorology and related fields.
The International Commission on the History of Meteorology
(http://www.colby.edu/ichm),
founded in 2001 in Mexico City, hopes to assist scholars by noting
materials in printed, manuscript, cartographic and electronic
formats, international in scope, and culled from disciplines as
diverse as medicine, geography, agriculture, economics, literature,
art, and the popular press on its website. The citations below are
meant to be the initial effort at presenting these resources.
Suggestions and additions are most welcomed, and can be sent
to the ICHM website.
Starting
Points
“Bibliography of
Bibliographies on Meteorology,” by Malcolm Rigby and Dorothy M.
Gropp. Meteorological Abstracts and Bibliography 6
(1955): 82-118.
—Organizes
in a systematic manner the most fruitful sources of references to
literature on meteorology, climatology, and related fields.
Web Resources in the History of
Geophysics, compiled for the AGU History of Geophysics
Committee by Shaun J. Hardy & Roy E. Goodman. (http://www.ciw.edu/library/hgc/hgc_web_resources.htm).
—Provides
general resource sites, biographies, history of organizations and
institutions, subject histories, online journals and museums and
online exhibitions.
Brush, Stephen G. and Helmut E. Landsberg.
The History of Geophysics and Meteorology,
(Bibliographies of the History of Science and Technology, v.7). New
York & London, Garland Publishing, Inc., 1985.
—Brings
together a broad range of historical citations difficult to find in
any one volume.
Fleming, James R. and Roy E. Goodman, ed.
International Bibliography of Meteorology: from the Beginning
of Printing to 1889. Upland, PA, Diane Publishing Company, 1994. 4 v. in 1.
Forward by E. Philip Krider.
—A new edition of the Bibliography
of Meteorology, issued as a
4 volume set in 1889-1891. Copies of the original edition are quite
scarce and very fragile. Included are 16,000 references on
temperature, moisture, winds and storms. Articles in each subject are
arranged chronologically and in their original languages. There is a
good table of contents and author index. This is the major
bibliographic resource on the atmospheric sciences prior to the
Meteorological and Geo-astrophysical Abstracts
that began publication in 1950.
Hellmann, Gustav. Repertorium der
deutchen Meteorologie. Leistungen der Deutchen in Schriften,
Erfindungen und Beobachtungen auf dem Gebiete der Meteorologie und
des Erdmagnetismus von den ältesten Zeiten bis zum Schlusse des
Jahres 1881. Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1883.
—Repertory
of German meteorology. Achievements
of Germans in writings, inventions and observations in the sphere of
meteorology and terrestrial magnetism from very ancient times up to
the close of the year 1881.
Hellmann, Gustav. Geschichte
des Königlich Preussischen Meteorologischen Instituts von seiner
Gründing im Jahre 1847 bis zu seiner Reorganisation im Jahre
1885. Berlin, 1887.
Hellmann, Gustav, ed. Neudrucke von
Schriften und Karten über Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus, nos. 1-15. Berlin: A. Asher & Co.,
1893-1904. Reprinted in 4 volumes. Nendeln, Liechtenstein, Kraus
Reprint, 3 vols., 1969.
—Contents:
1.
Reynman, Leonhard. Wetterbüchlein von wahrer Erkenntniss des
Wetters, 1510. Berlin,
1893. 56 p.
2.
Pascal, Blaise. Recit de la grande experience de
l'équilibre des liqueurs. Paris, 1648. Berlin, 1893. 20 p.
3.
Howard, Luke. On the modifications of clouds.
London, 1803. Berlin, 1893. 32 p.
4.
Die Ältesten Karten der Isogonen, Isoklinen, Isodynamen,
1701, 1721, 1768, 1804, 1825, 1826. Berlin, 1895. 24 p.
5.
Die Bauern-Praktik, 1508. Berlin, 1896. 83 p.
6.
Hadley, George. Concerning the cause of the general
trade-winds. London, 1735.
Berlin, 1896. 21 p.
7.
Torricelli, Evangelista. Esperienza dell' argento vivo.
Berlin 1897. 15 p.
8.
Meteorologische karten 1688, 1817, 1846, 1863, 1864. Sechs tafeln
in lichtdruck mit einer einleitung. Berlin, 1897. 12 p., 6 charts.
9.
Gellibrand, Henry. A discourse mathematical on the variation of
the magneticall needle. London 1635. Berlin, 1897. 22 p.
10.
Rara magnetica 1269-1599. Berlin, 1898. 174 p.
11.
Ueber Luftelektricität 1746-1753.
Berlin, 1898. 50 p.
12.
Wetterprognosen und Wetterberichte des XV. und XVI.
Jahrhunderts. Berlin, 1899. 184 p.
13.
Meteorologische Beobachtungen vom XIV. bis XVII. Jahrhundert.
Berlin, 1901. 212 p.
14.
Meteorologische Optik 1000-1836... Mit einer Einleitung.
Berlin, 1902. 106 p.
15.
Denkmaler mittelalterlicher Meteorologie. Mit einer Einleitung und
einem Anhang. Berlin, 1904. 327 p.
Hellmann, Gustav. Beiträge zur
Geschichte der Meteorologie,
3 v. Veroffentlichungen des Koniglich Preussischen Meteorologischen
Instituts, Nr. 273, 296, 315. Berlin: Behrend, 1914, 1922.
—Contents:
1. Bd. Aus der Blutezeit der Astrometeorologie. (J.
Stofflers Prognose für das Jahr 1524). Die ältesten
instrumentellen meteorologischen Beobachtungen in Deutschland. Die
älteste gedruckte Nordlichtbeschreibung. Die
theologisch-meteorologische Literatur. Die Vorlaufer der Societas
Meteorologica Palatina.
2. Bd. Entwicklungsgeschichte des meteorologischen
Lehrbuches. Die Witterungsangaben in den griechischen und
lateinischen Kalendern. Die Wettervorhersage im ausgehenden
Mittelalter, XXI. bis XV. Jahrhundert. Wetterpropheten des XIX. und
XX. Jahrhunderts. Kleine Beitrage.
3. Bd. Entwicklungsgeschichte des klimatologischen
Lehrbuches. Geschichte des Hundert jahrigen Kalenders. Die
Entwicklung unserer Kenntnisse vom Nordlicht. Die Meteorologie in
ausserdeutschen Flugschriften und Flugblattern. Zur Geschichte der
meteorologischen Instrumente u. Beobachtungen. Anhang: Verzeichnis
meiner 1883-1922 veroffentlichen Arbeiten zur Geschichte der
Meteorologie und des Erdmagnetismus.
Hellmann, Gustav. Die Entwicklung der
meteorologischen Beobachtungen in Deutschland von den ersten anfangen
bis zur Einrichtung staatlicher Beobachtungsnetze. Berlin, 1926.
—On meteorological observations. From
Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Jahrg. 1926. Physikalisch-mathematische Classe, Nr. 1.
Hellmann, Gustav. Die Entwicklung der
meteorologischen Beobachtungen bis zum Ende des XVIII
Jahrhunderts. Berlin, 1927. 48 p.
—On the history of meteorological
observations. From Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der
Wissenschaften. Jahrg. 1927. Physikalisch-mathematische
Classe, Nr. 1.
Reuss, Jeremias David. Repertorium
commentationum a societatibus litterariis editarium&Gottingae,
Henricum Dieterich, 1801-21. 16 v. Reprinted New York, B. Franklin,
1961.
—Valuable
index to the publications of learned societies of various countries
from the time of the founding of each society to 1800.
Royal Society of London. Catalogue of
scientific papers, 1800-1900.
London, Clay, 1867-1902; Cambridge, University Press, 1914-25. 19 v.
—Author index, for the entire
19th century, to 1,555 periodicals in various languages
including the transactions of the European academies and other
learned societies.
Schneider-Carius, Karl. Weather Science,
Weather Research: History of Their Problems and Findings from
Documents During Three Thousand Years.
Munich, 1955. Translated from German, and published for NOAA and NSF. New Delhi: Indian National
Scientific Documentation Centre, 1975. 554p.
—A valuable but hard to find
compilation, this source book documents meteorological problems from
the ancient world to the early twentieth century.
Extensive quotes from original sources are provided, including
Aristotle, Bacon, Boyle, Hadley, Dalton, Margules, and many others. The volume ends with a topical bibliography of
over eighty pages, and a thirty-two page biographical index.
Asociacion Ecologica “Eterna
Primavera”. Datos meteorologicos en Centroamerica y
Mexico:Aspectos historicos y cienificos durante la segunda mitad del
siglo XIX y su aplicabilidad al cambio climatico.
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala, C.A. forthcoming.
—Meteorological data for Central
America and Mexico during the second half of the 19th
century. E-mail:
eterna_primavera@hotmail.com
Climatic Research Unit, University of East
Anglia. Global land and marine surface temperature from 1856 to 1999. (http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/)
—The
time series shows the combined record. Compiled jointly by the
Climate Research Unit, UEA and the UK Met. Office
History of Meteorology in India.
(http://www.imd.ernet.in/doc/history/history.htm).
—Site
of the India Meteorological Department.
Royal Meteorological Society (Great
Britain). History of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography
Specialist Group. (http://www.royal-met-soc.org.uk/hisgroup.html).
—Information
on activities, publications, library resources, and profiles of
notable meteorologists.
Fassig, Oliver L., ed. Report of the
International Meteorological Congress, held at Chicago, Ill.,
August 21-24, 1893.
Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau,
1894. (Bulletin 11)
—An
important overview on the development of meteorology throughout the
world, as well as, historical bibliographical essays.
—The
first conference held in Norwich in 1979, brought together, for the
first time, climate scientists, social and economic historians, and
historical geographers.
Conference to explore the impact of
climate on social and historical events in the United States. College of William & Mary,
Williamsburg, VA. 24-26 May, 2001. (http://www.wm.edu/CAS/WMCAR/confer/descr.htm)
—Leading
goal was to open a dialogue on the complementary research of
climatologists and historians.
American Institute of Physics, Center for
History of Physics. The International Catalog of Sources for History of Physics and Allied
Sciences. (http://www.aip.org/history/icos.htm).
—A
catalog of information on the locations and contents of collections
of archival materials, such as unpublished correspondence and
institutional records, around the world. It is an ongoing project to
gather and provide computer-readable, indexed information on holdings
in libraries and other institutions, and to share the data with the
major online catalog, the Research Libraries Group (RLG), Research
Libraries Information Network (RLIN) and Archives and Manuscripts
Collections. For details
on these resources see (http://www.rlg.org).
Chenoweth, Michael. “Historical marine
data in American and UK archives, 1775-1900.” In
International Workshop on Digitization and Preparation
of Historical Surface Marine Data and Metadata, Geneva, World Meteorological Organization, 1999, pp.57-60. (WMO/TD-957, MMROA Rep. 43).
—Strong on Caribbean data
EURO-CLIMHIST. (http://www.cx.unibe.ch/hist/fru/fru-ech.htm)
—This
database set up by C. Pfister at the Institute of History, University
of Bern, Switzerland, comprises 600,000 data for the period from AD
750 to the beginning of the period of instrumental networks. More
than 40 countries are included. All weather observations are
connected with carefully made bibliographical documentation including
source texts and are bound to distinct observation places.
Fleming, James R. Guide to historical
resources in the atmospheric sciences: Archives, manuscripts, and special collections in the Washington,
D.C. area. Boulder, Colorado, National Center for
Atmospheric Research Climate and Global Dynamics Division, 1989.
(National Center for Atmospheric Research Technical notes 327A)
—Especially, useful for U.S.
government repositories. Revised edition available online.
(http://www.colby.edu/sci.tech/97guide/).
Nebeker, Fredrik. Astronomy and the
geophysical tradition in the United States in the nineteenth century:
a guide to manuscript sources in the
library of the American Philosophical Society.
Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society Library, 1991.
(Publication 16)
—Numerous
entries for meteorology, climatology & scientific instruments.
The Society’s printed and manuscript collections are listed on
its website. (http://www.amphilsoc.org).
Pfister, Christian, et al. Geografia d’Europa:
textos de suport.
Documentary evidence on climate in sixteenth-century Europe. (http://www.ub.es/medame/climaXVI.html)
—The
known documentary evidence from six European countries, Switzerland,
Germany, the Czech Republic, ancient Hungary, Italy and Spain is
presented and classified. See EURO-CLIMHIST site for additional
resources that Pfister and his Institute of History, University of
Bern, Switzerland have gathered on climate data.
Baron, W.R. “Retrieving Climate
History: A Bibliography”, Agricultural History, 3 (1989), 2: 7-35.
—Thorough
overview of printed materials, international in scope. One of 19
articles from a symposium issue on Climate, Agriculture, and History.
Earle, W.H., ed. Niles’ Register:
Cumulative Index, 1811-1849.
Malvern, PA., Accessible Archives, Inc. 1990.
—CD-ROM edition of the printed volumes
of Niles’ which provides international coverage on
the impact of weather events. Articles are in English and extracted
from newspapers, government reports and periodicals.
Pennsylvania Gazette, 1728-1800. Malvern, PA, Accessible Archives, Inc,
1995. (http://www.accessible.com).
—CD-ROM full text of the most
important 18th century North American newspaper. During
and after Benjamin Franklin’s ownership of the paper, weather
events are given much coverage. This data is also available
online by subscription.