Skip to main content

From Geo- to Physical Science: Meteorology and the American University, 1919–1945

  • Chapter
Historical Essays on Meteorology 1919–1995

Abstract

In the year that the American Meteorological Society (AMS) was founded, meteorology in America was sadly lacking in opportunities for advanced training and for the sustained production of professional meteorologists. A U.S. Bureau of Education study undertaken for the U.S. Weather Bureau in 1919 found that of 433 institutions surveyed, only 70 offered instruction in meteorology or climatology. Of these, only eight had more than two courses in this area (Brooks 1919).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 36.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Abbe, C., 1906: The present condition in our schools and colleges of the study of climatology as a branch of geography and of meteorology as a branch of physics. Bull. Amer. Geogr. Soc., 38, 121–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Basu, J.E., 1984: Jerome Namias: Pioneering the science of forecasting. Weatherwise, 37, 190–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bates, C.C., 1989: The formative Rossby—Reichelderfer period in American meteorology, 1926–1940. Wea. Forecasting, 4, 593–603.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergeron, T., 1959: Methods in scientific weather analysis and forecasting: An outline in the history of ideas and hints at a program. The Atmosphere and the Sea in Motion, B. Bolin, Ed., Rockefeller Institute Press, 440–474.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berman, M., 1986: Salem’s physician—meteorologist: Dr. Edward A. Holyoke. Essex Inst. Hist. Coils., 122, 237–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bilstein, R.E., 1983: Flight Patterns: Trends of Aeronautical Development in the United States, 1918–1929. University of Georgia Press, 236 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boesen, V., 1978: STORM: Irving Krick vs. the U.S. Weather Bureaucracy. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 159 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, C.F., 1918: Collegiate instruction in meteorology. Mon. Wea. Rev., 46, 555–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, C.F., 1919: General extent of collegiate instruction in meteorology and climatology in the United States. Mon. Wea. Rev., 47, 169–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, C.F., 1925: C.F. Brooks to W.M. Davis, 6 February 1925. William Morris Davis Papers, Houghton Library, Harvard University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, C.F., 1930: Our Society’s first decade. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 11, 8–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, C.F., and S.J. Richardson, 1958: The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory library. Harv. Lib. Bull., 12, 271–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R.H., 1940: The first century of meteorological data in America. Mon. Wea. Rev., 68, 130–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bundgaard, R.C., 1979: Sverre Petterssen, weather forecaster. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 60, 182–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byers, H.R., 1959: Carl-Gustaf Rossby, the organizer The Atmosphere and the Sea in Motion, B. Bolin, Ed., Rockefeller Institute Press, 51–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, H.R., 1960: Carl-Gustaf Arvid Rossby. Biog. Mem. Natl. Acad. Sci., 34, 249–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, H.R., 1970: Recollections of the war years. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 51, 214–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byers, H.R., 1976: The founding of the Institute of Meteorology at the University of Chicago. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 57, 1343–1345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Church, P.E., 1937: Surface temperatures of the Western Atlantic. Ph.D. dissertation, Clark University, 362 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, I.B., 1950: Some Early Tools of American Science. Harvard University Press, 201 pp.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Committee on Meteorological Education, 1946: The teaching of meteorology in colleges and universities. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 27, 95–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Compton, A.H., 1940: Arthur H. Compton to Emory T. Filbey, 9 July 1940. Records of the Office of the President, 1940–1946, University of Chicago Archives, Chicago, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conover, J.H., 1990: The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory: The First Hundred Years, 1885–1985. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 514 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cressman, G.P., 1983: Francis W. Reichelderfer, 1895–1983. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 64, 398–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniel Guggenheim Fund 1925–1929: Reports. Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dicken, S.N., 1988: The Education of a Hillbilly. Lane County Geographical Society, 93 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar, G.S., 1981: Geography in the University of California (Berkeley and Los Angeles), 1868–1941. De Vorss and Company, 18 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fassig, O.L., 1918: A Signal Corps school of meteorology. Mon. Wea. Rev., 46, 560–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming, J.R., 1990: Meteorology in America, 1800–1870. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 264 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, R.M., 1987: Constituting the polar front, 1918–1919. Isis, 73, 343–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, R.M., 1989: Appropriating the Weather: Vilhelm Bjerknes and the Construction of a Modern Meteorology. Cornell University Press, 280 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodstein, J.R., 1991: Millikan’s School: A History of the California Institute of Technology. W. W. Norton and Co., 317 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregg, W.R., 1933: History of the application of meteorology to aeronautics with special reference to the United States. Mon. Wea. Rev., 61, 165–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guralnick, S.M., 1975: Science and the antebellum college. Amer. Philos. Soc. Mem., 109, 227 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallion, R.P., 1977: Legacy of Flight: The Guggenheim Contribution to American Aviation. University of Washington Press, 292 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haurwitz, B., 1986: Meteorology in the 20th century: A participant’s view. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 66, 282–291, 424–431, 498–504, 628–633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henry, A.J., 1893: Early individual observers in the United States. Report of the International Meteorological Congress held at Chicago, August 21–24, 1893, U.S. Weather Bureau Bulletin, No. 11 Pt. 2, 291–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hornberger, T., 1945: Scientific Thought in the American Colleges, 1638–1800. University of Texas Press, 108 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, P., 1981: Francis W. Reichelderfer, Part I: Aerologists and airdevils. Weatherwise, 34, 52–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchins, R.M., 1940–1943: The state of the university. Annual Reports, 1940–1943, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, W.C., 1936: Harald Ulrik Sverdrup—New director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 17, 306–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jewell, R., 1981: The Bergen school of meteorology: The cradle of modern weather-forecasting. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 62, 824–830.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jewell, R., 1984: The meteorological judgment of Vilhelm Bjerknes. Social Res., 51, 783–807.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, S.B., 1937: Stephen B. Jones to Derwent S. Whittlesey, 19 May 1937. Derwent S. Whittlesey Papers, Harvard University Archivesk, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimball, H.H., 1933: Recent advances in the science of meteorology and in its practical applications. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 14, 3–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koelsch, W.A., 1966: The enlargement of a world: Harvard students and geographical experience, 1840–1861. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 347 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koelsch, W.A., 1980: Wallace Atwood’s “Great Geographical Institute.” Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geogr., 70, 567–582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koelsch, W.A., 1981a: The New England Meteorological Society, 1884–1896: A study in professionalization. The Origins of Academic Geography in the United States, B. W. Blouet, Ed., Shoe String Press, 43–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koelsch, W.A., 1981b: Pioneer: The first American meteorological doctorate. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 62, 362–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koelsch, W.A., 1983: Robert DeCourcy Ward, 1867–1931. Geographers: Biobibliographical Studies, 7, 145–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koelsch, W.A., 1986: Ben Franklin’s heir: Alexander McAdie and the experimental analysis and forecasting of New England storms, 1884–1892. New Eng. Quart., 59, 523–543.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kutzbach, G., 1979: One hundred and twenty-five years of meteorology at the University of Wisconsin. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 60, 1166–1171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lecuyer, C., 1992: The making of a science based technological university: Karl Compton, James Killian, and the reform of MIT, 1930–1957. Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences, 23, 153–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J.M., 1992: Carl-Gustaf Rossby: A study in mentorship. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 73, 1425–1438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J.M., 1994: Cal Tech’s program in meteorology: 1933–1948. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 75, 69–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J.M., 1995: LeRoy Meisinger, Part I: Biographical tribute with an assessment of his contributions to meteorology. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 76, 33–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, G.J., 1984: John Paul Goode, 1862–1932. Geographers: Biobibliographical Studies, 8, 51–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAdie, A.G., 1930: The Blue Hill Observatory, 1884–1929. The Development of Harvard University, 1869–1929, S.E. Morison, Ed., Harvard University Press, 549–554.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAdie, M.R.B., 1949: Alexander McAdie: Scientist and Writer. [Privately published.]

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikesell, M.W., 1984: North America. Geography Since the Second World War, R.J. Johnston and P. Claval, Eds., Croom Helm/Barnes and Noble, 185–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, E.R., 1933: American pioneers in meteorology. Mon. Wea. Rev., 61, 189–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millikan, R.A., 1919: Some scientific aspects of the meteorological work of the United States Army. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., 58, 133–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millikan, R.A., 1920: Some scientific aspects of the meteorological work of the United States Army. The New World of Science: Its Development during the War, R.M. Yerkes, Ed., The Century Co., 49–62.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mintz, Y., 1975: Jacob Bjerknes and our understanding of the atmosphere’s general circulation. Select Papers of Jacob Aall Bonnevie Bjerknes, M.G. Wurtele, Ed., Western Periodicals, 14–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton, C., 1940: Compendium Physicae [c.1678]. T. Hornberger, Ed., Pubs. Col. Soc. Mass., Vol. 33, 237 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Namias, J., 1980–1981: The early influence of the Bergen school on synoptic meteorology in the United States. Pure Appl. Geophys., 119, 491–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Namias, J., 1982: The early history of meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. American Geophysical Union, Committee on History of Geophysics, Newsletter, 2, 112–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Namias, J., 1983: The history of polar front and airmass concepts in the United States: An eyewitness account. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 64, 734–755.

    Google Scholar 

  • Namias, J., 1986: Autobiography. Namias Symposium, John O. Roads, Ed., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 3–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Namias, J., 1991: Francis W. Reichelderfer, August 6, 1895–January 26, 1983. Natl. Acad. Sci. Biog. Mem., 60, 272–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Namias, J., et al. 1935: An Introduction to the Study of Air Mass Analysis. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 129 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nebeker, F., 1989: The 20th century transformation of meteorology. Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 320 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • New York University, [1956]: Daniel Guggenheim School of Aeronautics. 30th Anniversary Pioneer Educator in the Air Age. New York University College of Engineering, 93 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, C.H., 1993: Hurd Willett: Forecaster extraordinaire. Weatherwise, 46, 38–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, T.J., 1935: The Navy’s part in modern aerological developments. Proc. U.S. Nay. Inst., 61, 385–392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, H.F., 1930: H.F. Pierce to Committee on Admissions (Attachment), 26 August 1930. Henry F. Pierce file, Records of the Office of the Registrar, Clark University Archives, Worcester, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichelderfer, F.W., 1928: Post graduate course in aerology and mete- orology for naval officers. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 9, 149–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichelderfer, F.W., 1960: The Rossby memorial volume. WMO Bull., 9, 139–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichelderfer, F.W., 1970: The atmospheric sciences and the American Meteorological Society: The early years. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 51, 206–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossby, C.G., 1929: First annual report of the meteorological course of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT Meteorological Course, Professional Notes, No. 2, 18 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossby, C.G., 1939: Carl-Gustaf Rossby to Karl T. Compton, 1 February 1939 (copy). Records of the Office of the President, 1940–1946, University of Chicago Archives, Chicago, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossby, C.G., 1939–1940: Carl Gustaf Rossby to Karl T. Compton, 15 October 6 December 1939, 9 June 1940. Records of the Office of the President (Karl T. Compton), Institute Archives and Special Collections, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotch, A.L., 1908: Abbott Lawrence Rotch to William Morris Davis, 7 April 1908. William Morris Davis Papers, Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sekera, Z., 1967: Meteorology [at UCLA]. The Centennial Record of the University of California, V. A. Stadtman, Ed., University of California, Berkeley, 355–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, R.G., 1958: Charles F. Brooks. Geog. Rev., 48, 443–444.

    Google Scholar 

  • University of California, 1977: Jack Bjerknes, 1897–1975. University of California, In Memoriam (May), 20–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Univerisity of Chicago, 1940[?]: Memorandum on Meteorology. Undated typeset manuscript. Records of the Office of the President, 1940–1946, University of Chicago Archives, Chicago, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Valkenburg, S., 1959: Charles F. Brooks, 1891–1958. Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geogr., 49, 461–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varney, B.M., 1908: Early meteorology at Harvard College. Mon. Wea. Rev., 36, 140–146, 286–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varney, B.M., 1940: Burton M. Varney to Vern O. Knudsen, 16 January 1940. Records of the Office of the Chancellor, University of California, Los Angeles, Archives, Los Angeles, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Kármán, T., 1967: The Wind and Beyond. Little, Brown and Co., 326 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weatherwise, 1953: Meteorological education in the United States. Weatherwise, 6, 126–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitnah, D.R., 1961: A History of the United States Weather Bureau. University of Illinois Press, 267 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitnah, D.R., 1966: Safer Skyways: Federal Control of Aviation, 1926–1966. Iowa State University Press, 417 pp.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

James Rodger Fleming

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1996 American Meteorological Society

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Koelsch, W.A. (1996). From Geo- to Physical Science: Meteorology and the American University, 1919–1945. In: Fleming, J.R. (eds) Historical Essays on Meteorology 1919–1995. American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-940033-84-6_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-940033-84-6_18

  • Publisher Name: American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-940033-84-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics