A fun piece of trivia that I just learned: The names of clouds that we still use today, like Cumulus, Stratus, etc. were decided at an international conference of meteorologists held at my university in 1894.
Fascinating.
The late 19th century was a great time for science. Breakthroughs were achieved in all fields, many laying discoveries the ground for their fields that still apply today.
People were really optimistic back then that all problems of mankind could be solved by science. Nations took great pride in their scientific achievements and poured lots of money into innovation. International cooperation reached unprecedented heights thanks to more readily available travel options than in the past and the first forms of telecommunications such as telegraphy.
Our own beloved field of aviation also saw pioneering discoveries by people like Otto Lilienthal, the first to develop workable one person gliders and use scientific methods to examine aerodynamics.
Too bad these optimistic times ended in WWI because of very few, egocentric people.
MedEwok wrote:
People were really optimistic back then that all problems of mankind could be solved by science. Nations took great pride in their scientific achievements and poured lots of money into innovation. International cooperation reached unprecedented heights thanks to more readily available travel options than in the past and the first forms of telecommunications such as telegraphy.
Those were the days! I have this book in my bookshelf: The titel translates to “The Scientist as Hero: Aspects on the history of science.”
I liked this bit:
These experts believed for a long time, even into the eighties, that each country had its own cloud types. But the thoughts of separatism were soon put to rest. It began to become important to share information with others about what was unfolding in the skies
Presented with only raw data and lots of conflicting opinions it must have been a challenge to organise cloud types.
I read the first few chapters of Gavin Pretor-Pinney’s The Cloudspotter’s Guide which was interesting, but accidentally left the book at my in-laws so have yet to finish it.
The cover of the book – is that Nansen and Fram?
Capitaine wrote:
The cover of the book – is that Nansen and Fram?
It is Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld and the Vega, the first ship to cross the Northeast passage.
Thank you Airborne Again; I’ve been reading up on all three.
Science is more structured and delineated now, and the ‘easy’ things have already been found: standing on the shoulders of giants. In England at least a lot discoveries in the 18th and 19th centuries in the natural sciences were made by interested amateurs, e.g. provincial clergymen.
Scientists and engineers have been going out of fashion for decades. Even in the 1970s, if you wanted to get a girl you did much better to say you were unemployed 
I think the rot started in the 1950s.
Just finished reading a little book about Tesla, and no, not the “tank” currently on the market The 19th century was a time of amazing innovation.
Airborne_Again wrote:
The names of clouds that we still use today, like Cumulus, Stratus, etc. were decided at an international conference of meteorologists held at my university in 1894.
Why change what works :)
A friend of mine contributes to the “cloud atlas” by WMO as an editor. It is a fantastic website for those who are interested in clouds.
