2002 Meteorology, page1
Annual Report of the
International Commission on History of Meteorology
Dec. 10, 2003
James R. Fleming, President
Introduction
This is the third annual report of the International Commission on History of Meteorology (ICHM). It is intended to serve the interests of the ICHM members and to provide an archival record of Commission activities for the year. It is meant to stimulate interest in the history of meteorology, climatology, and related sciences, but it is not intended to be an exhaustive compilation of all activities or publications in the history of meteorology. ICHM members and other interested parties are invited to send items to any of the officers for the web and annual report throughout the year.
Members
As of Dec. 10, 2002, the International Commission on History of Meteorology (ICHM) has 181 members from 33 nations.
Reciprocal agreement with IAMAS
The ICHM has established a reciprocal agreement with the IAMAS, the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences, with a link from the website.
Strategic Initiatives
1. Bibliography of Meteorology. The ICHM is developing the bibliography of meteorology on its web site as a response to requests by Dr. Juan Jose Saldana, Secretary General of the IUHPS, for projects of relevance to ICSU and CIPSH.
2. History and Policy. The ICHM is also developing a new initiative on “Policy-Relevant History of Science” in support of the goal of reforming ICSU and the DHS as active organizations responsive to the needs of the 21st century. We feel that the history of meteorology has much to contribute in policy-relevant issues including, but not limited to the following: air pollution, weather modification, polar research, satellite meteorology, ozone depletion, global climate change, and interdisciplinary earth science. This strategic initiative should also be of value in supporting the role of the DHS in a new ICSU committee on ethical and social aspects of science. ICHM President James Fleming has taken an active role in projects sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation on this topic and will be participating in a Gordon Research Conference on science studies and science policy in 2004 as part of this activity.
3. Polar Meteorology. The ICHM sent a memo concerning cooperation with the upcoming fourth International Polar Year in 2007/08. This project will be on the agenda of the ICHM conference in Germany in July 2004. The ICHM is positioned to contribute to various historical aspects of the past polar years. We are very interested to contribute to the 4th IPY 2007/2008 and we hope to submit a project for ICSU.
Meetings held in 2003 (details are available on the ICHM web archive)
1. The East Asian Network for Environment History and Climate Change Co-Organized by Professor Doctor Takehiko Mikami, Tokyo Metropolitan University and Doctor Togo Tsukahara, Kobe University, sponsored an International Symposium at Kobe University, on Sunday, 12 January, 2003. Professor James Fleming, President of ICHM, attended as a guest speaker. The have issued proceedings of the meeting (in Japanese).
2. ICHM members participated in the Presidential Symposium on History at the 83rd annual American Meteorological Society Meeting followed by a discussion, reception, and dinner on 11 Feb., 2003.
3. Members of ICHM formed a panel at the American Society of Environmental History, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, 26-30 March, 2003. Putting Weather into Environmental History session co-sponsored by ICHM.
4. The 4th meeting of the German FAGEM "Die Entwicklung der Meteorologie im 19. Jahrhundert" was held in Pottsdam on 25 Sept. 2003.
5. ICHM member Dr. Gaston Demarée had the honor of presenting the Sarton Chair lecture at Ghent, 20 November 2003.
6. An ICHM reception and dinner was held following a session on “Local and Global Perspectives in Meteorology,” at the History of Science Society Annual Meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Thursday, 20 Nov. 2003.
7. The ICHM announced the following meeting: Royal Meteorological Society Conference on THE GREAT STORM OF 1703. On 29-30 Nov. 2003, at Ramsgate Maritime Museum, Sandwich, Kent, England.
Major ICHM meeting scheduled for 2004
From Beaufort to Bjerknes and Beyond:
Critical perspectives on observing, analyzing and predicting weather and climate
5-9 July 2004, Polling Monastery, Weilheim, Germany
Proposal deadline, 29 February 2004.
The year 2004 marks the anniversary of a number of important developments in atmospheric and marine sciences, including the founding of the British Met Office (1854), publication of the paper "Weather forecasting as a problem in mechanics and physics" by Vilhelm Bjerknes (1904), and the establishment of operational numerical weather prediction (1954). Proposals (with 200-word abstracts) for critical, historically-informed papers and sessions on understanding, predicting, and controlling weather and climate may be sent to any member of the program committee: Cornelia Lüdecke: , Jim Fleming: , Tsukahara Togo: , or Vladimir Jankovic: .
The conference will be held in the baroque-style former monastery of Polling, an idyllic village close to Weilheim. The Klosterkirche and the recently restored grand library hall belong to the architectural highlights of the culturally rich region, while the alte Kosterwirtschaft and its renowned beergarden will serve our gastronomic needs. The venue is ideally located between Munich and the Bavarian Alps. It is near Hohenpeißenberg, which has maintained a continuous meteorological record since 1781, when it was a station of the Societas Meteorologica Palatina. Today the mountain hosts a meteorological observatory of Deutscher Wetterdienst and a basis station of the Global Atmospheric Watch.
There will be five full days of papers and discussion, along with social and cultural events.
The local arrangements chair is Dr. Stefan Emeis:
Check for conference updates.
Meetings co-sponsored, planned for 2004
Second AMS Presidential History Symposium ,13 January 2004, Seattle, Washington, USA
Symposium on the 50th Anniversary of Operational Numerical Weather Prediction, 14-17 June 2004, College Park, Maryland, USA
Milutin Milankovitch Anniversary Symposium: Paleoclimate and the Earth Climate System, 24-27 August, 2004, Belgrade, Serbia. Sponsored by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Future meetings, 2005
International Congress of History of Science, Beijing, China, 2005. ICHM President James R. Fleming has been appointed to the Program Committee.
Books of Interest in the History of Meteorology, 2002-2003
(listed by title; compiled from WorldCat)
Ancient meteorology. Taub, Liba Chaia. London; New York: Routledge, 2003. English: Book
Atmospheric pollution: History, science, and regulation. Jacobson, Mark Z.. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. English: Book
Chusei no nogyo to kiko: Suiden nimosaku no tenkai. Isogai, Fujio. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 2002. Japanese:Book
Daily Telegraph book of the weather. Eden, Philip. New York; London: Continuum, 2003. English: Book
Decade of progress: The World Meteorological Organization in the 1990s and the new century. Obasi, Godwin O. P. Geneva, Switzerland: World Meteorological Organization, 2003. English: Book
Eighteenth Century Climate of Jamaica: Derived from the journals of Thomas Thistlewood, 1750-1786. Chenoweth, Michael. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 93, pt. 2. Philadelphia, 2003. English: Book
Encounter Between Meteorology and History. Proceedings of the International Symposium for the East Asian Network on Environmental History and Climate Change, Togo Tsukahara, ed. Kobe University, Japan, 2003. Japanese: Book
Facts and comments. Spencer, Herbert. Honolulu, Hawaii: University Press of the Pacific, 2002, 1902. Includes essay on Weather Forecasts. English : Book
FitzRoy: The remarkable story of Darwin's captain and the invention of the weather forecast. Gribbin, John R.; Gribbin, Mary. London: Review, 2003. English: Book
Flood: Butler County's greatest weather disaster, March, 1913. Blount, Jim. Hamilton, OH : Past/Present/Press, 2002. English: Book
Heilongjiang sheng zhi. Di 5 juan, Qi xiang zhi, Di zhen zhi. Ha'erbin: Heilongjiang ren min chu ban she, 2003. Chinese:Book
History of modern science and mathematics. Includes topical essay on Meteorology by James R. Fleming. In Baigrie, Brian S., ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. English: Book
History of weather and climate in the Czech Lands. V, Instrumental meteorological measurements in Moravia up to the end of the eighteenth century. Brázdil, Rudolf. Brno: Masaryk University, 2002. English: Book
Liaoning sheng zhi. Qi xiang zhi. [Shenyang]: Liaoning ren min chu ban she, 2002. Chinese:Book
Meteorology and aerial navigation. Crewe, M. E. Reading: Royal Meteorological Society, Specialist Group for the History of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, 2002. English: Book
Pennsylvania weather book. Gelber, Ben. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2002. English: Book
Philadelphia area weather book. Nese, Jon M.; Schwartz, Glenn. Philadelphia, Pa.: Temple University Press, 2002. English: Book
Quest for all-weather flight. Morrison, Tom. Shrewsbury, England: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2002. English: Book
Storm watchers: The turbulent history of weather prediction from Franklin's kite to El Niño. Cox, John. New Jersey: John Wiley, 2002. English: Book
Stormchasers: The Hurricane Hunters and their fateful flight into Hurricane Janet. Toomey, David M. New York: Norton, 2002. English: Book
Washington weather: The weather sourcebook for the D.C. area. Ambrose, Kevin; Henry, Daniel Bauman; Weiss, Andy. [Fairfax, Va.]: Historical Enterprises, 2002. English: Book
Weather Channel: The improbable rise of a media phenomenon.Batten, Frank, Cruikshank, Jeffrey L. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press, 2002. English: Book
Xi li 535 nian da hao jie. Keys, David. Taibei Shi: Taiwan xian zhi chu ban gu fen you xian gong si, 2002. Chinese: Book
Zhongguo qi xiang ju qi xiang dang an guan zhi nan. Beijing: Qi xiang chu ban she, 2003. Chinese: Book
Zhongguo ren gong ying xiang tian qi da shi ji, 1950-2000. Beijing Shi: Qi xiang chu ban she, 2002. Chinese: Book
Budget 2004
A separate budget request has been made to the DHS, IUHPS for support of the web site, basic office expenses, and the meeting in Germany.
Respectfully submitted,
James R. Fleming
President of ICHM
10 December 2003