using the work of
Alexander von Humboldt. • 1800 – The
Voltaic pile was the first modern electric battery, invented by
Alessandro Volta, which led to later inventions like the telegraph. • 1802–1803 –
Luke Howard writes
On the Modification of Clouds in which he assigns
cloud types Latin names. Howard's system establishes three physical categories or
forms based on appearance and process of formation:
cirriform (mainly detached and wispy),
cumuliform or
convective (mostly detached and heaped, rolled, or rippled), and non-convective
stratiform (mainly continuous layers in sheets). These are cross-classified into
lower and
upper levels or étages. Cumuliform clouds forming in the lower level are given the genus name
cumulus from the Latin word for
heap, while low stratiform clouds are given the genus name
stratus from the Latin word for a flattened or spread out
sheet. Cirriform clouds are identified as always upper level and given the genus name
cirrus from the Latin for
hair. From this genus name, the prefix
cirro- is derived and attached to the names of upper level cumulus and stratus, yielding the names
cirrocumulus, and
cirrostratus. In addition to these individual cloud types; Howard adds two names to designate cloud systems consisting of more than one form joined together or located in very close proximity. Cumulostratus describes large cumulus clouds blended with stratiform layers in the lower or upper levels. The term
nimbus, taken from the Latin word for
rain cloud, and it comes to be identified as a distinct
nimbiform physical category. • 1804 – Sir
John Leslie observes that a matte black surface radiates heat more effectively than a polished surface, suggesting the importance of
black-body radiation. • 1806 –
Francis Beaufort introduces his
system for classifying wind speeds. • 1808 –
John Dalton defends caloric theory in
A New System of Chemistry and describes how it combines with matter, especially
gases; he proposes that the
heat capacity of gases varies inversely with
atomic weight. • 1810 – Sir John Leslie
freezes water to ice artificially. • 1817 –
Alexander von Humboldt publishes a global map of average temperature, the first global climate analysis. • 1819 –
Pierre Louis Dulong and
Alexis Thérèse Petit give the
Dulong-Petit law for the
specific heat capacity of a
crystal. • 1820 –
Heinrich Wilhelm Brandes publishes the first synoptic weather maps. :: –
John Herapath develops some ideas in the kinetic theory of gases but mistakenly associates temperature with
molecular momentum rather than
kinetic energy; his work receives little attention other than from Joule. • 1822 –
Joseph Fourier formally introduces the use of
dimensions for physical quantities in his
Theorie Analytique de la Chaleur. • 1824 –
Sadi Carnot analyzes the efficiency of
steam engines using caloric theory; he develops the notion of a
reversible process and, in postulating that no such thing exists in nature, lays the foundation for the
second law of thermodynamics. • 1827 –
Robert Brown discovers the
Brownian motion of
pollen and dye particles in water. • 1832 – An electromagnetic telegraph was created by
Baron Schilling. • 1834 –
Émile Clapeyron popularises Carnot's work through a graphical and analytic formulation. • 1835 –
Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis publishes theoretical discussions of machines with revolving parts and their efficiency, for example the efficiency of waterwheels. At the end of the 19th century, meteorologists recognized that the way the Earth's
rotation is taken into account in meteorology is analogous to what Coriolis discussed: an example of
Coriolis Effect. • 1836 – An American scientist, Dr.
David Alter, invented the first known American electric telegraph in Elderton, Pennsylvania, one year before the much more popular
Morse telegraph was invented. • 1837 –
Samuel Morse independently developed an
electrical telegraph, an alternative design that was capable of transmitting over long distances using poor quality wire. His assistant,
Alfred Vail, developed the
Morse code signaling alphabet with Morse. The first electric telegram using this device was sent by Morse on May 24, 1844, from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to the B&O Railroad "outer depot" in
Baltimore and sent the message: ::
What hath God wrought • 1839 – The
first commercial electrical telegraph was constructed by Sir
William Fothergill Cooke and entered use on the
Great Western Railway. Cooke and Wheatstone patented it in May 1837 as an alarm system. • 1840 –
Elias Loomis becomes the first person known to attempt to devise a theory on frontal zones. The idea of fronts do not catch on until expanded upon by the Norwegians in the years following World War I. :: – German meteorologist Ludwig Kaemtz adds
stratocumulus to Howard's canon as a mostly detached low-étage genus of
limited convection. It is defined as having cumuliform and stratiform characteristics integrated into a single layer (in contrast to cumulostratus which is deemed to be composite in nature and can be structured into more than one layer). physical category that includes rolled and rippled clouds classified separately from the more freely convective heaped cumuliform clouds. • 1843 –
John James Waterston fully expounds the kinetic theory of gases, but is ridiculed and ignored. :: –
James Prescott Joule experimentally finds the mechanical equivalent of heat. • 1844 –
Lucien Vidi invented the aneroid, from Greek meaning
without liquid,
barometer. • 1845 –
Francis Ronalds invented the first successful camera for
continuous recording of the variations in meteorological parameters over time • 1845 – Francis Ronalds invented and named the storm clock, used to monitor rapid changes in meteorological parameters during extreme events • 1846 – Cup anemometer invented by Dr.
John Thomas Romney Robinson. • 1847 –
Francis Ronalds and
William Radcliffe Birt described a stable
kite to make observations at altitude using self-recording instruments • 1847 –
Hermann von Helmholtz publishes a definitive statement of the conservation of energy, the
first law of thermodynamics. :: – The
Manchester Examiner newspaper organises the first weather reports collected by electrical means. • 1848 –
William Thomson extends the concept of absolute zero from gases to all substances. • 1849 –
Smithsonian Institution begins to establish an observation network across the United States, with 150 observers via telegraph, under the leadership of
Joseph Henry. :: –
William John Macquorn Rankine calculates the correct relationship between
saturated vapour pressure and
temperature using his
hypothesis of molecular vortices. • 1850 – Rankine uses his
vortex theory to establish accurate relationships between the temperature,
pressure, and
density of gases, and expressions for the
latent heat of
evaporation of a liquid; he accurately predicts the surprising fact that the apparent
specific heat of
saturated steam will be negative. :: –
Rudolf Clausius gives the first clear joint statement of the
first and
second law of thermodynamics, abandoning the caloric theory, but preserving Carnot's principle. • 1852 – Joule and Thomson demonstrate that a rapidly expanding gas cools, later named the
Joule-Thomson effect. • 1853 – The first International Meteorological Conference was held in Brussels at the initiative of
Matthew Fontaine Maury, U.S. Navy, recommending standard observing times, methods of observation and logging format for weather reports from ships at sea. • 1854 – The French astronomer
Leverrier showed that a storm in the
Black Sea could be followed across Europe and would have been predictable if the telegraph had been used. A service of storm forecasts was established a year later by the
Paris Observatory. :: – Rankine introduces his
thermodynamic function, later identified as
entropy. • Mid 1850s – Emilien Renou, director of the Parc Saint-Maur and Montsouris observatories, begins work on an elaboration of Howard's classifications that would lead to the introduction during the 1870s of a newly defined
middle étage . • 1892 –
William Henry Dines invented another kind of
anemometer, called the
pressure-tube (Dines) anemometer. His device measured the difference in pressure arising from wind blowing in a tube versus that blowing across the tube. • 1896 –
IMO publishes the first
International cloud atlas. :: –
Svante Arrhenius proposes
carbon dioxide as a key factor to explain the
ice ages. :: – H.H. Clayton proposes formalizing the division of clouds by their physical structures into cirriform, stratiform, "flocciform" (stratocumuliform) and cumuliform. With the later addition of cumulonimbiform, the idea eventually finds favor as an aid in the analysis of satellite cloud images. • 1898 – US Weather Bureau established a
hurricane warning network at Kingston, Jamaica. ==20th century==