A to Z of Scientists in Weather and Climate

by Rittner, Don

• ISBN13: 9780816047970
• ISBN10: 0816047979
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-08-01
• Publisher: Facts on File

Summary

Presents profiles of more than one hundred scientists in the field of meteorology and climatology, from ancient times to the present day.

Table of Contents

List of Entries	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	xiii
Entries A to Z	1	(210)
Entries by Field	203	(2)
Entries by Country of Birth	205	(2)
Entries by Country of Major Scientific Activity	207	(2)
Entries by Year of Birth	209	(2)
Chronology	211	(4)
Glossary	215	(16)
Bibliography	231	(8)
Recommended Weather and Climate-Related Websites	239	(4)
Index	243

Excerpts

Designed for high school through early college students, A to Z of Scientists in Weather and Climate is an ideal reference to notable male and female scientists in the field of weather and climate. Focusing primarily on those historical figures whose contributions have defined the way modern meteorologists understand climate, weather, and the atmosphere, this volume in the Notable Scientists set provides an array of information about the lives and studies of significant scientists, across the globe, from ancient times to the 20th century.
Containing 115 entries and approximately 50 black-and-white photographs, this volume emphasizes the selected scientists' contributions to the field as well as his or her effect on the scientists who have come later. A general introduction explains who was chosen for inclusion and why; a list of entries; the entries themselves; indexes by field of specialization, nationality, and subject area; a bibliography; and an index.
Entries include:
James Croll, a carpenter and janitor, who was the first to propose a real explanation for the ice ages
Anders Celsius, inventor of the Celsius temperature scale
Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, inventor of Fahrenheit measurement of temperature
Robert Fitzroy, captain of the Beagle who committed suicide because he believed he was partly responsible for Charles Darwin's evolution theory but also made his own important contributions
Joseph Henry, an actor, who became the United States' most beloved scientist and head of the Smithsonian, where he put together the first coordinated weather stations
Joanne Simpson, the first professional woman meteorologist
Vincent Schaefer, a high school dropout who ended up inventing cloud seeding
and more.