154
In his dissertation Sui recenti progressi della meteorologia [On recent advances
in meteorology], Secchi emphasized that meteorology has two distinct purposes: it
must provide information “to the farmer, the engineer, the sailor, and for public
safety, while satisfying the curiosity of the educated public through a detailed
review of the atmospheric phenomena that have occurred”; but in addition, it is also
necessary “to know the general laws of motions and the intimate structure of this
great machine that is the atmosphere, on whose functions the planet’s life depends”
(Secchi 1861: 7).
1
The two basic aims of Angelo Secchi’s meteorological research activity were the
acquisition and transmission of data in real time by means of modern measuring
instruments and innovative methods of communication and data analysis, by searching for correlations of these data with other observed physical phenomena in order
to fully understand the laws of physics that controlled atmospheric motions and
their associated storms.
Up until 1855, the Collegio Romano Observatory had only provided a daily
monitoring of Rome’s weather conditions, but Secchi’s innovative approach to
atmospheric sciences transformed this observatory into an operational meteorological center, with the task of collecting weather data recorded in the other stations of
the Papal States to formulate storm forecasts and send them to the competent
port authorities. This work led the Observatory to the forefront of this discipline,
and provided the starting point for the great development that meteorology would
have in Italy and in the world in succeeding years.
9.2 Matthew Fontaine Maury
As noted above, Secchi’s interest in atmospheric sciences began with his acquaintance with Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806–1873). Maury had joined the US Navy
in 1825, and spent several years as a midshipman cruising the oceans and circumnavigating the globe. In 1839 he broke his leg in a stagecoach accident and was
forced to give up his active service at sea. He then dedicated his time to the study of
navigation, meteorology, and oceanography; in 1842 he was appointed superintendent of the Navy’s Depot of Charts and Instruments, in Washington, which two years
later was renamed the United States Naval Observatory. In this position, Maury had
access to thousands of ships’ logs and charts from all over the world, and he used
1 Lo scopo delle ricerche meteorologiche può esser doppio; uno, locale e parziale, non altro si
propone che di servire di guida giornaliera all’agricoltore, all’ingegnere, al marinaio, alla pubblica
igiene o servire alla dotta curiosità: a quest’uso basta una precisa rassegna de’ fatti, e la parte
osservatrice non può negarsi essere oggidì recata ad alto grado di perfezione. L’altro più vasto e più
importante, e senza cui è impossibile raggiungere adequatamente[sic]il primo, è il conoscere le
leggi generali de moti, e l’intima struttura di questa gran macchina che è l’atmosfera, dalle cui
funzioni dipende l’esistenza di quanto ha vita su questo pianeta; e in questa parte, immenso è il
progresso fatto in questi ultimi anni (Secchi,1861: 7).
L. Iafrate and M. C. Beltrano
In his dissertation Sui recenti progressi della meteorologia [On recent advances
in meteorology], Secchi emphasized that meteorology has two distinct purposes: it
must provide information “to the farmer, the engineer, the sailor, and for public
safety, while satisfying the curiosity of the educated public through a detailed
review of the atmospheric phenomena that have occurred”; but in addition, it is also
necessary “to know the general laws of motions and the intimate structure of this
great machine that is the atmosphere, on whose functions the planet’s life depends”
(Secchi 1861: 7).
1
The two basic aims of Angelo Secchi’s meteorological research activity were the
acquisition and transmission of data in real time by means of modern measuring
instruments and innovative methods of communication and data analysis, by searching for correlations of these data with other observed physical phenomena in order
to fully understand the laws of physics that controlled atmospheric motions and
their associated storms.
Up until 1855, the Collegio Romano Observatory had only provided a daily
monitoring of Rome’s weather conditions, but Secchi’s innovative approach to
atmospheric sciences transformed this observatory into an operational meteorological center, with the task of collecting weather data recorded in the other stations of
the Papal States to formulate storm forecasts and send them to the competent
port authorities. This work led the Observatory to the forefront of this discipline,
and provided the starting point for the great development that meteorology would
have in Italy and in the world in succeeding years.
9.2 Matthew Fontaine Maury
As noted above, Secchi’s interest in atmospheric sciences began with his acquaintance with Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806–1873). Maury had joined the US Navy
in 1825, and spent several years as a midshipman cruising the oceans and circumnavigating the globe. In 1839 he broke his leg in a stagecoach accident and was
forced to give up his active service at sea. He then dedicated his time to the study of
navigation, meteorology, and oceanography; in 1842 he was appointed superintendent of the Navy’s Depot of Charts and Instruments, in Washington, which two years
later was renamed the United States Naval Observatory. In this position, Maury had
access to thousands of ships’ logs and charts from all over the world, and he used
1 Lo scopo delle ricerche meteorologiche può esser doppio; uno, locale e parziale, non altro si
propone che di servire di guida giornaliera all’agricoltore, all’ingegnere, al marinaio, alla pubblica
igiene o servire alla dotta curiosità: a quest’uso basta una precisa rassegna de’ fatti, e la parte
osservatrice non può negarsi essere oggidì recata ad alto grado di perfezione. L’altro più vasto e più
importante, e senza cui è impossibile raggiungere adequatamente[sic]il primo, è il conoscere le
leggi generali de moti, e l’intima struttura di questa gran macchina che è l’atmosfera, dalle cui
funzioni dipende l’esistenza di quanto ha vita su questo pianeta; e in questa parte, immenso è il
progresso fatto in questi ultimi anni (Secchi,1861: 7).
L. Iafrate and M. C. Beltrano