156
By analyzing the countless logbooks received, he studied in detail the distribution of atmospheric pressure and winds in the two terrestrial hemispheres, and the
results he obtained were then verified by his English colleague and friend Robert
FitzRoy (Secchi 1865a), the founder of what would later be called the Met Office
(Anderson 2005). His explanations about winds and ocean currents would help
meteorologists to better understand the main storm trajectories, thus opening the
way for weather forecasts.
Maury had the honor of introducing Secchi to this nascent sector of studies and
research, arousing in him an enthusiasm for deepening the main theoretical and
synoptic aspects of gale and storm dynamics. Maury was held in great esteem by
Angelo Secchi; this esteem was reciprocated by Maury, who considered Secchi to
be the greatest of the nineteenth-century physicists (Torelli 1877).
9.3 Secchi’s Theoretical Work in Atmospheric Science
Angelo Secchi conceived of meteorology as “a vast science that embraces all the
modifications of our atmosphere […] in connection with all the branches of the
physical sciences.” Although he considered daily weather observations “excellent,”
he complained that simply recording them was not enough to promote meteorology
as a science. In order to do this, it was necessary “to monitor the trend in weather
phenomena and their mutual connection, as well as to compare them with those
occurring elsewhere.” Therefore, “the publication of meteorological observations
must be accompanied by appropriate discussions and must […] give an accurate
idea of how atmospheric events follow one another,” since average values are not
enough to understand the major changes in the weather. According to him, meteorologists should no longer limit themselves to monitoring only the variations in
pressure, temperature, humidity, and the consequent atmospheric motions, but to
extend their measurements and research to “variations of terrestrial magnetism in
close connection with atmospheric electricity” (Secchi 1862, 1, 1: 1).
2
2 La meteorologia, come oggidì devesi concepire, è realmente una scienza vastissima, che abbraccia tutte le modificazioni della nostra atmosfera, ed è perciò in connessione con tutti i rami delle
scienze fisiche e più specialmente con quelle che risguardano il calorico, l’elettricità e il magnetismo. Le osservazioni giornaliere sono eccellenti, ma il semplice registro loro non basta a promuoverla, e per ciò è necessario fare rilevare l’andamento de’ fenomeni e la loro connessione
reciproca, e paragonarli con quelli che accadono negli altri luoghi: quindi la pubblicazione delle
osservazioni deve esser corredata dalle opportune discussioni, e deve essere o intera, o almeno tale
da dare una idea esatta del modo con cui si succedono le vicende, essendo i semplici risultati medii
poco atti a farne conoscere diverse modificazioni importanti. Per ciò che riguarda i soggetti di
osservazione, fino ad ora i meteorologisti si sono limitati comunemente alle variazioni della pressione, della temperatura e dell’umidità, e de’ movimenti nell’aria da queste cause prodotti; ma
recenti ricerche hanno dimostrato che un altro ramo visi deve aggiungere, ed è quello delle variazioni del magnetismo terrestre in connessione colla elettricità atmosferica.
L. Iafrate and M. C. Beltrano
By analyzing the countless logbooks received, he studied in detail the distribution of atmospheric pressure and winds in the two terrestrial hemispheres, and the
results he obtained were then verified by his English colleague and friend Robert
FitzRoy (Secchi 1865a), the founder of what would later be called the Met Office
(Anderson 2005). His explanations about winds and ocean currents would help
meteorologists to better understand the main storm trajectories, thus opening the
way for weather forecasts.
Maury had the honor of introducing Secchi to this nascent sector of studies and
research, arousing in him an enthusiasm for deepening the main theoretical and
synoptic aspects of gale and storm dynamics. Maury was held in great esteem by
Angelo Secchi; this esteem was reciprocated by Maury, who considered Secchi to
be the greatest of the nineteenth-century physicists (Torelli 1877).
9.3 Secchi’s Theoretical Work in Atmospheric Science
Angelo Secchi conceived of meteorology as “a vast science that embraces all the
modifications of our atmosphere […] in connection with all the branches of the
physical sciences.” Although he considered daily weather observations “excellent,”
he complained that simply recording them was not enough to promote meteorology
as a science. In order to do this, it was necessary “to monitor the trend in weather
phenomena and their mutual connection, as well as to compare them with those
occurring elsewhere.” Therefore, “the publication of meteorological observations
must be accompanied by appropriate discussions and must […] give an accurate
idea of how atmospheric events follow one another,” since average values are not
enough to understand the major changes in the weather. According to him, meteorologists should no longer limit themselves to monitoring only the variations in
pressure, temperature, humidity, and the consequent atmospheric motions, but to
extend their measurements and research to “variations of terrestrial magnetism in
close connection with atmospheric electricity” (Secchi 1862, 1, 1: 1).
2
2 La meteorologia, come oggidì devesi concepire, è realmente una scienza vastissima, che abbraccia tutte le modificazioni della nostra atmosfera, ed è perciò in connessione con tutti i rami delle
scienze fisiche e più specialmente con quelle che risguardano il calorico, l’elettricità e il magnetismo. Le osservazioni giornaliere sono eccellenti, ma il semplice registro loro non basta a promuoverla, e per ciò è necessario fare rilevare l’andamento de’ fenomeni e la loro connessione
reciproca, e paragonarli con quelli che accadono negli altri luoghi: quindi la pubblicazione delle
osservazioni deve esser corredata dalle opportune discussioni, e deve essere o intera, o almeno tale
da dare una idea esatta del modo con cui si succedono le vicende, essendo i semplici risultati medii
poco atti a farne conoscere diverse modificazioni importanti. Per ciò che riguarda i soggetti di
osservazione, fino ad ora i meteorologisti si sono limitati comunemente alle variazioni della pressione, della temperatura e dell’umidità, e de’ movimenti nell’aria da queste cause prodotti; ma
recenti ricerche hanno dimostrato che un altro ramo visi deve aggiungere, ed è quello delle variazioni del magnetismo terrestre in connessione colla elettricità atmosferica.
L. Iafrate and M. C. Beltrano