171
9.8 Secchi’s Role in the Birth of the National
Meteorological Service
At the Congress of Italian Scientists held in Pisa in 1839, the first step was taken
toward an awareness of the need to give meteorology in Italy a centralized organization, in order to observe, study, and forecast atmospheric phenomena in a systematic
way. In subsequent congresses, scientists worked to define a coordinated program
for Italy even before its political unification. The establishment of the “Archivio
Meteorologico Centrale Italiano” [Italian Central Meteorological Archive] in 1844
was the first attempt to set up a common center for collecting national weather data.
Its headquarter was in Florence at the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural
History. The Collegio Romano Observatory, then directed by Father Francesco De
Vico, joined the initiative. However, the lack of a modern appreciation of meteorology in Italy and the historical events of that era prevented the accomplishment of
this planned coordination, so that observatories continued to operate in a completely
autonomous way.
Even in the aftermath of the political unification of Italy, the national organization of meteorology continued to have strongly sectoral divisions, so much so that
in the early 1870s four different governmental organizations, independent of each
other, were responsible for various aspects of this work:
– Statistical Meteorological Service: established by Senator Luigi Torelli at the
Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce to coordinate the meteorological activity in Italy;
– Maritime Weather Service: founded by the physicist Carlo Matteucci at the
Ministry of Navy, to issue weather warnings for mariners and port authorities;
– Hydro-pluviometric Service: dependent on the Ministry of Public Works, responsible for issuing flood warnings;
– Ministry of Public Education Network: observatories in schools and university
institutes.
The national work of meteorology was therefore fragmented and uncoordinated.
However, the Statistical Meteorological Service was the only one to follow the
operating standards defined by the International Meteorological Organization
(Wien, 1873) and to represent the Italian Meteorology internationally. Therefore,
this Service was given the institutional role of a meteorological coordination body
in Italy and, by Royal Decree No. 3534 dated November 26, 1876, changed its name
to “Regio Ufficio Centrale di Meteorologia” [Central Meteorological Office]
(Iafrate 2008).
The new institution consisted of a National Board, responsible for overseeing the
organization of the new Meteorological Service, and a Central Office, which acted
on the Board’s deliberations. The National Board met for the first time in March
1877 and elected Angelo Secchi as its first president. This is attested to by an
inscription found behind a bookshelf in the CREA meteorological library at the
Collegio Romano (Fig. 9.5). It was in this vast building that the Central Office
9 Angelo Secchi and Meteorology in Italy
9.8 Secchi’s Role in the Birth of the National
Meteorological Service
At the Congress of Italian Scientists held in Pisa in 1839, the first step was taken
toward an awareness of the need to give meteorology in Italy a centralized organization, in order to observe, study, and forecast atmospheric phenomena in a systematic
way. In subsequent congresses, scientists worked to define a coordinated program
for Italy even before its political unification. The establishment of the “Archivio
Meteorologico Centrale Italiano” [Italian Central Meteorological Archive] in 1844
was the first attempt to set up a common center for collecting national weather data.
Its headquarter was in Florence at the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural
History. The Collegio Romano Observatory, then directed by Father Francesco De
Vico, joined the initiative. However, the lack of a modern appreciation of meteorology in Italy and the historical events of that era prevented the accomplishment of
this planned coordination, so that observatories continued to operate in a completely
autonomous way.
Even in the aftermath of the political unification of Italy, the national organization of meteorology continued to have strongly sectoral divisions, so much so that
in the early 1870s four different governmental organizations, independent of each
other, were responsible for various aspects of this work:
– Statistical Meteorological Service: established by Senator Luigi Torelli at the
Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce to coordinate the meteorological activity in Italy;
– Maritime Weather Service: founded by the physicist Carlo Matteucci at the
Ministry of Navy, to issue weather warnings for mariners and port authorities;
– Hydro-pluviometric Service: dependent on the Ministry of Public Works, responsible for issuing flood warnings;
– Ministry of Public Education Network: observatories in schools and university
institutes.
The national work of meteorology was therefore fragmented and uncoordinated.
However, the Statistical Meteorological Service was the only one to follow the
operating standards defined by the International Meteorological Organization
(Wien, 1873) and to represent the Italian Meteorology internationally. Therefore,
this Service was given the institutional role of a meteorological coordination body
in Italy and, by Royal Decree No. 3534 dated November 26, 1876, changed its name
to “Regio Ufficio Centrale di Meteorologia” [Central Meteorological Office]
(Iafrate 2008).
The new institution consisted of a National Board, responsible for overseeing the
organization of the new Meteorological Service, and a Central Office, which acted
on the Board’s deliberations. The National Board met for the first time in March
1877 and elected Angelo Secchi as its first president. This is attested to by an
inscription found behind a bookshelf in the CREA meteorological library at the
Collegio Romano (Fig. 9.5). It was in this vast building that the Central Office
9 Angelo Secchi and Meteorology in Italy