On March 23 the World Meteorological Daya commemorative day of this science that has been held since 1961, a year after it was established by the World Meteorological Organization to highlight the fundamental contribution provided by the services of this science for the safety and well -being of society, especially in a context of climate change that results in extreme phenomena.
How and where the weather arose: Aristotle, one of his architects
Tales of Miletus He is who is considered to be the father of meteorology, having been one of the first who dedicated himself to his study. This was marked since the beginning in supernatural beliefs and associated with the stars, and began its journey as a science in ancient Greece between the VII and VI centuries.
It would be, however, Aristotle The first that would do a greater study of this science and who was key to its dissemination. In fact, he is considered the father of the word ‘meteorology’, which arose from the union of the Greek terms “meteors” which means ‘high in heaven’ and “logic”, which refers to ‘knowledge’.
Aristotle signed his first Treaty on Meteorology About 340 BCwhich was based on a very intuitive knowledge, but it was the first remarkable approach to the matter, which was understood by the philosopher with a broader meaning that it currently has.
The emergence of the modern meteorology of the studies of Aristotle, which were translated by the Arabs, in al-Andalus, and would be on which one of the precursors of modern weather, the Spanish would be based on José de Acostain the 16th century.
Galileo: Inventor of one of the key instruments of weather
The considered father of astronomy, among other sciences, Galileo Galileialso had a fundamental role in the evolution of meteorology to what we know today, being the inventor of thermometerone of the key instruments to measure weather variables, in this case the temperature.
Galileo invented the thermometer at the beginning of the seventeenth century, specifically in 1607, and together with the appearance of other elements such as the barometer, they were one of the impulses for modern weather, and they would be the germ to arise measurement bases. Another of Galileo’s contributions to this science was The study of winds Alisioswhich had led to different deeds in navigation such as the arrival of Christopher Columbus to America.
Descartes, and the first meteorology discussions
René Descartes was also another of the great scientists in history who had his contribution in weather, specifically, he conducted experiments to understand The relationship between atmospheric pressure and climate changeswhich laid the foundations for the development of this science.
Descartes published ‘Météores‘, treated on meteorology that, although it contained false statements, meant the First modern meteorology discussion. One of the conclusions that the philosopher and mathematician right was that heat is an internal form of movement.
The invention of the telegraph in the nineteenth century gave an important support for the instrumentalization of the meteorology, which was expanding its study and dissemination, with its most connected bases, with key people like the Norwegian Vilhem Bjerkesconsidered father of modern weather, and the development of technology such as radars to detect and track storms.
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