Forms of meteorological knowledge 1750–1850 in German countries and beyond

Bibliographic Data

ID12929441
AuthorsLinda Richter (0000-0001-8029-2880, Goethe University Frankfurt, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume11
Issue4
Publication date2020-04-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1757-7780 • E-ISSN: 1757-7799
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/wcc.651
OpenAlexW3023364047
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited36

The complexity of atmospherical processes has always yielded a multitude of ways of knowing about the weather. What has been lacking in the historiography of meteorology so far is a way to formulate differences between forms of knowledge in a way that does not privilege modern scientific structures, but focuses instead on the epistemological category of causality. Using causality as ground of comparison for different knowledge claims, I shall argue, may enable researchers to investigate meteorological knowledge across time periods, perhaps even geographical regions, in a more symmetrical manner. This review demonstrates this approach as a means to organize a large set of historical meteorological writings from German countries between 1750 and 1850. Three distinct forms of knowledge (Semiotics, Physics, and Organics of the weather) during that time and in that region are suggested and will be described. While a bibliography with a national perspective from the 1880s was the basis for the selection of historical sources, such a setup proved awkward even to contemporaries. In addition, the bibliography came with a number of biases and shortcomings that will be critically reviewed. This article is categorized under: Climate, History, Society, Culture > Major Historical Eras

Archaeology · Causality (physics · Epistemology · German · Historiography · Multitude · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Privilege (computing · Set (abstract data type · Sociology · Sociology of scientific knowledge · Computer Science · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · History of Science and Natural History · Law · Philosophy · Tree-ring climate responses · Artificial Intelligence