Helmut Landsberg and the evolution of 20th century American climatology

Envisioning a climatological renaissance

Bibliographic Data

ID12929706
AuthorsGabriel Henderson (Aarhus University, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume8
Issue2
Publication date2016-11-22
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.442
OpenAlexW2552053993
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited34

After World War II , German‐American climatologist Helmut Landsberg sought to realize his war‐time vision for an American ‘climatological renaissance.’ Given the dramatic degradation of European science during the war, he believed that the United States offered the best hope to strengthen and reformulate what he considered to be the stale tradition of conceiving climatology as a geographical discipline. Inhabiting high‐level positions within the American geophysical establishment after the war, his primary goal was to develop the tools and resources to analyze and interpret the overwhelming amounts of data that had been amassed over the centuries while, simultaneously, making climatology relevant to American life. However, there were limits. As someone who had invested his professional life in making climatology a useful discipline, Landsberg grew increasingly concerned that public debates about climate threatened his vision for a climatological renaissance. During the last two decades of his life, he became fixated on maintaining his ideal that climatology was not a glamorous discipline, and objected vehemently to those who sought to counter what he considered to be its true character. WIREs Clim Change 2017, 8:e442. doi: 10.1002/wcc.442 This article is categorized under: Climate, History, Society, Culture > Thought Leaders

Art history · Climatology · Geography · The Renaissance · History · History of Science and Natural History · Science and Climate Studies · Twentieth Century Scientific Developments · Geology

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