ection 1
Humans have engaged in weather observation for centuries, aware of the impact of
inclement weather on everything from agriculture to whaling. Galileo is credited with
developing the first thermometer in 1592—over four hundred years later, we’re still
interested in what the temperature is. Gods who controlled thunder, lightning, and the
wind are abundant in ancient mythology. Adages such as
influenced daily decisions.
Observations of animal behavior, such as how large a food stockpile squirrels accrued,
were considered indicators of the harshness of an oncoming winter.
Ben Franklin was the first American to suggest that weather could be forecast, having
deduced from newspaper articles that storms generally travel from west to east. He fur-
ther deduced that weather observers could notify those ahead of a storm that it was
coming. Shortly after the telegraph was invented in 1837, Franklin’s ideas were imple-
mented by a series of observers sending information in Morse code to a central office
where a national weather map was created.
A seemingly separate purpose was enabled by the invention of the camera in 1839.
Beginning in 1858, cameras were flown on balloons for topographic mapping.
Cameras mounted on both kites and pigeons were later used to obtain photographs
from higher altitudes, encompassing larger areas. Wilbur Wright topped that by taking
the first recorded photographs from an airplane in 1909.
Research during World War II, motivated by both the desire for security and superiority,
produced infrared detectors and other thermal sensors. Information could be obtained
about a subject, as with the camera, without being in physical contact with it. The
t e rm is now commonly used in conjunction with electro m a g n e t i c
techniques for acquiring inform a t i o n.
figure 42.
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