Abstract
METEOROLOGICAL observations have been made more or less continuously since the days of Ferdinand II., Grand Duke of Tuscany, who first organized systematic observations in the year 1653. A full account of the progress which has been made since then in securing data of greater accuracy is contained in the book before us, which forms the forty-sixth appendix to the Report of the Chief Signal Officer to the United States Government. There are five different sections, one being devoted to temperature, one to pressure, one to atmospheric movements, one to aqueous vapour, and the last to the measurement of rain and snow. Each section commences with a general statement of the object to be attained, then the formulæ for correction are discussed, and finally there are descriptions of the most accurate instruments which are at present available. Every form of meteorological instrument hitherto conceived seems to find a place in this wonderfully complete treatise. Besides the ordinary instruments, all the self-recording arrangements are described, and their relative merits discussed. Diagrams of most of the instruments are also given. Those who have but a slight acquaintance with the subject will no doubt be surprised at the number of different methods of determining the same data, and at the number of corrections which it is necessary to make before the results can lay claim to scientific accuracy. The methods and standards adopted by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures are fully considered in every case where they are applicable.
Treatise on Meteorological Apparatus and Methods.
By Cleveland Abbe (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1888.)
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Our Book Shelf . Nature 39, 340 (1889). https://doi.org/10.1038/039340a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/039340a0