"The Motions of Fluids and Solids on the Earth's Surface" in The American Journal of Science and the Arts

William Ferrel. **Monumental Work in the History of Meteorology**

Erscheinungsdatum: 1861

Beschreibung

FERREL, William. "The Motions of Fluids and Solids on the Earth's Surface" in "The American Journal of Science and the Arts" [second series], volume 31, number 91, January 1861, pp 27-51 in the full issue of pp 156, (1), 8, plus two plates (one folding). Wrappers, though the original outer wrappers are lacking, as is almost all of the spine cover. There's also some bumping on the upper right corner through the first 30pp and bumping on the bottom right corner over the first 20pp or so. Still, a GOOD copy.

This is a reprint of the first four sections of the first appearance of Ferrel's paper in "Runkle's Mathematical Monthly" vol 1, pp. 140-148, 210-216, 300-307, 366-373, 1859; and vol 2 Vol. 2 pp. 89-97, 339-346, 374-382, 1860. (The work also appeared as a reprint in Professional Papers of the Signal Service, no. viii, Recent Mathematical Papers Concerning the Motions of the Atmosphere, Part 1, in 1882, the last three section of the 1860 paper, which I am offering separately on the ABE site.

It may be overstating the case somewhat but one could see Ferrel as the Newton of 19th century meteorology, as there was no one quite like him who understood the weather in mathematical terms or sheer reasoning power in terms of the physics of weather. (The Complete DSB online states: "After Laplace, Ferrel was the chief founder of the subject now known as geophysical fluid dynamics. He gave the first general formulation of the equations of motion for a body moving with respect to the rotating earth and drew from them the consequences for atmospheric and oceanic circulation. He contributed to meteorological and tidal theory and to the problem of "earth wobble" (changes in the axis and speed of the earth?s rotation)."

As David Wenner noted in his "History of Physics, the Wenner Collection" "Transitioning from observational weather forecasting to mathematical weather forecasting required meteorologists to recognize that the laws of physics could apply to weather, discover the forces that drive wind movements, and apply the equations of physics to these forces and the resulting movements of air".

 And from the Complete DSB online: "Although Ferrel agreed that temperature differences between equatorial and polar regions drove both atmosphere and ocean, he supported by mathematical deduction his insistence that all atmospheric motions, whatever their direction, were deflected by the earth?s rotation. His application of this principle to explain both the general circulation and the rotary action of cyclonic storms began to be generally accepted in the 1870's, as weather forecasting services spread over Europe and North America. In his theory of the general circulation Ferrel developed the basic principle that on the rotating earth, convection between equator and pole must be chiefly by westerly winds. He gave the traditional three-cell diagram of the circulation, abandoned only since about 1950, as it has become clear that this scheme of an average circulation pattern along any meridian, although heuristically useful, is not supported by the data. Ferrel modified Espy's convection-condensation theory of cyclonic storms, and he gave a plausible account of the great force of tornadoes."--Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography (online version).

Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers ABE-1778859743982

Bibliografische Details

• Titel: "The Motions of Fluids and Solids on the Earth's Surface" in The American Journal of Science and the Arts
• Erscheinungsjahr: 1861
• Einband: Softcover
• Zustand: Befriedigend
• Abmessungen: 6B x 9 H x 1 T Zoll Breite: 6 Zoll, Höhe: 9 Zoll, Tiefe: 1 Zoll
• Gewicht: 1 Pfund
• Verkäuferkataloge:
  • Meteorology & Climate
  • Chemistry
  • Math & Logic