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SUMMARY:Log books and the law of storms: maritime meteorology and the Brit
 ish Admiralty in the 19th century - Simon Naylor (University of Glasgow)
DTSTART:20150430T143000Z
DTEND:20150430T160000Z
UID:TALK58787@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Richard Staley
DESCRIPTION:This paper contributes to debates about the relationship betwe
 en science and the military by examining the British Admiralty's participa
 tion in meteorological projects in the first half of the 19th century. It 
 focuses on attempts to transform Royal Naval log books into standardized m
 eteorological registers that would be of use to both science and the state
 . The paper begins with a discussion of Admiralty Hydrographer\, Francis B
 eaufort\, who promoted the use of standardized systems for the observation
  of the weather at sea. It then examines the application of ships' logs to
  the science of storms. The paper focuses on the Army Engineer\, William R
 eid\, who studied hurricanes while stationed in Barbados and Bermuda. Reid
  was instrumental in persuading the Admiralty to implement a naval meteoro
 logical policy\, something the Admiralty Hydrographer had struggled to ach
 ieve. The paper uses the reception and adoption of work on storms at sea t
 o reflect on the means and ends of maritime meteorology in the mid-19th ce
 ntury.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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