This week, we read the first two chapters of part two, The Weather on Earth and Looking Down. Next week, we’ll read the last two chapters of part two, Going Around and Blasting Off.
These two chapters talked about how the way we monitor global weather was built.
Overall, these chapters were about the transition from looking up at weather to achieving the long-held dream of looking down. What are the equivalents in your world of this kind of technological shift?
We learned about Weather Station Kurt, which was a clandestine weather station installed by the Germans during World War II and remains the only known Nazi incursion into North America. In your view, why has the North Atlantic Weather War not been adapted into a hit film?
La Guardia Airport'’s weather system is unable to discern the difference between rain and ice without human observation. Would you say this jives with your overall experience at La Guardia Airport?
This talked about the intersection of geopolitics and civilian research. The same tech used in weather satellites is used in spy satellites, and typically weather has walked hand in hand with defense. The weather community worked to have a non-defense infrastructure for sharing data. What else has these kinds of issues?
I’m having a lot of fun with this book! Be sure to comment with any views you have on the book and anything cool you learned!
I'm also really enjoying this book. "Everybody talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it." turns out not to be true. Understanding that you can understand the physics of weather at a time when the calculations by hand were impossible. Finding arithmetic workarounds. Communicating data by telegraph was a game changer. The progression from telegraph to satellites with vast capabilities is truly monumental.
But, there is still Hans Van Kampen on Utsira, a pub-keeper who reports the weather 6 times a day. The change in technology is what has made so much possible, especially in weather forecasting. I grew up with radios powered by vacuum tubes. Then TV. When I was in high school I went to see a giant computer that filled two rooms and ran on vacuum tubes and when you ran a tape through the reader it would play "Happy Birthday to you" with single notes. My early 3 transistor radio has been replaced by my smartphone which has over a billion transistors. I watched the first transatlantic TV broadcast. Now, I can FaceTime anywhere in the world in seconds.
But what is interesting is how the weather folks managed to get into the payloads of so many early space vehicles. That is an example of monumental governmental cunning by some very shrewd scientists. What one finds out it that the military wants to know about the weather, too.
Weather station Kurt was one example of how important weather was to the military. The amount of weather forecasting that went into selecting the date for D-Day has been in the movies. As for LaGuardia airport, the one I use most often, nothing surprises me. They're rebuilding it, so hope springs eternal. But, it was built for DC-3s and shouldn't be where it is.
Reading about the weaknesses in La Guardia’s weather info gathering system made me think about the one at our local airport. People have joked that it’s rain gauge must be inside because it will often record little to no rain when it is absolutely pouring. So now I’m curious what it’s issue actually is.
I also liked the mention of Frying Pan Tower and it’s tie to Hurricane Florence. A few years ago someone bought it and turned it into a bed and breakfast, which sounds cool when we get to leave our homes on optional excursions someday again: https://www.starnewsonline.com/article/NC/20150717/News/605044444/WM
"There is no weather forecasting without weather observations, but there is no weather observations without infrastructures" Loved the Chapter The Weather on Earth. Really enjoyed reading about the different locations for the instruments including his Brooklyn friend having one attached to his deck by the grill. Growing up my family had one on the deck as well. Also it would be so cool to spend a day with one of those human weather observers at airports. Btw so want to to go to that Norwegian volcanic island weather station out in the Arctic Ocean (maybe after I complete my goal of doing a Cannonball Run). In addition I wouldn't mind spending a month or so with that Van Kampen character. "Van Kampen watches the weather in this one place so that the rest of us can know the weather in all the places"
I listened to this as an audiobook, which perhaps wasn't the best format for the information presented. Despite that, I enjoyed the book and learned a lot!
I'm also really enjoying this book. "Everybody talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it." turns out not to be true. Understanding that you can understand the physics of weather at a time when the calculations by hand were impossible. Finding arithmetic workarounds. Communicating data by telegraph was a game changer. The progression from telegraph to satellites with vast capabilities is truly monumental.
But, there is still Hans Van Kampen on Utsira, a pub-keeper who reports the weather 6 times a day. The change in technology is what has made so much possible, especially in weather forecasting. I grew up with radios powered by vacuum tubes. Then TV. When I was in high school I went to see a giant computer that filled two rooms and ran on vacuum tubes and when you ran a tape through the reader it would play "Happy Birthday to you" with single notes. My early 3 transistor radio has been replaced by my smartphone which has over a billion transistors. I watched the first transatlantic TV broadcast. Now, I can FaceTime anywhere in the world in seconds.
But what is interesting is how the weather folks managed to get into the payloads of so many early space vehicles. That is an example of monumental governmental cunning by some very shrewd scientists. What one finds out it that the military wants to know about the weather, too.
Weather station Kurt was one example of how important weather was to the military. The amount of weather forecasting that went into selecting the date for D-Day has been in the movies. As for LaGuardia airport, the one I use most often, nothing surprises me. They're rebuilding it, so hope springs eternal. But, it was built for DC-3s and shouldn't be where it is.
Reading about the weaknesses in La Guardia’s weather info gathering system made me think about the one at our local airport. People have joked that it’s rain gauge must be inside because it will often record little to no rain when it is absolutely pouring. So now I’m curious what it’s issue actually is.
I also liked the mention of Frying Pan Tower and it’s tie to Hurricane Florence. A few years ago someone bought it and turned it into a bed and breakfast, which sounds cool when we get to leave our homes on optional excursions someday again: https://www.starnewsonline.com/article/NC/20150717/News/605044444/WM
More a comment than anything, but I'm absolutely loving this book.
Also really enjoyed the Looking Down chapter. Weather Rockets, Earth Satellites & Harry Wexler!
"There is no weather forecasting without weather observations, but there is no weather observations without infrastructures" Loved the Chapter The Weather on Earth. Really enjoyed reading about the different locations for the instruments including his Brooklyn friend having one attached to his deck by the grill. Growing up my family had one on the deck as well. Also it would be so cool to spend a day with one of those human weather observers at airports. Btw so want to to go to that Norwegian volcanic island weather station out in the Arctic Ocean (maybe after I complete my goal of doing a Cannonball Run). In addition I wouldn't mind spending a month or so with that Van Kampen character. "Van Kampen watches the weather in this one place so that the rest of us can know the weather in all the places"
I listened to this as an audiobook, which perhaps wasn't the best format for the information presented. Despite that, I enjoyed the book and learned a lot!