THE PLACE OF METEOROLOGY IN LIBERAL EDUCATION First prize winner in Weather Essay Competition By ERIC B. KRAUS Snowy Mountains Authority, Cooma, N .S . W .

It is lens- A shaped and iridescent, in fact it is a very particular cloud. Probably there is no other exactly like it anywhere else in the world. If I knew more about the atmosphere I could explain the changing shape of my cloud largely in terms of heat, crystal formation and turbulence-processes that are presumably governed anywhere by the same principles. But an exact explanation depends also on the shape of the hills, on the valleys and plains beyond, on changing ocean currents and on events on the sun. In the last resort the develop- ment of this particular cloud involves the whole universe and perhaps could only be explained by an all-seeing and all knowing observer. Many meteoro- logical phenomena fall into a similar category. They cannot be isolated, nor can we observe them from a distance which is so great that all particular details are obscured, as is the case with astronomical observations. Essentially, meteorology deals with the interaction of universal physical principles on the particular stage of our atmosphere. It is less concerned with their primary derivation. The variety of phenomena which may occur in the atmosphere is very large and this makes the subject complex and difficult to cover exactly.

Meteorologists know vaguely that the cloud is caused by a standing wave in the westerly air stream across the hills. All through winter the local wind tends to blow from the west. It brings rain to the western cattle pastures. Higher up on the western slopes are fern gulleys and dripping rain forests. Still higher are the winter snows-perhaps 15 or 20 ft deep on the ranges. Here in the east, it very rarely rains in winter. Dry grass covers the treeless rolling hills. The difference between east and west shows the pervasive influence which the atmosphere exerts on most forms of life, including our own.

Because atmospheric studies, in one form or another, involve such a very broad sector of our total scientific endeavour, it is not easy to circumscribe meteorology ; but it is even more difficult to fix the line where education ceases to be liberal. Educational ideals change with time, place and social circum- stances. They rarely coincide with educational practice. The latter depends on the degee of public support, the kind of people who do the teaching and also on the amount of learning which can be imparted within a limited span of years. This, too, may vary with social conditions and educational techniques. It can hardly be estimated with confidence by the layman who is not a professional educator.

WHITE cloud floats high above the hills behind my house.

It is sheep and not cattle country.

Traditionally, liberal learning was contrasted with training for menial or mechanical tasks. We no longer rely on slave labour, but even today’s ideas about education are still partly based on attitudes which were prevalent in the countries around the Mediterranean some two thousand years ago. The present essay begins, therefore, with a brief historical survey, which may help US to agree on the concept of liberal education. Although there have been changes in emphasis, the basic aims of liberal education appear to be invariant. That does not apply, of course, to methods or subject matter. In the modem world an effective education must provide some understanding of the scientific view. It will be argued below that meteorology-because of its applied nature and complexity-can help us to approach such an understanding. A course adapted to this end is outlined in the fifth section and the use of meteorology in a more narrow sense as a hobby and a pastime for amateurs is finally discussed.

THE LIBERAL ARTS

In the trans-alpine provinces of Rome, the means of education were often provided by the state. Teaching at the official grammar schools was literary and traditional. According to accepted standards, the truly cultured man would show no interest in practical questions, nor should he say things simply or directly. A knowledge of the classics could provide qualifications for high administrative posts. It also gave access to the esoteric cliques which sometimes flourished among the provincial upper classes.

This learning, which stuck like a thin paint upon the population of the provinces, was largely washed away in the Barbarian storms. Some rudiments survived, however, and among them was the concept of a grammar school educa- tion in the seven liberal arts. In the Middle Ages these were grouped into the trivium with grammar, rhetoric and logic on the one hand and into the quadri- vium with arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy, the nucleus of the future natural sciences on the other. None of these subjects had exactly the same meaning as today. In particular, matter which should now be classified as belonging to physics, or possibly meteorology, was diffused throughout the quadrivium. This was in the true tradition of Aristotle, one of whose books has given our subject its name though it dealt not only with meteorology, but also with physics in general and with hydrology, oceanography and astro-physics in particular.

In the early Middle Ages, the quadrivium played a minor role. The ancient grammar schools had concentrated on good composition and on public speaking, and for some eight hundred years grammar remained the pillar of all formal learning. But that was not enough for the keen intellects that gathered from the twelfth century onwards at the cathedral schools and at the nascent Universities. What they required was a comprehensive system of philosophy. This goal was thought to be attainable by flawless dialectic reasoning. Atten- tion focussed upon logic : Aristotle moved on to the centre of the stage. Stones for the logical constructions were not only quarried from the sacred scriptures

but also from the extant works on natural science. A greater interest in the quadrivium was reflected in a large volume of translations from Greek and Arab authors and also by an increasing amount of original work.

Roger Bacon, theorizing apostle of the experimental method, wrote an original treatise on the rainbow. One generation after him the actual cause, that is the refraction and reflection of rays from the sun by raindrops-appears to have been understood by Theodoric of Vnberg. However, these men were rather isolated. Preferring authority and deduction to observation, few of the mediaeval scholars paid much attention to such subjects as meteorology which for centuries to come was necessarily an observational discipline. Yet the cumulative result of the mediaeval studies was fa r from negligible. Today we know that they laid the groundwork for the later scientific development. Jordanus Nemorarius, second general of the heresy hunting Dominicans, deve- loped algebra as a tool for analysis. Oresme of Lisieux introduced the graphical representation of functional relations, an innovation which led to our climato- logical or aerological diagrams. Basic mechanical concepts like acceleration or momentum were used by Bredwardine of Canterbury. They were defined more precisely by Buridan, the reluctant lover of Queen Margaret who, so Villon tells us, had finally thrown him into the Seine. The old scandals are forgotten like last year's snow, but the scientific work of Buridan, Oresme and the others became part of the liberal arts curriculum. We know how much lecturers charged to teach it at the late mediaeval universities. Finally, it was learnt and used by a medical student called Gallilei.

Because they had no simple mathematical notation and used an involved language the scientific work of the mediaeval scholars was difficult and unpleasant to learn. The humanist, Erasmus, later told how much he loathed in his youth to waste time on the study of quadrivium. The humanists were much concerned with the purity of the Latin language. In their efforts to further this cause, they re-established grammar and literary knowledge as the basis of a formal liberal education. They also helped to kill off mediaeval Church Latin as a universal living language and accentuated the opposition between science and the humanities.

The classics continued to provide the basis of a liberal education all througl the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Some mathematics and, occasionally, geography were taught, but most teachers and educational administrators did not seem to consider these subjects important. European History was added later, largely as a fruit of the romantic movement. Still later and often grudgingly did educational institutions provide opportunities for the teaching of experimental or observational science. Scientists from Kepler, Huygens and Newton to Lavoisier, Mendel and Darwin had to carry on without the benefit of a formal scientific education.

Today the need for science teaching is no longer questioned, the problem is how much of it should there be. Although this attention now given to science represents a departure from the educational practice of the ancient world and also from that of the last few centuries, it does not necessarily imply a change in

ultimate aims. In fact, not only the ends, but also the means of education have remained remarkably invariant through the ages.

Essentially, liberal learning has always been associated with secondary education in the widest sense. It is not concerned with the three R's on the one hand, and on the other is distinct from specialized training for a craft or the study of a profession. At the mediaeval universities, students could not register for the study of medicine, the law or theology, until they had graduated in the liberal arts. The mediaeval arts training, apart from its advantages for a cleri- cal career, was meant at its best to show the unity and logical order of a universe in which everything contributed ultimately to the greater glory of the creator. In the post-renaissance period, individual accomplishment and particularly a polished style was appreciated more highly. Today's emphasis is perhaps again in some ways closer to the mediaeval than to the renaissance ideal. However, through all these periods, a liberal education was valued, more or less explicitly, for the potential enlargement of human experience and mental capacity which it seemed to offer. As such it was meant to help in a broad understanding of human affairs, to provide an outlet for innate talents and possibly to increase the faculty of rational enjoyment. It sometimes-though not always-may have helped men to be more civil and more tolerant. These are advantages worth cultivating in any age.

A LIBERAL EDUCATION IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

In the Middle Ages, the son of poor parents could rise through the Church to positions of great power and influence. The necessary education was com- paratively cheap. In contrast, humanism and later the development of modem science were largely pastimes for the wealthy. After the Reformation, the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge ceased to be accessible to the poor scholars for whom they had once been founded and the road to intellectual eminence became almost impassable for the poor.

Today most of us once more depend for livelihood and material advance- ment upon some organized institutions-no longer the Church, but probably an agency of the State or a great industrial concern. Preferment through these institutions is again largely a matter of ability and technical or political skill. The preparatory education is not exclusive and the ' Natural advantages ' of inherited wealth have become less frequent and comparatively less important than they used to be some time ago.

Young patricians had a good chance of acquiring a knowledge of people and affairs in their home. In a more democratic age these favourable opportunities are relatively less frequent ; that enhances the role of a formal education in the mental development of young people. A broad understanding of human, social and physical conditions is not only desirable at the top branches of the various administrative trees, but it is also essential for that potential enrichment of experience which has been defined as the traditional goal of a liberal education. The means of achieving this goal is a favourite object for dispute. However,

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there seems to be a fair measure of agreement that an effective liberal education in the modem world could be built around the teaching of literature, history and science. The proportions of the mixture may be a matter for controversy, the basic need for all three ingredients is probably not.

1-iterature can give an intrinsic pleasure which is sufficient as an end in itself. Perhaps even more important is the knowledge of men which to some extent can be derived from it. In books we meet a large number of characters. We observe their actions and emotions through the all-seeing indiscreet eye of the writer, and discern motives which people would try to hide in real life.

History is the key to a liberal understanding of our social environment. In the Middle Ages, history could be neglected because there had been an almost complete break with a past buried below centuries of barbarian invasion. Social life was conceived in static terms, governed by ordained immutable laws. Since then we have had more than a thousand years of continuous well-documented development, which has been interpreted by scholars in an articulate and accessible manner. Research men have found also more information than was ever available before about other chapters in the history of civilization. It is now possible for the laymen to comprehend, at least in outline, the story of man's development in various parts of the world. An appreciation of this story is perhaps the best possible introduction not only to an understanding of the drama and pattern of world politics, but also to many social, economic and spiritual issues of the day.

The development of science is closely linked with the accelerated social and political changes which characterize our time. Our physical environment is moulded by scientific knowledge. We cannot understand or deal with it effec- tively without some scientific background which can only be provided by formal teaching. On the one hand, science has become a particular profession ; on the other, it is also part and parcel of al l modem life. As a profession, science provides jobs for research- men, teachers, administrators and executives. Training for professional scien- tific careers has become highly specialized and though this may be desirable, experience has shown that it need not necessarily involve an appreciation of the liberal arts, or even of science on a whole. It is certainly not the primary object of liberal education to produce atomic technicians or meteorological fore- casters. Yet on the other hand a liberal education should help us to see our way in the world and without some understanding of atoms and isobars we could not cope with the information which is presented to us daily. What is more, science has created a view of man's position in the world which dominates modem life and which cannot be apprehended without some knowledge of the principles and discoveries from which it has been derived.

Happily, a considerable part of our total scientific knowledge can be marshalled within the framework of a comparatively few theories and generaliza- tions. Many of these have been accepted as valid for comparatively long periods of time. Our basic ideas about the statistical nature of many physical

It may also help to develop style in writing and talking.

A scientific education has two rather different aspects.

concepts, about the conservation of matter and energy, about the structure of molecules, about entropy and radiation, about heredity and evolution all fall into this category. These ideas can be taught without excessive specialization and, if understood, they will help us to interpret the activities of technicians and the thought of modem philosophers. The basic generalization of modem science should, therefore, form part of any liberal education in the twentieth century.

Beyond these fundamental concepts, a liberal education should give some appreciation of our particular physical environment : the galaxy ; the solar system ; our planet-including its structure, age, resources and potentialities for development. We live at the bottom of an atmospheric ocean and the science of the medium which surrounds us forms an important part of this complex. This has always been recognized to some extent. Climatology and certain aspects of meteorology have traditionally formed part of the geography curriculum. Arguments can be advanced, however, which might warrant a more detailed treatment of the subject, from a more physical point of view.

It is possible that one day men will learn to account for all physical pheno- mena in terms of a single principle or theory. Whether such a unitary science would be of practical value is doubtful. In any case until it emerges, science teaching has necessarily to deal with a variety of concepts, theories and facts. It is difficult to find room in the crowded modem curriculum for everything that should be taught, and perhaps even more difficult to show how the various subjects are inter-related and how they affect mankind. One way of doing so, and of bringing to life a more basic training, is to use the example of some applied science, which involves one way or another a large part of our generalized theo- retical knowledge, and which is also related intimately to our particular environ- ment. As far as the physical sciences are concerned, meteorology is well suited for such a role.

WHAT IS METEOROLOGY ? To most people the word meteorology is associated with weather forecasts

in the newspaper or on the radio. However, the whole idea of scientific weather forecasts is only about one hundred years old. Meteorology as the science of atmospheric phenomena comprises more than forecasting and is fa r older, In fact, it may be said to have begun with the first conscious generalizations about seasonal weather patterns at the dawn of homo sapiens.

Today the systematic observations of the atmosphere extend from pole to pole, and from the soil surface to the threshold of inter-planetary space. The atmosphere has been recognized as a heat engine and as the scene of many energy transformations. The conversion of solar radiation into wind, water power and fuel are determined by atmospheric conditions which vary with place and time. The atmosphere shields us against deadly short-wave radiation, protects us from meteoric bombardment and serves as a blanket against the deadly cold of space. It paints the sky blue and the sunset red ; it modulates every sound that reaches our ears. Wind in the lowest air layers distributes

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seeds, carries insect migrations and ventilates our cities, which otherwise would not be inhabitable. Small differences in air motion determine the location of sand deserts or jungles. They were causally associated with the passage of glacial or pluvial periods, changes that moulded our landscapes and produced our soils. Minor fluctuations in the last few thousand years have affected the history of civilization as witnessed by the abandoned Viking settlements in Greenland and the sand-covered cities of Central Asia.

In our technological age, man's dependence on the weather has changed, but it has not decreased. In fact, the demands on organized meteorology became larger and are still growing. For example, air-conditioning can now provide a locally controlled atmospheric environment, but its introduction has released a demand for more climatological information from manufacturers and architects ; better forecasts are required from electricity suppliers who found their load affected by the variable use of air-conditioning appliances. The equipment which airmen need to ' see ' through fog, or to fly ' above the weather ' is in other ways so dependent on atmospheric conditions, that it has not diminished but increased the demands made upon meteorology as a whole. The development and economic operation of water resources depend on meteorological information to an extent which increases as more marginal resources are tapped. The importance of the weather factor was recognized during the war and today this recognition is gradually extended to other fields of activity : construction, town planning, scientific agriculture, merchandising, even oil drilling. To learn something about such a pervasive factor is desirable for any general education-liberal or otherwise.

The air around us, though an apparently uncomplex medium, requires for its study, methods and deductions that have to be drawn from a very wide range of physical science. The success of modem physics would not have been possible without isolation and fragmentation of problems and without the resulting minute specialization of research workers. However, outside the study or the laboratory, problems do not exist in isolation. An understanding of the real world, even if it is to be limited to physical relations, requires compre- hensive views. The earth sciences and with them meteorology will teach us this necessity.

Today even the study of the atmosphere has been divided into departments which can hardly be known intimately by any one man. But the student of extra-tropical cyclones for example, cannot without peril lose sight of the larger planetary scene. A cyclone is an essential cog in the mechanism which trans- ports heat from the equator to the poles. It cannot be fully understood without reference to that mechanism and thus to the global conditions which determine the conversion or storage of solar heat by the atmosphere. At the other end of the scale, the development of cyclones may be affected decisively by precipita- tion. This, in turn, depends on micro-physical processes such as the accumula- tion of water molecules upon invisible specks of liquid or solid foreign matter, the number of these particules which happen to float in the atmosphere, the coagulation of cloud droplets and so forth.

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Meteorology thus links different branches of physical science. It also holds a key to the understanding of conditions which deeply affect man’s sensations and activities. Because of these connections, we can use meteorology as a view point, to survey the variety of our environment and to recognize its unity. This is perhaps the main justification for any claim to include meteorology in a liberal education. There may be a number of ways to teach the subject in a relevant manner, but in our system of education, a regular course probably provides the best approach to the desired end.

4 METEOROLOGICAL CURRICULUM

h meteorological course, designed as part of a liberal education for reasonably mature school pupils or for University undergraduates, might start conceivably with a comparison of the earth’s atmosphere with that of the other planets. The teacher could explain why there is hydrogen over Jupiter and why the earth with its smaller gravitational pull was not able to retain the fast moving atoms of this gas in its atmosphere. This might be used as a starting point for a general discussion on the nature and kinetic theory of gases.

The course could perhaps proceed from there to a description of the broad horizontal divisions in the atmosphere : the troposphere as the actual stage of the weather ; the stratosphere and the warm ozonosphere ; above them the cold, comparatively dense layer where meteors disintegrate ; and finally the ionospheres with their high energy content and temperatures of a thousand degrees or more. An explanation of these various regions would necesarily lead to a consideration of the sun, of the transformation of mass into energy, of emission and absorption processes and so forth-fields in which the teacher could approach as close as he may wish to the frontiers of modem research. At the same time scientific method and the convergent character of much research could be illustrated by a historical survey of the ingenious, indirect means, used to explore the upper atmosphere before the days of direct observation with rockets and high flying balloons.

The vertical or geographical divisions of the atmosphere are caused by unequal heating. This causes the atmosphere to behave as a heat engine. It could be used to review the thermodynamic view of the universe and to discuss entropy, perhaps one of the most important concepts in the scientific picture of the world. Unequal heating is also the cause of climatic differences and of the great wind systems, such as the monsoon used for two thousand years by the Arab dhows on their annual sailing journeys from India to Africa, or the upper westerlies which pilots may use to speed up flights across the Atlantic.

The great wind systems are part of the general circulation. This may be conceived as a turbulent process by which heat is being transferred regularly from tropical to polar latitudes. Turbulence affects many atmospheric pheno- mena-from big cyclones down to the evaporation from a drop of dew. Any discussion of turbulence involves the concepts of indeterminacy and instability which are of more than meteorological significance. We have only to ask why a

CUMI’LI’S \YHISTI-I<SSIS

\Ve hear much today about artificial rain-making antl cloud modification. but in Lawrence, Kansas, II .S.A. , we manufacture our own clouds. A t present, thc I.niver- sity of Kansas power plant is a steady producer of Cumulus whistleusis, antl during the school year forms one at ten minutes to every hour while in session. C ~ i ~ i i u l t i . ~ wliisllmsis signifies a relief from lectures to many students ; to others. it is a lesson in clorid formation

I’holoqapk by 1’. H . Loppe

PLATE 2 0

The upper photograph taken looking north from FrosiSn on 5 August 1956,1203 local time, shows a cumulus cloud growing in a north-westerly airstream where the wind speed increases with height. The cloud is growing on the up-shear side and is dissolving on the down-shear side. The cloud grew very rapidly from the base a t I 2 0 0 m up to the Acu layer at 2800 m. A few minutes after this photograph was taken, the cumulus top was cut off and spread out underneath the Acu layer as shown in the lower photograph which was taken at 1215 local time

Photograflhs by L. Larsson PLATE 21

storm begins to develop at a particular place and the universal aspects of this question will be found relevant to the whole generic problem of growth or evolu- tion, leading us deep into metaphysics and modern philosophy.

Only at this stage would it be necessary to introduce the dynamics of atmospheric motion, and to explain the principles of weather analysis and fore- casting. The revolutionary implications of modem computing aids for the whole of our technology could be explained with meteorology as an example. Coming down again to more immediate practical matters, the meaning and also the limitations of forecasts should be made clear and their actual or potential use in many human activities might be demonstrated.

Forecasting the weather is not only a matter of isobars on a chart. The physics of clouds, a rather fashionable subject, because of its relation to man-made weather changes, can provide a starting point for discussion ranging all the way from the mechanics of crystal formation to thunder and lightning.

A digression into hydro-meteorology would show the need of development engineers for rainfall, snow and evaporation measurements and for estimates of storm rainfall volumes over particular catchments. Hydro-meteorology is related to agricultural meteorology, the oldest branch of the science. The potential use in this field, of operational research into meteorological factors, has been demonstrated by work such as Thomthwaite’s who showed how peas have to be sown under different seasonal conditions to assure an even harvesting rate. Small plants and earthbound insects live in a climate which is very differ- ent from that experienced by man. The air close to the ground in a stubble field can be as hot and damp as a New Guinea forest and as cold as the Tundra within the course of a single day. Sir Graham Sutton has drawn attention to the fact that without the constant turbulent motion of air over the ground, living matter could not exist in its present form.

Stream flow and vegetation, as we know them today, are the product of climatic changes. The sequence of warm and cold, dry and pluvial ages ; the methods by which those changes have been established and their magnitude estimated ; their possible causes ; their effect on landscape and history are matters of absorbing and sometimes vital interest.

There may be other, better ways of teaching meteorology and its role in a liberal under- standing of our world. For example, the teacher could use the historical approach and discuss the gradual unfolding of the subject, basing his course upon the first volume of Shaw’s Manual of Meteorology-perhaps the finest manifestation of liberal learning in meteorology. Whatever the character of the course, it should not extend beyond one year, and a well informed lecturer could give it with a minimum or entirely without recourse to higher mathematics. Its final purpose-to give an appreciation of general physical theory and scientific method within the framework of a science which deals with our particular environment-might be found of value not only to laymen and art students, but possibly also to many scientists, or even to professional meteorologists.

This list of possible subject items is by no means exhaustive.

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A FITTING OCCUPATION FOR LEISURED GENTLEMEN

During the Middle Ages privacy and silence had to be sought in the cloister or the cell. After the Renaissance wealthy laymen found better opportunities for study or experiment in their homes, and a more worldly age began to be more interested in things that could be seen and handled. Science became a hobby-a fitting occupation for leisured gentlemen. Great princes like King Charles I1 or the Grand Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany found solace from political troubles in chemical or physical experiments. The ‘ virtuosi ’ who started the Royal Society were dillettanti of independent means. Often ridiculed as an assembly of cranks, the Society retained a majority of amateurs without formal scientific qualifications until the middle of the nineteenth century.

Today leisure is far more widely diffused than it was one hundred years ago. Most of us have more free time than our great-grandfathers-even if due allowance is being made for surburban housewives and over-burdened execu- tives. The task of a liberal education should not be restricted to the preparation for a professional career or the passive appreciation of other people’s creative efforts. A pleasant and intelligent use of leisure also requires some preparation. In due course increasing leisure might well lead to a renaissance of amateur efforts in the arts, crafts and possibly also in the sciences.

Modem amateurs may find it difficult to make truly basic contributions to physical science. The time has passed when a professional musician like William Herschel could become the ‘ father of modem astronomy ’. Most of the obvious discoveries have probably been made and, where simple explana- tions were possible, they should have been given by now. Modem research requires specialized professional training and often equipment beyond the layman’s reach. Whilst it has thus become very difficult for the amateur to work actively on the frontiers of knowledge any longer, it is still possible for him to find pleasure and interest in the observation of natural phenomena.

We do not have to go far to observe the weather and its manifestations. Durer compared a landscape without clouds to a face without eyebrows. The delights of cloud gazing may be enhanced if we know what we are looking at. It is always pleasant to find one’s abstract knowledge verified. To relate the passage of a front, as shown by the changing cloudscape, to the weather forecast or to the trace on a barograph can be an entertaining and sometimes a fascinat- ing pastime. Changing habits and greater leisure cause many of us to spend a good deal of time in the open air. Sailing, flying, mountaineering have become relatively popular sports. They are all vitally affected by the weather and apt not only to raise an amateur’s interest in meteorology, but also to find enthu- siastic practitioners among professional meteorologists.

Sailors, of course, are always concerned with the weather. Many meteoro- logical or climatological phenomena-the trade winds, typhoons, and hurricanes, the geostrophic wind-were first recognized at sea or were initially explained by men with maritime interests. Synoptic weather charts were first produced regularly by naval officers for the benefit of shipping men. The modern amateur sailor has still the same concern for the weather. In addition, he will

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be in a far better position than the old navigators to interpret the variation of wind over the water and to apply aerodynamics to the design and efficient operation of sailing craft. It is not necessary to be a professional aerodynami- cist for this purpose, though a professional knowledge may help and quite a few aerodynamicists who have taken up sailing as a hobby have become yachtsmen of renown.

Flying has stimulated to an overwhelming extent the development of modem meteorological techniques. Pilots are usually keen meteorological observers ; sometimes their interest goes a good deal further. Even for the passenger it can be interesting to understand the reason for fast or slow, smooth or bumpy passages. Cross-sections of the atmosphere along the flight paths, if supplied with explanation to passengers, might well be found to have con- siderable appeal. Although the great modem passenger aeroplane is perhaps less vitally affected by the weather than were its predecessors, its economic per- formance continues to be influenced and sometimes to be determined by air motion, air temperature and visibility. Of course, the sailplane which rides the silent currents of the free atmosphere depends on meteorological conditions like no other craft ever built. Soaring pilots who were amateur meteorologists, or professional meteorologists infected by their enthusiasm, have contributed much to our knowledge of atmospheric motion in clouds and fronts and moun- tain waves. It is an exhilarating way to probe the structure of the atmosphere.

Mountaineering is the third sport which has often caused its disciples to become deeply interested in the weather and which has attracted many meteoro- logists. A walk or climb over big mountains, like a flight between clouds, gives a peculiar feeling of depth and distance. This sensation of a three dimensional world can never be experienced as vividly on a plain. Conditions on the sum- mits approach those of the free atmosphere. The weather and its changes are more dramatic, sometimes more fearsome and often easier to interpret. But it is not only the immediate manifestations of the weather which can be observed in the mountains. The changing consistence of the snow, drifts and cornices, cold hollows with vegetation different from those of the surrounding slopes, bum marks on the ground showing repeated impact of lightning, and many other phenomena can add particular interest to the mountain scene for those who know what to look for.

An amateur interest in meteorology need not be just an adjunct to outdoor sports and activities. The literature of the past, from the Bible and the Greek dramatists to yesterday's magazine article, is full of allusion to the weather. Scholars and laymen have spent years of effort systematizing meteorological references in the works of Shakespeare, Rousseau and many other writers. The published results of these labours have perhaps not always contributed to the insight of their readers, yet they were almost certainly a source of interest and pleasure for the compilers. The battles of the past, the energy of nations, the decline of Empires have all been affected by the weather. The study of this influence can be exciting and at this stage it has not yet become the domain of professional specialists. In the galleries we can compare the uncompromising

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outlines of Italian Renaissance landscapes with the hazy tones of English water colours or with the diffuse lighting effects of the French Impressionists. How much of the difference is due to fashion, how much to technique and how much to meteorological circumstances ? Photography, with less subjective content than painting, is even more affected by the weather. In turn, the weather has provided photographers with subjects of interest and sometimes considerable beauty.

Meteorological amateurs can also carry out work which transcends purely personal satisfactions. The synoptic and climatological observation network all over the world depends partly on non-professional observers. Amateurs who do contribute to these observations can feel that they take part in a great collective enterprise. Not all amateur observations can be used for these synoptic ends. In Australia, for example, there will be few farmers who have not a raingauge on their land, and who do not take a sporting-and sometimes anxious-interest in their readings. Canadians and Siberians presumably vaunt their record colds and Englishmen on occasions seem to take a modestly- concealed pride in the hidden virtues of their climate. The weather is an unceasing spectacle ; the study of its various manifestations can be of never ending interest. A teacher who can rouse this interest will not have wasted his time.

CONCLUSION

A case can be made to give meteorology a place in a liberal education. This claim is based in the first instance upon the generic interest of the approach and methods which have to be used for atmospheric studies. They illustrate the relation between generalized physical concepts and the complex particular material which is commonly presented to our senses. Secondly, and of lesser importance, is the fact that meteorology teaches us something about a vital factor in our environment. Lastly, it can help us to pass our time in an enjoyable manner.

It would be unwise to overstate the case for meteorology. Related ends can undoubtedly be achieved by the teaching of other subjects. There are the claims of geography to deal with our planetary environment, but geographers do not always stress the universal aspect of their subject. On the other hand, astronomy, traditionally a liberal art, has a grander sweep, but the stars are remote from the problems of life on earth. Meteorology, together with the other earth sciences, reveals the action of universal physical law in our intimate surroundings. At the same time its study may be conducive to a mental attitude, which accepts all knowledge as in- complete and partial, to be added by critical appraisal rather than ready accep tance of new or traditional ideas.

In the last resort the place of meteorology in liberal education depends on the way it is being taught. If there are sufficient teachers who are interested and who can reveal the universal aspects of the subject, it will become auto- matically part of liberal learning, whatever the courses themselves may be called.

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It is specially geared to this task.