Book contents
- Medieval Meteorology
- Medieval Meteorology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Recreating Meteorology in the Early Middle Ages
- 2 Meteorology, Weather Forecasting and the Early Medieval Renaissance of Astronomy
- 3 Exploratory Encounters with the Work of Arab Astronomers and Meteorologists
- 4 Meteorology, the New Science of the Stars and the Rise of Weather Forecasting
- 5 The Contested Rise of Astrometeorology
- 6 Applying the Science of Astrometeorology
- 7 Astrometeorology and Mechanisation
- 8 Weather Forecasting and the Impact of Print
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Meteorology, the New Science of the Stars and the Rise of Weather Forecasting
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 November 2019
- Medieval Meteorology
- Medieval Meteorology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Recreating Meteorology in the Early Middle Ages
- 2 Meteorology, Weather Forecasting and the Early Medieval Renaissance of Astronomy
- 3 Exploratory Encounters with the Work of Arab Astronomers and Meteorologists
- 4 Meteorology, the New Science of the Stars and the Rise of Weather Forecasting
- 5 The Contested Rise of Astrometeorology
- 6 Applying the Science of Astrometeorology
- 7 Astrometeorology and Mechanisation
- 8 Weather Forecasting and the Impact of Print
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapetr 4 traces the reception and adaptation of Islamicate meteorology by writers and scientists in Northern and Western Europe. Fundamental to this was the growing body of planetary tables, based on versions of Ptolemy’s work, which made it possible to calculate the positions of the planets with much greater accuracy. The chapter traces the works of Latin astrometeorology that drew on this ability, and gives outlines of the processes involved in making actual weather forecasts, according to rival methods. Pioneers were Hermann of Carinthia, Robert of Ketton and John of Seville, who all made translations and then issued new treatises on the subject. Manuscript evidence for the transmission of this new astrometeorology is discussed. The roles of astrological textbooks, especially the Book of Nine Judges, are considered. The concluding part of the chapter weighs up the popularity of astrometeorological forecasting across Europe by the early thirteenth century, and argues that it was closely associated with the emergence of a new, highly technical, scientific discourse.
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- Medieval MeteorologyForecasting the Weather from Aristotle to the Almanac, pp. 87 - 109Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019