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Article: Meteorology
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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METEOROLOGY
METEOROLOGY,
the study of the atmosphere and, especially, of weather.
Colonial and Early America
Early settlers in the New World found the climate harsher and the storms more violent than in the Old World. Many colonial Americans kept weather journals but, compared to European standards, few had adequate instruments. The first prolonged instrumental meteorological observations, initiated by Dr. John Lining in Charleston in 1738, were related to his medical concerns.
In 1750 Benjamin Franklin hypothesized that grounded metal rods would protect buildings from lightning damage. Two years later he conducted his famous kite experiment. Franklin's investigations demonstrated that ...