Historical Background

Abstract

Occurrences in the atmosphere have long been a subject of human interest. As with other sciences, it is almost impossible to precisely determine the beginning of the development of meteorology (e.g. Ćurić 2006; Neves et al. 2017; Lutgens and Tarbuck 2009; Spiridonov and Ćurić 2010). One should make a distinction between meteorology as a natural science and meteorology as a separate “branch of knowledge”. It seems that the term “meteorology” originates from 340 BC when the Greek philosopher Aristotle (Fig. 3.1) wrote a book on human philosophy titled “Μετεωρολογικά” (Greek) “Meteorologica” or “Meteora” (Latin). This book represented the philosophical study of the atmosphere at that time, including different meteorological elements and weather phenomena (e.g. humidity, clouds, rain, snow, wind, hail, lightning, and thunder). Also, other areas such as astronomy, geography, and chemistry were also included. The book was titled “Meteorologica” because each particle that was falling from the sky or that was suspended in the atmosphere was called “meteor”. Today, we make a distinction between “meteors” (extra Earth meteors) and hydrometeors (particles of water or ice in the atmosphere). The Greek word “meteors” refers to something “high in the sky”, which is located between Earth and the universe, while the word “logos” means study.