Morgan George Watkins

Name: Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII — Meteorology—its present condition
Author: Morgan George Watkins

Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII… (1863)

Summary

“Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII — Meteorology—its present condition”, published in 1863, is a work by Morgan George Watkins. It explores elements such as meteorology, weather and storm.

Quotes from Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII… (Morgan George Watkins)

Morgan George Watkins, Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII… (1863)

“ In these days of new theories we must not be astonished at the rise of new sciences. One or two of them, at least, are yearly born of hypothesis and experience. Social Science is still a babe in arms; Ethnology, Comparative Philology, and several more are hardly released from the nursery. Meteorology, however, is growing like a young giant. Many writers have dabbled in it from Aristotle to Lord Bacon; but from its very nature, composed as it is of numerous observations, time and opportunities of comparison were needed before it could be elevated to more than a piece of empiricism. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Morgan George Watkins, Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII… (1863)

“ He must be scientific now; poor man, he is not even allowed that old fashioned belief of change in the weather at the moon’s quartering. Remorseless science assures him it is “a mere illusory deduction from coincidences, many of which must occur within a day or two of limits bounding only one week.” We may tell him, however, by way of consolation, that science has quite come round to his opinion that meteors are a sign of foul weather. By remembering a few simple rules, and inspecting the published reports, everyone may be his own weather prophet. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Morgan George Watkins, Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII… (1863)

“ All weather-wisdom depends upon the principle that Nature never gives false signals, that her laws are invariably true; we cannot interpret them, or we interpret them wrongly. Averages, statistics, observation, instruments, &c., are all helps to a surer interpretation. In proportion as our knowledge of Nature increases, and our instruments are better understood, so will meteorology extend her sway. Thus it has been proposed to give storm warnings to ships in the offing by means of coloured lights. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Morgan George Watkins, Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII… (1863)

“ Even the satisfaction of knowing there is no bad weather impending is valuable as a negative gain. Remembering, too, that these storm warnings are only cautionary, that no sea-faring man is bound to go by them, but has time thus given him to make all snug for bad weather if he chooses to go out in spite of them, we think that these drum and cone signals seaside visitors must be familiar with, cannot but be valuable to our great marine commerce. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Morgan George Watkins, Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII… (1863)

“ A man who possesses a barometer and a thermometer, and knows how to read them, can beat all prophets out of the field. Change of weather is gradual, and great storms or changes are usually shown by falls of the barometer exceeding an inch, and by differences of temperature exceeding fifteen degrees. The more rapidly such changes occur, the more risk is there of severe weather. The normal height of the barometer in these latitudes is 29.24 to 30.00, though 27.45 has been registered in the Orkneys. A tenth of an inch an hour is a fall indicating a storm or very heavy rain. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Morgan George Watkins, Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII… (1863)

“ This means, simply, that meteorology will soon rank among the exact sciences. The climate of any place in the world, even if no observations have been as yet taken there, can even now be approximately defined. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Morgan George Watkins, Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII… (1863)

“ Even plain men by glancing at the published weather reports, consulting their thermometers and barometers, and keeping an eye on the aspect of the heavens, may now with a little practice easily foretell the weather at least a day in advance, with every probability of being right. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Morgan George Watkins, Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII… (1863)

“ The direction of the wind is registered in many places by self-acting anemometers, and a few easy calculations show its force. The amount of dew is daily collected at our great observatories; the degrees of heat and cold carefully ascertained ”

Morgan George Watkins

Summary

Quotes from Once a Week, Series 1, Volume VIII… (Morgan George Watkins)

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