History of Meteorology
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Meteorology is defined as the study of atmosphere, which lays special emphasis on weather forecast and processes. Meteorology as a stream gained prominence only in the 18th century, and the 19th century was the time when major breakthroughs were realized in this field.
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With the advent of technology and computers, further breakthroughs in forecasting the weather were possible in the second half of the 20th century. A meteorological phenomenon occurs when there is a weather event that can be reasoned with the science of meteorology. This kind of an event is governed by variables in the atmosphere, like air pressure, temperature, water vapor, the gradients and interaction of these variables and changes in them over time.
Most of the Earth's weather can be found in the troposphere. Meteorology is one of the sub-divisions of atmospheric sciences, along with climatology, atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics. Hydrology and meteorology together make up another field of study that is known as hydrometeorology. Meteorology is useful in a number of fields, like the military, transport, production of energy, construction and agriculture. The word 'meteorology' has been derived from two Greek words -- metéōros (which literally means high in the sky) and logia. Aristotle had penned the book Meteorology, and one of the finest achievements mentioned in his book is the hydrologic cycle.
Many important books have been written on the science or meteorology. A prominent one among them is the one put together by Greek scientist Theophrastus. It is a book about forecasting weather, and it is named the Book of Signs, and it had largely influenced weather studies for almost 2,000 years.
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