History of Geo- and Space Sciences最新文献

{"title":"Ball lightning: a Renaissance account from Zafra (Spain)","authors":"J. Vaquero","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-8-53-2017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-8-53-2017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. An analysis is given of the account of a globe of fire observed in Zafra (Spain) in the middle of the 16th century. During a strong storm, Conde Don Pedro observed what he described as a globe of fire that was directed against the city and abruptly changed course. He attributed the change in course to a miracle. He described neither any damage nor sound.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"8 1","pages":"53-56"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2017-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45765858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Franz Kossmat - Subdivision of the Variscan Mountains - a translation of the German text with supplementary notes","authors":"G. Meinhold","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-8-29-2017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-8-29-2017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. This work is in honour of Franz Kossmat (1871–1938) and his esteemed paper the Gliederung des varistischen Gebirgsbaues published 1927 in Abhandlungen des Sachsischen Geologischen Landesamts, Volume 1, pages 1 to 39. It constitutes the foundation of the general subdivision of the Central European Variscides into several geotectonic zones and the idea of large-scale nappe transport of individual units. In the English translation presented here an attempt is made to provide a readable text, which should still reflect Kossmat's style but would also be readable for a non-German speaking community either working in the Variscan Mountains or having specific interests in historical aspects of geosciences. Supplementary notes provide information about Kossmat's life and the content of the text. Kossmat's work is a superb example of how important geological fieldwork and mapping are for progress in geoscientific research.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"8 1","pages":"29-51"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2017-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47364483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Manuel Johnson's tide record at St. Helena","authors":"D. Cartwright, P. Woodworth, R. Ray","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-8-9-2017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-8-9-2017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The astronomer Manuel Johnson, a future President of the Royal Astronomical Society, recorded the ocean tides with his own instrument at St. Helena in 1826–1827, while waiting for an observatory to be built. It is an important record in the history of tidal science, as the only previous measurements at St. Helena had been those made by Nevil Maskelyne in 1761, and there were to be no other systematic measurements until the late 20th century. Johnson's tide gauge, of a curious but unique design, recorded efficiently the height of every tidal high and low water for at least 13 months, in spite of requiring frequent re-setting. These heights compare very reasonably with a modern tidal synthesis based on present-day tide gauge measurements from the same site. Johnson's method of timing is unknown, but his calculations of lunar phases suggest that his tidal measurements were recorded in Local Apparent Time. Unfortunately, the recorded times are found to be seriously and variably lagged by many minutes. Johnson's data have never been fully published, but his manuscripts have been safely archived and are available for inspection at Cambridge University. His data have been converted to computer files as part of this study for the benefit of future researchers.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"8 1","pages":"9-19"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2017-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44530337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Julius Elster and Hans Geitel – Dioscuri of physics and pioneer investigators in atmospheric electricity","authors":"R. Fricke, K. Schlegel","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-8-1-2017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-8-1-2017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Julius Elster and Hans Geitel contributed to the physics at the turn of the 19–20th century in many ways. We first summarize the life of these exceptional scientists. Then – owing to the topic of this journal – we focus on their atmospheric electricity research. With their experiments, careful evaluations and ingenious interpretation, Elster and Geitel made important contributions to precipitation electricity, the influence of solar radiation on the electric state of the atmosphere, the nature of charge carriers and the ionization of air by radioactivity. They proved their experimental skills by inventing new instruments with unprecedented accuracy and reliability. A very modern concept was their attitude to undertake long-term measurements at various locations. A section on their recognition in the physics community and their scientific distinctions concludes the paper.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"8 1","pages":"1-7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2017-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46660955","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Indications from space geodesy, gravimetry and seismology for slow Earth expansion at present – comment on “The Earth expansion theory and its transition from scientific hypothesis to pseudoscientific belief” by Sudiro (2014)","authors":"M. R. Edwards","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-7-125-2016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-7-125-2016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. In a recent article in this journal, Paolo Sudiro (2014) considered the long history of the expanding Earth theory and its recent descent into what he termed “pseudoscientific belief”. The expanding Earth theory contends that the radius of the Earth was once one-half to two-thirds of its current value, with the Earth's continents forming a continuous sialic cover over the Earth. The theory has had two main variants: slow expansion at about 0.5 mm yr−1 radial increase since the time of Earth's formation and fast expansion at about 5 mm yr−1 since the Triassic. Focusing on Maxlow's model, Sudiro thoroughly addresses the possibly insurmountable difficulties of the fast version, such as an improbably high density and surface gravity prior to 200 Ma. He omits, however, any discussion of the slow expansion model, which has a longer history and far fewer theoretical difficulties. Moreover, recent evidence from space geodesy, gravimetry and seismology indicates that the Earth at present may be slowly expanding at 0.1–0.4 mm yr−1. It is concluded that Sudiro's obituary of the expanding Earth theory as a whole must be considered premature at this time.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"7 1","pages":"125-133"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2016-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70621898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Geoscience international: the role of scientific unions","authors":"A. Ismail-Zadeh","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-7-103-2016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-7-103-2016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. International geoscientific unions (geounions) have been coordinating and promoting international efforts in Earth and space sciences since the beginning of the 20th century. Thousands of scientists from many nations and specific scientific disciplines have developed ways of cooperation through international unions and learned how to work together to promote basic geosciences. The unions have been initiating, developing, and implementing international cooperative programmes, setting scientific standards, developing research tools, educating and building capacity, and contributing to science for policy. This paper analyses the role of geounions in and their added value to the promotion of geoscience internationally in the arena of the existing and emerging professional societies of geoscientists. The history of the geounions and the development of international cooperation in geosciences are reviewed in the paper in the context of scientific and political changes over the last century. History is considered here to be a key element in understanding and shaping the future of geounions. Scientific and organisational aspects of their activities, including cooperation with international and intergovernmental institutions, are analysed using the example of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG). The geounions' activities are compared to those of professional societies. Future development of scientific unions and their role in the changing global landscape of geosciences are discussed.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"7 1","pages":"103-123"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2016-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70621732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Geographical tourism research and education at the Jagiellonian University School of Tourism in Poland (1936–1939)","authors":"A. Jackowski, Izabela Sołjan, Elzbieta Bilska-Wodecka, J. Liro","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-7-91-2016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-7-91-2016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The beginning of the twentieth century was a time of intensive development of geographical research on tourism, as well as the establishment of tourism research centers in many European countries. The Jagiellonian University School of Tourism played an important role in the development of tourism geography and education, spatial and regional planning, and personnel training for tourism developing in the 1930s in Poland. Tourism education in the school was characterized by a modern curriculum and forms of teaching, including fieldwork, focusing on developing practical skills, and linking research topics with the teaching process. The school conducted extensive research, publishing and documentary activities. The achievements of the Jagiellonian University School of Tourism helped raise awareness in society of the importance of tourism in the socio-economic development of regions and cities. This article presents the history of the Jagiellonian University School of Tourism and highlights its role in the development of tourism research and education in Europe. The school is mentioned among the pioneering centers of tourism, i.e., Robert Glucksmann's Tourism Research Institute at the Berlin School of Commerce, Walter Hunziker's and Kurt Krapf's tourism seminar in St. Gallen, and Raoul Blanchard's Institute of Alpine Geography in Grenoble.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"7 1","pages":"91-101"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2016-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70622003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A historical review of gravimetric observations in Norway","authors":"B. Pettersen","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-7-79-2016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-7-79-2016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The first gravity determinations in Norway were made by Edward Sabine in 1823 with a pendulum instrument by Henry Kater. Seventy years later a Sterneck pendulum was acquired by the Norwegian Commission for the International Arc Measurements. It improved the precision and eventually reduced the bias of the absolute calibration from 85 to 15 mGal. The last pendulum observations in Norway were made in 1955 with an instrument from Cambridge University. At a precision of ±1 mGal, the purpose was to calibrate a section of the gravity line from Rome, Italy, to Hammerfest, Norway. Relative spring gravimeters were introduced in Norway in 1946 and were used to densify and expand the national gravity network. These data were used to produce regional geoids for Norway and adjacent ocean areas. Improved instrument precision allowed them to connect Norwegian and foreign fundamental stations as well. Extensive geophysical prospecting was made, as in other countries. The introduction of absolute gravimeters based on free-fall methods, especially after 2004, improved the calibration by 3 orders of magnitude and immediately revealed the secular changes of the gravity field in Norway. This was later confirmed by satellite gravimetry, which provides homogeneous data sets for global and regional gravity models. The first-ever determinations of gravity at sea were made by pendulum observations onboard the Norwegian polar vessel Fram during frozen-in conditions in the Arctic Ocean in 1893–1896. Simultaneously, an indirect method was developed at the University of Oslo for deducing gravity at sea with a hypsometer. The precision of both methods was greatly superseded by relative spring gravimeters 50 years later. They were employed extensively both at sea and on land. When GPS allowed precise positioning, relative gravimeters were mounted in airplanes to cover large areas of ocean faster than before. Gravimetry is currently being applied to study geodynamical phenomena relevant to climate change. The viscoelastic postglacial land uplift of Fennoscandia has been detected by terrestrial gravity time series as well as by satellite gravimetry. Corrections for local effects of snow load, hydrology, and ocean loading at coastal stations have been improved. The elastic adjustment of present-day melting of glaciers at Svalbard and in mainland Norway has been detected. Gravimetry is extensively employed at offshore oil facilities to monitor the subsidence of the ocean floor during oil and gas extraction.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"3 1","pages":"79-89"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2016-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70621953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"After some 350 years – zero declination again in Paris","authors":"M. Mandea, J. Mouël","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-7-73-2016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-7-73-2016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The main part of the geomagnetic field – produced by a dynamo process in the Earth's outer core – changes its direction and strength in time, over timescales from months to centuries, even millennia. Its temporal variations, known as secular variation and secular acceleration, are crucial ingredients for understanding the physics of the deep Earth. Very long series of measurements therefore play an important role. Here, we provide an updated series of geomagnetic declination in Paris, shortly after a very special occasion: its value has reached zero after some 350 years of westerly values. Indeed, during October and November 2013, the declination at the Chambon la Foret geomagnetic observatory changed from westerly to easterly values, the agonic line then passing through this place. We take this occasion to emphasize the importance of long series of continuous measurements.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"7 1","pages":"73-77"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2016-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70621910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"History of EISCAT – Part 4: On the German contribution to the early years of EISCAT","authors":"G. Haerendel","doi":"10.5194/HGSS-7-67-2016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/HGSS-7-67-2016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The decision of the Max Planck Society (MPG) to get involved in the establishment of an incoherent scatter radar in northern Europe was intimately linked to the future of the Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy (MPAe) in Katlenburg-Lindau. Delegates of the MPG played an important role in defining the rules for participation in EISCAT during the period from 1973 to 1975. The \"technical\" period from 1976 to 1981 was mainly devoted to the development of the UHF transmitter and the klystrons. The latter encountered great difficulties, causing substantial delays. During the same period the ionospheric heating facility was established by MPAe at Ramfjordmoen, Norway. The period following the inauguration in August 1981 saw a great number of changes in the leading personnel. In this context much attention had to be given to taxation rules. Besides continuing hardware problems with the UHF radar, severe problems arose with design and manufacturing of the VHF klystrons, requiring changes of the contractor. However, by fall of 1983 the UHF radar was able to reach the intended operational level. In 1984 important steps were made for archiving and for proper exploitation of the EISCAT data.","PeriodicalId":48918,"journal":{"name":"History of Geo- and Space Sciences","volume":"7 1","pages":"67-72"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2016-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"70622123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}