Timeline of Meteorology - 17th Century

17th Century

• 1607 - Galileo Galilei constructs a thermoscope. Not only did this device measure temperature, but it represented a paradigm shift. Up to this point, heat and cold were believed to be qualities of Aristotle's elements (fire, water, air, and earth). Note: There is some controversy about who actually built this first thermoscope. There is some evidence for this device being independently built at several different times. This is the era of the first recorded meteorological observations. As there was no standard measurement, they were of little use until the work of Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit and Anders Celsius in the 18th century.

• 1611 - Johannes Kepler writes the first scientific treatise on snow crystals: "Strena Seu de Nive Sexangula (A New Year's Gift of Hexagonal Snow)".
• 1620 - Francis Bacon (philosopher) analyzes the scientific method in his philosophical work; Novum Organum.
• 1643 - Evangelista Torricelli invents the mercury barometer.

• 1648 - Blaise Pascal rediscovers that atmospheric pressure decreases with height, and deduces that there is a vacuum above the atmosphere.
• 1654 - Ferdinando II de Medici sponsors the first weather observing network, that consisted of meteorological stations in Florence, Cutigliano, Vallombrosa, Bologna, Parma, Milan, Innsbruck, Osnabrück, Paris and Warsaw. Collected data was centrally sent to Accademia del Cimento in Florence at regular time intervals.
• 1662 - Sir Christopher Wren invented the mechanical, self-emptying, tipping bucket rain gauge.
• 1667 - Robert Hooke builds another type of anemometer, called a pressure-plate anemometer.
• 1686 - Edmund Halley presents a systematic study of the trade winds and monsoons and identifies solar heating as the cause of atmospheric motions.

- Edmund Halley establishes the relationship between barometric pressure and height above sea level.