© Royal Meteorological Society/Science Museum Group
Product details
Description
[A distant shower coming from behind an elevated point of land, in which are represented the superior sheet stretching in different parts to windward, and cumuli advancing towards entering the mass, the whole of which constitutes the nimbus] / L. Howard delt; Lowry direxit. - nd. [1803]. Sepia engraving, 13x20cm. Above castle landscape. Plate from: Phil. Mag. XVII, 1803, plate VIII, captioned p.345.
Ordering and classification were important features of Enlightenment science. Fascinated since childhood by the weather, and clouds in particular, Luke Howard (1772-1864) classified and named different cloud types between 1803 and 1811, providing sketches for these later illustrations. His work is believed to have influenced many of the landscape painters of the Romantic era, including Turner and Constable. Although never trained as a scientist, Howard's contribution to the developing science of meteorology led to him being made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1821. His terminology and symbols are still largely used to describe clouds today.
On loan to the Science Museum from the Royal Meteorological Society.
Cloud study by Luke Howard, 1803:
Tax included.