da Vinci, Leonardo
(1452 - 1519)
da Vinci

Precursor Era
Contributors to Meteorology
(Renaissance [~1400 AD] through World War I)


Below are checklists of Precursor Era Contributors to Meteorology on postal items (stamps, souvenir sheets, aerogrammes, postal cards, etc.) and numismatic items (banknotes and coins). Catalog numbers, years of issue, and notes on the items featured are given when available. If readers know of additional information or images, please contact the authors using the e-mail addresses at the bottom of this page.

Contributors to MeteorologyTime Period CoveredNumber
Ancient and pre-RenaissanceThrough 1300s AD32
Precursor Era (this page)Renaissance [~1400 AD] through World War I216
Modern EraPost World War I122
Chronological and Alphabetical Indexes370


Precursor Era Contributors to meteorology covered:


The Contributors on this page are listed in alphabetical order above, and are presented in chronological order below.


Sejong

Sejong (King Sejong the Great of the Sejong Dynasty)
(15th century)

King Sejong the Great of the Chosun Dynasty ruled Korea from 1418 to the mid-1400s. He sought to provide his subjects with adequate food and clothing through improvements in agriculture. Since droughts plagued the kingdom, he directed every village to measure the amount of rain that fell. This was done through the use of a rain gauge invented by his son, the crown prince Munjong, in 1441 (some 220 years before the European Christopher Wren invented his rain gauge). Munjong reasoned that instead of digging into the earth to attempt to measure rainfall, it would be preferable to use a standardized container. The design was probably based on gauges from much earlier times in China or India. King Sejong sent a rain gauge to every village, and they were used as the official tool to measure the harvest potential and determine the land taxes. This is one of the earliest documented cases of the development of an instrument designed to provide a quantitative estimate of a meteorological variable.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Korea (South)236 (Mi?)Un-watermarked1956
Korea (South)241 (Mi?)Watermark 3121957
Korea (South)255 (Mi?)1957
Korea (South)255aBooklet pane of 6 (6x 255)
Korea (South)275 (Mi?)Redrawn type1957
Korea (South)B3 (Mi?)Watermark 312, granite paper1957Also flood relief
Korea (South)B3a (BL?)Imperforate SS1
Korea (South)B4 (Mi?)Watermark 317
Korea (South)291B (BL?)Imperforate MS4 (291 (c-f))1959
Korea (South)339 (Mi?)1961
Korea (South)365 (Mi?)1962
Korea (South)P251000 won (banknote)1962
Korea (South)390 (Mi?)Watermark 317, granite paper1963
Korea (South)365a (Mi?)Granite paper1964
Korea (South)P38A100 won (banknote)1965
Korea (South)519 (Mi?)1966
Korea (South)P4210,000 won (banknote)1973
Korea (South)P4610,000 won (banknote)1979
Korea (South)P4910,000 won (banknote)1983
Korea (South)1594B (Mi?)1993
Korea (South)1733 (Mi1778)1994
Korea (South)1973a (Mi?)One of MS5 (1973 (a-e + label))2000
Korea (South)2042a (Mi?)One of MS8 (2042 (4x (a-b)))2000King Sejong with Hunmin Chogun manuscript
Korea (South)2042a+b fdcOne of two stamps and cachet on FDC
Korea (South)2270 (Mi?)MS10 (5x (a-b))2008Sejong station
Sierra Leone2315c (Mi?)One of MS6 (2315 (a-f))2000


Cusanus

Cusanus (Nicholas of Cusa, Nicolas de Cues)
(1401 - 1464)

Cusanus was a German cardinal, philosopher and administrator with interests in mathematics, astronomy and the physical sciences. He experimented with measuring the humidity of the air by weighing a piece of wool or a sponge when it was very dry, and again when it had absorbed moisture from the air. The idea for this procedure may have come from the classical Arab natural philosophers who had studied the physical sciences.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Germany (East)792 (Mi?)1958
Transkei105 (Mi159)1984
Vatican City395 (Mi?)1964500th anniv. death
Vatican City396 (Mi?)
Vatican City395-396 fdcTwo stamps and cachet on FDC


Alberti

Alberti, Leon Battista
(1404 - 1472)

Leon Alberti was an Italian early Renaissance architect, artist and writer. In 1450, he invented the first mechanical anemometer. This instrument consisted of a swinging disk hanging vertically in calm conditions. In windy conditions, the disk would swing upward due to the force exerted on it by the wind. By the angle of inclination of the disk the wind force could be calculated, and in turn the wind speed estimated. The same type of anemometer was later re-invented by Leonardo da Vinci (in the late 1400s) and Robert Hooke (in the 1660s). This type of anemometer, generally referred to as a 'swinging plate' or 'deflection plate' anemometer, was used operationally by the USSR and some Soviet-bloc countries as late as the mid-20th century. Mikhail Lomonosov experimented with the first rotational anemometer in around 1750. The first modern wind measuring instrument, the rotating cup anemometer, was invented by Thomas Robinson in 1846.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Italy1084 (Mi?)1972(500th anniv. death)
San Marino1497 (Mi?)2001"Maletestian Temple" by Alberti


da Vinci

da Vinci, Leonardo1
(1452 - 1519)

Leonardo Da Vinci was a towering figure of Renaissance art and science. He invented the balance hygrometer some time in the period 1480-1486 (a hygrometer is a device used to measure atmospheric humidity). He also designed a deflection plate anemometer and an anemoscope (a type of wind vane). (Leon Battista Alberti was actually the first to design a deflection plate anemometer, in 1450). In da Vinci's notes for the anemometer, he mentions that one would “need a clock for ‘distance traversed per hour, with the force of the wind’ ”. With respect to his hygrometers, da Vinci made the comment that they could be modo a vedere quando si guasta il tempo (used for showing when the weather is breaking).

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
AjmanMi9951971da Vinci (in inset at upper-left)
AjmanMi995 dsDeluxe sheet (Mi995), from deluxe proof sheet of 8
AjmanMi995 proofsProof sheet of 15
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Croat Admin.)84 (Mi?)2002
CanadaNoneCancel1987"Expo Leonardo da Vinci"
ChadUnknown d (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)2009
ChadUnknown d-f fdcOne of three stamps on FDC
ChadUnknown ms fdcMS9 on FDC
Cuba3716 (Mi3894)1996
Cyprus562 (Mi?)1981Self portrait1
Cyprus562 specimenOverprinted "specimen"
DjiboutiUnknown a (Mi?)
Unknown ia
One of MS4 (a-d)
One of imperforate MS4 (a-d)
2006
Dubai154 (Mi?)1972
Ecuador757B (Mi?)1966da Vinci (at left)
Ecuador757Bc (BL31)
i757Bc (BL32)
On one of MS3 (757-757B)
On one of imperforate MS3 (i757-i757B), changed colours
France682 (Mi?)1952(500th anniv. birth)
France682 maxiCancel on maxicard500th anniv. birth, and da Vinci International Congress
FujeiraMi13091973(520th anniv. birth, in 1972)
GabonUnknown ss (BL?)SS12010
Gambia2842a (Mi4986)One of MS8 (2842 (a-h)) (Mi4986-4993)2004
Germany (East)104 (Mi312)1952500th anniv. birth
HungaryC109 (Mi?)1952500th anniv. birth
ItalyC28 (Mi?)1932commemorating da Vinci for the Dante Alighieri Society
ItalyC29 (Mi?)
ItalyC30 (Mi?)
ItalyC31 (Mi?)
ItalyC32 (Mi?)
ItalyC33 (Mi?)
ItalyC34 (Mi?)
Italy347 (Mi?)1935
Italy348 (Mi?)
Italy404 (Mi?)1938
ItalyC103 (Mi?)
ItalyC105 (Mi?)
Italy601 (Mi?)1952500th anniv. birth
Italy601A (Mi?)
Italy601B (Mi?)
ItalyNonePrinted stamp on postal card1952500th anniv. birth
ItalyNoneCancel1960ship Leonardo da Vinci
ItalyNoneCancel (different) and cachet on cover1960ship Leonardo da Vinci
ItalyP9950,000 lire (banknote)1972
ItalyNoneCancel2003"From Icarus to Leonardo" (in Italian text)
Italy (Aegean)C8 (Mi?)1932
Italy (Aegean)C9 (Mi?)
Italy (Aegean)C10 (Mi?)
Italy (Aegean)C11 (Mi?)
Italy (Aegean)C12 (Mi?)
Italy (Aegean)C13 (Mi?)
Ivory CoastUnknown ms (Mi?)MS4 (2x (a-b))2011
Ivory CoastUnknown ss (BL?)
LatviaCB10a (Mi?)1932
LiechtensteinC24 (Mi?)1948
Macedonia240 (Mi251)2002(550th anniv. birth)
Malagasy1148a (Mi1494A)
i1148a (Mi1494B)
One of MS16 (1148 (a-p)) (Mi1494A-1509A)
One of imperforate MS16 (i1148 (a-p)) (Mi1494B-1509B)
1993
Moldova417 (BL27)MS3 (417 (a-c))2002550th anniv. birth
Moldova417 cover (BL?)MS3 and cancel on cover2009490th anniv. death
Monaco738 (Mi?)1969450th anniv. birth
Monaco2247 (Mi2595)2002(550th anniv. birth)
NigerC126 (Mi251)1970
NigerC142 (Mi268)C126 overprinted1970
Paraguay960 (Mi1592)1966
Paraguay960 muestraOverprinted "muestra"
Paraguay959-963 fdcOne of five stamps and cachet on FDC
Paraguay965 (Mi1597)
Paraguay965 muestraOverprinted "muestra
PolandB73 (Mi?)1952500th anniv. birth
Romania878 (Mi?)1952500th anniv. birth
Romania878 maxi1Maxicard and cancel
Romania878 maxi2Mona Lisa cancel on maxicard
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on cover1999480th anniv. death
RwandaUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS12 (a-l)2009
San Marino1046 (Mi?)1983
Trieste (Italy)145 (Mi?)Italy 601 overprinted1952500th anniv. birth
Trieste (Italy)163 (Mi?)Italy 601A overprinted1952500th anniv. birth
Trieste (Italy)164 (Mi?)Italy 601B overprinted
Trieste (Italy)NoneStamp on Italian-overprinted postal card1952500th anniv. birth
Trieste (Italy)NoneStamp on Italian-overprinted postal card (different)1952500th anniv. birth
Turks and Caicos656 (Mi?)1985
Zaire893 (Mi580)1978

1The drawing in red chalk is widely (though not universally) accepted as an original self-portrait of da Vinci. However, the subject is apparently of a greater age than Leonardo ever achieved. But it is possible that he drew this picture of himself deliberately aged, specifically for Raphael's portrait of him in The School of Athens.


Paracelsus

Paracelsus (Theophrastus Philippus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim)
(1493 - 1541)

Paracelsus was a Swiss physician who studied the relationships between climate and weather and medicine. He wrote that anyone who studied winds, lightning and weather would understand what caused illness.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AustriaNoneCachet on balloon mail cover1953
Austria1546 (Mi2038)1991450th anniv. death
Austria1546 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Austria1546 fdc2Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
AustriaNoneCancel1993
GermanyNoneCinderella (poster stamp)pre-WWIParacelsus and other scientists
Germany (West)B311 (Mi?)1949
Germany1817 (Mi?)1993(500th anniv. death)
Germany1817 fdc1Stamp and cancel on FDC
Germany1817 fdc2Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany1817 folderFDC folder
Germany1817 maxiMaxicard
Hungary3214 (Mi?)1989
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on cover1993
St. Thomas and Prince IslandsUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS4 (a-d)2008Image of Paracelsus (but text refers to Theophrastus of Lesbos)
Switzerland928 (Mi?)1993(500th anniv. death)
United StatesSP412(USPS) souvenir page (1685)1976(In text and picture)


Nostradamus

Nostradamus (Michel de Nostre Dame)
(1503 - 1566)

Nostradamus was a French seer and visionary. He made many predictions of future events, but their real meaning is obscure and subject to interpretation. For example, when asked about tomorrow's weather, he wrote:

In the time of moons a man will be
A ponderer of cloud and raging storm.
Not for sake of probing philosophy,
But more because the cloudy brain's the norm.

From this we can interpret that he was critical of a preoccupation with the weather, and reluctant to make weather forecasts. Nevertheless, he was beset throughout his life by requests to "divine the skies," a task that he considered beneath him. The Queen of France was especially interested in his meteorological talents and begged him nightly to provide a forecast so that she would know "what to wear on the morrow". After a few of these forecasts, he finally refused, saying, "Flay me if you will, but I will not be seduced again into using my powers to predict your rainy day! Besides, would you not rather hear of the wonderful future of mankind than all this atmospheric gloom and doom"?

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Antigua and Barbuda2630 (BL?)SS12002
FantippoLocal1999
Great BritainNoneCancel2003500th anniv. birth
Guinea-BissauMi3933A
Mi3933B
One of MS6 (Mi3930A-3935A)
One of imperforate MS6 (Mi3930B-3935B)
2008
Guinea-BissauMi3930A-3935A_ms6 fdc
Mi3930B-3935B_ms6 fdc
MS6 on FDC
Imperforate MS6 on FDC
Monaco2303 (Mi?)2003(500th anniv. birth)
Romania4592 (Mi5751-5752)Stamp and label, from strip of 2 (4592 (a-b + label)),
or from MS20 (4592c (5x (a-b + label)))
2003500th anniv. birth
Romania4592a maxiMaxicard


Acosta

José de Acosta
(1540 - 1600)

José Acosta was a Spanish Jesuit missionary and naturalist who served in South America. He studied earthquakes, volcanoes, tides, currents, magnetic declinations and meteorological phenomena. In his work Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias, published in 1590, he provided an explanation of the prevailing winds in the subtropical and middle latitudes. He attributed the regular easterly winds of the subtropics (the trade winds) to the movement of the heavens about a stationary Earth. According to his idea, part of this movement, transferred to the tropics, resulted in the trade winds. Acosta also attempted to explain the westerly or southwesterly prevailing winds of the mid-latitudes as being related to ascending or descending currents in the atmosphere. This idea has in it a hint of what is now known to be the atmospheric general circulation.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Peru862 (Mi?)1985Acosta's catechism
Peru862 fdiCancel, First Day of Issue
Spain1462 (Mi?)1967
Spain1462 fdcStamp on FDC
Spain1462 maxiMaxicard
SpainNoneCancel1990


Brahe

Brahe, Tycho
(1546 - 1601)

Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer and astrologer who believed that the weather could be predicted through astronomical and astrological techniques.

As early as 1564, Brahe was working to provide an empirical basis for his astrometeorological ideas. In that year, he observed the heavens during the 12 days of Christmas to test his theory that the weather of the coming year could be forecast based on those observations. In his work De nova stella in 1573, he set his belief that the probable weather for each day could be predicted on the basis of heavenly configurations, and presented his principles for the production of astrometeorological almanacs. His theory attributed most weight to the Moon in varying the solar-controlled climate, on account of its proximity to the Earth. However, he warned readers not to expect too much from weather predictions, both because the motions and effects of the heavenly bodies had yet to be properly explored, and because the fluidity of sub-lunary matter could sometimes hasten events or delay them. He recommended that weather observations be kept so that prediction could be placed on a sounder footing in the future. In fact, from 1October 1582 to 21 April 1597 he did just that: he kept a daily record of the weather in Hven, and in 1585 published, under the name of one of his students, an astrometeorological calendar for the coming year based on those observations. A few years later, in 1591, book based on his studies was published, also under the name of one of his students. It contained 399 aphorisms for weather prediction on the basis of the sky's appearance, the motions of the heavenly bodies, and the behaviour of animals (this approach is reminiscent of that of Theophrastus in his Book of Signs). Brahe's involvement in the book became clear when it was later revealed that he had composed its preface. Brahe continued to believe in astrological/astronomical weather prediction, although it become clear to others that local conditions influenced the weather much more than the heavens.

In his practical astronomical work, Brahe was aware that a star observed near the horizon appears with a greater altitude than the real one, due to atmospheric refraction, and he worked out tables for the correction of this error. He was, in fact, the first astronomer to make such corrections for atmospheric refraction. He also made observations of a comet and used a parallax method to show that it had to be outside the atmosphere. This conclusion went against Aristotle's idea of the immutability of the heavens.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AjmanMi6781971(370th anniv. death)
Ascension140 (Mi140)From booklet pane of 4 (140a (4x 140))1971"Tycho Brahe's Observatory" and "Tycho's Star"; (370th anniv. death)
Ascension143bBooklet of 24 (4x (138-143)), with booklet cover, also booklet cover back
Cambodia705 (Mi?)1986Galileo, Brahe, and Coperncius; (340th anniv. birth)
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back2, also front2009?
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back2, also front2009?
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back2 (different), also front (same)2009?
Czech Republc2996 (Mi?)1996(350th anniv. birth)
Czech Republic2996 fdcStamp and cancel on FDC
Czech RepublicNoneCachet on postal card2009
Denmark288 (Mi?)1942Round Tower Observatory1, Copenhagen
DenmarkB14 (Mi281)288 surcharged1944
DenmarkB14 fdcStamp on FDC
DenmarkB14aBooklet pane of 10 (10x B14)
Denmark300 (Mi?)1946300th anniv. birth
Denmark300 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
Denmark300 fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Denmark300 maxiMaxicard
Denmark524 (Mi?)1973
Denmark524 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
Denmark524 fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Denmark1035 (Mi1110)1995
Denmark1036 (Mi1111)
Denmark1035-1036 fdcTwo stamps on FDC
Denmark1428 (Mi?)From booklet of 10 (1428a (10x 1428))2009Round Tower Observatory1, Copenhagen
Denmark1429 (Mi?)Tycho Brahe Planetarium, Copenhagen
DjiboutiUnknown e (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdcOne of MS6 and cachet on FDC
France2016 sc (Mi2561 sc)Cachet on souvenir card1986"Brahe" (in text)
Grenada Grenadines746 (Mi?)1986"Tyco Brahe's notes and sketch" of comet of 1577; mis-spelled "Tyco" (in text); (captions on 746 and 747 are reversed); (340th anniv. birth)
Grenada Grenadines747 (Mi?)
Grenada Grenadines789 (Mi?)746 overprinted in black1986"Tyco Brahe's notes and sketch" of comet of 1577; mis-spelled "Tyco" (in text); (captions on 746 and 747 are reversed); (340th anniv. birth)
Grenada Grenadines790 (Mi?)747 overprinted in silver
Guinea RepublicMi5748From MS6 (Mi5747-5752)2007
Guinea RepublicMi5751
Nicaragua1486 (Mi2823)1985
Nicaragua1985b (Mi3293)One of MS16 (1985 (a-p))1994
Sweden2149 (Mi?)1995Brahe's Uranienborg astronomical observatory; (350th anniv. birth, in 1996)
Sweden2150 (Mi?)Brahe's equatorial armillary sphere; (350th anniv. birth, in 1996)
Sweden2149-2150 fdcTwo stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC(350th anniv. birth, in 1996); Brahe's Uranienborg observatory (in cachet)
Uganda485 (Mi?)1986(340th anniv. birth)
Uganda519 (Mi?)485 overprinted1986(340th anniv. birth)
Yemen Arab RepublicMi9061969
Yemen Arab RepublicMi913From imperforate MS12 (12x Mi913), Mi906 imperforate with changed colours

1The Round Tower Observatory in Copenhagen is Europe's oldest functioning astronomical observatory. It was built it 1642. Brahe died in 1601, after losing favour with King Christian IV in 1597. Despite that, the observatory dome at the top of the Round Tower was built exactly like Brahe's Stjerneborg ("Star Castle") Observatory that he built in 1581. To the right of the entrance to the Round Tower is a bust of Brahe, and also a small piece of Brahe's burial cloth from his final resting place in Prague is displayed in the Round Tower's collection. Both of these items confirm Brahe's relationship with the Round Tower Observatory.
2This postal card is only one of a large number of similar cards issued by China for various scientists. No effort is made to list all such cards.


Bruce

Bruce, William Speirs
(1867 - 1921)

William Bruce was a Scottish naturalist who with the support of Scottish meteorologist R.T. Omond obtained a post as meteorologist at the Ben Nevis Observatory, where he worked on meteorological research in 1895 and 1896. The meteorologist R. Mossman was known to the two men and had worked at Ben Nevis as well. The observatory sat atop Ben Nevis which at 1344 m is the highest point in the British Isles. It has extensive fog and, in the winter, cold and stormy winter weather. Bruce dreamed of conducting science in polar environments and the assignment to Ben Nevis allowed him to develop his skills in polar meteorology. The knowledge he gained about the design and operation of a meteorological observatory in a harsh environment would serve him well in1903 when under his leadership a weather observatory was set up on Laurie Island in the sub-Antarctic region of the South Atlantic.

With strong support from Omond, Bruce assumed command of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition in 1902, and with Mossman as meteorologist and magnetic observer sailed to the Antarctic in the ship Scotia (the expedition was also called the Scotia expedition). In late 1902 Bruce and his team established their meteorological and magnetic observatory at Laurie Island in the South Orkneys. They called it Omond House in honour their patron. The observatory was transferred to Argentine control in February 1904. Mossman stayed on as interim chief until January 1905 to ensure a smooth transition. This meteorological station, known by its Spanish name of Observatorio de las Islas Orcadas del Sur, has been in continuous operation since 1904 and is the oldest weather observing station in the Antarctic area.

In his expedition travel Bruce used the "Verascope", an all-metal stereo camera designed by instrument maker Jules Richard. The rigidity of the camera minimized any internal distortion effects, and its durability made it very likely that the camera would have a long problem-free life.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
British Antarctic Territory54a (Mi?)Perforated 14.5, watermark 3141973Bruce and Scotia
British Antarctic Territory54 (Mi?)Perforated 12, watermark 3731980(60th anniv. death, in 1981)
British Antarctic Territory320 (Mi322)2002
British Antarctic Territory321 (Mi323)Omond House weather observatory established under the direction of Bruce
British Antarctic Territory316-321 fdcTwo of six stamps and cachet on FDCBruce, Scotia and Omond House
British Antarctic Territory393 (Mi?)2008Bruce and Scotia; (140th anniv. birth, in 2007)
British Antarctic Territory399b (Mi?)One of MS4 (399 (a-d))
Falkland Islands947 (Mi1022)2008Bruce and Scotia; (140th anniv. birth, in 2007)
Falkland Islands945-948 fdcOne of four stamps on FDC


Bacon, F.

Bacon, Francis
(1561 - 1626)

Francis Bacon was an English natural philosopher who believed that in the scientific arena one should touch and feel and measure things for oneself. As such, he was one of the earliest exponents of the scientific method, and so helped usher in a new era for science. Bacon had an insatiable curiosity about all natural phenomena. In his Preparative toward a Natural and Experimental History (written in 1620), he presented a large number of areas ("histories") in which he wished to "examine nature herself", including the following ones related to meteorology:

Unfortunately there was just not enough time, and Bacon was not able to expound upon all these subjects. He did, however, manage to publish in 1622 his work Historia Ventorum (translated as The Natural and Experimental History of Winds).

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Brazil2689d (Mi?)One of MS8 (2689 (a-h))1998(modern) portrait of Michel Leiris, by Francis Bacon
(not the Francis Bacon of interest)
Romania1443 (Mi?)1961(400th anniv. birth)
Romania1443-1444+1446 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Romania1442+1445+1447 fdcCachet on FDC
RomaniaNonePostal card (red)1962(400th anniv. birth)
RomaniaNonePostal card (blue)
Sierra Leone2254d (Mi3394)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2254 (a-q + label)) (Mi3391-3407) and possible text in (left) margin2000"Francis Bacon publishes his work"


Galileo

Galileo Galilei
(1564 - 1642)

Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer, mathematician, physicist and philosopher who was one of the pioneers of the modern scientific method. He believed that the laws of nature could be expressed in mathematics. This approach led Galileo to refute many of the conclusions that Aristotle had put forth in his work Meteorologica.

Galileo invented the thermoscope, a precursor to the thermometer, in around 1596. He wanted to measure hot and cold during the period he lived in Padua, Italy. His thermoscope consisted of a hollow glass bulb about the size of an egg, with a long thin glass neck open at its end. The bulb was heated with the hands, the unit was inverted and the neck opening submerged in a vessel containing water. When the hands were removed from the bulb, the water rose to a certain height in the neck above the level of the water in the vessel. This height depended on the temperature of the air: the colder the air, the higher the water would rise. There was no temperature scale on this instrument. Other inventors would later independently construct thermoscopes. The Italian inventor Santorio Santorio added a scale to his air thermoscope in about 1612.

Galileo coined the term Aurora Borealis (northern dawn) to describe the northern lights in or around 1619.

Near the end of his life, Galileo considered the problem of why water could not be pumped higher than 32 feet (10 m) above the level of a reservoir. His student Torricelli continued this work, culminating in his invention of the mercury barometer in 1644.

See also the Galileo satellite on the planetary and lunar exploration satellites page. The Galileo satellite was launched in 1989 and sent to explorer Jupiter and its moons from 1995 to 2003 when its mission ended.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AjmanMi9931971Galileo (in inset at upper-right)
AjmanMi993 dsDeluxe sheet (Mi993), from deluxe proof sheet of 8
AjmanMi993 proofsProof sheet of 15
Ajman StateMi2781A-2788A_label
Mi2781B-2788B_label
Label from MS8 (Mi2781A-2788A + 8 labels)
Label from imperforate MS8 (Mi2781B-2788B + 8 labels)
1972
Albania2243 (Mi?)1987
Antigua and Barbuda1606 (Mi1674)1992
Argentina2459 (BL?)SS12009
Ascension141 (Mi141)1971
Ascension141aBooklet pane of 4 (4x 141)
Ascension143bBooklet of 24 (4x (138-143)), with booklet cover
AustraliaKM1256$1. (aluminum-bronze coin)2009
AustriaKM317425 euros (bi-metal coin)2009Galileo (on obverse)
Azerbaijan898 (BL85)SS1 (898_stamp, Mi760)2009
Bangladesh754a (Mi?)From MS16 (754c (8x 754 (a-b)))2009"Galilean telescope, 1609", and Galileo (in cachet)
Bangladesh754 fdcOne of strip of two stamps and cachet on FDC
Benin451 (Mi201)
i451

Imperforate
1980
Cambodia705 (Mi?)1986Galileo, Brahe, and Coperncius
Central African Republic657 (Mi1036)
i657

Imperforate
1984
Central African Republic657a (BL284)SS1 (657)
Central African Republic760 (Mi1164A)
i760 (Mi1164B)

Imperforate
1985
Central African Republic760a (BL346A)
i760a (BL346B)
SS1 (760)
Imperforate SS1 (i760)
Chad923a (BL326A)
i923a (BL326B)
In (lower-middle) margin of SS1 (923)
In (lower-middle) margin of imperforate SS1 (i923)
2001Also Galileo entry probe and parachute (in left margin)
ChadUnknown f (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)2009
ChadUnknown d-f fdcOne of three stamps on FDC
ChadUnknown ms fdcMS9 on FDC
ChadUnknown c (Mi?)One of MS4 (a-d)
One of imperforate MS4 (a-d)
2009Mis-spelled "Galilelo" (in text)
ChadUnknown ss (BL?)Imperforate SS1
ChadUnknown fdcOne of four stamps on FDC
ChadUnknown ms fdc
Unknown ims fdc
MS4 and cachet on FDC
Imperforate MS4 on FDC
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1, also front2009?
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front2009?
Comoro Islands409 (Mi503)
i409

Imperforate
1979
Comoro Islands409a (BL201)
i409a
SS1 (409)
Imperforate SS1 (i409)
Comoro IslandsB4a (Mi854)One of MS8 (B4 (a-h))
One of imperforate MS8 (iB4 (a-h))
1988
Comoro IslandsB4a ds (BL263)Deluxe sheet (B4a)
Comoro Islands816t (Mi?)One of pair (816P), B4a surcharged1996
Czechoslovakia1231 (Mi1461)1964400th anniv. birth
Czechoslovakia1229-1231 fdcOne of three stamps and cachet on FDC
Czech RepublicNoneCachet on postal card2009Also Galileo satellite
DjiboutiC208 (Mi421)1984
DjiboutiC208a (BL105)On one of MS2 (C207-C208)
DjiboutiUnknown d (Mi?)
Unknown id
One of MS4 (a-d)
One of imperforate MS4 (a-d)
2006
DjiboutiUnknown d (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdcOne of MS6 on FDC
Dominica1366 (BL?)SS11991Galileo demonstrating laws of physics from Tower of Pisa; (350th anniv. death, in 1992)
Ecuador750B (Mi1222)1966400th anniv. birth
GabonUnknown ss (BL?)SS12009
GabonUnknown ss fdcSS1 and cachet on FDC
GabonUnknown ss o/p (BL? o/p)SS1 overprinted in gold
GabonUnknown proof1Die proof (red)
GabonUnknown proof2Die proof (orange)
GabonUnknown proof3Die proof (blue)
GabonUnknown proof4Die proof (purple)
GabonUnknown proof5Die proof (black)
Gambia798 (Mi818)1988350th anniv. publication of Galileo's Discourses
Gambia799 (Mi819)
Gambia800 (Mi820)
Gambia801 (Mi821)
Gambia802 (Mi822)
Gambia803 (Mi823)
Gambia804 (Mi824)
Gambia805 (Mi825)
Gambia806 (BL58)SS1 (Mi826)
Gambia807 (BL59)SS1 (Mi827)
Gambia2175 (Mi?)In (upper) margin of MS6 (a-f)1999
Germany (East)2606 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC, also back1987
Germany (East)2655 (Mi?)In (upper) margin of SS11988
Gibraltar1199 (Mi1334)From MS8 (1199a (8x 1199))2009
Gibraltar1198-1201 fdcOne of four stamps on FDC
Great Britain (Jersey)1357 (Mi?)From MS10 (1357a (10x 1357))2009
Great Britain (Jersey)1358 (Mi?)From MS10 (1358a (10x 1358))
Great Britain (Jersey)1359 (Mi?)From MS10 (1359a (10x 1359))
Great Britain (Jersey)1360 (Mi?)From MS10 (1360a (10x 1560))
Great Britain (Jersey)1357-1360 packPresentation pack
Great Britain (Jersey)1357-1360 fdcFour stamps and cachet on FDC
Grenada1999b (Mi2279)One of MS9 (1999 (a-i)) (Mi2278-2286)1991
GrenadaUnknown ms (Mi?)On one of MS4 (a-d)2011
GrenadaUnknown ss (BL?)In (right) margin of SS1
GrenadaUnknown ss fdcSS1 on FDC
Guinea RepublicBL220In (left) margin of SS11986
Guinea RepublicC172a (BL369A)In (right) margin of SS1 (C172)1990Also Galileo entry probe and parachute (in right margin)
Guinea Republic1862f (Mi3553)One of MS12 (1862 (a-l)) (Mi3548-3559)2000
Guinea RepublicBL1475In (left-centre) margin of SS12007
Guinea RepublicMi5839A
Mi5839B
One of MS6 (Mi5838A-5843A)
One of imperforate MS6 (Mi5838B-5843B)
2008
Guinea RepublicMi5838A-5843A_ms6 fdcMS6 on FDC
Guinea-Bissau413 (Mi574)1981
Guinea-Bissau413d (BL174)SS1 (413)
Guinea-BissauMi2415(At left) on stamp of SS12003
Guinea-BissauMi3326One of MS4 (Mi3326-3329)2006
Guinea-BissauMi3326 dsDeluxe sheet (Mi326)
Guinea-BissauMi3931A
Mi3931B
One of MS6 (Mi3930A-3935A)
One of imperforate MS6 (Mi3930B-3935B)
2008
Guinea-BissauMi3930A-3935A_ms6 fdc
Mi3930B-3935B_ms6 fdc
MS6 on FDC
Imperforate MS6 on FDC
Guinea-BissauMi3763One of MS4 (Mi3760-3763 + 2 labels)2008
Guinea-BissauBL683SS12009
Guinea-BissauMi4091-4095 ms5MS5 (a-e + label)2009
Guinea-BissauUnknown ss (BL?)In (upper-right) margin of SS12009
Guinea-BissauMi4445From MS5 (Mi4444-4448)2009
Hawaii (USA)Local2008
Hungary1592 (Mi?)1964400th anniv. birth
Hungary4126a (Mi?)Two of MS4 (4126c (2x 4126 (a-b)))2009
Indonesia2180a (Mi2724)From strip of 3 (2180 (a-c)), or from MS12 (2180d (4x (2180 (a-c))))2009"Galileoscope" (Galileo's telescope, in text)
Indonesia2180c (Mi2726)
Indonesia2181a (Mi2727)From MS3 (2181 (a-c)) (BL250)"Galileoscope" (Galileo's telescope, in text)
Indonesia2181c (Mi2729)
Ireland1219f (Mi?)One of MS12 (1219 (2x (a-f)))2000
ItalyD16 (Mi438)1933
Italy419 (Mi634)1942Galileo teaching mathematics at Padua, and (300th anniv. death)
Italy420 (Mi635)Galileo presenting telescope to the Doge of Venice, and (300th anniv. death)
Italy421 (Mi636)(300th anniv. death)
Italy422 (Mi637)Galileo studying at Arcetri, and (300th anniv. death)
ItalyD18 (Mi?)1945
Italy888 (Mi1157)1964400th anniv. birth
Italy889 (Mi1158)
Italy888-889 fdcTwo stamps and cachet on FDC
Italy1558 (Mi1842)1983
Italy1558-1559 fdcOne of two stamps and cachet on FDC
Italy2048 (Mi2402)1995
ItalyP1032000 lire (banknote)1973, 1976, 1983
ItalyNonePrinted stamp and cancel and cachet on postal card1992
ItalyNonePrinted stamp and cachet on postal card1992
ItalyNoneCancel2005Also Galileo's Earth model
Italy2048 cover (Mi2402 cover)2009
Italy2926 (Mi?)2009Modern Italian telescope "Galileo" (La Palma, Gran Canaria)
Italy2926 cover1 (Mi? cover1)Stamp and cancel on cover2009
Italy2926 cover2 (Mi? cover2)Stamp and cancel (different) and cachet (different) on cover2009
Italy2926 cover3 (Mi? cover3)Stamp and cancel (different) and cachet (different) on postal card2009
ItalyNoneCancel and cachet on postal card2009
ItalyNoneCancel (different) and cachet (different) on postal card2009
ItalyNoneCancel (different) and cachet (different) on postal card2009Modern Italian telescope "Galileo" (same design as 2926
ItalyNoneCancel (different) on postal card2009
ItalyNoneCancel2009
ItalyNoneCancel (different)2009400th anniv of Galileo's first astronomical observations
ItalyNoneCancel (different)2009
Ivory CoastUnknown ss (BL?)SS12012(370th anniv. death); also Galileo satellite
Ivory CoastUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS4 (2x (a-b))2012(370th anniv. death)
Kazakhstan593 (Mi641)One of strip of 2 (594a (593-594), or from MS10 (593a (10x 593))2009
Korea (North)1985a (Mi2044-2045)In (lower-left) margin of MS2 (1985-1986)1980
Korea (North)2842 (BL247)In (lower-right) margin of SS11989Galileo and Galileo's telescope
Korea (North)3878 (Mi?)In (lower-middle) margin of MS3 (3878 (a-c))1999Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and Halley
Korea (North)3878 varIn (lower-middle) margin of MS3, red missing
Korea (North)4866b (Mi5470)One of MS2 (4866 (a-b + 2 labels)) (BL726), or one of booklet pane of 6 (4868d (4866a-b - 4868a-b)), or entire booklet (4868e) (Mi5469-5474_MH)2009
Laos731b (Mi?)One of pair (731 (a-b))1986
Lesotho526 (Mi?)1986
Lithuania892 (Mi?)From MS10 (892a (10x 892))2009
Luxembourg1270 (Mi1832)From MS10 (1270a (10x 1270))2009
Luxembourg1269-1270 fdcOne of two stamps and cachet on FDC
MalawiUnknown (Mi?)2008
MalawiUnknown ms (BL?)
Unknown ims
One of MS2 (a-b)
One of imperforate MS2 (a-b)
MalawiUnknown ms fdc
Unknown ims fdc
MS2 on FDC
Imperforate MS2 on FDC
MalawiUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2011
MalawiUnknown fdcOn one of two MS2 on FDC
Maldive Islands1271 (Mi?)1988
Mali1034 (Mi?)
i1034
In (right) margin of MS4 (1034 (a-d))
In (right) margin of imperforate MS4 (i1034 (a-d))
1999
MaliUnknown a (Mi?)
Unknown ia
One of MS2 (a-b)
One of imperforate MS2 (a-b)
2006Also Galileo satellite
MaliUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2011(370th anniv. death, in 2012)
MaliUnknown ms fdcMS2 on FDC
Malta1365 (Mi?)From MS10 (1365c (10x 1365)), or from booklet pane of 5 (1365a (5x 1365)), also booklet (1365b) with booklet cover2009
Marshall Islands963c (Mi2569)Two of MS10 (963 (2x (a-e))) (2x (Mi2567-2571))2010
Marshall IslandsUnknown j (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012(370th anniv. death)
MexicoC378 (Mi1337)1971
Moldova622 (Mi651)
i622
One of strip of 2 (622b (621-622)), or three of MS6 (622a (3x 622b (621-622))), or from MS10 (622c (10x 622))
One of imperforate strip of 2 (i622b)
2009
Moldova622 maxiMaxicard
MoldovaNoneCancel2009
Monaco2547 (Mi2940)From MS10 (2547a (10x 2547))2009
Morocco1086 (Mi?)2009
MozambiqueUnknown ms (BL?)MS6 (a-f)2009
MozambiqueUnknown ss (BL?)SS1
Netherlands AntillesB379 (Mi1778)2009
New Caledonia1077 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC2009
Nicaragua1489 (Mi2826)1985"Autentico anteojo de Galileo"
Nicaragua1985c (Mi3294)One of MS16 (1985 (a-p))1994Galileo (at right); also Galileo entry probe and parachute
NigerC125 (Mi250)1970
NigerC130 (Mi256)C125 overprinted1970
Niger960b (Mi1307)One of MS4 (960 (a-d))1997
Ossetia (South)Unknown1 (Mi?)From MS102009Also Galileo satellite
Ossetia (South)Unknown2 (Mi?)
Ossetia (South)Unknown ms fdcMS10 on FDC
PanamaC334 (Mi825)
iC334 (Mi827)

Imperforate with changed colours
1964(400th anniv. birth), "balanza hydrostatica"
PanamaC334a (BL36)
iC334a (BL37)
MS2 (C333-C334)
Imperforate MS2 (iC333-iC334), changed colours
Paraguay873 (Mi1433)
i873 (Mi1441)

Imperforate with changed colours
1965
Paraguay876 (Mi1436)
i876 (Mi1444)

Imperforate with changed colours
Paraguay876a (BL69)
i876a (BL70)
MS2 (875-876)
Imperforate MS2 (i875-i876), changed colours
Paraguay2891+label (Mi?+label)Stamp and label2010400 years of astronomy; (370th anniv. death, in 2012)
PolandNonePrinted stamp on postal card1972(330th anniv. death)
Romania1647 (Mi?)1964(400th anniv. birth)
Romania5103 (Mi6357)Two of MS4 (5104a (2x (5103-5104))) (BL445?), or two of MS4 (5104b (2x (5103-5104)) (different arrangement) (BL445?), or from MS6 (5104c (6x 5103))2009
Romania5103-5104 fdc (Mi6357-6358 fdc)One of two stamps and cachet on FDC
Romania5104b fdcMS4 and cachet on FDC
Romania5103 maxiMaxicard
Romania5104 maxiMaxicard
Romania5104c limited (BL?)Limited-edition MS6 (6x 5103)
Romania5104d limited (BL?)Limited-edition MS6 (6x 5104)
Romania5103 cover (Mi6357 cover)Stamp and cancel and cachet on cover2009
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover2009
RomaniaNoneCancel (different) and cachet (different) on cover2009
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover2009
Russia (USSR)2986 (Mi3006)1964(400th anniv. birth), sunspots
RwandaUnknown c (Mi?)One of MS8 (a-h + label)2009
RwandaUnknown ss (BL?)In (upper-right) margin of SS1
RwandaUnknown c (Mi?)One of MS12 (a-l)2009
RwandaUnknown i (Mi?)One of MS15 (a-o)2010
Salvador, El1694a (Mi2554)From MS20 (1694e (5x (1694 (a-d)))2009
Salvador, El1694b (Mi2553)Galilean moons of Jupiter
San Marino1030 (Mi1260)1982(340th anniv. death)
San Marino1021-1022+1030 fdcOne of three stamps and cachet on FDC
San MarinoKM1615 lire (aluminum coin)1984
SharjahMi13751972
Sierra Leone1167b (Mi1357)One of MS9 (1167 (a-i)) (Mi1356-1364)1990
Sierra Leone1167 fdcMS9 on FDC
Sierra Leone2254o (Mi3392)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2254 (a-q + label)) (Mi3391-3407) and possible text in (left) margin2000"1632: Galileo proves the Earth revolves around the Sun"
Sierra LeoneUnknown e (Mi?)
Unknown ie
One of MS8 (a-h)
One of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
2011(370th anniv. death, in 2012)
Sierra LeoneUnknown margin (Mi? margin)In (upper-right) margin of MS8 (a-h) (different)
In (upper-right) margin of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
Sierra LeoneUnknown margin (Mi? margin)In (upper-right) margin of MS8 (a-h) (different)
In (upper-right) margin of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
St. Vincent2696 (Mi?)1999
TogoMi3489-3492 ms4Three of four stamps in MS4 (a-d)2010"400th anniv. Galileo's discoveries"
TogoBL509SS1
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus671 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cancel and cachet on FDC (stamps are 2x (671 (a-b))2009
Ukraine766b (Mi1035)One of strip of 2 (766 (a-b)), or from MS10 (766d (5x 766))2009
Ukraine766c (MH10)MS2 (Mi1035-1036)
UkaineKM558100 hryvni (silver coin)2009
United States1919 fdc (Mi1488 fdc)Cachet on FDC1981
United States3178 cover (Mi? cover)Cachet on cover1997
Uruguay2263 (Mi?)MS3 (2263 (a-c))2009
Vatican City954 (Mi?)1994Galileo in centre of solar system, surrounded by scientific instruments
Western SaharaUnknown1 (10 value)Unrecognized and not listed in Scott catalogs1992350th anniv. death
Western SaharaUnknown2 (15 value)
Western SaharaUnknown3 (40 value)
Western SaharaUnknown4 (60 value)
Western SaharaUnknown5 (100 value)
Yemen Arab RepublicMi9071969
Yemen Arab RepublicMi914From imperforate MS12 (12x Mi914), Mi907 imperforate with changed colours
Yemen Mutawakelite KingdomMi862From MS6 (6x Mi862)1969
Yugoslavia2502c (Mi?)One of booklet pane of 7 (2502 (a-g + 2 labels)), also booklet cover (MH10)2000

1This postal card is only one of a large number of similar cards issued by China for various scientists. No effort is made to list all such cards.


Kepler

Kepler, Johannes
(1571 - 1630)

Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer and mathematician. In addition to his many other scientific works, he wrote one on snowflakes in 1611: A New Year's Gift, or The Six-Cornered Snowflake, in which he discussed the "reason for the six-angled shape of the snow crystals" (i.e. snowflakes) and "the forms and symmetries in nature". This work is the first known scientific reference to snowflakes and snow crystals.

Kepler believed that the weather patterns on the Earth were related to the geometrical relationships between the Earth and the planets. For example, he thought that the conjunction of Saturn and the Sun could produce cold weather. Since the positions of the Earth and the planets could be calculated in advance, then the weather could be as well. Kepler therefore made the first known long range weather forecasts, including one of a bitterly cold winter in Germany in 1593 which, it is said, turned out to be correct.

In 1593 Kepler began recording the daily weather in Graz, in the hope of clarifying the influence of the stars on the weather. He started similar observations in Prague in 1604. The Ephemerides Part II, for 1621 and 1629, contained Kepler's daily weather observations for 1617 to 1620. His calendars between 1617 and 1624 included weather predictions. He started another set of weather observations in Sagan in 1628.

See also the Kepler satellite on the astronomical/telescope satellites page. The Kepler satellite is a NASA space telescope whose mission is to discover Earth-like planets near other stars.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AjmanMi9911971400th anniv. birth; Kepler (in inset at upper-right in each Mi992 item)
AjmanMi992
AjmanMi993
AjmanMi994
AjmanMi995
AjmanMi996
AjmanMi997
AjmanMi998
AjmanMi991 dsIn (upper) margin of deluxe sheet (Mi991), from deluxe proof sheet of 8
AjmanMi992 ds
AjmanMi993 ds
AjmanMi994 ds
AjmanMi995 ds
AjmanMi996 ds
AjmanMi997 ds
AjmanMi998 ds
AjmanMi991 proofsProof sheet of 15
AjmanMi992 proofs
AjmanMi993 proofs
AjmanMi994 proofs
AjmanMi995 proofs
AjmanMi996 proofs
AjmanMi997 proofs
AjmanMi998 proofs
AjmanBL297In (left) margin of SS1
AjmanMi12961972400th anniv. birth
AjmanMi1297
AjmanBL361SS1 (Mi1296)
AjmanBL362SS1 (Mi1297)
AjmanWB713silver
AjmanWB715gold
AustriaB282 (Mi?)1953
AustriaKM309910 euros (? coin)2002
Benin501 (Mi?)1980(350th anniv. death)
Benin502 (Mi?)
Benin502 proofDie proof
BeninC342 (Mi?)Dahomey C142 overprinted1985
BeninC348 (Mi?)Dahomey C143 overprinted and surcharged
BeninC466 (Mi?)Dahomey C142 overprinted and surcharged1996
BeninC466 triple (Mi?)Dahomey C142 triple surcharged
BeninC480 (Mi?)Dahomey C143 overprinted and surcharged1996
BeninC568 (Mi1596)Dahomey C142 overprinted and surcharged2009
Burundi586 (Mi1580A)
i586 (Mi1580B)
1981350th anniv. death (in 1980)
Burundi588a (BL117A)
i588a (BL117B)
None (BL117C)
On one of MS3 (586-588)
On one of imperforate MS3 (i586-i588)
Perforated 13 ½, as opposed to perforated 14 for "A" suffix)
ChadUnknown e (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)2009
ChadUnknown d-f fdcOne of three stamps on FDC
ChadUnknown ms fdcMS9 on FDC
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back2, also front2009?
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back2 (different), also front (same)2009?
Comoro Islands410 (Mi504)
i410

Imperforate
1979
Comoro Islands410a (BL202)
i410a
SS1 (410)
Imperforate SS1 (i410)
Comoro Islands505 (Mi?)
i505

Imperforate
1980(350th anniv. death)
Comoro Islands531 (Mi?)505 surcharged1981(350th anniv. death, in 1980)
Comoro IslandsB4c (Mi?)One of MS8 (B4 (a-h))
One of imperforate MS8 (iB4 (a-h))
1988
Comoro IslandsB4c ds (BL265)Deluxe sheet (B4c)
Comoro Islands816x (Mi?)One of pair (816R), B4c surcharged1996
Cook Islands556 (Mi?)1980350th anniv. death
Cook Islands557 (Mi?)
Cook Islands562 (Mi?)
Cook Islands563 (Mi?)
Cook Islands556-563 fdcFour of eight stamps and cachet on FDC
Cook Islands563a (BL?)On one of MS4 (556-557, 562-563)
Czech Republic3419 (Mi?)From MS6 (3419a (6x 3419))2009
Czech Republic3419 fdcStamp on FDC
Czech RepublicNoneCachet on postal card2009(380th anniv. death, in 2010); also Kepler satellite
DahomeyC142 (Mi?)1971(400th anniv. birth)
DahomeyC143 (Mi?)
Ecuador757B (Mi?)1966Kepler (at right)
FujeiraMi8261971400th anniv. birth
FujeiraMi827
FujeiraMi828
FujeiraMi829
FujeiraMi830
FujeiraMi831
Germany (East)1275 (Mi1649)1971(400th anniv. birth)
Germany (East)KM305 marks (? coin)1971(400th anniv. birth)
Germany (West)1072 (Mi688)1971(400th anniv. birth)
Germany (West)1072 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)1072 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany2529 (Mi2732)From MS10 (2529a (10x 2529))2009400th anniv. Kepler's Laws
GermanyNoneCancel on cover2009400th anniv. Kepler's Laws
GermanyNoneCancel (different)2009400th anniv. Kepler's Laws
GermanyNoneCancel (different)2009400th anniv. Kepler's Laws
GermanyNonePrinted stamp and cachet on postal card2009400th anniv. Kepler's Laws; also Kepler satellite (in cachet)
GermanyNoneCancel2009400th anniv. Kepler's Laws; also Kepler satellite
GermanyKM28010 euros (silver coin)2009400th anniv. Kepler's Laws
Grenada1999a (Mi?)One of MS9 (1999 (a-i))1991
Guinea Republic1262a (Mi?)One of strip of 3 (1262 (a-c))1994Kepler (on left stamp of strip)
Guinea RepublicMi5747From MS6 (Mi5747-5752)2007
Guinea RepublicMi5750
Guinea RepublicUnknown (Mi?)2008
Guinea RepublicMi5840A
Mi5840B
One of MS6 (Mi5838A-5843A)
One of imperforate MS6 (Mi5838B-5843B)
2008
Guinea RepublicMi5838A-5843A_ms6 fdcMS6 and cachet on FDC
Guinea RepublicMi5845One of MS6 (Mi5845-5850)2008
Guinea RepublicMi5845-5850_ms6 fdcMS6 on FDC
Guinea RepublicMi7643One of MS6 (Mi7641-7646)2010
Guinea RepublicMi7641-7646_ms6 fdcOne of MS6 and cachet on FDC
Guinea-BissauMi3935A
Mi3935B
One of MS6 (Mi3930A-3935A)
One of imperforate MS6 (Mi3930B-3935B)
2008
Guinea-BissauMi3930A-3935A_ms6 fdc
Mi3930B-3935B_ms6 fdc
MS6 on FDC
Imperforate MS6 on FDC
Hungary2667+label (Mi3459A+label)
i2667+label (Mi3459B+label)
Stamp and label
Imperforate stamp and label
1980(350th anniv. death)
Hungary2667 fdcStamp and label and cancel and cachet on FDC350th anniv. death
Ivory CoastUnknown ss (BL?)
Unknown iss
SS1
Imperforate SS1
2012
Ivory CoastUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS4 (2x (a-b))2012
Korea (North)1985 (Mi2044)One of MS2 (1985a (1985-1986))1980350th anniv. death
Korea (North)1986 stamp (Mi2045)
Korea (North)1986 (BL82)SS1
Korea (North)1985 proofDeluxe proof
Korea (North)1986 proof
Korea (North)3878 (Mi?)In (lower-left) margin of MS3 (3878 (a-c))1999Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and Halley
Korea (North)3878 varIn (lower-left) margin of MS3, red missing
Laos580 (Mi?)1984
MalawiUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2011
MalawiUnknown fdcOn one of two MS2 on FDC
MaliC388 (Mi?)
iC388

Imperforate
1980(350th anniv. death)
MaliC388 dsDeluxe sheet (C388)
MaliC389 (Mi?)
iC389

Imperforate
MaliC389 dsDeluxe sheet (C389)
MaliUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2010
MaliUnknown ms fdcMS2 and cachet on FDC
MaliUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2011(440th anniv. birth; 380th anniv. death, in 2010)
MaliUnknown ms fdcMS2 and cachet on FDC
Marshall Islands963b (Mi2568)One of MS10 (963 (2x (a-e))) (2x (Mi2567-2571))2010(440th anniv. birth, in 2011); (380th anniv. death)
Marshall IslandsUnknown d (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012
MexicoC379 (Mi?)1971(400th anniv. birth)
MongoliaC145 (BL?)SS11980(350th anniv. death)
MozambiqueUnknown ms (BL?)MS6 (a-f)2009
MozambiqueUnknown ms fdcMS6 and cachet on FDC
MozambiqueUnknown ss (BL?)SS1
MozambiqueUnknown e (Mi?)
Unknown ie
One of MS6 (a-f)
One of imperforate MS6 (a-f)
2001
MozambiqueUnknown ssOn stamp of SS1
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local cOne of MS6 (a-f)2011(440th anniv. birth); (380th anniv. death, in 2010)
ParaguayC336 (BL?)SS11971400th anniv. birth, Kepler and Ptolemeus
ParaguayC337 (BL?)SS1
Paraguay2496 (Mi?)1994
PolandNonePrinted stamp on postal card1972(400th anniv. birth, in 1971)
Romania2309 (Mi?)1971400th anniv. birth
Romania3135a (Mi?)One of MS4 (3135 (a-d))1983
Romania3135 fdcMS4 on FDC
Romania3135a cardStamp and cancel and cachet on card1983
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on cover2005
RussiaNone(Printed) cachet on ATV-21 launch cover2011"Johannes Kepler" (in text)
RussiaNone(Printed) cachet (different) on ATV-21 launch cover
St. Pierre and MiquelonC56 (Mi?)1974Kepler (at centre-right)
San MarinoKM5065 euros (silver coin)2009
Sierra Leone755 (Mi?)1986
Sierra Leone815 (Mi?)755 overprinted1986
Sierra Leone1167a (Mi1356)One of MS9 (1167 (a-i)) (Mi1356-1364)1990
Sierra Leone1167 fdcMS9 on FDC
Sierra Leone2254j (Mi3400)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2254 (a-q + label)) (Mi3391-3407) and possible text in (left) margin2000"1609: Kepler publishes The New Astronomy"
Sierra LeoneUnknown a (Mi?)
Unknown ia
One of MS8 (a-h)
One of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
2011(440th anniv. birth); (380th anniv. death, in 2010)
Umm Al QiwainMi575Mi563 overprinted1972400th anniv. birth (in 1971)
Umm Al QiwainMi576Mi564 overprinted
Umm Al QiwainMi577Mi565 overprinted
Umm Al QiwainMi578Mi566 overprinted
Umm Al QiwainMi579Mi567 overprinted
Umm Al QiwainMi580Mi568 overprinted
Umm Al QiwainMi581Mi569 overprinted
Umm Al QiwainMi582Mi570 overprinted
Umm Al QiwainMi583Mi571 overprinted
Umm Al QiwainMi584Mi572 overprinted
Umm Al QiwainBL43 (Mi585)BL41 overprinted
Umm Al QiwainBL44 (Mi586)BL42 overprinted
Umm Al QiwainMi1077AOne of MS16 (Mi1066A-1081A)1972Elliptical orbits of planets around sun, discovered by Kepler
Umm Al QiwainMi1077 dsDeluxe sheet (Mi1077)
Umm Al QiwainMi1093AOne of MS16 (Mi1082A-1097A)
United StatesNone(Printed) cachet on Ranger-9 launch cover1964"Kepler" (in text)
United StatesNone(Printed) cachet on Kepler (satellite) launch cover2009Also Kepler satellite
United StatesNone(Printed) cachet on Kepler (satellite) launch cover (different)
United StatesNone(Mission 57) cachet on Kepler (satellite) launch cover (different), also back
Yemen Arab RepublicMi9081969
Yemen Arab RepublicMi915From imperforate MS12 (12x Mi915), Mi908 imperforate with changed colours
Yemen Mutawakelite KingdomMi861From MS6 (6x Mi861)1969Kepler (at left)

1ATV = Automated Transfer Vehicle (Johannes Kepler), for International Space Station (ISS)
2This postal card is only one of a large number of similar cards issued by China for various scientists. No effort is made to list all such cards.


Komensky

Komensky, J. A. (Comenius)
(1592 - 1670)

J. A. Komensky, also known as Comenius, was a Czechoslovakian philosopher, writer and educator. His work Opera Didactica Omnia included a discussion of weather-related topics.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Bohemia and Moravia6 (Mi?)Czechoslovakia 215 overprinted1939
Bulgaria997 (Mi?)1957300th anniv. publication of Opera Didactica Omnia
CzechoslovakiaP155 korun (banknote)1921
CzechoslovakiaP15 perf5 korun (banknote), perforated1921
CzechoslovakiaKM4810 korun (silver coin)1957(300th anniv. publication of Opera Didactica Omnia)
Czechoslovakia215 (Mi?)1936
Czechoslovakia215 maxiMaxicard
Czechoslovakia509 (Mi?)1952(360th anniv. birth)
Czechoslovakia510 (Mi?)
Czechoslovakia509-510 fdcTwo stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
Czechoslovakia683 (Mi892)1955Komensky University, Bratislava
Czechoslovakia684 (Mi893)Komensky medallion
Czechoslovakia683-684 fdcTwo stamps and cachet on FDCKomensky University, Bratislava
Czechoslovakia791 (Mi?)1957300th anniv. publication of Opera Didactica Omnia
Czechoslovakia792 (Mi?)
Czechoslovakia793 (Mi?)
Czechoslovakia793 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Czechoslovakia793a (Mi?)MS4 (4x 793)
Czechoslovakia794 (Mi?)
Czechoslovakia794 proofDie proof
Czechoslovakia791-792+794 fdcThree stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
Czechoslovakia1610 (Mi?)196950th anniv. Komensky University, Bratislava
Czechoslovakia1673 (Mi?)1970300th anniv. death
Czechoslovakia1673 fdc1Stamp and cancel on FDC
Czechoslovakia1673 fdc2Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
CzechoslovakiaP9520 korun (banknote)1988
Czechoslovakia2852 (Mi3110)SS11992400th anniv. birth
Czechoslovakia2852 blackSS1 blackproof
Czechoslovakia2852 fdcStamp only from SS1 and cancel and cachet on FDC
CzechoslovakiaNoneCancel and cachet on postal card1992
CzechoslovakiaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on postal card1992
Czech Republic3140 (Mi?)2001
Czech Republic3140 fdcStamp on FDC
Czech Republic3140 scSouvenir card
Czech Republic3354 (Mi?)2007350th anniv. publication of Opera Didactica Omnia
Czech RepublicP6200 korun (banknote)1993
Czech RepublicP13200 korun (banknote)1996
Czech RepublicP19200 korun (banknote)1998
Czech Republic3378 (Mi?)2008Komensky's Orbis Pictus
Germany (West)1050 (Mi?)1970(300th anniv. death)
Germany (West)1050 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)1050 fdc2Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1050 fdc3Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC300th anniv. death
Germany (West)1050 fdc4Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1050 fdc5Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1050 fdc6Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1050 fdc7Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1050 essaysTwo unlisted essays of 1050
Germany (East)397 (Mi?)1958
Germany (East)398 (Mi?)
Germany (East)397-398 fdcTwo stamps and cancel on FDC
Hungary2229 (Mi?)1973315th anniv. Komensky's Orbis Pictus
Hungary3343 (Mi4188)1992(400th anniv. birth)
Hungary3343 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Poland794 (Mi1041)1957(300th anniv. publication of Opera Didactica Omnia)
Poland794 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
PolandNoneCancel on postcard, also back1970300th anniv. death
Poland794 cover (Mi? cover)Cancel and cachet on cover1992400th anniv. birth
PolandNonePostcard1997
Romania1224 (Mi?)1958
RomaniaNonePrinted stamp and cachet on stamped envelope1971300th anniv. death
Russia (USSR)2059 (Mi?)1958
Slovakia7 (Mi?)Czechoslovakia 215 overprinted1939
SlovakiaP15200 korun (banknote), Czechoslovakia P95 with affixed adhesive stamp1993
Slovakia192 (Mi203)199475th anniv. Komensky University
United StatesNoneCinderella (fundraising and publicity stamp,
Mosbaugh no.7.2230.01)
1902Komensky (at left)
United StatesNoneCinderella1970300th anniv. death


Descartes

Descartes, René
(1596 - 1650)

René Descartes was a French philosopher ("Cogito, ergo sum") and mathematician. In around 1631 he described an experiment to determine the atmospheric pressure, but did not build an apparatus to carry out the experiment. In Les Météores ("Meteorology", an essay published in his book Discours de la Méthode in 1637), he hypothesized that water vapour was a distinct substance in the air, composed of minute particles separated by a highly rarefied 'subtle matter'. In 1647, Descartes proposed that, in order to quantify the readings, a scale be attached to barometers of the type invented a few years previously by Torricelli. In that year, in letter to Marin Mersenne, he wrote:

"But, so that we may also know if changes of weather and of location make any difference to it, I am sending you a paper scale two and a half feet long, in which the third and fourth inches above two feet are divided into lines; and I am keeping an exactly similar one here, so that we may see whether our observations agree".

In this way, Descartes contributed to the development of the barometer.

Descartes was the first to separate white light into its component colours as it moved from one medium such as air to another such as glass. In Les Météores he discussed this refraction of light through his description of an experiment in which he found that the separated colours were arranged such that red always appeared at one side, and the blue or violet at the other. He used a ray tracing technique to explain the formation and structure of the rainbow. Newton would later add a theoretical explanation for the arrangement of the colours of the rainbow.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Albania2516 (Mi?)1996(400th anniv. birth), Latin name mis-spelled "Cartesins" (in text), rather than Cartesius
AltaiUnknown gOne of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011(360th anniv. death, in 2010)
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1, also front2009?
DjiboutiUnknown c (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010(360th anniv. death)
DjiboutiUnknown c+selvedge (Mi?+selvedge)One of MS3 (a-f) and selvedge
DjiboutiUnknown ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (c)
FranceNoneCancel on cover1900"Descartes Oran" (in text); (250th anniv. death)
FranceNoneCancel on cover1912"LaHaye Descartes" (in text)
France330 (Mi?)1937"Discours sur la Méthode"
France330 maxi1Maxicard
France330 maxi2Maxicard (different)
France330 maxi3Maxicard (different)
France330 maxi4Maxicard (different)
France331 (Mi?)"Discours de la Méthode"
France331 maxi1Maxicard
France331 maxi2Maxicard (different cancel)
France331 maxi3Maxicard (different)
France331 maxi4Maxicard (different)
France331 maxi5Maxicard (different)
FranceP101100 francs (banknote), also back1942
FranceNoneCancel on cover1948"Descartes Oran" (in text)
FranceNoneCancel on cover1958"LaHaye Descartes" (in text)
FranceNoneCancel1986(390th anniv. birth)
FranceKM996100 francs (silver coin)1991
FranceNoneCancel1992
FranceNoneCancel1995400th anniv. birth (in 1996)
FranceNoneCancel1996(400th anniv. birth)
FranceNoneCancel (different)1996(400th anniv. birth); "Année Descartes" (in text)
FranceNoneMedallion1996(400th anniv. birth)
France2512 (Mi?)1996(400th anniv. birth)
France2512 engravingOfficial engraving
France2512 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
France2512 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France2512 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France2512 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) on FDC
France2512 fdc5Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France2512 fdc6Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France2512 folder1FDC-folder
France2512 folder2FDC-folder (different)
France2512 maxiMaxicard
France2512 sc1Souvenir card
France2512 sc2Souvenir card (different)
France2512 sc3Souvenir card (different)
France2512 sc4Souvenir card (different)
France2512+cancel (Mi?+cancel)1996400th anniv. birth
FranceNoneCancel1998400th anniv. birth (in 1996)
FranceNoneCancel2002400th anniv. birth (in 1996)
FranceNoneCachet on stamped envelope200?bust of Descartes
Grenada2932k (Mi?)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2932 (a-q + label))2000350th anniv. death
Monaco2015 (Mi?)1996(400th anniv. birth)
Monaco2015 proofColour proof
Monaco2015 maxiMaxicard
MoroccoNoneCachet on cover1988?Lycée Descartes
MoroccoNoneCachet on cover (different)199?Lycée Descartes
NetherlandsNoneCachet on cover199?Maison Descartes, Institut français in Amsterdam
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local eOne of MS6 (a-f)2011(360th anniv. death, in 2010)
Sierra Leone2254n (Mi3404)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2254 (a-q + label)) (Mi3391-3407) and possible text in (left) margin2000"1611: Descartes proposes "I think, therefore I am""; (350th anniv. death)
Sierra LeoneUnknown f (Mi?)
Unknown if
One of MS8 (a-h)
One of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
2011(360th anniv. death, in 2010)
Sierra LeoneUnknown margin (Mi? margin)In (lower-right) margin of MS8 (a-h) (different)
In (lower-right) margin of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
United StatesNone(Lunar Voyage?) cachet on Apollo-16 launch cover1972"Descartes Region" (in text)
United StatesNone(Lunar Voyage?) cachet on Apollo-16 event cover1972"Descartes area" (in text)
United StatesNone(?) cachet on Apollo-16 event cover1972"Descartes" (in text)

1This postal card is only one of a large number of similar cards issued by China for various scientists. No effort is made to list all such cards.


von Guericke

von Guericke, Otto
(1602 - 1686)

Otto von Guericke was a German inventor, scientist and politician. Inspired by the work of Torricelli and Galileo, he proposed that air has weight and therefore must exert a pressure, and that both could be measured. To this end, he constructed a water barometer at about the same time and probably independently of Torricelli's invention of the mercury barometer in 1644. Outside his house, von Guericke erected a brass tube about 10 metres (35 feet) high with a transparent, sealed and evacuated glass portion at the top. This was his water barometer. At the top of the water inside the tube floated a small wooden mannequin which in fine weather rose with the water level due to rising atmospheric pressure to become visible through the glass. Conversely, in low pressure and bad weather it sank out of sight. Von Guericke attempted to make weather forecasts based on the information from his barometer.

While he was the mayor of Magdeburg (1646 - 1676), von Guericke continued to investigate air pressure and the properties of a vacuum. He invented a vacuum pump, and constructed what came to be known as Magdeburg hemispheres (two hollow copper hemispheres, each 51 cm in diameter, that could be held together to form a hollow sphere). In Magdeburg in 1654, he demonstrated that if the sphere composed of the two hemispheres were evacuated, then the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere would hold them together so strongly that teams of horses could not pull them apart. The demonstration was repeated in Berlin in 1663.

Von Guericke also experimented with the production of artificial clouds by releasing air from one flask into another from which the air had been evacuated. A fog then formed in the first flask, due to condensation related to the falling pressure in that flask. He concluded that air can not be turned into water, though moisture can enter the air and later be condensed back into liquid water. This line of reasoning followed from Descartes who had proposed in 1637 in his Discours de la Méthode that water vapour was a distinct substance in the air.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Germany472 (Mi?)1936250th anniv. death
GermanyNoneMeter1994
Germany2181 (Mi2282)2002400th anniv. birth; and Magdeburg hemispheres
Germany2181 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany2181 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany2181 folderFDC folder
GermanyNoneCancel2002400th anniv. birth; and Magdeburg hemispheres
GermanyNoneMeter2003von Guericke University, Magdeburg
Germany (East)1146 (Mi?)1969Statue of von Guericke in Magdeburg
Germany (East)B154 (Mi?)1969von Guericke and Magdeburg hemispheres
Germany (East)1793 (Mi?)1977von Guericke and Magdeburg hemispheres
Germany (East)KM6510 marks (? coin)1977(375th anniv. birth)
Germany (East)NoneCancel and cachet on card1986300th anniv. death
Germany (East)NoneCachet on card1989
United StatesNone(Printed) cachet on Ranger-9 launch cover1964"Guericke" (in text)


Torricelli

Torricelli, Evangelista
(1608 - 1647)

Evangelista Torricelli was an Italian mathematician. He was Galileo's most promising pupil, and succeeded him as professor of mathematics at Florence. His work Lezioni Accademiche (Florence, 1715), published nearly seventy years after his death, contains his lectures dealing with problems of mechanics, physics, meteorology and military architecture. The lectures on forces of impact and on the wind are of particular interest. In the former, he said that he was reporting ideas expressed by Galileo in their informal conversations. In the latter, Torricelli advanced the modern theory that winds are produced by differences of air temperature.

Near the end of his life, Galileo had considered the problem of why no pump, no matter how carefully contrived, was able to draw water from a well to a height of more than about 10 metres (33 feet) above the water level. Torricelli continued to work on this question. To this end, he and his student Vincenzo Viviani constructed a water barometer in 1643, but it was an inconvenient apparatus, requiring a very long (approximately 18 metres / 60 feet) and clumsy glass tube. By substituting mercury, which at room temperature is a liquid and about 14 times denser than water, Torricelli was able to reduce the length of the barometer tube to around 90 cm (35"). His instrument consisted of a long-necked glass tube with a closed bulbous end. The tube was filled with mercury and then inverted into a basin also filled with mercury. Rather than running completely out of the tube, the height of the mercury column fell to a level of about 76 cm (30") and then remained fairly steady, fluctuating by only a few per cent. We now know that these fluctuations were due partly to changes in temperature and partly to changes in atmospheric pressure above the instrument.

Torricelli was convinced by these results that the air above the barometer must have weight, and therefore must exert pressure, and that it was this pressure that was forcing the mercury to rise in the barometer tube. He also believed that the space above the mercury created by its descent from the bulb at the top of the tube must be a true vacuum.

Torricelli is generally credited with inventing the mercury barometer in 1644. However, his barometer had no scale, and so was useful for qualitative rather than quantitative measurements. René Descartes added a scale to the pressure tube barometer in 1647. It must also be noted that other people were working with similar concepts at about the same time. For example, the German Otto von Guericke, probably independently, invented a water barometer at about the same time that Torricelli was developing his own barometer.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
ItalyNoneCinderella (poster stamp)1908300th anniv. birth
Italy754 (Mi1020)1958(350th anniv. birth), also mercury barometer
Italy754 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Russia (USSR)2165 (Mi2194)1958(350th anniv. birth), also small barometer
San Marino1043 (Mi1273)1983Also mercury barometer
San Marino1043 maxiMaxicard


Pascal

Pascal, Blaise
(1623 - 1662)

Blaise Pascal was a French scientist, mathematician and philosopher. One of his early interests was the study of fluids. This led him to design an experiment using a barometer like the one invented by Torricelli in 1644. In this experiment, carried out in 1648, the level of mercury in a barometer equipped with a scale was measured at the base of Puy-de-Dôme, and again at the top, some 1000 metres (3300 feet) higher (Descartes had attached the first such scale to Torricelli's barometer in 1647). The account of Pierre Florin, who carried out the experiment, records that the "quicksilver" reached a height of 26 inches plus 3 ½ lines at the base of the hill, compared to only 23 inches plus 2 lines at the top. This meant that the pressure exerted by the atmosphere decreased with height, consistent with the idea that the pressure was due to the weight of the atmosphere in the column above the barometer. Pascal later repeated the experiment in Paris, where he measured the pressure difference between the base and the top of a church bell tower.

To honour his scientific work with atmospheric pressure, Pascal's name was given to the SI (International System of Units) unit of pressure. One pascal is equal to one newton per square metre. Modern meteorologists often refer to atmospheric pressure in hPa (hectopascals). A typical sea-level pressure would be around 1000 hPa. See the SI (metric system) unit names page for other persons after whom metric units were named.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Cambodia2057 (Mi2152)In (upper-right) corner2001(Picture only)
Central African Republic1359 (Mi2573)2000
Central African Republic1359a (BL649)SS1 (1359)
DjiboutiUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010
DjiboutiUnknown a+selvedge (Mi?+selvedge)One of MS3 (a-f) and selvedge
FranceNoneCancel on cover1867rue Pascal, Paris
FranceNoneCancel on cover1872rue Pascal, Paris
FranceB181 (Mi626)
iB181

Imperforate
1944
FranceB181 maxi1Maxicard
FranceB181 maxi2Maxicard (different)
FranceB181 maxi3Maxicard (different)
France1038 (Mi1398)
i1038

Imperforate
1962(300th anniv. death)
France1038+cancelStamp and FD cancel
France1038 fdc1Stamp and cancel on FDC
France1038 fdc2Stamp and cancel (different) and cachet on FDC
France1038 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France1038 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France1038 fdc5Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France1038 fdc6Stamp and cancel (different) and cachet (same) on FDC
France1038 maxiMaxicard
France1038 maxi2Maxicard (different)
France1038 maxi3Maxicard (different)
France1038 maxi4Maxicard (different)
France1038 maxi5Maxicard (different)
France1038 maxi6Maxicard (different cancel)
France1038 maxi7Maxicard (different cancel)
France1038 maxi8Maxicard (different colour and cancel)
France1038 maxi9Maxicard (different)
France1038+cancelStamp and cancel1962Journées Blaise Pascal
France1038 coverStamp and (Setif) cancel on cover1962
FranceB181+1038 coverDual stamps and cancels on cover1962Journées Blaise Pascal and FDOI cancels
FranceNoneSlogan cancel on cover1962"Tricentenaire de Pascal" (in text)
FranceNoneMeter196937 Tours Blaise Pascal
FranceP156500 francs (banknote)1987-1989
FranceNoneCachet on stamped envelope2006
Guinea RepublicUnknown ms (Mi?)MS52009
Guinea RepublicUnknown ss (Mi?)SS1
Monaco875 (Mi1080)1973350th anniv. birth
Monaco875 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Monaco875 fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Monaco875 fdc3Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Monaco875 maxiMaxicard
Monaco875+artworkStamp and original artwork
Monaco875 scSouvenir card
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local aOne of MS8 (a-h + label)2011(350th anniv. death, in 2012)
RomaniaNonePostal card2001
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on postcard2008
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet on postcard (different)2008
St. Thomas and Prince IslandUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2008


Cassini

Cassini, Giovanni Domenico
(1625 - 1712)

Giovanni Cassini was an Italian astronomer who spent so much of his professional life in France that he became known as Jean Dominique Cassini. He knew that atmospheric refraction affected astronomical observations, and proposed a model to explain the refraction (though it later turned out to be incorrect). In 1683, with his colleague N. Fatio, he published a study that demonstrated that the phenomenon of zodiacal light has an astronomical rather than a meteorological source.

Cassini was also an expert in hydraulics and river management, and studied the flooding of the river Po.

The scientific satellite Cassini-Huygens, named after Cassini and astronomer Christian Huygens, was launched in 1997 and flew past Jupiter in 2000 on its way to Saturn. It provided the best images ever obtained of Jupiter, in which the planet's atmospheric circulation patterns are clearly seen.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
ChadUnknown i (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)2009
ChadUnknown fdcOne of three stamps on FDC
ChadUnknown ms fdcMS9 on FDC
DjiboutiUnknown d (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdcOne of MS6 on FDC
Finland + France741+2016 sc1 (Mi?+2561 sc1)Cachet on dual-country souvenir card1986"Cassini" (in text)
Finland + France741+2016 sc2 (Mi?+2561 sc2)Cachet on dual-country souvenir card (different)
France2016 sc (Mi2561 sc)Cachet on souvenir card1986"Cassini" (in text)
Grenada2932o (Mi?)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2932 (a-q + label))2000
Guinea RepublicBL1483SS12007Also Cassini satellite
Guinea RepublicBL1483 fdcSS1 and cachet on FDC
Guinea RepublicBL1485SS1 (different)
Guinea RepublicBL1485 fdcSS1 and cachet on FDC
Guinea RepublicUnknown a (Mi?)From MS6 (a-f)
Guinea RepublicUnknown c (Mi?)
Guinea RepublicUnknown d (Mi?)
Guinea RepublicUnknown f (Mi?)
MaliUnknown a (Mi?)
Unknown ia
One of MS2 (a-b)
One of imperforate MS2 (a-b)
2006Also Cassini satellite
MozambiqueUnknown b (Mi?)
Unknown ib
One of MS6 (a-f)
One of imperforate MS6 (a-f)
2001
MozambiqueUnknown ss
Unknown iss
On stamp of SS1
On stamp of imperforate SS1
St. Pierre and Miquelon378 (Mi?)1968Incorrect first initial J, rather than G


Boyle

Boyle, Robert
(1627 - 1691)

Robert Boyle was an Irish-born inventor and scientist who spent much of his life in England. He may have brought a Torricelli type of mercury barometer back to England after his studies in the Continent, and was one of the first to see the potential of the instrument for studying properities of the air. He built his own mercury barometers, and appears to have been the first to use the term 'barometer'. With Robert Hooke, he studied the physics of gases. After reading of Otto von Guericke's work with air pumps, Boyle and Hooke built an improved version, which Boyle used starting in 1659 to conduct a series of experiments on the properties of air. He published an account of this work, New Experiments: Physico-Mechanical Touching the Spring of Air and its Effects, in 1660. Boyle supervised the construction of the first sealed thermometer to be made in England, and his experiments with it were described in 1665 in his paper New experiments and observations touching cold, or an experimental history of cold.

Boyle is best known for his formulation around 1670 of a gas law generally referred to as Boyle's Law. It states that at constant temperature, the volume of an ideal gas is inversely proportional to the pressure. The real atmosphere, to a good approximation, follows this law. (In Europe, it is often attributed to E. Marriotte, who published it in 1676).

In the years before Boyle's death in 1691, John Locke was engaged in editing the manuscript of Boyle's General History of the Air. This pioneering meteorological work included Locke's weather observations for the period 1666 through 1683 as well as those of several other observers. The book was published posthumously early in 1693.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AltaiUnknown gOne of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011(320th anniv. death)
Great Britain2747 (Mi?)One of block of 10 (2756a (2747-2756)), or one of booklet pane of 4 (2756b (2747+2751-2752+2756)), from 2756a presentation pack2010
Great Britain2756a fdcOne of block of 10 stamps on FDC
Grenada1537 (Mi?)1987"Boyle's Law: pressure and volume"
Ireland492 (Mi?)1981
IrelandUnknown b (Mi?)From MS2 (a-b)2012350th anniversary of Boyle's Law
Marshall IslandsUnknown c (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012
Sierra LeoneUnknown h (Mi?)
Unknown ih
One of MS8 (a-h)
One of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
2011(320th anniv. death)
Sierra LeoneUnknown margin (Mi? margin)In (right) margin of MS8 (a-h) (different)
In (right) margin of imperforate MS8 (a-h)


Huygens

Huygens, Christian
(1629 - 1695)

Christian Huygens was a Dutch astronomer. His scientific bent led him to the conclusion that temperature measurements with thermometers would be useful only if they were made using a defined scale. (The first sealed liquid-in-glass thermometer was built in about 1654 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand II. Santorio Santorio used a scale with his air thermoscope as early as 1612). Huygens proposed in 1665 a thermometer scale in which there would be two fixed points: the freezing and boiling points of water. The modern Celsius temperature scale can be traced back to this proposal. However, for many years after Huygens' time there was no agreement on a common scale, since several different ones were proposed, and used to different degrees (for more information, see the entries for Newton, Fahrenheit, Roemer, Celsius and Kelvin; no philatelic items for Ferdinand II and Santorio are known).

The scientific satellite Cassini-Huygens, named after Huygens and astronomer Giovanni Cassini, was launched in 1997, with the goal of studying Jupiter and Saturn. It arrived near Saturn in 2004, only a few months after Huygens' 375th birth anniversary, and its detachable probe (the part of the satellite that bore the name "Huygens") was launched into the atmosphere of Titan to make measurements there.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Comoro Islands412 (Mi506)
i412

Imperforate
1979(350th anniv. birth)
Comoro Islands412a (BL204)
i412a
SS1 (412)
Imperforate SS1 (i412)
DjiboutiUnknown a (Mi?)
Unknown ia
One of MS4 (a-d)
One of imperforate MS4 (a-d)
2006
France2016 sc (Mi2561 sc)Cachet on souvenir card1986"Huygens" (in text)
Grenada2932h (Mi?)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2932 (a-q + label))2000
Guinea RepublicBL1484SS12007Also Huygens probe
Guinea RepublicBL1484 fdcSS1 and cachet on FDC
Guinea RepublicUnknown b (Mi?)From MS6 (a-f)
Guinea RepublicUnknown e (Mi?)
Guinea RepublicMi5747-5752 ms6In (right) margin of MS6 (Mi5747-5752)2007
Guinea-BissauUnknown c (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2009
MaliUnknown a (Mi?)
Unknown ia
One of MS2 (a-b)
One of imperforate MS2 (a-b)
2006Also Huygens probe
MaliUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2011
MaliUnknown ms fdcMS2 on FDC
NetherlandsB36 (Mi?)1928(300th anniv. birth)
NetherlandsP8725 guilders (banknote)1955
NetherlandsB365 (Mi?)1962Huygens' pendulum clock
Netherlands731 (Mi?)1988Huygens and Newton (in text)
Netherlands1335 (Mi?)One of pair (1335a (1334-1335))2009Huygen's lens
RwandaUnknown d (Mi?)One of MS12 (a-l)2009
Sierra Leone1167c (Mi1358)One of MS9 (1167 (a-i)) (Mi1356-1364)1990
Sierra Leone1167 fdcMS9 on FDC
St. Thomas and Prince IslandUnknown c (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2008


Locke

Locke, John
(1632 - 1704)

John Locke was an English physician and philosopher. He was a friend of Robert Boyle, who urged him to keep a weather diary or weather journal following a trend that originated in the Royal Society in the 1660s. Robert Hooke also encouraged this type of activity and published a comprehensive set of instructions for making weather observations in his paper 'A Method for Making a History of the Weather'. It was presented to the Royal Society in around 1663. Locke started his own weather journal in 1666 and continued to fill it out, though with some gaps, until 1703. He generally approached the activity with enthusiasm, since he believed that the regular collection of meteorological data would contribute to the understanding of weather patterns. For example, during the first 6 months of his residency in Oxford, he managed to record almost every day at least two readings of his thermometer, barometer and wind gauge. Boyle cited some of Locke's data in the article in which he coined the term 'barometer'.

In the years before Boyle's death in 1691, Locke was engaged in editing the manuscript of Boyle's General History of the Air. This pioneering meteorological work included Locke's weather observations for the period 1666 through 1683 as well as those of several other observers. The book was published posthumously early in 1693.

While living in Essex, Locke continued to read his instruments and record the observations at least once a day from 1691 to 1703.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
United StatesNoneCancel (black and round)late 1800sLocke NY (city, named after Locke)
United StatesNoneCancel (red and oval)late 1800sLocke NY (city, named after Locke)
United StatesNoneCancel on cover1894Locke Mills ME (city, named after Locke)


Wren

Wren, Christopher
(1632 - 1723)

Christopher Wren was an English mathematician, astronomer and architect who had a wide variety of scientific interests, including meteorology. While studying at Oxford in around 1650, he produced preliminary designs for a rain gauge and an automatic weather observing station. In the 1660s and 1670s he experimented with a swinging plate anemometer of the type invented by Alberti in 1450; an instrument to measure humidity; "weather glasses" (small open water barometers); and Torricelli type mercury barometers. In the early 1660s, probably in collaboration with Robert Hooke, he also constructed a tipping bucket rain gauge for recording rainfall amounts. This was the earliest English rain gauge, and the first recording rain gauge ever constructed. Benedetto Castelli had devised the first (non-recording) European rain gauge in Italy in 1639, and earlier rain gauges date from the mid-14th century in Korea, in the reign of King Sejong, and from much earlier still in China and India.

Wren continued to refine his idea of an apparatus that he called a "weather clock" that would automatically record the weather, and in December 1663 described his concept to the Royal Society in a paper entitled "Description of a weather clock". Hooke immediately siezed upon the idea and proposed some improvements. The two continued to work together on the design, culminating in the first working model, known as the "weather wiser", constructed by Hooke in 1669. It is interesting to note that Wren's idea of automatic weather recording skipped entirely the idea that human observers might act to regularly observe and record the weather.

Wren realized that weather observations could potentially be used to predict the weather, and in 1679 presented to the Royal Society a possible method for doing this.

Wren also saw a relationship between medicine and meteorology through the idea that there were certain "epidemic seasons" that could be identified. This is reminsicent of the ideas of Galen and Hippocrates who believed that certain climate and environmental conditions were one cause of diseases.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Ascension386 (Mi395)1986Flamsteed House (Old Greenwich Observatory); the building was designed by Christopher Wren in 1675
Great BritainNoneMedallion, also reverse1846Wren, by Art Union of London
Great BritainNoneCancel1973(250th anniv. death), and Christopher Wren school
Great BritainP38150 pounds (banknote), also back1981-1993
Great Britain1006-1010 fdc (Mi1029-1033 fdc)Cancel and cachet on FDC1982350th anniv. birth
Great BritainNoneCancel2002(Upper part of) Flamsteed House (Old Greenwich Observatory; the building was designed by Christopher Wren in 1675
Great BritainNoneCinderella on cover2006
Great Britain2580 (BL?)In (left and upper) margin of MS4 (2580 (a-d))2008"Christopher Wren" (image and in text)
Great BritainNoneCancel2008
United StatesNonePostal card1993"Wren building"
United StatesUX167Postal card1993Wren building
United StatesUX167 fdc1Stamp on postal card FDC
United StatesUX167 fdc2Stamp and cachet on postal card FDC
United StatesUX167 fdc3Stamp and cachet (different) on postal card FDC


Hooke

Hooke, Robert
(1635 - 1703)

Robert Hooke was an English experimental scientist and instrument maker. He worked in a wide variety of areas, including meteorology. Early in his career, Hooke collaborated with Robert Boyle in studies of the properties of gases and in experiments with barometers. Hooke was the first to observe sunspots through the use of the helioscope he designed for studying the sun. He conducted experiments to weigh air and water vapour in 1663-4 and reported on them in his paper Account of experiments concerning the weight of the air & proportion of the weight of air to that of water. He considered the need for scales for thermometers to obtain consistent temperature values. To this end, he proposed that the freezing point of water would serve well for the zero point, but seems not to have considered the need for a second fixed point. Newton and others would later add a second fixed point to their temperature scales.

Starting in 1662, Hooke worked during 40 years as the curator of experiments for the Royal Society of London. In the 1660s and 1670s, he invented or improved upon several meteorological instruments. Much of this work was done in collaboration with his friend Christopher Wren.

Hooke developed the 'wheel barometer', which was a Torricelli type mercury barometer with a mechanical linkage designed by Hooke to magnify small changes in the level of the mercury. These changes were displayed through the motion of a dial on the 'wheel'. This type of barometer was common long after Hooke's time. The weather-related legends such as "fair", "unsettled" and "rain" that were eventually added to the wheel have survived to this day.

Hooke refined the swinging-plate anemometer of the type invented by Leon Alberti in 1450 (Leonardo da Vinci had worked on a similar instrument in the late 1400s). In The posthumous works of Robert Hooke, M.D.S.R.S., containing his Cutlerian Lecture and other Discourses (edited by R. Waller, published by Sam Smith and Beni Walford, London, 1705) it is recorded that on 14 November 1683 "Mr Hooke shew'd an instrument to measure the velocity of the air or wind and find the strength thereof which was by four vanes put upon an axis and made very light and easy for motion; and the vanes so contrived as that they could be set to what slope should be desired". This design was the most commonly-used anemometer for some 200 years after Hooke's time, and later versions were used through the mid-20th Century in the USSR and Soviet bloc countries. Mikhail Lomonosov experimented with his own design of a rotating anemometer in around 1750. The first modern wind measuring instrument, the rotating cup anemometer, was invented by Thomas Robinson in 1846.

Hooke constructed the first practical hygrometer for humidity measurements, based on his observation that the hairs from a goat's beard would bend when dry and straighten out when wet.

In 1663 Hooke presented to the Royal Society a paper entitled "A method for making the history of the weather". It contained a comprehensive set of instructions for making weather observations, and also Hooke's recommendation that a national or international network of stations be established for the purpose of making weather observations to a common standard with calibrated instruments. These were yet more ideas that were far ahead of his time: the earliest networks of stations performing regular weather observations were set up in some European countries in approximately the mid-1850s.

In around 1669, Hooke presented to the Royal Society a working version of Wren's weather clock, known as the "weather wiser". Wren had presented his design to the Society in 1663, and Hooke had promptly improved upon it. Hooke and Wren continued to develop the apparatus together, though Hooke did the actual construction. The weather wiser incorporated Wren's tipping bucket rain gauge, and used trip hammers to mark the paper on a rotating drum with continuous measurements of pressure, temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind speed and wind direction. This was, in fact, the world's first automatic weather observing station. As a complicated mechanical apparatus, it was probably in need of constant repairs, but the concept of such a device as well as its construction was certainly revolutionary and far ahead of the times.

Hooke was also interested in practical aspects of the weather, and argued that hurricanes, storms, mists and fogs were all effects associated with 'denser air'. He also made detailed drawings of snowflakes and hailstones.

Hooke realised that if daily meteorological readings were tabulated, it might then be possible to use them to forecast the weather, especially if the readings were available from a number of stations in a network. His friend and colleague Wren presented a possible method for doing this to the Royal Society in 1679.

For all his meteorological work, and particularly for his development of meteorological instrumentation and his prescient recommendation that regular weather observations should be made to common standards in a network of observing stations, Hooke has been called the 'father of scientific meteorology'.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
DjiboutiUnknown a (Mi?)
Unknown ia
One of MS4 (a-d)
One of imperforate MS4 (a-d)
2006
Grenada2932i (Mi?)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2932 (a-q + label))2000"1663: Robert Hooke identifies cells"


Newton

Newton, Isaac
(16421 - 1727)

Isaac Newton was an English physicist and mathematician who made many important scientific discoveries. In the area of temperature measurement, he considered how thermometers could provide standard, reproducible values, and adopted Huygens' idea of a temperature scale defined by two fixed values. Huygens had suggested the freezing and boiling points of water as the two reference values. Newton kept the freezing point as his lower fixed value, but suggested that the upper reference be equal to the human body temperature. He then divided the range between the two reference values into 12 equal segments (so the body temperature would be equal to 12 degrees on this scale). Newton extrapolated the scale to warmer temperatures and found that its value for the boiling point of water would be about 33 degrees. He put forth these ideas in around 1701. Roemer and Fahrenheit would later build on this approach. It is interesting to note that Newton's scale corresponds closely to the modern Celsius temperature scale in the following way: if we multiply Newton's reference values by 3, then we retain 0° (3x 0) for the freezing point of water (0°C), and obtain 36° (3x 12) for the normal human body temperature (actually 37°C) and 99° (3x 33) for the boiling point of water (actually 100°C).

Newton studied the properties of light, and confirmed Descartes' observation that white light would be separated into its constituent colours through the process of refraction. He then developed a theory to explain the colours, and showed in his work Opticks, published in 1704, that his theory explained the arrangement of colours observed in a rainbow.

To honour his scientific work, Newton's name was given to the SI (International System of Units) unit of force. One newton is equal to one kilogram metre per second squared. See the SI (metric system) unit names page for other persons after whom metric units were named.

See also the X-ray Multi-mirror Mission (XMM) / Newton astronomy satellite that was launched in 1999.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AjmanMi9941971Newton (in inset at upper-left)
AjmanMi994 dsDeluxe sheet (Mi994), from deluxe proof sheet of 8
AjmanMi994 proofsProof sheet of 15
Ajman StateMi2781A-2788A_label
Mi2781B-2788B_label
Label from MS8 (Mi2781A-2788A + 8 labels)
Label from imperforate MS8 (Mi2781B-2788B + 8 labels)
1972(330th anniv. birth)
Alderney (Great Britain)KM127a5 pound (silver coin), also obverse2006
AltaiUnknown aOne of and in (left) margin of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from and in centre of self-adhesive MS282011(370th anniv. birth, in 2012)
Ascension142 (Mi142)1971
Ascension142aBooklet pane of 4 (4x 142)
Ascension143bBooklet of 24 (4x (138-143)), with booklet cover
Ascension385 (Mi394)1986"Newton's reflector telescope"
BelgiumB1059 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC back, also front1987"Newton" (in text); (260th anniv. death)
BeninC276 (Mi117)1977250th anniv. death
Benin1165 (BL50)On stamp of SS11999"Isaac Newton" locomotive
Bulgaria3793 (Mi4079)1993(350th anniv. birth)
Burundi759 (BL?)SS12000
Central African Republic780 (Mi1188)1985"Newton" telescope
Central African Republic780a (BL359)SS1 (780)
Central African Republic779-780 fdcOne of two stamps on FDC
Central African Republic781 (Mi1189)Newton and Halley
Central African Republic781a (BL360)SS1 (781)
Chad440B (BL151)

i440B

Gold foil SS1
Imperforate gold foil SS1
1983(340th anniv. birth, in 1982)
Chad806g (Mi?)One of MS9 (806 (a-i))1999
ChadUnknown ss (BL?)In (upper-left) margin of SS12009
ChadUnknown ss fdcSS1 on FDC
China (People's Republic)NonePhonecard200x
China (People's Republic)NonePhonecard (different)2005
China (People's Republic)NonePhonecard (different)2005?
China (People's Republic)NonePhonecard (different)2005
China (People's Republic)NonePhonecard (different)2005?
China (People's Republic)NonePhonecard (different)2005
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4, also front2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back4 (different), also front (same)2009
Comoro IslandsB4 (Mi?)
iB4
In (lower) margin of MS8 (B4 (a-h))
In (lower) margin of imperforate MS8 (iB4 (a-h))
1988"Newton" (in lower margin text)
Comoro IslandsUnknown label (Mi2296-2301 label)Label from MS6 (a-f + label)2009
Congo (People's Republic, Brazzaville)C238 (Mi588)1977(250th anniv. death)
Congo RepublicMi1693One of MS6 (Mi1691-1696)2000
De La Rue (PLC)None"1" (test banknote), also back?
DjiboutiUnknown d (Mi?)
Unknown id
One of MS4 (a-d)
One of imperforate MS4 (a-d)
2006
DjiboutiUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010
DjiboutiUnknown a+selvedge (Mi?+selvedge)One of MS3 (a-f) and selvedge
DjiboutiUnknown ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (a)
DubaiC57 (Mi398)1971
Fiji551 (Mi545)1986"Newton's reflector" telescope
Finland + France741+2016 sc1 (Mi?+2561 sc1)Cachet on dual-country souvenir card1986"Newton" (in text)
Finland + France741+2016 sc2 (Mi?+2561 sc2)Cachet on dual-country souvenir card (different)
France861 (Mi1171)1957
France2016 sc (Mi2561 sc)Cachet on souvenir card1986"Newton" (in text)
GabonUnknown (Mi?)2011
GabonUnknown ss (BL?)SS1
GabonUnknown ss fdcSS1 and cachet on FDC
GermanyNoneCinderella (poster stamp)early 1900s
Germany1771 (Mi1646)1993(350th anniv. birth)
Germany1771 blackBlackprint
Germany1771 holoHologram
Germany1771 folderFDC folder
Germany1771 fdc1Stamp and cancel on FDC350th anniv. birth
Germany1771 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet on FDC
Germany1771 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Ghana1031 (Mi1158)
i1031

Imperforate
1987Wedgewood memorial to Newton; (260th anniv. death)
Ghana1130 (Mi1276)1031 overprinted1989Wedgewood memorial to Newton
Ghana1130a (Mi2180)
i1130a
1031 overprinted with comet logo
i1031 overprinted with comet logo
Gibraltar1201 (Mi?)From MS8 (1201a (8x 1201))2009
Gibraltar1198-1201 fdcOne of four stamps on FDC
Great BritainNoneHalfpenny (trade token), also reverse1793
Great BritainNoneMedallion, also reverse~1970
Great BritainP377a1 pound (banknote)1978—1980
Great BritainP377b1 pound (banknote), also back1981—1984Isaac Newton
Great Britain1172 (Mi1101)1987(260th anniv. death)
Great Britain1172 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Great Britain1173 (Mi1102)
Great Britain1174 (Mi1103)
Great Britain1175 (Mi1104)
Great BritainNoneCancel1987(260th anniv. death)
Great BritainNoneCancel (different)
Great BritainNoneCancel (different)
Great BritainNoneCancel (different)
Great BritainNoneCancel (different)
Great Britain1337 (Mi1297)1990(Newton's telescope)2 (at left in stamp, and also in cachets of 1336-1339 fdc3 and fdc4)
Great Britain1337 cardPHQ card
Great Britain1337 fdcStamp on FDC
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc1One of four stamps on FDC
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc2One of four stamps on FDC (different)
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc3One of four stamps and cachet on FDC (different)
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc4One of four stamps and cachet (same) on FDC (different cancel)
Great Britain1870 (Mi?)1999
Great Britain1870a (BL?)MS4 (4x 1870)
Great Britain2748 (Mi?)One of block of 10 (2756a (2747-2756)), or one of blooklet pane of 4 (2754a (2748-2749+2x 2754)), from 2756a presentation pack2010
Great Britain2756a fdcOne of block of 10 stamps on FDC
Great BritainNoneCancel and cachet on cover2010
Great BritainNoneCancel (different) and cachet (different) on cover2010
Great BritainNoneCancel2010
Great BritainNoneCancel (different)2010(Newton's telescope)
Great Britain2317 ms (BL?)On 10 labels and in (surrounding) margin of MS10 (10x 2317 + 10 labels). also detail2010Newton; reproductions of Great Britain 1172-1175 (in lower-right margin)
Grenada1535 (Mi1687)1987(260th anniv. death)
GrenadaB14 (Mi1974)1989"Halley publishes Newton's Principia, 1687"
Grenada2932d (Mi?)One and in (left) margin MS17 (2932 (a-q + label))2000
Grenada2932p (Mi?)One and in (left) margin MS17 (2932 (a-q + label))
GrenadaUnknown ms (Mi?)On one of MS4 (a-d)2011
GrenadaUnknown ss (BL?)In (right) margin of SS1
GrenadaUnknown ss fdcSS1 on FDC
Grenada Grenadines909 (Mi914)1987(260th anniv. death)
Grenada Grenadines1539 (Mi1711)1993(350th anniv. birth), also (Newton's telescope)2
Guinea Republic987a (BL216)In (lower-right) margin of SS1 (987)1986"Newton", and "Telescope de Newton"
Guinea Republic988 (Mi1110A)
i988 (Mi1110B)

Imperforate
Halley and Newton
Guinea Republic988a (BL217)
i988a
SS1 (988)
Imperforate SS1 (i988)
Guinea Republic989b (Mi1106-1111)On one of MS6 (984-989)
Guinea Republic990 (BL212)In (left) margin of SS1(Newton ?)
Guinea RepublicBL220In (upper) margin of SS11986Newton (with Halley)
Guinea Republic1262c (Mi1483)One of strip of 3 (1262 (a-c))1994
Guinea RepublicBL1484SS12007"Télescope de Isaac Newton" (in text on stamp); also Christian Huygens
Guinea RepublicBL1484 fdcSS1 on FDC
Guinea RepublicMi5883One of MS6 (Mi5880-5885)2008
Guinea RepublicMi5880-5885_ms6 fdcOne of MS6 on FDC
Guinea-BissauUnknown (Mi?)2003
Guinea-BissauUnknown ss (BL?)
Unknown iss
SS1 (stamp)
Imperforate SS1
Guinea-BissauMi3934A
Mi3934B
One of MS6 (Mi3930A-3935A)
One of imperforate MS6 (Mi3930B-3935B)
2008
Guinea-BissauMi3930A-3935A_ms6 fdc
Mi3930B-3935B_ms6 fdc
MS6 on FDC
Imperforate MS6 on FDC
Guinea-BissauUnknown (Mi?)2009
Guinea-BissauUnknown ss (BL?)In (lower-left and center-right) margin of SS1
Guinea-BissauMi4447From MS5 (Mi4444-4448)2009
Hungary2485 (Mi3199)Stamp and label, from MS4 (2485a (4x 2485 + 4 labels))1977(250th anniv. death)
India767 (Mi?)1977Newton (in text)
Ivory CoastUnknown ss (BL?)SS12012(370th anniv. birth)
Ivory CoastUnknown ms (Mi?)MS2 (a-b)2013370th anniv. birth
Korea (North)2134 (Mi2185)Stamp-on-stamp: France 8611981
Korea (North)3265 (Mi3483)1993(350th anniv. birth)
Korea (North)3266 (Mi3484)
Korea (North)3267 (Mi3485)
Korea (North)3268 (Mi3486)
Korea (North)3269 (Mi3487)
Korea (North)3265-3269 proofsDeluxe proofs
Korea (North)3265a (BL?)MS3 (3265-3266+3269)
Korea (North)3265b (BL?)MS3 (3265+3267-3268)
Korea (North)3878 (BL?)In (lower-middle) margin of MS3 (3878 (a-c))1999Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and Halley
Korea (North)3878 varIn (lower-middle) margin of MS3, red missing
Laos581 (Mi770)1984
Lesotho578 (Mi630)1987(260th anniv. death)
Malagasy Republic1100b (Mi1479)One of MS16 (1100 (a-p))1993(350th anniv. birth)
MalawiUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2008
MalawiUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2011
MalawiUnknown fdcOn one of two MS2 on FDC
Maldive Islands1268 (Mi1279)1988
MaliC301 (Mi570)1977(250th anniv. death)
MaliC301 ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (C301)
MaliUnknown a (Mi?)
Unknown ia
One of MS2 (a-b)2006
MaliUnknown ss (BL?)SS12009Also XMM / Newton satellite
MaliUnknown ss fdcSS1 and cachet on FDC
MaliUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2011
MaliUnknown ms fdcMS2 and cachet on FDC
MaliUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2012285th anniv. death
Marshall Islands963d (Mi2570)Two of MS10 (963 (2x (a-e))) (2x (Mi2567-2571))2010
Marshall IslandsUnknown o (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012
Mauritius626 (Mi622)1986"Newton's contemporary reflector" telescope
MexicoC377 (Mi1336)1971
Monaco1601 (Mi1837)1987Newton's theory of gravity; (260th anniv. death)
Mongolia951e (Mi1051)From MS9 (951 (a-i))1977(250th anniv. death)
MongoliaKM182500 tugrik (silver coin)1999
Mongolia2504h (Mi?)One of MS20 (2504 (a-t))2001
MozambiqueUnknown a (Mi?)
Unknown ia
One of MS6 (a-f)
One of imperforate MS6 (a-f)
2001
MozambiqueUnknown ss (BL?)On stamp of SS1
Nagaland (India)Local1972"Newton's" telescope
Netherlands731 (Mi1345)1988Newton's prism
Nevis1185o (Mi1472)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (1185 (a-q + label))2000
Nicaragua878 (Mi1614)
878 back
1971Newton's Law (of gravity)
Nicaragua1489 (Mi2826)1985"Telescopio de Newton" (in text)
Nicaragua1985d (Mi3295)One of MS16 (1985 (a-p))1994
NigerC124 (Mi249)1970
NigerC124 proofDie proof
NigerC141 (Mi267)C124 overprinted1970
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local bOne of MS6 (a-f)2011(370th anniv. birth, in 2012)
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local ssSS1 (stamp + label)
Paraguay871 (Mi1431)
i871 (Mi1439)

Imperforate with changed colours
1965
Paraguay874 (Mi1434)
i874 (Mi1442)

Imperforate with changed colours
Poland884 (Mi1136)1959
PolandNonePrinted stamp on postal card1972(330th anniv. birth, in 1973)
Redonda (Antigua)8737 (Mi?)1987(260th anniv. death)
Redonda (Antigua)Unknown fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC back, also front1987"Newton" (in text); (260th anniv. death)
RomaniaNoneCachet on stamped envelope2003
Russia (USSR)5601 (Mi5758)Stamp and label1987300th anniv. publication of Principia; (260th anniv. death)
Russia (USSR)5601 fdcStamp and label and cancel on FDC
RwandaUnknown (Mi?)1999
RwandaUnknown f (Mi?)One of MS12 (a-l)2009
St. Pierre and MiquelonC56 (Mi501)1974
St. Vincent920 (Mi934)1986(Newton's telescope)2
St. Vincent2699 (Mi?)1999
Sakhalin Island (Russia)Local ssIn (lower) margin of SS12010Newton medallion
San Marino1023 (Mi1253)1982
Sierra Leone2254h (Mi3398)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2254 (a-q + label)) (Mi3391-3407)2000"1642: birth of Isaac Newton"
Sierra LeoneUnknown g (Mi?)
Unknown ig
One of MS8 (a-h)
One of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
2011(370th anniv. birth, in 2012)
Sierra LeoneUnknown margin (Mi? margin)In (upper-right) margin of MS8 (a-h) (different)
In (upper-right) margin of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
Sierra LeoneUnknown margin (Mi? margin)In (right) margin of MS8 (a-h) (different)
In (right) margin of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
Sierra LeoneUnknown margin (Mi? margin)In (right) margin of MS8 (a-h) (different)
In (right) margin of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
South Africa995a+selvedge (Mi?+selvedge)
955e+selvedge (Mi?+selvedge)
In (surrounding) margin of MS10 (955 (a-j))1996
Staffa (Scotland)Local1985?(Newton's telescope)2
Togo1365 (BL286)SS1 (stamp)1986Halley and Newton
Togo1409 (BL291)SS1, 1365 overprinted in silver1986Halley and Newton
TogoUnknown ms (Mi?)On one and in (upper-right) margin of MS3 (a-c)2011Also XMM / Newton satellite
Tristan da Cunha892 (Mi?)2010
TuvaluKM1720 dollars (silver coin), also obverse1993
Uganda566 (Mi556)1987(260th anniv. death)
Uganda566 fdcStamp on FDC
Umm Al QiwainMi1073AOne of MS16 (Mi1066A-1081A)1972(Newton's locomotive ?)3
Umm Al QiwainMi1073 dsDeluxe sheet (Mi1073)
Umm Al QiwainMi1089AOne of MS16 (Mi1082A-1097A)
Uruguay1629 (Mi2193)1996
Vietnam1600 (Mi1658)
i1600

Imperforate
1986
Yemen Arab RepublicMi909A
Mi909B
Mi916
From MS12 (12x Mi909A)
From MS12 (12x Mi909B)
From imperforate MS12 (12x Mi916) with changed colours
1969
Yemen Mutawakelite KingdomMi863From MS6 (6x Mi863)1969
Yemen Mutawakelite KingdomMi863B o/pMi863B overprinted in red1972
Yugoslavia2502c (Mi?)One of booklet pane of 7 (2502 (a-g + 2 labels)), also booklet cover (MH10)2000(Newton's telescope)2

1Isaac Newton was born on 25 December 1642 on the Julian Calendar. On the Gregorian Calendar, Newton's birth occurred 4 January 1643.
2The telescopes on these items are similar in design to those identified as "Newton's reflector" or "Newton's telescope" on other items.
3The locomotive on this item is similar in design to that credited to "Isaac Newton" on Benin 1165.
4This postal card is only one of a large number of similar cards issued by China for various scientists. No effort is made to list all such cards.


Roemer

Roemer, Olaus (Rømer, Ole)
(1644 - 1710)

Olaus Roemer was a Danish astronomer. In the early 1690s, he began to measure and record the air temperature to account for its effects on his astronomical work, and starting in 1702 he constructed his own spirit (alcohol) thermometers. He also devised a temperature scale to use with them, in which the freezing point of water was 7.5 degrees and its boiling point was 60 degrees. In this scale, 0°Rø would have been equal to the modern -22.5°C. This is in qualitative agreement with Roemer's measurements made with his scale during the very cold winter of 1709.

In 1708 Daniel Fahrenheit, a young scientist eager to learn about Roemer's work, visited him in Copenhagen. Roemer showed him a modified scale, with the upper fixed point of 22.5°Rø being the human body temperature (which he supposed constant), while the lower fixed point of 7.5°Rø was unchanged from his earlier work. Newton in 1701 had used the same two fixed points in his suggested temperature scale. Fahrenheit would later modify Roemer's scale. Still later modifications after Fahrenheit's death led to the temperature scale still used in the US, which can therefore be traced back to Roemer.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Denmark293 (Mi285)1944300th anniv. birth
Denmark293 fdcStamp on FDC
Denmark293 maxiMaxicard
DenmarkNoneCinderella (poster stamp)1944300th anniv. birth
DenmarkP4550 kroner (banknote)1970
Grenada2932q (Mi?)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2932 (a-q + label))2000
MaliUnknown a (Mi?)
Unknown ia
One of MS2 (a-b)
One of imperforate MS2 (a-b)
2006


Leibniz

Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm
(1646 - 1716)

Gottfried Leibniz was a German mathematician. In a letter written in 1702 to Jacob Bernoulli (whose uncle Daniel Bernoulli did pioneering work in fluid dynamics), Leibniz was the first to propose how a non-liquid aneroid barometer would work: he suggested that an aneroid barometer would use "a small closed bellows which would be compressed and dilated by itself as the weight of the air increases or decreases". He first thought that the bellows should be made of leather, but later suggested using metal instead. However, he could find no one who could manufacture the apparatus, and never did construct a prototype himself. (Lucien Vidie built the first working aneroid barometer in France around 1844, but no philatelic items are known that mention him.)

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Albania2515 (Mi?)1996(350th anniv. birth); (280th anniv. death)
AltaiUnknown cOne of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1, also front2010?
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front2010?
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front2010?
Germany360 (Mi395)1926(280th anniv. birth); (210th anniv. death)
Germany (East)66 (Mi269)1950
Germany (East)KM1620 marks (? coin)1966(250th anniv. death); (320th anniv. birth)
Germany (East)NoneCancel and cachet on card1983
Germany (West)962 (Mi518)1966(320th anniv. birth); 250th anniv. death
Germany (West)962 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)962 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)962 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)962 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)962 fdc5Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)962 fdc6Stamp and cancel (different) and cachet (same) on FDC
Germany (West)962 fdc7Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)962 fdc8Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)962 fdc9Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)KM1195 marks (? coin)1966(250th anniv. death); (320th anniv. birth)
Germany (West)NoneCinderella (poster stamp)?
Germany (West)NoneCinderella (poster stamp)?Leibniz (incorrect year of death in text, 1714, instead of 1716)
Germany (West)NoneCinderella (poster stamp)?Leibniz' house in Hanover
Germany (West)1329 (Mi1050)1980
Germany (West)1329 maxiMaxicard
Germany (West)1329 blackBlackprint
Germany (West)1329 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)1329 fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1329 fdc3Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1328-1329 fdc1One of two stamps and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)1328-1329 fdc2One of two stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1328-1329 scSouvenir card
Germany (West)1328-1329 black scBlackprint souvenir card
Germany1933 (Mi?)From MS10 (1933a (10x 1933))1996350th anniv. birth; (280th anniv. death)
Germany1933 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
GermanyNoneCancel and cachet on cover2010
GermanyNone aPrivate post2012
GermanyNone bPrivate post (different)
GermanyNone cPrivate post (different)
GermanyNone dPrivate post (different)
GermanyNone ePrivate post (different)
GermanyNone msPrivate post MS5
MaliUnknown ss (BL?)SS12009Leibniz (in text)
Romania1855 (Mi?)1966(320th anniv. birth); (250th anniv. death)
RomaniaNoneCachet (same design as 1855) on postalcard1966(320th anniv. birth); (250th anniv. death)
RomaniaNonePrinted stamp and cancel and cachet on postal card2004
RomaniaNoneCancel on (year 2004) postal card2006(360th anniv. birth); (290th anniv. death)
St. Vincent1557 (Mi?)1991

1This postal card is only one of a large number of similar cards issued by China for various scientists. No effort is made to list all such cards.


Flamsteed

Flamsteed, John
(1646 - 1719)

John Flamsteed was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal.

Flamsteed studied astronomy independently in the 1660s, without the advantage of formal courses. In 1671 he met the gentleman astronomer and scientist Richard Townely (1629 - 1710) at Townely Hall, where he saw Townely's barometers. In 1661 Townely had used a barometer of the type invented by Torricelli in 1644 to measure air pressure at different altitudes on Pendle Hill in Lancashire. From those measurements he determined a relationship between air density and pressure, which become the basis of Boyle's Law. Townely described his measurements to Flamsteed, and his ideas about using them to attempt to forecast the weather. Flamsteed became interested in the possibility of judging the future weather through changes in the barometer or in the simpler weather glass and was inspired to build his own barometers and also to experiment with thermometers. He set up a barometer and thermometer at Derby where for three years, as often as three times per day, he recorded the height of the mercury and of the spirit in the thermometer. He found that after a period of higher level of the barometer (i.e. high pressure) a fall in the level would be followed within one to three days by wind or rain, depending on the original mercury level and the speed of the change. In Flamsteed's own words, "upon every sinking of the mercury, the air was more moved, and that either wind or rain followed; not the same day always, but one, two or three days after, according to the time and height it had been stationary at".

Sir Jonas Moore (1617 - 1679) was a mathematician and surveyor whose patron, the Duke of York, was the brother of King Charles II. Moore and Flamsteed worked on tide tables for the King, and Moore became Flamsteed's patron. Flamsteed described to Moore his ideas on the use of the barometer, and Moore in turn informed the Duke of York and the King of Flamsteed's forecasts, and the King ordered a demonstration. Moore conducted the demonstration in 1674, using Flamsteed's instruments (which were given to the King) and describing Flamsteed's forecasting rules. Thus Flamsteed found favour with the King who, on 4 March 1675, appointed Flamsteed as the first Astronomer Royal. The Greenwich Observatory, designed by Christopher Wren, was completed in 1676. Flamsteed took up his post there. Early records indicate that under Flamsteed meteorological observations were made at the Observatory, but they have been lost (reference Forbes, E.G., L. Murdin, F. Willmoth and M. Forbes, 2002. The correspondence of John Flamsteed, the first astronomer royal. vol.1, 1666 - 1682. Institute of Physics Publishing, Philadelphia).

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Ascension386 (Mi395)1986Flamsteed House (local name for Old Greenwich Observatory); (340th anniv. birth)
DjiboutiUnknown e (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010(190th anniv. death, in 2009)
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdcMS6 on FDC
Great Britain742 (Mi675)1975Flamsteed House (local name for Old Greenwich Observatory)
Great Britain742 maxiMaxicard
Great Britain1338 (Mi1298)1990(One tower of) Flamsteed House (local name for Old Greenwich Observatory)
Great Britain1338 cardPHQ card
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc1One of four stamps on FDC
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc2One of four stamps on FDC (different)
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc3One of four stamps on FDC (different)
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc4One of four stamps on FDC (different cancel)
Great BritainNoneCancel2002Upper part of Flamsteed House (local name for Old Greenwich Observatory)
Guinea RepublicMi7610One of MS6 (Mi7606-7611)2010(190th anniv. death, in 2009)
Ivory CoastUnknown ss (BL?)In (upper-right) margin of SS12012Flamsteed House (local name for Old Greenwich Observatory)
MaliUnknown ms (Mi?)On one and (upper-right) margin of MS2 (a-b)2006(360th anniv. birth)


Halley

Halley, Edmund
(1656 - 1742)

Edmund Halley was an English astronomer who studied comets and for whom Halley's Comet was named. His many other scientific interests included meteorology and the Earth's magnetism.

As early as 1678 Halley attempted to describe the general circulation of the air, with emphasis on the trade winds and the monsoons, and to relate them to differential solar heating over the Earth. Modern ideas of how the distribution of solar heating controls the atmospheric general circulation can therefore be traced back to Halley.

In 1686, Halley established for the first time a mathematical relationship between barometric pressure and height above sea level.

Also in 1686 he drew what is considered to be the first meteorological chart. It was a map of a large part of the world showing the trade winds and the monsoon winds in a way that, as he explained, "may be better understood than by any verbal description whatsoever" (An Historical Account of the Trade Winds, and Monsoons, Observable in the Seas Between and Near the Tropicks; With an Attempt to Assign the Phisical Cause of Said Winds, Philosophical Transactions, 183(1686), pp. 153-168). In his chart, the winds were symbolized by "the sharp end of each little stroak pointing out that part of the Horizon whence the wind continually comes; and where there are Monsoons the rows of stroaks run alternately backwards and forwards, by which means they are thicker [i.e. denser] than elsewhere".

Halley conducted some experiments to measure evaporation at the headquarters of the Royal Society of London, and used those measurements along with his estimates of the flow of the Thames to estimate the flow of rivers into the Mediterranean and the evaporation from the Mediterranean. This is a very early example of a scientific hydrological study.

In 1700 Halley realized that values of magnetic declination could be displayed as contour lines on a map, and produced the first such map over the area stretching from Europe and Africa westward to the Americas. He was also interested in the aurora, and in 1716 suggested that "the aurorae are caused by 'magnetic effluvia' moving along the Earth's magnetic field lines". In other words, he postulated that auroral curtains are aligned with projections of the Earth's magnetic field into the upper atmosphere (An Account of the late Surprising Appearance of the Lights seen in the Air, on the sixth of March last: with an Attempt to explain the Principal Phaenomena thereof, Philosophical Transactions (1683-1775), 29(1714-1716), pp. 406-428).

Halley's Comet items have been excluded from the table below, unless they specifically show Edmund Halley. Many of those Halley's Comet items are available on the Giotto, Planet, and Vega satellite pages.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
Aitutaki390 label (Mi? label)On label of MS3 (390 (a-c + label))1986Return of Halley's Comet
Ascension386 (Mi395)1986
Antigua and Barbuda920 (Mi930)1986
Antigua and Barbuda973 (Mi978)920 overprinted with Halley's Comet logo1986
Australia982 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cancel on FDC1986Return of Halley's Comet
Australia982 maxiMaxicard
Barbuda787 (Mi893)Antigua and Barbuda 920 overprinted for Barbuda1986
British Antarctic TerritoryNoneCachet on cover1970Halley station
British Antarctic Territory130 (Mi?)1986Halley station
British Antarctic Territory144 (Mi?)1987Halley station
British Antarctic Territory176 (Mi?)1991Halley station
British Antarctic TerritoryNoneCachet on cover1992Halley station
British Antarctic Territory341 (Mi?)2004Halley station
Belize813c (Mi876)One of strip of 3 (813 (a-c)), or three of MS9 (813d (3x (813 (a-c))))1986Return of Halley's Comet
Belize814 (BL?)SS1
Benin616 (Mi435)
i616

Imperforate
1986Return of Halley's Comet
Benin616 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Benin809 (Mi?)616 overprinted1996Return of Halley's Comet
British Antarctic Territory129 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
British Antarctic Territory130 (Mi?)
Bulgaria3153 (Mi?)In (upper-centre) margin of MS4 (3153 (a-d))1986Return of Halley's Comet
Bulgaria3153d maxiImage on maxicard
Cambodia708 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Central African Republic779 (Mi1187)1985Return of Halley's Comet
Central African Republic779a (BL358)SS1 (779)
Central African Republic779-780 fdcOne of two stamps on FDC
Central African Republic781 (Mi1189)
Central African Republic781a (BL360)SS1 (781)
Central African Republic785 (BL357)In (bottom) margin of SS1
Central African RepublicMi1247A
Mi1247B

Imperforate
1986
Central African RepublicMi1247B_ms4MS4 (4x Mi1247B)
Central African RepublicBL399A
BL399B
On stamp of SS1 (Mi1247)
On stamp of imperforate SS1 (Mi1247B)
Central African RepublicBL400A
BL400B
On stamp and in (right) margin of SS1
On stamp and in (right) margin of imperforate SS1
1986
ChadUnknown ss (BL?)SS12009
ChadUnknown ss fdcSS1 and cachet on FDC
Christmas Island180 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Ciskei89a-j fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC (stamps from MS10 (89 (a-j)))1986Return of Halley's Comet
Comoro IslandsC158 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Comoro IslandsC158a (BL?)Imperforate SS1 (iC158)
Comoro IslandsB4d (Mi?)One of MS8 (B4 (a-h))
One of imperforate MS8 (iB4 (a-h))
1988Return of Halley's Comet; Halley's "première carte météorologique" (first meteorological map, in lower margin text)
Comoro IslandsB4d ds (BL266)Deluxe sheet (B4d)Return of Halley's Comet
Comoro IslandsC193 (BL262A)
iC193 (BL262B)
SS1 (Mi862A)
Imperforate SS1 (Mi862B)
Comoro Islands816z (Mi?)One of pair (816S), B4d surcharged1996Return of Halley's Comet
Cook Islands902 label (Mi? label)Label from MS5 (902 (a-e + label))1986Return of Halley's Comet
Djibouti610 (Mi459)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Djibouti610a (BL120A)
i610a (BL120B)
SS1 (610)
Imperforate SS1 (i610)
DjiboutiUnknown e (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdcOne of MS6 and cachet on FDC
Great Britain1133 fdc (Mi1060 fdc)Cachet on FDC1986Return of Halley's Comet
Great Britain1133 maxiImage on maxicard
Great Britain2317 ms (BL?)On one label of MS10 (10x 2317 + 10 labels)2010
Grenada1366 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Grenada1367 (Mi?)
Grenada1368 (Mi?)
Grenada1369 (Mi?)
Grenada1416 (Mi?)1366 overprinted1986Return of Halley's Comet
Grenada1417 (Mi?)1367 overprinted
Grenada1418 (Mi?)1368 overprinted
Grenada1419 (Mi?)1369 overprinted
GrenadaB11 (Mi1971)1989"Halley's initial work on nebulae, 1676"
GrenadaB13 (Mi1973)Halley observes complete lunar cycle, 1720-1738"
GrenadaB14 (Mi1974)"Halley publishes Newton's Principia, 1687"
GrenadaB15 (BL219)Imperforate (only) SS1"Halley charts the southern skies, 1676"
Grenada Grenadines744 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Grenada Grenadines745 (Mi?)
Grenada Grenadines746 (Mi?)Return of Halley's Comet; (captions on 746 and 747 are reversed)
Grenada Grenadines747 (Mi?)
Grenada Grenadines787 (Mi?)744 overprinted in black1986Return of Halley's Comet
Grenada Grenadines788 (Mi?)745 overprinted in silver
Grenada Grenadines789 (Mi?)746 overprinted in blackReturn of Halley's Comet; (captions on 746 and 747 are reversed)
Grenada Grenadines790 (Mi?)747 overprinted in silver
Guinea Republic987 (Mi1109)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Guinea Republic987a (BL216)SS1 (987)
Guinea Republic988 (Mi1110A)
i988 (Mi1110B)

Imperforate
Guinea Republic988a (BL217)SS1 (988)
Guinea Republic989b (BL?)MS6 (984-989)
Guinea Republic990 (BL212)SS1
Guinea RepublicBL219In (upper-right) margin of SS1 (Mi1113)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Guinea RepublicBL220On stamp and in (upper) margin of SS1
Guinea RepublicMi1255SS11989
Guinea RepublicMi4707A-4709A ms
Mi4707B-4709B ms
MS3 (Mi4707A-4709A)
Imperforate MS3 (Mi4707B-4709B)
2007(350th anniv. birth, in 2006)
Guinea RepublicMi4707-4709 dsStrip of 3 deluxe sheets (Mi4707-4709)
Guinea RepublicBL1221SS1
Guinea RepublicMi7606One of MS6 (Mi7606-7611)2010
Guinea RepublicMi7606-7611_ms6 fdcMS6 on FDC
Hong Kong462 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Hong Kong461-464 fdcOne of four stamps on FDC
Hong Kong464a (Mi?)MS4 (461-464)
Hong Kong464a fdcMS4 on FDC
Hungary2977 (Mi3811)1986
Ivory CoastC99 (Mi888)1986
Ivory CoastUnknown ss (BL?)SS12012(270th anniv. death)
Korea (North)2505 (Mi2676)1985Return of Halley's Comet
Korea (North)2505 proofDeluxe proof
Korea (North)2505 essayEssay
Korea (North)2506 (Mi2677)
Korea (North)2507 (BL203)SS1
Korea (North)3878 (Mi?)In (lower-middle) margin of MS3 (3878 (a-c))1999Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and Halley
Korea (North)3878 varIn (lower-middle) margin of MS3, red missing
Korea (North)4172d (Mi4504)One of MS4 (4172 (a-d)), or two of booklet pane of 5 (4172e (4172 (a-c+2x d)))2001
Korea (North)4172d maxiMaxicard
Korea (North)4172d proofDeluxe proof of 2 (2x 4172d)
Korea (North)4172a-d proofOne of deluxe proof of 4 (4172a-d)
Laos730b (Mi?)One of pair (730 (a-b))1986Return of Halley's Comet
Lesotho526 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Lesotho527 (Mi?)
Lesotho528 (Mi?)
Lesotho529 (Mi?)
Lesotho526-529 fdcFour stamps and cachet on FDC
Malagasy Republic798 (BL42)SS11987Return of Halley's Comet
Maldive Islands1151 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Maldive Islands1152 (Mi?)
Maldive Islands1153 (Mi?)
Maldive Islands1154 (Mi?)
Maldive Islands1155 (Mi?)
Maldive Islands1210 (Mi?)1151 overprinted in silver1986Return of Halley's Comet
Maldive Islands1211 (Mi?)1152 overprinted in silver
Maldive Islands1212 (Mi?)1153 overprinted in silver
Maldive Islands1213 (Mi?)1154 overprinted in silver
Maldive Islands1214 (Mi?)1155 overprinted in silver
Mali1035d (Mi2262)One of MS6 (1035 (a-d)) (Mi2259-2262)1999
Mauritania623 (BL66A)
i623 (BL66B)
SS1
Imperforate SS1
1986Return of Halley's Comet
Mauritius625 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Mongolia1563 (BL?)SS11986Return of Halley's Comet
Montserrat607 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Montserrat613c (Mi?)One of MS4 (613 (a-d))1986Return of Halley's Comet
Montserrat656c (Mi?)One of MS4 (656 (a-d)), 613 (a-d) overprinted in red and black1987Return of Halley's Comet
Nevis1185m (Mi?)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (1185 (a-q + label))20001705 - Halley predicts comet's return every 75 or 76 years
Nicaragua1484 (Mi2821)1985
Nicaragua1985e (Mi3296)One of MS16 (1985 (a-p))1994
Ossetia (South)Unknown (Mi?)
Unknown imperf

Imperforate
2001?
ParaguayC642 (Mi3974)Stamp from and in (middle-left and middle-right) margins of MS9 (C642a (5x C642 + 4 labels))1986Return of Halley's Comet
RomaniaC269 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
RomaniaNoneCancel2006(350th anniv. birth)
Russia (USSR)5434 (BL?)In (upper-left) margin of SS11986Return of Halley's Comet
St. Helena316 (Mi?)1977
St. Helena457 (Mi?)1986(Return of Halley's Comet)
Samoa667 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Seychelles588 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Sierra Leone755 (Mi?)1986(320th anniv. birth)
Sierra Leone815 (Mi?)755 overprinted1986
Sri Lanka785 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Togo1365 (BL286)SS1 (stamp)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Togo1409 (BL291)SS1, 1365 overprinted in silver1986Return of Halley's Comet
Tonga616b (Mi?)One of strip of 5 (616 (a-e))1986Return of Halley's Comet
Tonga616b specimenOverprinted "specimen"
Tonga616b proof1Monochrome proof
Tonga616b proof2Colour proof
Tonga617b (Mi?)One of strip of 5 (617 (a-e))
Tonga617b specimenOverprinted "specimen"
Tonga617b proof1Monochrome proof
Tonga617b proof2Colour proof
Uganda485 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Uganda486 (Mi?)
Uganda487 (Mi?)
Uganda488 (Mi?)
Uganda489 (BL?)SS1
Uganda519 (Mi?)485 overprinted1986Return of Halley's Comet
Uganda520 (Mi?)486 overprinted
Uganda521 (Mi?)487 overprinted
Uganda522 (Mi?)488 overprinted
Uganda523 (BL?)SS1, 489 overprinted
Vanuatu425 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Vietnam1599 (Mi?)1986(Return of Halley's Comet)
Zambia354 (Mi?)1986Return of Halley's Comet
Zambia354-357 fdcOne of four stamps and cachet on FDC


Scheuchzer

Scheuchzer, Johann Jakob
(1672 - 1733)

Johann Scheuchzer was a Swiss physician and naturalist who tried to bridge the gap between rationalism and biblical religious belief. He has been called a "religious naturalist".

As a young man he became interested in meteorology, astronomy and mineralogy and made numerous visits to the Swiss Alps, where he used a barometer in meteorological and altitude measurements. His three volume work Helvetiae historia naturalis oder Naturhistorie des Schweitzerlandes was first published in Zürich in the years 1716-1718. In the first volume he treated Swiss mountains, in the second Swiss rivers, lakes and mineral baths, and in the third Swiss mineralogy, geology and meteorology.

However, as Scheuchzer grew older his thinking become more and more religious and he came to the conclusion that nature was the expression of the word of God. He worked to find scientific proofs of that conclusion. In his four volume epic Physica sacra (published from 1728 to1735) he presented his attempts to explain biblical events, and in particular the Flood, in scientific terms, and in fact some of his geological and glaciological findings (which he interpreted as proof of the Flood) were later confirmed in a non-religious context by other researchers.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Greenland1911989"Eriophorum scheuchzeri" (Latin name for Scheuchzer's cottongrass)
SwitzerlandNoneCancel and cachet on cover1977


Bering

Bering, Vitus
(1681 - 1741)

Vitus Bering was a Danish-born navigator and mariner who led expeditions of exploration for Russia in the 18th century. Russia began to explore its Arctic regions under Peter the Great, who commissioned Bering in 1724 to travel to eastern Russia. This expedition, the First Kamchatka Expedition, lasted from 1725 to 1730.

Russian weather had been mentioned in written sources such as the Russian Chronicles as early as the 13th century, but the first real weather observations were conducted only in the 18th century in conjunction with the Second Kamchatka Expedition, also known as the Great Northern Expedition. It was authorized by Empress Anna in 1732, and took place from 1733 to 1743 through several voyages undertaken by Bering, the overall expedition leader, and Aleksei Chirikov, his second-in-command. They explored northern and eastern Russia and the oceanic area between Russia and Alaska (which came to be known as the Bering Strait). The scientific work of the expedition was organized by the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, who instructed the expedition leaders to take to take instrumented measurements of temperature and barometric pressure along with qualitative observations of clouds, thunderstorms and other natural phenomena. Instructions for the weather observers were written by Daniel Bernoulli, who was working in St. Petersburg at the time. As part of the expedition, a network of approximately 12 meteorological observing stations was set up across Siberia, from Kazan to Yakutsk. This network operated until about the middle of the century. Summaries of the weather observations from these stations were published in Louis Cotte's Traité de météorologie in 1774. A permanent network of Russian weather observing stations was set up only in the 1830s, following the work of Adolpf Kupfer and Alexander von Humboldt.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Albania2395 (Mi2486)1991(250th anniv. death)
ChadUnofficial (BL?)In (central) margin of MS6 (a-f)2011
Denmark277 (Mi266)1941200th anniv. death
Denmark277 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Denmark278 (Mi267)
Denmark279 (Mi268)
Denmark277-279 essay1Essay (yellow)
Denmark277-279 essay2Essay (red)
Denmark277-279 essay3Essay (green)
Denmark277-279 essay4Essay (blue)
DjiboutiUnknown d (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)2010
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdc (Mi? fdc)One of MS9 on FDC
Grenada1951 (Mi?)1991Bering discovers the Bering Sea; (250th anniv. death)
MalawiUnknown e (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2008
Nevis1185l (Mi1459)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (1185 (a-q + label))2000
Russia (USSR)886 (Mi856)1941200th anniv. death
Russia (USSR)887 (Mi857)
Russia (USSR)888 (Mi858)
Russia (USSR)889 (Mi859)
Russia (USSR)1905 (Mi1914)1957275th anniv. birth
Russia3281 (Mi3304)1966Bering's ship and map of voyage to Commander Islands
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1975Bering and 250th anniv. start of First Siberian Expedition
Russia (USSR)4924 (Mi5055)1981300th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)4924 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope?bust of Bering
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope (different)?bust of Bering
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope?monument to Bering
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope (different)1988monument to Bering
Russia (USSR)6019 (Mi6221)1991250th anniv. Bering & Chirkof's voyage to Alaska; (250th anniv. death)
Russia (USSR)6020 (Mi6222)
RussiaNoneCachet on stamped envelope2006325th anniv. birth
St. Vincent Grenadines596 (Mi?)1988Bering and ship St. Peter
St. Vincent Grenadines597 (Mi?)Bering in ice
United StatesNoneCachet on cover1942200th anniv. discovery Alaska, in 1741; (250th anniv. death, in 1941)
United StatesC131 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC1991Bering Sea land bridge


Réaumur

de Réaumur, René-Antoine Ferchault
(1683 - 1757)

Réaumur was a French scientist and member of the French Academy of Sciences who worked in many different areas. His principal interest was the study of insects. One of his projects related the growth of insects to temperature. Possibly as a result of that work, he became interested in temperature measurement. He constructed a thermometer in which the freezing point of alcohol was zero degrees and the mark for each degree above zero was determined by one one-thousandth of the volume of the alcohol in the thermometer bulb and tube below the zero degree mark. Under this definition the boiling point of the alcohol he was using was 80 degrees. Such a thermometer came to be known as the Réaumur alcohol thermometer and the 0-80 degree scale as the Réaumur temperature scale (°Ré, °Re, °R). Earlier temperature scales had been defined by Newton and Roemer.

After Réaumur`s time, researchers used different liquids in their thermometers, and some defined 80 degrees as the boiling point of water rather than alcohol. This resulted in much confusion. This is possibly why Lavoisier found, in 1776, that some temperature values provided by a Réaumur thermometer were not in agreement with those of more recent instruments. Mercury eventually became the standard liquid used in thermometers, and new temperature scales were defined by Fahrenheit and Celsius. Mercury thermometers can use the 0-80 degree scale, but by their design they are not Réaumur thermometers. They are given that name simply because of the scale.

In his work in Ecuador in the years 1735 - 1744, de La Condamine was one of the first to use the Réaumur thermometer. The Réaumur scale became popular in France, Germany, Russia and other parts of Europe. However the Celsius 0-100 degree scale (as part of the metric system) was chosen as the standard by France and Sweden in the 1790s, and other countries soon followed. The Réaumur scale fell into general disuse, but lives on in some parts of Switzerland and Italy in the measurement of milk temperature for cheese production.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
FranceNoneCancel1890Rue Réaumur, Paris 16, France
FranceNoneCancel1992Opening of Manoir Réaumur
Germany (West)NoneCinderella?


Hadley

Hadley, George
(1685 - 1768)

George Hadley, a British lawyer, was a meteorologist at heart. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1735 and became responsible for all the meteorological correspondence and observations sent to the Society (mostly from Britain and Scandinavia). He studied the reported pressures and temperatures and from them tried to deduce general meteorological patterns.

Hadley was interested in the trade winds of the subtropical latitudes. They were well known to mariners but early scientists did not understand their physical causes. As early as 1678 Edmund Halley had attempted to describe the general circulation of the atmosphere, with emphasis on the trade winds and the monsoons, and to relate those circulations to differential solar heating over the Earth. Hadley extended Halley's work and published a monograph entitled "Concerning the Cause of the General Trade Winds" in 1735 in the Society's journal Philosophical Transactions (volume 39, pp 58-62). His ideas languished until they were rediscovered and recognized in 1793 by John Dalton.

It is now known that Hadley's theory had some weaknesses and incorrect details. However, it is still very useful as a simplified explanation and illustration of the trade winds. Hadley (and Halley) realized that the strong solar heating in the Earth's equatorial areas must cause a generalized rising of air, which then spreads out and migrates poleward at high levels before cooling and sinking. The return flow at low levels forms the trade winds. Hadley's key insight was to realize that the Earth's rotation causes moving objects to deviate to the right in the northern hemisphere so that the return flow toward the equator, rather than being directly from north to south (in the northern hemisphere), must be northeasterly. This pattern defines a "cell" of winds in a vertical slice of the atmosphere; it is known as a Hadley cell. It is part of what is called the "general circulation of the atmosphere", which is schematically illustrated in Dominica Scott 358 and Grenada Scott 495. In those two stamps, the arrows converging toward the equator (from the northeast in the northern hemisphere and from the southeast in the southern hemisphere) depict the trade winds. Hadley's insight was well ahead of his time; the directional deviation, now known as the Coriolis effect, was formalized by Gaspard Coriolis in 1835, one hundred years after Hadley's work

The Hadley Centre for Climate Change, a research group within the UK Met Office, was named in honour of George Hadley. A Martian crater has also been named after him. A lunar peak called Mons Hadley was named for his older brother, the mathematician John Hadley.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
SpainNoneCachet on stamped envelope2013Hadley Crater on Mars, named after George Hadley (the cachet incorrectly identifies it as a lunar crater, and also incorrectly refers to it as Mons Hadley; the word "mons" refers to a mountain peak, and Mons Hadley, which does exist on the moon, was named after Hadley's older brother, the mathematician John Hadley).


Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit, Daniel Gabriel
(1686 - 1736)

Daniel Farenheit was a German instrument maker who spent much of his working life in Holland. The young Fahrenheit was fascinated with instruments. He travelled through Europe and studied with various scientists and craftsmen. He spent a few years in London, where he became a member of the Royal Society and contributed papers to the Society on temperature, anemoscopes and barometers.

In 1708 he visited Roemer in Copenhagen. Roemer showed him his temperature scale, which had an upper fixed of point of 22.5°Rø (the human body temperature, supposed constant) and a lower fixed point of 7.5°Rø (the freezing point of water). Fahrenheit, no fan of "inconvenient and awkward fractions" according to his letters, modified Roemer's scale. He divided each degree into four parts, so that the lower fixed point became 30° (4x 7.5) and the upper fixed point became 90° (4x 22.5). On this scale the boiling point of water is 205°. He used this modified Roemer scale until around 1717 when he decided to make small changes to the fixed points, so that the freezing point of water became 32°F and the human body temperature became 96°F. On this changed scale the boiling point of water was 212°F. Fahrenheit made this change for a very practical reason. With fixed points of 32° and 96°, there were 64 degrees between the two, and a scale with 64 divisions could easily be drawn by successive subdivisions of the full interval into two equal parts, since 64 is a power of two. This procedure is not possible if the fixed points are 30° and 90°. Later when he discovered that the human body temperature is not constant (e.g. young people tend to have a higher body temperature than their elders), Fahrenheit simply redefined the upper fixed point as being equal to the boiling point of water, with the value of 212°F.

Fahrenheit is generally credited as the first person to make commercially-available reliable thermometers. His originally followed common practice and used alcohol in his thermometers, starting in around 1709. However, he was able to develop a method to purify mercury, and so in 1714 became the first person to take advantage of its properties for use in thermometers. Another of his improvements to thermometer design was the introduction of cylindrical bulbs to replace spherical ones. Fahrenheit seems to have been a good businessman, and his detailed technique for making thermometers remained a trade secret for some time. Perhaps the commercial availability and quality of his thermometers explain why his temperature scale became so widely accepted, while other scales remained in obscurity.

Among the other instruments which he devised were a constant-weight hydrometer and a 'thermobarometer' designed to estimate barometric pressure by determining the boiling point of water. The latter instrument is now known as the 'hypsometer' or 'hypsometric thermometer'. Fahrenheit is credited with the earliest invention of this instrument (in 1724). Around 1800 de Caldas independently re-invented it.

The United States is now the only major country that still clings to the Fahrenheit temperature scale. The vast majority of the rest of the world uses the Celsius temperature scale, which is the accepted international standard for temperature measurement.

The table below includes only items with the name Fahrenheit spelled out. Many other items, indicated only by the symbol °F for degrees Fahrenheit are available on the thermometers, temperatures and temperature units page.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania226 (Mi214)1971Thermometer, "Fahrenheit" (in text)
Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain)NoneCinderella (tan)1960sMonthly temperatures (°F); "Fahrenheit" (in text)
United States4070 (Mi4115)
4070_back
One of MS40 (4072a (4033-4072)), also back2006Record temperature: "Fahrenheit" (in text on back)


Diviš

Diviš, Prokop
(1698 - 1765)

Prokop Diviš was a Czechoslovakian thelogian who experimented with atmospheric electricity. He has been called the "European Franklin". He attempted to draw electricity from clouds and built a functional lightning conductor (lightning rod) at about the same time as Benjamin Franklin, but his work may not have been done completely independently of Franklin's work, which was already known in Europe in the early 1750s. (For example, in May of 1752 in France, Thomas François d'Alibard conducted an experiment similar to Franklin's.)

In any case, a grounded lightning rod was erected by Diviš at Prenditz, Moravia in 1754. This was the first practical European lightning rod. Diviš petitioned the Emperor Franz-Josef in1755 to put up similar rods all over the country and thus protect the land from lightning, but the proposal was rejected on the advice of the mathematicians of Vienna. The lightning rod at Prenditz remained standing for 6 years, until it was torn down by an angry mob convinced that it had caused a drought.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Czechoslovakia661 (Mi867)1954
Czechoslovakia662 (Mi868)
Czechoslovakia661-662 fdcTwo stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
Czech RepublicNoneCachet on postal card1998300th anniv. birth


Bernoulli

Bernoulli, Daniel
(1700 - 1782)

Daniel Bernoulli was a Swiss mathematician and physicist (and the nephew of the mathematician Jacob Bernoulli). Daniel was a pioneer in the study of the movement of fluids. He is remembered mainly for Bernoulli's theorem, a statement of the conservation of energy for certain classes of fluids. One of its basic consequences is what is commonly known as the venturi effect, or the funnel effect (flow in the constriction of a funnel or venturi is faster, with lower pressures, than the flow away from the constriction). This effect can cause strong winds in some short, small-scale gaps in mountainous terrain. One example is the Nu'uanu Pali Pass that cuts through the steep and narrow Koolau Range of eastern Oahu, Hawaii. Northeasterly trade winds of 10 to 20 knots that funnel into the gap frequently accelerate to 40 knots or more in the pass itself. (But in longer gaps other physical processes, unrelated to Bernoulli's theorem, come into play that cause the strongest winds to actually be found at the exit of the gap). Bernoulli's theorem has also been used to explain some of the meteorological characteristics of the strong Santa Ana winds of California. Furthermore, it has been found useful in the study of katabatic jumps (areas where katabatic winds suddenly cease or weaken significantly). Yu et al (Yu, Y., C. Xiaoming, J. King and I. Renfrew. Numerical simulations of katabatic jumps in Coats Land, Antarctica. Boundary Layer Meteorology, vol.114, no.2, 2005, p.413-437) used hydraulic theory and Bernoulli's theorem to estimate the surface pressure change across katabatic jumps observed in Antarctica. They found that the hydraulic theory consistently underestimates the pressure change while Bernoulli's theorem provides a satisfactory estimate.

Daniel Bernoulli spent some time working in Russia. The Second Kamchatka Expedition (also known as the Great Northern Expedition) was authorized by Empress Anna in 1732 and took place from 1733 to 1743 under the overall command of Vitus Bering. The goal was to explore northern and eastern Russia and the oceanic area between Russia and Alaska. The scientific work of the expedition was organized by the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, who instructed the expedition leaders to take to take instrumented measurements of temperature and barometric pressure along with qualitative observations of clouds, thunderstorms and other natural phenomena. Daniel Bernoulli, who was working at the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg at the time, wrote the necessary instructions for the weather observers.

In 1738 Daniel Bernoulli published his book Hydrodynamics, in which he discussed the kinetic theory of gases. He also provided the basic gas laws, including a simple form of the equation of state.

There are no known postal items that feature Daniel Bernoulli, but the table below includes some items that refer to his uncle Jacob Bernoulli.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1986Jacob Bernoulli (Daniel Bernoulli's uncle)
Switzerland939 (Mi?)1994Jacob Bernoulli (Daniel Bernoulli's uncle)


Celsius

Celsius, Anders
(1701 - 1744)

Anders Celsius was a Swedish astronomer and mathematician who worked in thermometry and studied the Aurora Borealis.

Around 1701 Newton had proposed a temperature scale in which the lower fixed point was 0° and the upper fixed point was 12°. On this scale the boiling point of water was 33°. Celsius was probably aware of this work and built on it in 1742 by proposing a 100 degree scale between the freezing point of water (100° in his original scale) and the boiling point of water (0° in his original scale). He published this proposal in a paper entitled "Observations on two persistent degrees on a thermometer". It is not known what led him to associate the higher value with the colder fixed point, and vice versa. Perhaps he wanted to introduce more originality into his work, or perhaps he was influenced by the Royal Society's temperature scale (used until about 1725), in which the '0' was 'extreme hot' and '90' was extreme cold.

In any case, Celsius' proposed scale was intuitively backwards and was inverted soon after his death so that 0° was the lower fixed point and 100° the upper fixed point. In this way the modern Celsius scale was born. It was accepted as a standard, first in Sweden and France, and then across the globe. Temperature values measured in this scale were originally referred to as degrees "centigrade" ('centi' referring to one hundred, and 'grade' referring to degrees). However, in 1948 Celsius' name became the official temperature unit, when the Ninth General Conference of Weights and Measures declared that 'degrees centigrade' should thereafter be referred to as 'degrees Celsius'. In the early 21st century, only the United States still clings to the Fahrenheit scale; the Celsius scale is the accepted international standard everywhere else.

Celsius was also interested in the Aurora Borealis. In 1724 he and his student Olaf Peter Hiorter noted that the aurora borealis are accompanied by deflections of a magnetic compass. This discovery confirmed the relationship between auroras and magnetic fields. Celsius' observations of the aurora were published in Nuremburg, Germany in 1733 in a work entitled Observations of the Northern Lights in Sweden.

In addition to the table below, another list of Celsius items is available on the SI (metric system) unit names page. For a single temperature-related item listed below (from Ghana), the name Celsius is spelled out. Many other items, indicated only by the symbol °C for degrees Celsius are available on the thermometers, temperatures and temperature units page.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Finland + France741+2016 sc1 (Mi?+2561 sc1)Cachet on dual-country souvenir card1986"Celsius" (in text)
Finland + France741+2016 sc2 (Mi?+2561 sc2)Cachet on dual-country souvenir card (different)
France2016 sc (Mi2561 sc)Cachet on souvenir card1986"Celsius" (in text)
Ghana573 (Mi?)1976Temperatures correctly given as degrees "Celsius" (in text)
Nevis1185k (Mi1458)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (1185 (a-q + label))2000
Sweden1402 (Mi1188)One of booklet pane of 6 (1402a (6x 1402)) with booklet cover, also inside cover1982Also thermometer
Sweden1401-1402 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
Sweden1401-1402 fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC


de La Condamine

de La Condamine, Charles Marie
(1701 - 1774)

Charles La Condamine was a French geographer, explorer and mathematician who spent 9 years (1735 -1744) in present-day Ecuador as part of the French Geodetic Mission in South America. The mission successfully measured the length of one degree along a meridian at the equator. This work, in combination with similar measurements made in Lapland by Maupertuis, showed that the Earth is oblate, as predicted by Newton, rather than spherical.

In addition to their geodetic work, La Condamine (with his colleagues des Odonnais and Bouguer) made measurements of temperature and barometric pressure during their time in South America. The Spaniard Jorge Juan, also part of the mission, estimated the heights of Andean peaks using a barometer. These men's measurements were the first meteorological observations made in what is now Ecuador. La Condamine used the Réaumur thermometer that had been invented only a few years before. He found, for example, that at Quito in 1738 the mean temperature was between 14 and 15 degrees Réaumur (17.5 - 18.75°C). Von Humboldt later (in 1802) found a similar value of 18°C in one set of measurements, and a much cooler 14.4°C in another, while de Caldas in 1804 measured 15°C. Later measurements in the 1800s gave values similar to those of de Caldas.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Ecuador347 (Mi354)1936"Bicentenario de la Misión La Condamine"; La Condamine (center)
Ecuador348 (Mi355)"Bicentenario de la Misión La Condamine"; La Condamine (center); Jorge Juan (at right)
Ecuador349 (Mi356)"Bicentenario de la Misión La Condamine"; La Condamine (center)
Ecuador350 (Mi357)"Bicentenario de la Misión La Condamine"; La Condamine (center); Jorge Juan (at right)
Ecuador351 (Mi358)"Bicentenario de la Misión La Condamine"; La Condamine (center)
EcuadorC39 (Mi359)349 overprinted with AÉREO"Bicentenario de la Misión La Condamine"; La Condamine (center)
EcuadorC40 (Mi360)350 overprinted with AÉREO"Bicentenario de la Misión La Condamine"; La Condamine (center); Jorge Juan (at right)
EcuadorC41 (Mi361)351 overprinted with AÉREO"Bicentenario de la Misión La Condamine"; La Condamine (center)
EcuadorC42 (Mi362)"Bicentenario de la Misión La Condamine"; La Condamine (at left)
EcuadorRA42 (Mi?)C42 overprinted and surcharged1938"Bicentenario de la Misión La Condamine"; La Condamine (at left);
Ecuador1138 (Mi?)1986250th anniv. La Condamine mission to modern-day Ecuador to measure meridian arcs
Ecuador1141a (Mi?)One of four stamps in MS4 (1141 (a-d))
Ecuador1320 (Mi?)1993250th anniv. Maldonado-La Condamine Amazon expedition; "La Condamine" in text; (220th anniv. death, in 1994)
Ecuador1321 (Mi?)250th anniv. Maldonado-La Condamine Amazon expedition; "La Condamine" (in text); (220th anniv. death, in 1994)
Ecuador1322 (Mi?)250th anniv. Maldonado-La Condamine Amazon expedition; "La Condamine" (in text and in stamp); (220th anniv. death, in 1994)
Ecuador1320-1322 fdcThree stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC250th anniv. Maldonado-La Condamine Amazon expedition; (220th anniv. death, in 1994)
Finland741 maxi (Mi? maxi)Cachet on maxicard1986
Finland + France741+2016 fdc1 (Mi?+2561 fdc1)One of two stamps and cancel and cachet on dual-country FDC1986250th anniv. missions to measure meridian arcs; La Condamine and Maupertuis
Finland + France741+2016 fdc2 (Mi?+2561 fdc2)One of two stamps and cancel and cachet on dual-country FDC (different)
Finland + France741+2016 fdc3 (Mi?+2561 fdc3)One of two stamps and cancel and cachet on dual-country FDC (different)
Finland + France741+2016 fdc4 (Mi?+2561 fdc4)One of two stamps and cancel and cachet on dual-country FDC (different)
Finland + France741+2016 sc1 (Mi?+2561 sc1)One of two stamps and cancel and cachet on dual-country souvenir card250th anniv. missions to measure meridian arcs; La Condamine (at right on French stamp); also Maupertuis (on both stamps)
Finland + France741+2016 sc2 (Mi?+2561 sc2)One of two stamps and cancel and cachet on dual-country souvenir card (different)
Finland + France741+2016 sc3 (Mi?+2561 sc3)One of two stamps and cancel and cachet on dual-country souvenir card (different)
Finland + France741+2016 sc4 (Mi?+2561 sc4)One of two stamps and cancel and cachet on dual-country souvenir card (different)
France2016 (Mi2561)1986250th anniv. missions to measure meridian arcs; La Condamine and Maupertuis
France2016 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
France2016 fdc2Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC (different)
France2016 maxi1Stamp and cancel and cachet on maxicard250th anniv. missions to measure meridian arcs; La Condamine; also Maupertius (at left on stamp)
France2016 maxi2Stamp and cancel and cachet on maxicard (different)
France2016 scStamp and cancel and cachet on souvenir card
MonacoNoneCancel1953Condamine PO
MonacoNoneMeter1967Condamine PO
Monaco954 (Mi?)1974Condamine district, Monaco
Monaco954 essaySigned essay
Monaco1823 (Mi?)1992Condamine market


Franklin B

Franklin, Benjamin
(1706 - 1790)

"Some are weather-wise, some are otherwise!" This quip is attributed to Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States. He was not only a political pioneer, but also a scientist with a keen interest in the weather. His work in atmospheric electricity led to his becoming the first American with an international scientific reputation. The body of his weather-related work represents a major 18th century contribution to the science of meteorology.

In Philadelphia, Franklin attempted to observe a lunar eclipse on 21 October 1743, but clouds that arrived from the southwest ahead of a storm covered the sky and hid the eclipse. This happened despite winds near the surface that were blowing from the northeast. Franklin noted this difference, and later learned from his brother that clouds from the same storm had not reached Boston until after the eclipse. Boston is to the northeast of Philadelphia, and Frankin concluded that the storm as a whole must have been moving toward the northeast, despite the fact that the winds near the surface were from the northeast. This is the first recorded instance in which a scientist realized that the movement of a storm as a whole could differ from the motion of the air at the surface.

In 1749 Franklin observed updrafts of air, and concluded that they were due to local heating of the surface by the sun. He was one of the first to present this explanation for this phenomenon. Such updrafts lead to the summertime clouds now known as convective clouds.

Franklin was interested in the Gulf Stream: the temperature of its waters, and their direction and speed of flow, and in fact, published the first known map of the Gulf Stream.

Franklin also studied waterspouts. In his paper Waterspouts and Whirlwinds he included a diagram of showing his hypothesized structure of a waterspout (the diagram is reproduced on USA Scott 4022, which is found in the table below). Concerning their formation, he wrote that:

"The air immediately over it [the Gulf Stream], however, may receive so much warmth from it as to be rarified and rise, being rendered lighter than the air on each side of the stream; hence those airs must flow in to supply the place of the rising warm air, and meeting with each other, form those tornadoes and waterspouts frequently met with, and seen near and over the stream."

Franklin understood the basic mechanism of formation of the extensive fogs that can occur over the western Atlantic off eastern Canada. He wrote that:

"as the vapour from a cup of tea in a warm room, and the breath of an animal in the same room, are hardly visible, but become sensible immediately when out in the cold air, so the vapour from the gulph [gulf] stream, in warm latitudes is scarcely visible, but when it comes into the cool air from Newfoundland, it is condensed into the fogs, for which those parts are so remarkable."

Franklin wondered if lightning was, in fact, an electrical phenomenon. In 1750, he hypothesized that electricity could be taken from clouds via a tall metal aerial insulated from the ground. To do this, he proposed bringing a grounded lead with an insulated wax handle close to such an aerial, and expected that an electric spark would then discharge from the aerial to the grounding wire. This idea formed the basis of his proposal to study lightning through the use of a kite in an electrical storm. This famous experiment has, in fact, almost become a myth, with Franklin at its centre. He certainly could not have safely conducted it in the way it is often depicted, with him holding the kite string with an attached key waiting to be struck by lightning! He knew the potential dangers, and had several ideas on how to safely show that electricity was present. For example, he proposed attaching a Leyden Jar (a device for collecting electricity - essentially, a capacitor) to the string. If the jar was empty before flying the kite and full afterwards, then that would be evidence that thunderclouds contain electricity.

Franklin probably carried out his kite experiment in June 1752. Clearly he had to be insulated from the current; otherwise he would have been in danger of electrocution from a lightning strike (and in fact others, such as Prof. Georg Wilhelm Richmann in St. Petersburg, were electrocuted when they tried to repeat Franklin's experiment). Through this experiment, Franklin proved that lightning is a form of electricity. He explained his reasoning later in 1752 in a letter to England in which he gave directions for repeating the kite experiment:

"When rain has wet the kite twine so that it can conduct the electric fire freely, you will find it streams out plentifully from the key at the approach of your knuckle, and with this key a phial, or Leiden jar, maybe charged: and from electric fire thus obtained spirits may be kindled, and all other electric experiments [may be] performed which are usually done by the help of a rubber glass globe or tube; and therefore the sameness of the electrical matter with that of lightning completely demonstrated."

The results of the kite experiment were not formally published until Joseph Priestley's 1767 History and Present Status of Electricity. Franklin's own publication Experiments and Observations on Electricity, Made at Philadelphia in America…to Which are Added, Letters and Papers on Philosophical Subjects (London, 1769) came two years later. This book presents his investigations on electricity, his kite experiments, and his invention of the lightning conductor.

Franklin's electrical experiments led directly to his invention of the lightning rod. He surmised that large conductors with a sharp rather than a smooth point could be of use in protecting buildings from lightning. These conductors would be "upright Rods of Iron, made sharp as a Needle and gilt to prevent Rusting, and from the Foot of those Rods [would extend] a Wire down the outside of the Building into the Ground;...Would not these pointed Rods probably draw the Electrical Fire silently out of a Cloud before it came nigh enough to strike, and thereby secure us from that most sudden and terrible Mischief!" Following a series of experiments on Franklin's own house, such lightning rods were installed on the Academy of Philadelphia (later the University of Pennsylvania) and the Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall) in 1752. They were so successful that people wanted to make lighting rods for themselves. In fact, lighting rod apparel even became fashionable for a time!

Prokop Diviš erected the first practical European lightning rod in Moravia in 1754, two years after Franklin's first lightning rods in America.

Franklin designed a model "thunder house" to showcase the effectiveness of his lightning rod. In it was a can filled with flammable gases. When static electricity was applied to the top of the house, the electricity traveled down a wire to the can where it made a spark which ignited the gases, blowing the lid of the can off with enough force to knock the roof off the house. However, with a lightning rod is attached to the top of the house, the static electricity was safely transported to the ground and the house was spared.

Franklin considered the Aurora Borealis, and concluded (erroneously) that it must be related to atmospheric circulation patterns.

Franklin happened upon the principle of refrigeration by observing that on a very hot day, he stayed cooler in a wet shirt in a breeze than he did in a dry one. In an experiment one warm day in Cambridge, England in 1758, Franklin and fellow scientist John Hadley experimented by continually wetting the ball of a mercury thermometer with ether and using bellows to evaporate the ether. With each subsequent evaporation, the thermometer read a lower temperature, eventually reaching 7°F (-14°C). Another thermometer showed the room temperature to be constant at 65°F (18°C). In his note Cooling by Evaporation, Franklin concluded that "one may see the possibility of freezing a man to death on a warm summer's day."

Franklin was living in Paris in 1783 (he was the first American ambassador to France, from 1776 to 1785) when the volcano Laki in Iceland erupted (Iceland Scott 577). The eruption was known in Iceland as the Skaftáreldar (the Skaftá fires) and lasted eight months, from June 1783 to February 1784. In the second half of 1783, a persistent haze referred to as a "dry fog" covered Europe, and was observed to be the densest European dry fog since the eruption of another volcano, Eldgjá, in 934 AD. The following winter (1783-1784) was very cold both in Europe and in eastern North America. Franklin concluded that the eruption could be the cause of the dry fog and the subsequent cold weather. Several years of climate extremes followed in Europe, with the eruption as one probable cause.

"During several of the summer months of thc year 1783, when the effect of the sun's rays to heat the earth in these northern regions should have been greater, there existed a constant fog over all Europe, and great part of North America. This fog was of a permanent nature; it was dry, and the rays of the sun seemed to have little effect towards dissipating it, as they easily do a moist fog, arising from water. They were indeed rendered so faint in passing through it, that when collected in the focus of a burning glass they would scarce kindle brown paper. Of course, their summer effect in heating the earth was exceedingly diminished. Hence the surface was early frozen. Hence the first snows remained on it unmelted, and received continual additions. Hence the air was more chilled, and the winds more severely cold. Hence perhaps the winter of 1783-1784 was more severe than any that had happened for many years.

The cause of this universal fog is not yet ascertained. Whether it was adventitious to this earth, and merely a smoke, proceeding from the consumption by fire of some of those great burning balls or globes which we happen to meet with in our rapid course round the sun, and which are sometimes seen to kindle and be destroyed in passng our atmosphere, and whose smoke might be attracted and retained by our earth; or whether it was the vast quantity of smoke, long continuing to issue during the summer from Hecla in Iceland, and that other volcano which arose out of the sea near that island, which smoke might be spread by various winds, over the northern part of the world, is yet uncertain. It seems however worth the enquiry, whether other hard winters, recorded in history, were preceded by similar permanent and widely extended summer fogs. Because, if found to be so, men might from such fogs conjecture the probability of succeeding hard winter, and of the damage to be expected by the breaking up of frozen rivers in the spring; and take such measures as are possible and practicable, to secure themselves and [their] effects from the mischiefs that attended the last."

In this explanation, Franklin mentions Hecla (which erupted in 1768) and "another volcano which rose out of the sea"; one supposes that he must really have been referring to Laki. He was therefore one of the first (if not the first) to consider the effects of volcanic eruptions on the weather and climate, and to suggest that a useful technique to forecast cold winters could be based on those effects. The eruption of the volcano Tambora in 1815 confirmed these ideas: 1816 became the "year without summer" over parts of America and Europe.

In Paris on 27 August 1783, J.A.C. Charles launched the first balloon inflated with hydrogen gas. Franklin witnessed this launch and later described the crowd's extravagant speculations as to the uses to which such an invention could be put. Franklin considered that "possibly it may pave the way to some Discoveries in Natural Philosophy of which at present we have no Conception". Franklin was right: such balloons would soon be used (by Charles himself and others) as the earliest platforms from which measurements of variables such as temperature and humidity in the atmosphere above the surface could be made. These would indeed be new "Discoveries in Natural Philosophy".

Perhaps Franklin's contributions to science and to the politics of his country are best summarized in an epigram on a French bust of him, which states simply that "He wrested the flash of lightning from heaven and the scepter from the tyrants."

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
Antigua and Barbuda901 (Mi?)1985
Argentina660 (Mi?)1956250th anniv. birth
Argentina660 maxiMaxicard
Bulgaria950 (Mi?)1956
Canada691 (Mi627)1976
Canada2155 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cancel and cachet on FDC2006
Congo (Democratic Republic)Unknown (Mi?)2003
Cook Islands447 (BL?)SS11976Franklin (at right)
Cook Islands910 (Mi?)Stamp-on-stamp1986US no.1: Franklin
Cook Islands912 (Mi?)
Cook Islands910-912 fdcTwo of three stamps on FDC
Cook Islands912a (Mi?)MS3 (910-912)
Cook IslandsB130 (Mi?)912 overprinted in silver1987
Cook IslandsKM50$250 (gold coin)1989-1990Franklin (at left)
CubaC150 (Mi?)1956Franklin's kite in lightning storm
CubaC150 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
France814 (Mi1113)1956
France814 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
FranceKM14420.25 euro (silver coin)2006
Great Britain785 (Mi?)1976
Great BritainNonePostal card1976
Great Britain2749 (Mi?)One of block of 10 (2756a (2747-2756)), or one of booklet pane of 4 (2754a (2748-2749+2x 2754)), from 2756a presentation pack2010
Great Britain1756a fdcOne of block of 10 stamps on FDC
Great BritainNoneCancel2010(Franklin's key)
Grenada631 (Mi?)1975
Grenada1771 (Mi?)1989"Ben and me" set
Grenada1772 (Mi?)
Grenada1773 (Mi?)
Grenada1774 (Mi?)
Grenada1775 (Mi?)
Grenada1776 (Mi?)
Grenada1777 (Mi?)
Grenada1778 (Mi?)
Grenada1779 (Mi?)
Grenada1780 (BL?)SS1
Grenada1781 (BL?)SS1
Maldives2421j (Mi?)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2421 (a-q + label))2000Franklin and lightning
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local dOne of MS6 (a-f)2011(220th anniv. death, in 2010)
Romania1122 (Mi?)1956
Russia (USSR)1875 (Mi?)1956
RwandaUnknown h (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)1999
United States1 (Mi?)1847First US postage stamp
United States110 (Mi?)1875
United States133 (Mi?)1880
United States156 (Mi?)1873
United States422 (Mi?)1912
United States509 (Mi?)1917
United States512 (Mi?)1917
United States513 (Mi?)1919
United States948 (Mi?)Imperforate MS2 (948 (a-b))1947Franklin (at left)
United States1073 (Mi694)1956"Franklin taking Lightning from the Sky" by B. West; 250th anniv. birth
United StatesNoneMeter1961University of Pennsylvania, founded by Franklin
United States1690 (Mi1277)1976
United StatesNoneLocal postage on cover1976Franklin and lightning
United StatesNoneCancel and cachet (USA 1073) on cover1976"From Franklin's kite to Viking Mars Lander"
United StatesCP183(USPS) commemorative panel (2038)1983
United States2779 (Mi?)One of block of 4 (2782a (2779-2782))1993
United StatesP495100 dollars (banknote)1993
United States4021 (Mi?)From block of 4 (4024a (4021-4024))2006
United States4022 (Mi?)
4022_back
United States4023 (Mi?)
United States4024 (Mi?)
United States4024 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
United StatesNoneCancel (and various Franklin stamps as postage and in cachet) on cover2006300th anniv. birth


Linnaeus

Linnaeus, Carolus (Carl von Linné)
(1707 - 1778)

Carolus Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist. He is also known as the 'father' of modern taxonomy. He explored the relationships between groups of organisms and individual species, and in fact, attempted to describe the natural world in its entirety. As part of this work, he was one of the first scientists to study the effects of climate on wildlife. He was also concerned with the impact of humans on nature, and would today probably call himself an environmentalist.

As part of the International Day for Biological Diversity, the inaugural Linnaeus lecture took place on 23 May 2007 at the Secretariat for the Commission on Biological Diversity in Montréal. Mr. Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Mr. Peter Bridgewater, the Secretary-General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and Mr. Frederik Alfer, the Second Secretary at the Embassy of Sweden in Ottawa, were the guest speakers. The lecture, on "What Linnaeus would have thought of climate change?", focused on the links between climate change and biodiversity, a subject that Linnaeus would undoubtedly be studying if he were alive today.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
Bulgaria998 (Mi?)1957200th anniv. birth
ChadMi2488MS4 (a-d)?
DjiboutiUnknown e (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010
DjiboutiUnknown b+selvedge (Mi?+selvedge)One of MS3 (a-f) and selvedge
Germany (East)389 (Mi?)1958(180th anniv. death)
Hong Kong901 (Mi?)One of MS4 (904a (901-904))2000"Pyrops candelarius (Linnaeus)"
Macedonia414 (Mi?)From MS9 (414a (9x 414))2007(300th anniv. birth)
Marshall IslandsUnknown r (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012
New CaledoniaC162 (Mi?)1980"Coryphaena hippurus Linnaeus" (dolphinfish)
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local aOne of MS6 (a-f)2011
Romania1218 (Mi?)1958(180th anniv. death)
RomaniaNoneCachet on stamped envelope1997"aquila chrisaetus Linnaeus, 1758"
St Thomas and Prince IslandsUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS4 (a-d)2009(230th anniv. death, in 2008)
San Marino1044 (Mi1274)1983
Sierra LeoneUnknown d (Mi?)
Unknown id
One of MS8 (a-h)
One of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
2011
Sierra LeoneUnknown margin (Mi? margin)In (left) margin of MS8 (a-h) (different)
In (left) margin of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
Sweden294 (Mi?)perforated 12.5 vertically, from coil strip of 5 (294a (5x 294))1939(160th anniv. death, in 1938)
Sweden296 (Mi?)perforated 12.5 vertically, from coil strip of 5 (296a (5x 296))
Sweden298 (Mi?)perforated on all 4 sides, from 298b or 298c booklet panes of 10
Sweden298a 1 (Mi273Dl)perforated on 3 sides imperforate left, from booklet pane of 10 (298c), imperforate left
Sweden298a 2 (Mi273Dr)perforated on 3 sides imperforate right, from booklet pane of 10 (298c), imperforate right
Sweden298d (Mi?)Complete booklet
Sweden1661 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC1987(280th anniv. birth)
Sweden2549-2550 (Mi?)2007(300th anniv. birth)
Sweden2549-2550 fdcTwo stamps on FDC
Sweden2561 (Mi?)On both stamps and in (lower) margin of MS2 (2561 (a-b))2007300th anniv. birth
Thailand1803 (Mi?)One of MS4 (1805a (1802-1805))1998"Panthera pardus Linnaeus"
Russia (USSR)1955 (Mi2048)1958250th anniv. birth (in 1957); (180th anniv. death)


Euler

Euler, Leonard
(1707 - 1783)

Leonard Euler was a Swiss mathematician who studied a variety of problems in pure and applied mathematics. He worked extensively in the field of hydrodynamics, and in September 1755 presented a memoir entitled Principes généraux du mouvement des fluides ("General principles of fluid motion") to the Académie royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres of Berlin. This led to a paper published for a wider audience in 1757. In it, he described the concept of an internal pressure field in a fluid, which allowed him to apply Newton's second law of motion to infinitesimal fluid elements, and in turn to derive a set of hydrodynamical equations. In effect, his work formed the basis for the science of fluid motion, and Euler's equations have since found application in many studies of fluids, including studies of atmospheric flow and atmospheric turbulence.

Euler's name is attached to one common frame of reference used in fluid dynamics and atmospheric studies, known as the Eulerian frame of reference. In it, measurements are made at a fixed point in a moving fluid, and the equations of motion are written with reference to that fixed point. (The Lagrangian frame of reference is the other one that is commonly used).

Euler also had a passing interest in the aurora. In 1746, he suggested erroneously that the aurora consisted of "particles from the Earth's own atmosphere driven beyond its limits by the impulse of the sun's light and ascending to a height of several thousand miles". He believed that the aurora are common in polar regions because "near the Poles, these particles would not be dispersed by the Earth's rotation".

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AltaiUnknown fOne of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1, also front2010
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1, also front2010
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1, also front2010
Germany (East)58 (Mi?)1950
Germany (East)353 (Mi?)1957(250th anniv. birth)
Germany (East)353-354 fdcOne of two stamps on FDC
Germany (East)2371 (Mi?)1983(200th anniv. death)
Germany (East)2371 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (East)2371 coverStamp and cancel on cover
GermanyNone 1Personalized2011
GermanyNone 2Personalized (different)
GermanyNone 3Personalized (different)
Guinea-BissauBL671In (upper-right) margin of SS12008
Guinea-BissauBL671A fdc
BL671B fdc
SS1 on FDC
Imperforate SS1 and cachet on FDC
Guinea-BissauUnknown (Mi?)2009
Guinea-BissauUnknown ss (BL?)In (lower-right) margin of SS1
Guinea-BissauMi4448From MS5 (Mi4444-4448)2009
SwitzerlandB267 (Mi?)1957(250th anniv. birth)
SwitzerlandB267 coverStamp and cachet on cover
SwitzerlandP5310 franken (banknote)1979—1992
Switzerland1257 (Mi?)2007300th anniv. birth
Switzerland1257 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Switzerland1257 stripSelvedge on strip of 5
Switzerland1257 blockFirst Day cancel on block of 4 stamps
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on postcard2007(300th anniv. birth)
Russia (USSR)1932 (Mi?)1957250th anniv. birth
RussiaNoneCachet on stamped envelope2007(300th anniv. birth)

1This postal card is only one of a large number of similar cards issued by China for various scientists. No effort is made to list all such cards.


2Buffon

de Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc (Comte de Buffon)
(1707 - 1788)

Georges Buffon was a French naturalist, biologist, mathematician and the keeper of the Royal Botanical Garden near Paris. He studied a wide variety of scientific topics, and attempted in his Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière to present the entire sum of knowledge of natural history and related sciences in a single massive work.

Buffon noted that different regions could have distinct animals and plants despite similar environments. He believed that animal species originated in a "centre of creation" and that they could improve or degenerate during a movement away from that centre. He felt that such a spreading-out must have been facilitated by changes in the climate.

Buffon proposed that the flora and fauna of the New World were inferior to those of Europe, through, among other things, some defective characteristics of its climate. He wrote in the Histoire naturelle that "In America, therefore, animated Nature is weaker, less active, and more circumscribed in the variety of her productions; for we perceive, from the enumeration of the American animals, that the number of species is not only fewer, but, in general, that all the animals are much smaller than those of the Old Continent... In this New World, therefore, there is some combination of elements and other physical causes, something that opposes the amplification of animated Nature: there are obstacles to the development... These effects must be referred to the quality of the earth and atmosphere, to the degree of heat and moisture, to the situation and height of mountains, to the quantity of running and stagnant waters, to the extent of forests, and, above all, to the inert condition of Nature in that country. In this part of the globe, the heat in general is much less, and the humidity much greater".

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison realized that this thesis had to be refuted if America were to be considered as a peer by the European nations. To this end, they conducted their own programs of weather observations as well as studies of American fauna.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Cameroun360 (Mi?)1962"Cobe de Buffon" (Buffon's antelope)
Cameroun 362 (Mi?)1962
Cameroun679 (Mi?)1980"Cob de Buffon" (Buffon's antelope)
Cameroun889 (Mi?)679 overprinted "République du Cameroun"1993"Cob de Buffon" (Buffon's antelope)
Cameroun889aBooklet pane of 4 (4x 889)1993
Central Africa236 (Mi?)1975"Cob de Buffon" (Buffon's antelope)
Central Africa236 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Central Africa262 (Mi?)236 overprinted1977"Cob de Buffon" (Buffon's antelope); (270th anniv. birth)
ChadUnofficial? (Mi?)MS42004?
Congo (People's Republic)458 (Mi?)1978"Cobe de Buffon" (Buffon's antelope); (190th anniv. death)
FranceB241 (Mi?)1949
FranceB238-B243 fdcOne of six stamps on FDC
France2123 (Mi?)1988Buffon's Histoire naturelle; 200th anniv. death
France2124 (Mi?)
France2125 (Mi?)
France2126 (Mi?)
France2123+2126 fdcTwo stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
France2124-2125 fdcTwo stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
Ivory Coast1014 (Mi?)1997"Cobe de Buffon" (Buffon's antelope); (290th anniv. birth)
Togo338 (Mi232)1957"Le Cobe de Buffon" (Buffon's antelope); (250th anniv. birth)
Togo339 (Mi233)
Togo340 (Mi234)
Togo341 (Mi235)
Togo342 (Mi236)


Johnson

Johnson, Samuel
(1709 - 1784)

Samuel Johnson was an English lexicographer and author of the first English dictionary. He once said that "when two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather. They are in haste to tell each other what each must already know, that it is hot or cold, bright or cloudy, windy or calm". This preoccupation with the weather is of course not limited to the English; most cultures exhibit it to some degree. However, the marine climate of the British Isles, with rain-laden weather systems arriving mostly from the waters of the Atlantic, is notoriously gloomy and difficult to predict. It is perhaps for this reason that the behaviour described by Johnson is so common in England and the rest of the UK. Nothing much has changed since Johnson's time: the average Briton is apparently as obsessed as ever by weather and climate. A recent poll commissioned by Lloyds TSB Insurance found that 58% of Britons say that when talking to colleagues or strangers, the first subject of discussion will be complaints about the cold or the heat. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Great BritainNoneCancel1984200th anniv. death
Great BritainNoneCancel (different) on cover1984(200th anniv. death)
Great Britain2700 (Mi2813)One of MS10 (2701a (2692-2701)) (Mi2801-2813)2009(300th anniv. birth)
Guinea RepublicUnknown ms (Mi?)In (upper-left) margin of MS6 (a-f)2008
Guinea RepublicUnknown ss (BL?)In (upper) margin of SS1


Lomonosov

Lomonosov, Mikhail V.
(1711 - 1765)

Mikhail Lomonosov was a pioneering Russian scientist who came to be known as the Father of Russian Science. He worked in a wide variety of scientific areas.

In 1732 Vitus Bering was placed in charge of five epic voyages of exploration of eastern and northern Russia and the Arctic ocean by the Empress Anna. They lasted from 1733 to 1742 and came to be known as the Great Northern Expeditions. Lomonosov helped organize these expeditions. He ensured that each ship had the necessary physical and astronomical instruments and developed special ship log books and meteorological log books. He wrote a book in 1763 that described the various explorations of the northern seas from the earliest expeditions to the Great Northern Expeditions. In it he presented his ideas on Arctic ocean currents, sea ice drift, sea ice type and the dependence of the freezing point on the salinity of the water. He also explained the role of the sun as an Arctic heat source and theorized that an exchange of heat through the ice from the water below to the atmosphere above could moderate the cold Arctic temperatures. In addition, he presented one of the first scientific explanations of the aurora borealis.

Around 1750, Lomonosov designed a rotational anemometer: a vertical wheel equipped with vanes (like a small water wheel) that was turned by the wind. This wheel was oriented into the wind by a large flag-shaped paddle that acted as a wind vane. By means of teeth and a cord, this motion was transmitted to a secondary wheel equipped with a speed scale. In addition, the instrument design included a source of mercury that was able to fall into various bins (small boxes) of wind direction. At least in theory, the distribution of wind direction in a given time period could be determined by measuring the amount of mercury that fell into each box during that period. Leon Battista Alberti was the first to experiment with an early form of anemometer in which the wind deflected a swinging plate. Similar instruments were later re-invented by Leonardo da Vinci in the late 1400s and Robert Hooke in the 1660s. The first modern wind measuring instrument, the rotating cup anemometer, was invented by Thomas Robinson in 1846.

The Lomonosov Moscow State University is the largest university in Russia. It was Lomonosov who suggested in a letter to the Count Ivan Shuvalov that a University should be established in Moscow. Lomonosov's plan was for three faculties: Philosophy, Law and Medicine. Shuvalev was a patron of the arts and sciences, and a favourite of the Empress Elizabeta Petrovna. He presented Lomonosov's plan to her, and she agreed, and decreed its creation on 25 January 1755. The University, long known as Moscow (State) University, was renamed in honour of Lomonosov in 1940.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Central African RepublicUnknown (BL?)MS4 (a-d)2011300th anniv. birth; "Lomonossov" with double "s" (the usual transliteration has only one "s")
Cuba3717 (Mi?)1996
Czechoslovakia622 (Mi?)1953Lomonosov Moscow State University
DjiboutiC130 (Mi?)1980Lomonosov Moscow State University
Ghana1029 (Mi1156)
i1029

Imperforate
1987
Ghana1128 (Mi1274)1029 surcharged1989
Ghana1128a (Mi1278)1128 overprinted with Halley's Comet logo
Guinea RepublicUnknown ms (Mi8339-8344)MS6 (a-f)2011300th anniv. birth
Guinea RepublicUnknown ss (BL1949)SS1
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local fOne of MS6 (a-f)2011(300th anniv. birth)
RomaniaB360 (Mi?)1947
Romania1447 (Mi?)1961(250th anniv. birth)
Romania1442+1445+1447 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Romania1443-1444+1446 fdcCachet on FDC
RomaniaNonePostalcard, printed stamp (like 1447)1961(250th anniv. birth)
Russia (USSR)326 (Mi?)
i326
Perforated 12 ½ x 13 ½
Imperforate
1925
Russia (USSR)326a (Mi?)Perforated 12 ½ x 12
Russia (USSR)326b (Mi?)Perforated 13 ½ x 12 ½
Russia (USSR)326c (Mi?)Perforated 13 ½
Russia (USSR)327 (Mi?)Perforated 12 ½ x 13 ½
Russia (USSR)327a (Mi?)Perforated 12 ½
Russia (USSR)988 (Mi?)1945
Russia (USSR)1320 (Mi?)1949
Russia (USSR)1321 (Mi?)
Russia (USSR)1322 (Mi?)Lomonosov Museum
Russia (USSR)1688 (Mi1691)1953Model of Lomonosov University
Russia (USSR)1786 (Mi?)From MS4 (1786a (4x 1786))1955200th anniv. Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russia (USSR)1787 (Mi?)From MS4 (1787a (4x 1787))
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1955Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russia (USSR)1898 (Mi1908)1956
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope196?Lomonosov monument
Russia (USSR)2349 (Mi?)1960Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russia (USSR)NoneCancel and cachet on stamped envelope1960Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russia (USSR)2544 (Mi2550)1961250th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)2544 labelLabel from MS? (?x 2544 + label)
Russia (USSR)2545 (Mi2551)
Russia (USSR)2545 labelLabel from MS? (?x 2545 + label)
Russia (USSR)2545 maxiMaxicard
Russia (USSR)2546 (Mi2552)
Russia (USSR)2546 maxiMaxicard
Russia (USSR)2544 coverStamp and cachet on cover1961250th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)2545 cover1Stamp and cancel and cachet on cover1961250th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)2545 cover2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (same) on (blue) cover1961250th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)2545 cover3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover1961250th anniv. birth; Lomonosov City Chinese Palace (in cachet)
Russia (USSR)2545 cover4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover1961250th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)2545 envelopeStamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on stamped envelope1961250th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)2544-2546 envelopeTwo stamps and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on stamped envelope1961250th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)NoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on stamped envelope1961250th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)NoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on stamped envelope1961250th anniv. birth; Lomonosov Museum (in cachet)
Russia (USSR)NoneCancel (different) and cachet (different) on stamped envelope1961250th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet (different) on stamped envelope1961(250th anniv. birth); statue of Lomonosov (in cachet)
Russia (USSR)2625 (Mi?)1962Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope~1966Lomonosov festival
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1975Lomonosov monument
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1977Lomonosov festival
Russia (USSR)4650 (Mi?)1978Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1979Lomonosov festival
Russia (USSR)NonePrinted stamp and cachet on stamped envelope1980225th anniv. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Lomonosov monument
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1980Lomonosov festival
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1981Lomonosov festival
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1982Lomonosov festival
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1983Lomonosov festival
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1984Lomonosov festival
Russia (USSR)5509 (Mi5658)1986275th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)5509 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Russia (USSR)5509 maxi1Maxicard
Russia (USSR)5509 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Russia (USSR)5509 maxi3Maxicard (different)
Russia (USSR)5509 maxi4Maxicard (different)
Russia (USSR)5509 maxi5Maxicard (different)
Russia (USSR)5509 coverCancel and cachet on cover1986275th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)5509 envelopeStamp and cancel and cachet on stamped envelope1986Lomonosov bridge, Leningrad; 275th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1986Lomonosov bridge, Leningrad; (275th-anniv. birth)
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope (different)1986275th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope (different)1986275th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope (different)1986275th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1990Lomonosov Moscow State University, Ulyanovsk
Russia (USSR)5509 cover (Mi? cover)Cancel and cachet on cover1991280th anniv. birth
Russia6118 (Mi281)1992Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russia6833 (Mi?)2004Catherine II watching a scientific presentation by Lomonosov
Russia6881 (Mi?)From MS9 (6881a (9x 6881 + 3 labels))2005250th anniv. Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russia6881 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Russia7319 (BL?)SS12011300th anniv. birth
Russia7319 fdcSS1 and cachet on FDC
Russia7319 folderFDC folder, also inside
TogoMi3904-3907 ms4MS4 (a-d)2011300th anniv. birth
TogoBL591SS1
Vietnam3425 (Mi?)2011300th anniv. birth
Vietnam3425 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Vietnam3425 maxiMaxicard


Bošković

Bošković, Rudjer Josip
(1711 - 1787)

Rudjer Bošković was a Croatian scientist who worked in a wide variety of disciplines. He wrote some 70 papers on many subjects including optics, astronomy, gravitation, meteorology and trigonometry. He also made observations of the aurora borealis, and following an episode in December 1837 estimated the height of the aurora to be about 1000 km (600 miles). He also put forth some hypotheses about the causes of the aurora.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Croat Admin.)251 (Mi315)From MS9 (251a (9x 251))2011300th anniv. birth
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Croat Admin.)251 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Croatia59 (Mi148)1943
Croatia60 (Mi149)
CroatiaP161 dinar (banknote)1991
CroatiaP175 dinara (banknote)
CroatiaP1810 dinara (banknote)
CroatiaP1925 dinara (banknote)
CroatiaP20100 dinara (banknote), also back
CroatiaP21500 dinara (banknote), also back
CroatiaP221000 dinara (banknote), also back
CroatiaP232000 dinara (banknote), also back1992
CroatiaP245000 dinara (banknote), also back
CroatiaP2510,000 dinara (banknote), also back
CroatiaP2650,000 dinara (banknote)1993
CroatiaP27100,000 dinara (banknote)
Yugoslavia595 (Mi940)1960
Yugoslavia1834 (Mi2210)1987(200th anniv. death)
Yugoslavia1834 fdcStamp and cancel on FDC


Diderot

Diderot, Denis
(1713 - 1784)

Denis Diderot was a French philosopher and writer. In the Encyclopédie, ou Dictonnaire raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers (earliest edition published in 1751 in France by Diderot and d'Alembert), Diderot included one of the earliest definitions of modern meteorology. He wrote: "From the study, conducted with the senses, of wind, rain, hail, thunder, etc, consideration has passed to the determination of their origins, causes, effects, etc, and produced the science called meteorology". Diderot also discussed "meteors" (Météores, comme vents, pluies, tempêtes, tonnerres, aurores boréales, etc - "Meteors", such as winds, rain, storms, thunder, the Aurora Borealis, etc). In the language of the time, "meteor" referred generally to "a body or an appearance of a body in the atmosphere that is formed from substances that float there". The modern word "meteorology" has as its root the word "meteor" in this sense. The Encyclopedia embodied the spirit of the Enlightenment, and Diderot's foreshadowing of the modern science of meteorology flowed natuarally from that spirit.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
BeninC629 (Mi?)Dahomey C93, overprinted2005-2009?
CamerounC320 (Mi?)
iC320

Imperforate
1984(200th anniv. death)
DahomeyC93 (Mi368)
iC93
Stamp and label
Imperforate stamp and label
1968
FranceNoneCancel on postcard back1906
FranceB323 (Mi?)1958
FranceB323 proofArtist's proof
FranceB323 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
FranceB323 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB323 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB323 maxi1Maxicard
FranceB323 maxi2Maxicard (different)
FranceB323 maxi3Maxicard (different)
FranceB323 maxi4Maxicard (different)
FranceB323 maxi5Maxicard (different)
FranceNoneCancel1963250th anniv. birth; (180th anniv. death, in 1964)
FranceB565 (Mi2430)
iB565

Imperforate
1984200th anniv. death; (second cancel on fdc11 shows "Diderot au Château de la Chevrette")
FranceB565 fdc1Stamp and cancel (Paris) and cachet on FDC
FranceB565 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same, but Thiers PO) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB565 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same, but Beauvais PO) and cachet (similar) on FDC
FranceB565 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same, but Ales PO) and cachet (similar) on FDC
FranceB565 fdc5Stamp and cancel (different) and cachet (similar) on FDC
FranceB565 fdc6Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB565 fdc7Stamp and cancel (different) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB565 fdc8Stamp and cancel (different) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB565 fdc9Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB565 fdc10Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB565 fdc11Stamp and cancel (same, but Mantes la Jolie PO), plus non-FDC cancel) on FDC
FranceB565 coverStamp and cancel (same as second cancel in above item) and cachet (different) on cover
FranceB565 maxi1Maxicard
FranceB565 maxi2Maxicard (different)
FranceB565 maxi3Maxicard (different)
FranceB565 maxi4Maxicard (different)
FranceB565 sc1Souvenir card
FranceB565 sc2Souvenir card (different)
FranceB565 sc3Souvenir card (different)
FranceB565 sc4Souvenir card (different)
FranceB565 cardStamp and cancel on card
FranceB565 card1PTT card
FranceB565 card2PTT card (different)
FranceB565 card3PTT card (different)
FranceNoneCachet on stamped envelope200x
Maldive Islands1843b (Mi?)One of MS8 (1843 (a-h + label))1993(280th anniv. birth); (210th anniv. death, in 1994)
Monaco2213 (Mi?)2001Diderot (at right)
Monaco2213 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Romania3591 (Mi?)1989
Romania3589-3591 fdcOne of three stamps on FDC
Russia (USSR)2784 (Mi?)1963250th anniv. birth
Wallis and Futuna316 (Mi?)
i316

Imperforate
1984(200th anniv. death)
Wallis and Futuna316 ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (316)
Wallis and Futuna316 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC


Juan

Juan, Jorge
(1713 - 1773)

Jorge Juan was a Spanish naval officer, astronomer and explorer. He studied various scientific subjects in the Spanish naval military academy and was chosen in 1734 to participate in the French Geodetic Mission in South America. It lasted 9 years, from 1735 to 1744, and successfully measured the length of one degree along a meridian at the equator. This work, in combination with similar measurements made in Lapland by Maupertuis, showed that the Earth is oblate, as predicted by Newton, rather than spherical. In addition, some members of the mission, led by de La Condamine, made the first meteorological measurements (of temperature and pressure) in what is now Ecuador. Juan himself measured the heights of various Andean mountains using a barometer.

In 1754 Juan founded the Marine Guards Company Observatory in Cádiz. Some meteorological observations were made there, though they were not systematic and were not recorded. Before his death in 1773, Juan deplored the lack of interest in making meteorological observations and in taking care of the expensive meteorological instruments that had been imported from England. The original Observatory declined after Juan's death, but a new one completed in 1797 on the same site renewed Spanish meteorological and other scientific work and became known as the Spanish Nautical Observatory.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Ecuador348 (Mi355)1936Juan (at right); de La Condamine (in centre)
Ecuador350 (Mi357)
EcuadorC40 (Mi360)350 overprinted AÉREO
Spain1809 (Mi?)1974(200th anniv. death)
SpainNoneCancel on cover1985Juan and Ulloa and 250th anniv. beginning of the French Geodetic Mission
SpainP16610,000 pesetas (banknote)1992
Spain3317 (Mi?)2004Juan, and 250th anniv. Nautical Observatory


d'Alembert

d'Alembert, Jean Le Rond
(1717 - 1783)

Jean D'Alembert was a French mathematician who pioneered the use of partial differential equations in studies of fluid motion. His work on this topic first appeared in a study on winds entitled Réflexions sur la cause générale des vents (Thoughts on the Origins of the Winds) submitted to the Berlin Academy in 1747. In it, d'Alembert assumed that the winds were generated by tidal effects on the atmosphere and that heating played only a minor role. It is now known that solar heating is the ultimate driver of the atmospheric circulation and winds. Nevertheless d'Alembert's work was mathematically sound and presented for the first time the equations of motion of an incompressible fluid on the two-dimensional Earth's surface represented in spherical coordinates.

Euler recognized the power of d'Alembert's methods and incorporated them into his own work on fluid motion.

With Diderot, d'Alembert was one of the first contributors to the French Encyclopédie, ou Dictonnaire raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AltaiUnknown eOne of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011
FranceB332 (Mi?)
iB332

Imperforate
1959
FranceB332 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
FranceB332 fdc2Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB332 fdc3Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB332 maxi1Maxicard
FranceB332 maxi2Maxicard (different)
FranceB332 maxi3Maxicard (different)
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local aOne of MS6 (a-f)2011


Hell

Hell, Maximilian
(1720 - 1792)

Maximilian Hell was a Jesuit astronomer, mathematician, writer and director of the Central Observatory in Vienna. In 1767 he accepted an invitation from King Christian VII of Denmark and Norway to direct a scientific expedition to northern Norway with the primary goal of observing the transit of Venus and the subsequent eclipse. During the expedition, which lasted from 1768 to 1770, Hell studied the Aurora Borealis and developed a theory for their origin. He and his team also collected scientific data on biology, meteorology, oceanography, zoology, geography, natural history and linguistics for an encyclopedia of the Arctic regions that they hoped to publish. Unfortunately, the encyclopedia was abandoned because of the suppression of the Society of Jesuits in 1773.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Czechoslovakia1670 (Mi?)1970250th anniv. birth
Czechoslovakia1670 die proofDie proof


Kant

Kant, Immanuel
(1724 - 1804)

Immanuel Kant was a Prussian philosopher who was also interested in natural science. He published works on aesthetics and ethics and in a wide range of scientific fields including physics, astronomy, geology, meteorology, anthropology and psychology.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Germany356 (Mi?)From booklet pane of 8 (356a (8x 356 + 2 labels))1927
Germany (East)1542 (Mi?)1974(250th anniv. birth)
Germany (East)KM5320 marks (? coin)1974(250th anniv. birth); (170th anniv. death)
Germany (West)831 (Mi?)1961
Germany (West)1144 (Mi?)1974(250th anniv. birth)
Germany (West)KM1395 marks (? coin)1974(250th anniv. birth); (170th anniv. death)
Haiti414 (Mi?)1956
HaitiC105 (Mi?)
iC105

Imperforate
1956
HaitiC106 (Mi?)
HaitiC107 (Mi?)
HaitiC107a (Mi?)
iC107a
MS3 (C105, C106 and a grey-black 1.25g value stamp of similar design to C105-C107)
Imperforate MS3 (iC105, iC106 and a grey-black 1.25g value stamp of similar design to iC105-iC107)
LatviaNoneCancel and cachet on cover2004280th anniv. birth; (200th anniv. death)


Cook

Cook, James
(1728 - 1779)

James Cook was an English explorer and scientist. His voyages to the Pacific, unprecented for the time in their scope, were both journeys of exploration and of science. Observations were made in a variety of scientific disciplines, from ethnology and anthropology through botany and biology to glaciology1 and meteorology. Cook's ships made the first recorded observations2 of the Aurora Australis (the Southern Hemisphere aurora) in 1773 during his second expedition (1772-1775). Among the members of that expedition were the astronomer and meteorologist William Wales and the naturalists J. R. Forster and his son Georg Forster.

1For example: Around 12 January 1773: "a thermometer was sent down 100 fathoms and when it came up the mercury was at 32 [°F] which is the freezing point, some little time after, being exposed to the surface of the Sea, it rose to 33½ and in the open air to 36. Some curious and intresting experiments are wanting to know what effect cold has on Sea Water". The next day, according to Forster, "Capt Cook took a half pint pot filled it with small Ice to the very top & filled the interstices with water: then was the pot set before the fire. Some particles of Ice were standing above the Surface of the water & the brim of the pot so that it might be said it were more than full. As soon as the Ice began to melt the water sunk gradually in the pot, till at last there was not the least Ice left & the water was ¼ of an Inch below the brim of the pot."

2Wales' observation: On 16 January 1773 William Wales, the astronomer, missed the first sighting of the Aurora Australis. The next day he recorded "I...found it to be the very same phenomenon which we call the Northern Lights in England. The natural state of the heavens, except in the S.E. quarter, and for about 10° of altitude all round the horizon, was a whitish haze, through which stars of the third magnitude were just discernable. All round, the horizon was covered with thick clouds, out of which arose many streams of a pale reddish light, that ascended towards the zenith. These streams had not that motion which they are sometimes seen to have in England but were perfectly steady, except a small tremulous motion which some of them had near their edges".

2An observation by the crew of the Adventure: In February 1773, Tobias Furneaux, master of the Adventure [the companion ship to Cook's Resolution] "kept between the Latitude of 52° and 53° South, had much Westerly winds hard gales with squalls, snow and sleet with a long hollow sea from the SW Quarter so that we judge there is no Land in that quarter... On the 26th [of February 1773] at night we saw a Meteor of an uncomon brightness in the NNW, it directed its' course to the SW with a very great light in the southern sky, such as is known to the Northward by the name Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights: We saw the Lights for several nights running; and what is remarkable we have seen but one Island of Ice since we parted company with the Resolution..."

See the following web sites for additional philatelic information on Captain Cook:

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
Aitutaki171 (Mi?)One of MS2 (172a (171-172))1979200th anniv. death
Albania2477b (Mi?)One of block of 4 (2477 (a-d))1995
Australia376 (Mi?)1964
Australia482a (BL?)MS6 (contains imperforate 477-482)1970200th anniv. Cook in Australia
Australia1727b (Mi?)One of MS3 (1727 (a-c))
One of imperforate MS3 (1727d)
1999
Australia1727b maxiMaxicard
Australian Anatarctic TerritoryL21 (Mi?)1972200th anniv. Cook's circumnavigation of Antarctica
Australian Anatarctic TerritoryL22 (Mi?)
British Antarctic Territory45 (Mi?)1975
British Antarctic TerritoryB1 (Mi?)1994
British Antarctic Territory391 (Mi?)2008
Cambodia1237 (Mi?)1992
Cook Islands63 (Mi?)1920
Cook Islands85 (Mi?)1932
Cook Islands132 (Mi?)1949Cook statue
Cook Islands138 (Mi?)1949
Cook Islands265 (Mi?)1969
Cook Islands446 (Mi?)1976
Cook Islands447 (BL?)SS11976Cook (at left)
Cook Islands480 (Mi?)1978200th anniv. Cook's arrival in Hawaii
Cook Islands481 (Mi?)
Cook Islands482 (Mi?)
Cook Islands482a (BL?)MS3 (480-282)
Cook Islands499 (Mi?)480 overprinted1978250th anniv. birth
Cook Islands500 (Mi?)481 overprinted
Cook Islands501 (Mi?)482 overprinted
Cook Islands501a (Mi?)MS3 (499-501), 482a overprinted
Cook IslandsKM23$250 (gold coin)1978250th anniv. birth
Cook Islands510 (Mi?)1979(200th anniv. death)
Cook Islands513 (Mi?)
Cook Islands513a (Mi?)MS4 (with stamps similar to 510-513)
Cook IslandsKM46$50 (silver coin)1989
Cook IslandsKM50$250 (gold coin)1989-1990Cook (at right)
Cook IslandsKM4191 cent (aluminum coin)2003
Cook IslandsKM11271 dollar (silver coin)2003
Cook IslandsKM6725 dollars (? coin)2009
DjiboutiUnknown i (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)2010
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdc (Mi? fdc)One of MS9 on FDC
Grenada Carriacou2327e (Mi?)One of MS6 (2327 (a-f))2001Cook and ship Endeavour
Laos491 (Mi?)1983Cook and ship Endeavour
New CaledoniaC114 (Mi?)1974
New Hebrides (British Admin.)189 (Mi?)One of strip of 3 (191a (189-191))1974200th anniv. discovery New Hebrides by Cook
New Hebrides (British Admin.)192 (Mi?)
New Hebrides (French Admin.)208 (Mi?)One of strip of 3 (210a (208-210))1974200th anniv. discovery New Hebrides by Cook
New Hebrides (French Admin.)211 (Mi?)
New Zealand197 (Mi?)1935
New Zealand230 (Mi?)1940
New Zealand431 (Mi?)1969200th anniv. Cook's landing in New Zealand
New Zealand434a (Mi?)MS4 (431-434)
New Zealand1413 (Mi?)1997
ParaguayC383 (BL227)1974
ParaguayC464 (BL?)SS11978250th anniv. birth; 200th anniv. death, in 1979
RwandaUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS12 (a-l)2009
Samoa702 (Mi?)1987
South Georgia41 (Mi49)1975200th anniv. Cook's discovery of South Georgia
South Georgia42 (Mi50)
South Georgia43 (Mi51)
South Georgia41-43 fdcThree stamps and cachet on FDC
United States1732 (Mi?)1978200th anniv. Cook's arrival in Alaska
United States1732 fdcStamp and (Colorano silk) cachet on FDC
United States1733 (Mi?)200th anniv. Cook's arrival in Hawaii
United States1733 fdcStamp and (Colorano silk) cachet on FDC
United StatesSP440(USPS) souvenir page (1732-1733)(As above)
United StatesCP91(USPS) commemorative panel (1732-1733)(As above)
Vanuatu735 (Mi?)1999
Vanuatu735a (BL?)MS3 (733-735)


de Bougainville

de Bougainville, Louis-Antoine
(1729 - 1811)

Louis-Antoine De Bougainville was a French explorer, sea captain and scientist. From 1766 to 1769 he led the first French circumnavigation of the globe in two ships, the Boudeuse and the Étoile. The expedition was one of the first of the great naval exploration trips to have a scientific component (through the presence of the naturalist Commerson and the astronomer Veron). A few years later Cook would build on this model in his own journeys around the world.

During his stay in the Strait of Magellan, which separates Tierra del Fuego from the mainland of South America, de Bougainville made meteorological, hydrographical and ethnographical studies (Reference: Museo Territorio, Ushuaia, Argentina). More generally, the expedition logs from his voyage around the globe contained astronomical, meteorological, hydrographical and navigational references.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Cambodia1236 (Mi?)1992
CamerounP-unknown5 francs (banknote)~1946
CamerounP-unknown5 francs (banknote) specimen
DjiboutiUnknown h (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)2010
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdc (Mi? fdc)One of MS9 on FDC
FranceB593-B598 folder (Mi? folder)FDC folder1988de Bougainville and other explorers (on cover)
FranceB597 (Mi2521?)
FranceB598aBooklet pane of 6 (B593-B598)
FranceB597 fdc1Cancel and cachet on FDC
FranceB597 fdc2Cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB597 fdc3Cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB597 fdc4Cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB597 fdc5Cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB597 maxiMaxicard
FranceB597 card(Left image in) cancel and cachet on exposition card
French PolynesiaC47 (Mi?)
iC47

Imperforate
1968
French PolynesiaC47 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
French PolynesiaC47a (BL?)On one of MS3
French Southern and Antarctic Territories322 (Mi?)2003ship Bougainville
Grenada1952 (Mi?)1991(180th anniv. death)
Malagasy RepublicUnlisted proofproof1995
MartiniqueP275 francs (banknote)1947-1949
New Caledonia158 (Mi?)1928de Bougainville (at left)
New Caledonia159 (Mi?)1938
New Caledonia160 (Mi?)1940
New Caledonia161 (Mi?)1928
New Caledonia162 (Mi?)1933
New Caledonia163 (Mi?)1939
New Caledonia164 (Mi?)1940
New Caledonia165 (Mi?)1928
New Caledonia166 (Mi?)1940
New Caledonia167 (Mi?)1933
New Caledonia168 (Mi?)1938
New Caledonia169 (Mi?)1928
New Caledonia170 (Mi?)1939
New Caledonia171 (Mi?)1940
New Caledonia172 (Mi?)1928
New Caledonia173 (Mi?)1928
New Caledonia174 (Mi?)1928
New Caledonia175 (Mi?)1928
New Caledonia199 (Mi?)158 overprinted "Paris-Noumea"1933de Bougainville (at left)
New Caledonia200 (Mi?)162 overprinted "Paris-Noumea"
New Caledonia201 (Mi?)165 overprinted "Paris-Noumea"
New Caledonia202 (Mi?)167 overprinted "Paris-Noumea"
New Caledonia203 (Mi?)169 overprinted "Paris-Noumea"
New Caledonia204 (Mi?)172 overprinted "Paris-Noumea"
New Caledonia205 (Mi?)173 overprinted "Paris-Noumea"
New Caledonia206 (Mi?)174 overprinted "Paris-Noumea"
New Caledonia207 (Mi?)175 overprinted "Paris-Noumea"
New Caledonia239 (Mi?)159 overprinted "France Libre"1941de Bougainville (at left)
New Caledonia240 (Mi?)162 overprinted "France Libre"
New Caledonia241 (Mi?)164 overprinted "France Libre"
New Caledonia242 (Mi?)165 overprinted "France Libre"
New Caledonia243 (Mi?)166 overprinted "France Libre"
New Caledonia244 (Mi?)167 overprinted "France Libre"
New Caledonia245 (Mi?)169 overprinted "France Libre"
New Caledonia246 (Mi?)170 overprinted "France Libre"
New Caledonia247 (Mi?)171 overprinted "France Libre"
New Caledonia248 (Mi?)172 overprinted "France Libre"
New Caledonia249 (Mi?)173 overprinted "France Libre"
New Caledonia250 (Mi?)174 overprinted "France Libre"
New Caledonia251 (Mi?)175 overprinted "France Libre"
New CaledoniaQ5 (Mi?)158 overprinted "Colis Postaux"1930de Bougainville (at left)
New CaledoniaQ6 (Mi?)169 overprinted "Colis Postaux"
New CaledoniaP655000 francs (banknote)1971-1984
New Hebrides (British Admin.)127 (Mi?)1968
New Hebrides (British Admin.)128 (Mi?)
New Hebrides (British Admin.)129 (Mi?)
New Hebrides (British Admin.)127-129 fdcThree stamps and cachet on FDC
New Hebrides (French Admin.)143 (Mi?)1968
New Hebrides (French Admin.)144 (Mi?)
New Hebrides (French Admin.)145 (Mi?)
Papua New Guinea973 (Mi?)1999
Papua New Guinea970-973 fdcOne of four stamps and cachet on FDC
St. Pierre and MiquelonP225 francs (banknote)1946
Samoa290 (Mi?)1968200th anniv. de Bougainville's visit to Samoa
Samoa291 (Mi?)
Samoa292 (Mi?)
Samoa293 (Mi?)
Samoa703 (Mi?)1987
Solomon Islands443 (Mi?)In (lower) margin of MS4 (443 (a-d))1981
St. Helena469 (Mi?)1986
Vanuatu734 (Mi?)1999
Vanuatu735a (Mi?)MS3 (733-735)
Vanuatu737a (Mi?)MS3 (734, 736-737)
Wallis and Futuna Islands83 (Mi?)New Caledonia 174 overprinted1930
Wallis and Futuna Islands84 (Mi?)New Caledonia 175 overprinted
Wallis and FutunaC45 (Mi?)1973
Wallis and FutunaC45 proofsColour proof strip


Banneker

Banneker, Benjamin
(1731 - 1806)

Benjamin Banneker was a self-educated American astronomer, surveyor and writer. Following his astronomical interest, he used his mathematical skills to make all the calculations necessary for an almanac. He published his first almanac in 1792. In it was information about eclipses and sunrise and sunset times along with weather forecasts, expected seasonal changes in the weather and ideas on weather-related subjects such as the planting of crops. His almanac became quite popular in America and was even known in England and France. Banneker published it yearly during a 10-year period.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Turks and Caicos523 (Mi?)1982Banneker (at left); (150th anniv. birth, in 1981)
United States1804 (Mi?)1980(150th anniv. birth, in 1981)
United States1804 fdc1Stamp and (Gaber House) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc2Stamp and (?) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc3Stamp and (?) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc4Stamp and (Bill Ressl) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc5Stamp and (?) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc6Stamp and (?) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc7Stamp and (?) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc8Stamp and (Readers' Digest) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc9Stamp and (ArtCraft/Fleetwood) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc10Stamp and (Artmaster) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc11Stamp and (ArtCraft) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc12Stamp and (Sandra Haimerl hand-painted) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc13Stamp and (Andrews multi-color) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc14Stamp and (Fleetwood) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc15Stamp and (Grusz hand-drawn) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc16Stamp and (Grusz hand-drawn) cachet (different) on FDC
United States1804 fdc17Stamp and (Colorano silk) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc18Stamp and (Colorano silk) cachet (different) on FDC
United States1804 fdc19Stamp and (PCS) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc20Stamp and (Weddle HP) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc21Stamp and (Watercolor Co. un-colored) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc22Stamp and (Webcraft addon cachet added in 2012) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc23Stamp and (?) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc24Stamp and (Spectrum) cachet on FDC
United States1804 fdc25Stamp and (LWJ) cachet on FDC
United StatesSP482(USPS) souvenir page (1804)
United StatesCP124(USPS) commemorative panel (1804)
United StatesNoneCancel and cachet on cover20046th anniv. Banneker Museum


Cavendish

Cavendish, Henry
(1731 - 1810)

Henry Cavendish was an English physicist and chemist.Following Priestley, he conducted many experiments with gases and was the first to determine a rough composition of the atmosphere: approximately 4/5 "phlogisticated air" (mostly nitrogen in modern terms) and 1/5 "dephlogisticated air" (oxygen). Cavendish also showed that water is composed of "inflammable air" (hydrogen) and dephlogisticated air.

Cavendish was interested in applied sciences, including various aspects of meteorology. He made studies of heat in the mid-1770s. Using the Royal Society's meteorological instruments he developed corrections to be applied to thermometer readings to make them more accurate. In 1783 he published a method to determine the freezing point of mercury (which can freeze in very cold conditions, rendering mercury thermometers useless at those temperatures). He is also credited with the invention of the maximum and minimum thermometer, for which he was awarded the Royal Society's gold medal.

Jeffries and Blanchard made a balloon ascent on 30 November 1784, during which Jeffries made multiple atmospheric measurements and also took samples of the air at different levels. Cavendish agreed to carry out a chemical analysis of the samples to determine the composition of the air at those various levels.

At one time Cavendish was a member of a committee charged with devising the best method of protecting the powder magazine at Purfleet from lightning. He also developed a theory of partial pressures before Dalton, but never published it.

In a work published in 1790, he estimated the height of the aurora to be 80-112 km using triangulation (On the height of the luminous arch which was seen on 23 February 1784. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 80, 101, 1790).

After his death, Cavendish's estate was used in part to establish the Cavendish Laboratory, in whose early years there was a tradition of meteorological work. For example, Sir William Napier Shaw lectured in meteorology and conducted meteorological research at the Laboratory. His work included the study of instruments for measuring the dewpoint of the air.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
MaliUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2011(280th anniv. birth; 200th anniv. death, in 2010)
SpainNoneCancel and cachet on cover2006Cavendish and "Día de la Química"


Washington

Washington, George
(1732 - 1799)

George Washington was the first President of the United States. Born in 1732 into a well-to-do Virginia family, he grew up in the family plantation at Mount Vernon. He would always be a farmer at heart even during his long service to his country.

Washington left a prodigious 36 volumes of diaries. They include many weather observations and comments on the weather, a topic that apparently fascinated him, probably because of his rural farming background.

His weather observations were irregular and unstructured rather than being organized along scientific lines. He had few instruments: the principal one was his magnificent weather vane, which serves to this day atop the cupola at Mount Vernon. This imposing instrument is in the shape of a dove, some 40" long and with a wingspan of 35".

Although Washington mentions "falling weather" now and again in his diaries, he had no barometer to measure the atmospheric pressure. It appears that two barometer-thermometer instruments now on display at Mount Vernon are connected to him only through his descendents.

Washington did have at least one thermometer, which hangs today in his original bedroom. It is thought that in his time it was located in the East Hall outside his study. Made by Joseph Gatty, a New York instrument maker, this thermometer was able to record the day's high and low temperatures. Washington began to record temperatures in his diaries in January 1785. It appears that many or most of his temperature measurements were made inside his mansion, while some others were made outdoors. His diaries usually do not specify the location of the observations, though in some cases there are clues. For example, on 19 January 1785 he recorded a temperature of 48°F in the morning, at noon and at sunset. These reading were likely made indoors. On other occasions there are discrepancies between his recorded temperatures and his general observations of the weather. For example, he wrote on 26 May 1785 that the weather was warm until about 5:00 PM when clouds and high wind brought about a marked change in the temperature of the air. Yet his three (probably indoor) readings for the day are 65°, 68°, and 67°F. On 7 December 1785 he is more specific: "Thermometer at 52 in the Morning & 59 at Noon, but removing it afterwards out of the room where the fire was, into the East Entry leading in to my Study, this circumstance with the encrease of the cold fell the Mercury to 42". Washington may not have realized or cared that the useful measurements for a scientific record are those made in the outside atmosphere where they are unchanged by human activity. This was in contrast to the consistent, careful approach to weather measurements of his contemporary Thomas Jefferson. However, some of Washington's extremely cold readings probably indicate that the thermometer was outdoors in those cases. For example, he wrote on 5 February 1788 of weather so cold that the mercury did not rise out of the bulb of the thermometer all day. This was one of the coldest days of the century, when near Philadelphia the temperature registered only 17°F below zero.

In matters of weather, Washington could be very persistent. For example, on 30 April 1785 he was unable to personally record the weather because of a trip to Richmond, so he put Mrs. Washington in charge of the thermometer: "Mercury (by Mrs. W's account) in the Morning at 68, at Noon 69, and at Night 62." In 1793 he instructed farm manager William Pearce that "as it is not only satisfactory, but may be of real utility to know the state of the weather as to heat & cold, [and] drought or moisture, prefix, as usual, at the head of every week's report a meteorological account of these. The Thermomiter which is at Mount Vernon will enable you to do the first."

Much Washington lore is related to the weather. He was seasick for days during a stormy voyage to Barbados; he suffered cold cruel winters at Valley Forge and Morristown; the carriage roads on which he travelled for years and years were often dusty or muddy. On 9 March 1797 he left Philadelphia for the last time after years of political toil to return for good to his beloved Mount Vernon. One entry in his diary for that day was simply: "Wind changed to No. Wt. blew very hard & turned very cold." Even the end of his life has a weather connection: it is possible that an ill-advised horseback ride in a December storm contributed to his demise: he died on 14 December 1799 of a throat infection that was possibly a consequence of that braving of the elements.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
Antigua and Barbuda1713 (Mi1872)1993First airmail in the US via Blanchard's balloon, 1793
Canal Zone (United States)97 (Mi?)1927
EcuadorC589 (Mi?)1976
EcuadorC590 (Mi?)
MaliC446 (Mi?)1982(250th anniv. birth)
United States14 (Mi?)1855
United States158 (Mi?)1873
United States210 (Mi?)1883
United States332 (Mi?)1908
United States381 (Mi?)1911
United States704 (Mi?)1932(200th anniv. birth)
United States721 (Mi?)1932(200th anniv. birth)
United StatesKM16425 cents (silver coin)1932—1975
United States948 (Mi?)Imperforate MS2 (948 (a-b))1947Washingon (at right)
United States1952 (Mi?)1982250th anniv. birth
United StatesP4961 dollar (banknote)1995
United StatesKM290+25 cents (copper-nickel coin)1999—>


Priestley, J

Priestley, Joseph
(1733 - 1804)

Joesph Priestley was an English theologian and scientist. He investigated the properties of gases and discovered several new gases including, in 1774, one that he called "dephlogisticated air". He felt that it was in some sense an especially pure form of air, but did not further investigate its characteristics. For this work, he is generally credited with the discovery of oxygen, though he did not use that term.

Lavoisier and Cavendish continued Priestley's experiments with air. Cavendish determined that air is composed of approximately 80% "phlogisticated air" and 20% "dephlogisticated air". Lavoisier determined some properties of those two component gases: one supports combustion and oxidation (dephlogisticated air, that he named oxygène) and the other is inert (phlogisticated air - nitrogen - that he named azote).

In the late 1700s, Erasmus Darwin, James Watt, Matthew Boulton, Josiah Wedgwood and Priestley formed an informal group known as the Lunar Society. The friends met to discuss topics of current interest in chemistry, mineralogy, meteorology, astronomy, and physics.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Maldives2421i (Mi?)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2421 (a-q + label))2000
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local hOne of MS8 (a-h + label)2011
United States2038 (Mi?)1983250th anniv. birth
United States2038 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
United States2038 fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc3Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc4Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc5Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc6Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc7Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc8Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc9Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc10Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc11Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc12Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc13Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc14Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States2038 fdc15Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United StatesSP610(USPS) souvenir page (2038)
United StatesCP183(USPS) commemorative panel (2038)
United States2038 cp (?) commemorative panel (2038)


Wales

Wales, William
(1734 - 1798)

William Wales was an English astronomer who was sent to Fort Prince of Wales on Hudson Bay to observe the transit of Venus that took place 3 June 1769. The journal of the expedition (Journal of a Voyage, made by Order of the Royal Society, to Churchill River, on the North-west Coast of Hudson's Bay; of Thirteen Months Residence in that Country; and of the voyage back to England in the Years 1768 and 1769) shows that Wales was not just an astronomical observer; he also describes also the fauna and flora, the geography, the people and the weather. He was the first scientist to spend a winter at the Bay and to make regular weather observations in Canada. A publication treating the meteorological work of this expedition was written in 1770 by Wales and Joseph Dymond: Observations on the State of the Air, Winds, Weather, etc. made at the Prince of Wales's Fort, on the North-West Coast of Hudson's Bay, in the Years 1768 and 1769. (Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol.l, pp. 137-78).

Wales also participated as astronomer and meteorologist in Captain James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific (1772 -1775).

During that trip, the artist William Hodges made a painting, from on board the Resolution, of the Cape of Good Hope. It was said at the time that "the theory of condensation that related altitude, wind, temperature and rainfall was at this time only beginning to be fully understood. Its dramatic demonstration at the Cape deeply interested the meteorologist Wales, as its adequate pictorial portrayal clearly excited the artist Hodges".

Also during that trip, on 16 January 1773 Wales recorded missing the first sighting of the Aurora Australis (southern lights). However, the next night he did observe them, and wrote: "I...found it to be the very same phenomenon which we call the Northern Lights in England. The natural state of the heavens, except in the S.E. quarter, and for about 10° of altitude all round the horizon, was a whitish haze, through which stars of the third magnitude were just discernable. All round, the horizon was covered with thick clouds, out of which arose many streams of a pale reddish light, that ascended towards the zenith. These streams had not that motion which they are sometimes seen to have in England but were perfectly steady, except a small tremulous motion which some of them had near their edges".

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Canada479 fdc (Mi420 fdc)Cachet on FDC1968200th anniv. first fixed meteorological readings in Canada; "William Wales, scientist, astronomer, explorer"
New Hebrides (British Admin.)190 (Mi?)One of strip of 3 (191a (189-191))1974200th anniv. discovery New Hebrides by Cook
New Hebrides (French Admin.)209 (Mi?)One of strip of 3 (210a (208-210))1974200th anniv. discovery New Hebrides by Cook


Lagrange

Lagrange, Joseph Louis
(1736 - 1813)

Joseph Lagrange was a French mathematician.

His name is associated with one common frame of reference used in fluid dynamics and atmospheric studies, known as the Lagrangian frame of reference. In it, measurements are made following fluid motion, and the equations of motion are written with reference to a point moving with the flow. (The Eulerian frame of reference is the other one that is commonly used). In modern meteorological work, the Lagrangian approach has been found to be very useful in NWP (numerical weather prediction) models of the atmosphere.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
France869 (Mi?)
i869

Imperforate
1958
France869 dsDeluxe sheet (869)
France869 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
France869 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France869 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France869 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) on FDC
France869 maxi1Maxicard
France869 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local fOne of MS8 (a-h + label)2011


Watt

Watt, James
(1736 - 1819)

James Watt was a Scottish instrument maker and inventor. During his work which led to the invention of the steam engine, he learned much about the properties of water vapour and steam, and independently discovered that a latent heat of vaporization is associated with the change of phase of water from liquid to gas. He also tabulated the vapour pressure of water as a function of temperature before the work of Clapeyron. Both these concepts are important in meteorology.

In the late 1700s, Erasmus Darwin, Matthew Boulton, Josiah Wedgwood, Joseph Priestley and Watt formed the Lunar Society. It was an informal group of friends that met to discuss the latest topics in chemistry, mineralogy, meteorology, astronomy and physics.

To honour his scientific work, Watt's name was given to the SI (International System of Units) unit of power. One watt is equal to one joule per second. See the SI (metric system) unit names page for other persons after whom metric units were named.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Albania2205c (Mi2294)One of strip of 4 (2205 (a-d)) (Mi2292-2295)1986(250th anniv. birth)
Albania2205a-d fdcOne of four stamps on FDC
Albania2206 (BL87)On (center) label of SS1
Antigua and Barbuda1605B (Mi1671)1992
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serb Admin.)126e (Mi189)One of booklet pane of 7 (126 (a-g + 2 labels))2000(180th anniv. death, in 1999)
BurundiUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS4 (a-d)2012
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1, also front2009(190th anniv. death)
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (same)2009(190th anniv. death)
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (same)2009(190th anniv. death)
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (same)2009(190th anniv. death)
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (same)2009(190th anniv. death)
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (same)2009(190th anniv. death)
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (same)2009(190th anniv. death)
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1, also front2012?
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (different)2012?
Cuba3718 (Mi?)1996(260th anniv. birth)
GermanyNoneCinderella (poster stamp)early 1900s
GermanyNoneCinderella (poster stamp) (different)early 1900s
Great Britain2646 (Mi?)One of pair (2646a (2645-2646))2009
Great Britain2645-2652 packPresentation pack
Grenada1538 (Mi1690)1987Watt (mis-identified as "Rudolf Diesel" in text); (250th anniv. birth, in 1986)
Grenada Grenadines912 (Mi?)1987Rudolf Diesel (incorrectly inscribed "James Watt"); (250th anniv. birth, in 1986)
Guinea-BissauUnknown e (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2009
Lesotho1213a (Mi1579)One of MS6 (1213 (a-f))1999ship James Watt
MacedoniaUnknown (Mi?)From MS9 (9x unknown)2011275th anniv. birth
MacedoniaUnknown fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Maldive Islands2421d (Mi?)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (2421 (a-q + label))2000(180th anniv. death, in 1999)
Maldive Islands2421d maxiMaxicard
Mali538 (Mi1071)
i538

Imperforate
1986(250th anniv. birth)
Mali538 ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (538)
Mali581 (Mi?)538 overprinted1992(250th anniv. birth, in 1936)
Marshall IslandsUnknown i (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012
Monaco1001 (Mi?)1975wattmeter
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local cOne of MS6 (a-f)2011
St. Thomas and Prince IslandUnknown e (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2008
Sierra Leone2296b (Mi?)On one and in (right) margin of MS2 (2296 (a-b))2000(180th anniv. death, in 1999)
Sierra Leone2517e (Mi?)One of MS6 (2517 (a-f))2002
Uganda566 fdc (Mi556 fdc)Cachet on FDC, also back1987(250th anniv. birth, in 1986)
Wallis and Futuna Islands341 (Mi511)
i341

Imperforate
1986(250th anniv. birth)
Wallis and Futuna Islands341 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC

1This postal card is only one of a large number of similar cards issued by China for various scientists. No effort is made to list all such cards.


Herschel, W

Herschel, William
(1738 - 1822)

William Herschel was an English astronomer and the discoverer of the planet Uranus.

He also had some interest in climate. In the late 1700s he hypothesized about physical processes that might affect the climate, such as cooling due to volcanic or meteoric dust veils in the atmosphere, or warming due to increased solar activity. Benjamin Franklin also had the same idea about volcanic eruptions as possible precursors of cold temperatures and in particular of very cold winters such as the one he experienced in France in 1783-1784 after and during the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Laki (that eruption took place from June 1783 to February 1784). Herschel was more interested in the effects of the sun, and noted that in years during which many dark spots appeared on the face of the sun there were often bountiful harvests of wheat. Herschel published some articles about possible solar effects on climate in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society between 1780 and 1801. The article of 1801 posed the question of whether or not any relation could be found between solar activity (as represented by the occurrence of sunspots) and the price of corn. Herschel was unable to provide a conclusive answer.

Herschel was also the first person to deduce that an atmosphere must exist on Mars. He observed curious white spots at the Martian poles that changed with time. Since the inclination of the Martian axis of rotation was similar to that of Earth, he concluded that the Martian seasons should resemble those of Earth, so that the Martian white spots could be interpreted as polar snow, which in turn meant that there must be an atmosphere to allow the snow to form and fall.

William Herschel's son John Herschel was an astronomer who had a strong interest in meteorology.

See also the Herschel Space Observatory (HSO) satellite on the astronomical/telescope satellites page. The Herschel satellite is an ESA space telescope that will investigate the history of how stars and galaxies formed and to study how they continue to form in our own and other galaxies.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AltaiUnknown dOne of MS8 (a-h), also blackprint MS8 (a-f), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011(190th anniv. death, in 2012)
AustriaNone (Mi?)Personalized stamp2009W. Herschel's telescope
Central African Republic844 (Mi1269A)
i844 (Mi1269B)

Imperforate
1987
Central African Republic844a (BL408A)SS1 (844)
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1, also front2010
Comoro Islands413 (Mi507)
i413

Imperforate
1979
Comoro Islands413a (BL205)
i413a
SS1 (413)
Imperforate SS1 (i413)
DjiboutiUnknown ms (BL?)MS2 (a-b)2010
DjiboutiUnknown e (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdcOne of MS6 and cachet on FDC
French GuianaNone(Lollini?) cachet on Herschel / HSO launch cover2009Also Herschel satellite
GabonC245 (Mi?)1981
GabonC247a (Mi?)MS3 (C245-C247)
GermanyNoneCancel2002W. Herschel's telescope
GermanyNoneCancel and cachet on cover2011
GermanyNoneCancel (different) and cachet (different) on cover2011
GermanyNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover2011
Great Britain616 (Mi?)1970John Herschel (at right); William Herschel, John Herschel's father (at left); W. Herschel's telescope
Great BritainNoneCachet on cover1981
Great Britain1337 (Mi1297)1990W. Herschel's telescope (at right in stamp)
Great Britain1337 cardPHQ card
Great Britain1337 fdcStamp and cancel on FDC
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc1One of four stamps on FDC
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc2One of four stamps on FDC (different)
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc3One of four stamps on FDC (different)
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc4One of four stamps on FDC (different cancel)
Great Britain2075 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC2002W. Herschel's telescope
Great BritainNoneCancel2002W. Herschel's telescope
Grenada1999d (Mi?)One of MS9 (1999 (a-i))1991
Guinea Republic1862e (Mi3552)One of MS12 (1862 (a-l)) (Mi3548-3559)2000W. Herschel's telescope
Guinea RepublicUnknown a (Mi?)Possibly unofficial; one of MS9 (a-i)1998Halley's Comet theme, but shows William Herschel
Guinea RepublicBL1392SS12007
Guinea RepublicBL1392 fdcSS1 and cachet on FDC
Guinea RepublicMi5067-5069_ms3On one of MS3 (Mi5067-5069)
Guinea RepublicMi5067-5069_ms3 fdcMS3 on FDC
Guinea RepublicMi5734From MS6 (Mi5733-5738)2008
Guinea RepublicMi5737
Guinea RepublicMi5733-5738_ms6 fdcMS6 and cachet on FDC
Guinea RepublicMi7611One of MS6 (Mi7606-7611)2010
Guinea RepublicMi7606-7611_ms6 fdcMS6 on FDC
Guinea-BissauBL671In (lower) margin of SS12008
Guinea-BissauBL671A fdc
BL671B fdc
SS1 on FDC
Imperforate SS1 on FDC
Ivory CoastC100 (Mi889)1986
Ivory CoastC100a (BL?)Imperforate SS1
Ivory CoastUnknown ss (BL?)On stamp of SS12012(190th anniv. death)
Korea (North)2842 (BL247)In (left) margin of SS11989Also W. Herschel's telescope
MaliC424 (Mi?)1981
Marshall Islands963e (Mi2571)Two of MS10 (963 (2x (a-e))) (2x (Mi2567-2571))2010Mis-spelled "Hirschel" (in text)
Nevis1185e (Mi?)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (1185 (a-q + label))2000
Nicaragua1488 (Mi2825)1985"Telescopio de Herschel"
Nicaragua1985g (Mi3298)One of MS16 (1985 (a-p))1994
RwandaUnknown f (Mi?)One of MS15 (a-o)2010W. Herschel's telescope
St. Vincent2700g (Mi?)One of MS9 (2700 (a-i))1999
Sierra Leone1167d (Mi1359)One of MS9 (1167 (a-i)) (Mi1356-1364)1990
Sierra Leone1167 fdcMS9 on FDC
Sierra LeoneUnknown h (Mi?)
Unknown ih
One of MS8 (a-h)
One of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
2011(190th anniv. death, in 2012)
Sierra LeoneUnknown margin (Mi? margin)In (upper-left) margin of MS8 (a-h) (different)
In (upper-left) margin of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
Sierra LeoneUnknown margin (Mi? margin)In (right) margin of MS8 (a-h) (different)
In (right) margin of imperforate MS8 (a-h)
United StatesNone(Space Voyage) cachet on Voyager-2 launch cover1986

1This postal card is only one of a large number of similar cards issued by China for various scientists. No effort is made to list all such cards.


de Saussure

de Saussure, Horace Bénédict
(1740 - 1799)

Horace De Saussure was a Swiss physicist and alpinist who combined his love of mountains with his scientific training. He carefully studied the geology, chemistry and meteorology of the Alps. He believed that weather observations taken at high altitudes in the mountains could be of great importance to the science of meteorology, and made careful observations of pressure, temperature and humidity at different altitudes. He even carried barometers and thermometers to some mountain summits. At the top of Mont Blanc in 1787, for example, he found that the air pressure was represented by a reading of "16 inches and one line". He also measured the composition and transparency of the air at different heights, as well as the strength of solar radiation.

De Saussure developed many of the instruments that he used to make his observations. He built a cyanometer for measuring the blueness of the sky and a diaphanometer for judging of the clearness of the atmosphere. He tinkered with anemometers, and adapted thermometers to measure temperatures other than the usual air temperature. For example, he inserted the thermometer bulb into a piece of wet sponge and then swung the thermometer rapidly so that it revolved in a circle. In modern terminology, this instrument is known as a wet bulb thermometer. It measures the wet bulb temperature which, in combination with the dry bulb temperature (the usual air temperature measurement from a thermometer whose bulb is not moistened), can be used to calculate the relative humidity and the dew point of the air. De Saussure also measured temperatures in the ground, to the greatest depths to which he could drive his thermometer staves, and showed that the summer heat took six months to reach a depth of 30 feet (9 m) into the ground. He also measured water temperatures, and showed that the water at the bottom of deep lakes is cold and has little change in temperature during the four seasons. These measurements were made possible by a novel invention: he used thermometers wrapped in insulating material so that the observed value from within the ground or lake would change very little as the instrument was raised to the surface. De Saussure also considered precipitation and estimated its effects on streams, rivers, lakes and glaciers.

As a result of his work in hygrometry, de Saussure was the first to show that air expands and decreases in density with increasing moisture content. Not only did he experiment with a wet bulb thermometer, but also he experimented tested various types of hygrometer. This research culminated in his invention of the hair hygrometer in around 1775. It is for this invention that he is best remembered. In his book Essais sur l'Hygrométrie, published in 1783, he discussed the general principles of hygrometry, presented the results of his experiments with various hygrometers, and described his hair hygrometer. He also discussed the principles of evaporation and presented some meteorological applications of his research.

De Saussure also experimented with an insulated box topped by three layers of glass, and found that solar energy entering through the glass would heat the box. This early solar oven came to the attention of the French mathematician Jean-Joseph Fourier in the 1820s, who hypothesized that the Earth's atmosphere acts in a manner similar to those panes of glass: it lets solar energy in, but blocks some of the outgoing energy emitted by the Earth. The temperature in the oven therefore must rise. The atmosphere is more complicated, of course, but Fourier's observation, for which a glass-walled greenhouse is an analogy, is recognized as the first statement of what is now called the atmospheric "greenhouse effect".

De Saussure also did some work in atmospheric electricity. He found diurnal variations in atmospheric electricity in measurements made between 1785 and 1788, and stated that "in winter, the season during which I have the best observations of serene [i.e. fair weather] electricity…the electricity undergoes an ebb and flow like the tides, which increases and decreases twice in the span of twenty-four hours. The times of greatest intensity are a few hours after sunrise and sunset, and the weakest before sunrise and sunset".

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
FranceNoneCachet on stamped envelope, also detail200?de Saussure (at left)
Monaco1558 (Mi1781)1986200th anniv. 1st ascent of Mont Blanc; de Saussure (at left)
Monaco1558 fdcStamp on FDC
SwitzerlandP5520 franken (banknote)1978


Cutler

Cutler, Rev. Manasseh
(1742 - 1823)

Rev. Manasseh Cutler was an American Congregationalist clergyman and scientist. As a scientist his reputation was second only to that of Benjamin Franklin. Cutler became a lawyer, studied medecine and also found time for research in astronomy, meteorology and botany. He contributed some small papers on astronomy and meteorology to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of which he was elected as a member in 1781.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
United States795 (Mi?)1937Cutler (at left)
United States795 essayEssay


Lichtenberg

Lichtenberg, Georg Christoph
(1742 - 1799)

Georg Lichtenberg was a German scientist who taught at the University of Göttingen and became a leading German expert in many scientific fields including chemistry, geology, physics, meteorology and astronomy. His friends and admirers included Goethe and Kant.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Germany1749 (Mi?)1992(250th anniv. birth)


Condorcet

Condorcet, Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas
(1743 - 1794)

Marie Condorcet was a French philosopher and writer. He wrote that "Hardly a fiftieth part of those men to whom nature has given talent receive the education necessary to make use of their talent; and that, therefore, the number of men destined to push back the frontiers of the sciences by their discoveries will grow in the same proportion (as universal education increases). We shall show how this quality of education, and the equality that will arise among nations, will speed up the advances of those sciences whose progress depends on observations repeated in greater number over a larger area; all that mineralogy, botany, zoology, meteorology can be expected to gain thereby; and finally what an enormous disproportion exists, in these sciences, between the weakness of the means that nevertheless have led us to so many useful and important truths, and the great scope of the means men will in the future be able to deploy".

This text shows that he understood that sciences such as meteorology depend upon repeated observations over a large area, and also that he was optimistic that the future would bring great advances in many sciences including meteorology. This optimism was consistent with his belief in social progress and in the 'perfectibility' of Man.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
France2162c (Mi?)One of MS4 (2162 (a-d))1989


Lavoisier

de Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent
(1743 - 1794)

Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier was a French chemist who is often referred to as the "father" of modern chemistry. In 1774, Joseph Priestley described to Lavoisier his experiments with air and his discovery of what he called "dephlogisticated air". Cavendish then determined that air is composed of approximately 80% "phlogisticated air" and 20% "dephlogisticated air". Lavoisier in turn measured some properties of those two component gases: one supports combustion and oxidation (dephlogisticated air, that he named oxygène) while the other is inert (phlogisticated air - nitrogen - that he named azote). Lavoisier also conducted experiments with water, and concluded in 1782 that it is composed of hydrogen (Cavendish's "inflammable air") and oxygen.

Lavoisier's second scientific love was meteorology. At the age of 20 he began making barometric observations in his home, and later expanded this work to include observations of air pressure, temperature, moisture content and wind speed and direction. In an idea well ahead of its time (that would be echoed by Lamarck in the early 1800s and von Humboldt in the late 1830s), he advocated the creation of a worldwide network of weather observing stations, and was involved in the creation of an informal network of weather correspondents in France and elsewhere in Europe. This network supplied the Journal de Paris with weather observations that it began to publish in 1777. "With all this information," Lavoisier wrote, "it is almost always possible to predict one or two days in advance, within a rather broad range of probability, what the weather is going to be; it is even thought that it will not be impossible to publish daily forecasts which would be very useful to society" (Oeuvres, Vol.3, p. 771, published 1865).

In 1776, Lavoisier found that some temperature values provided by the Réaumur thermometer (devised in 1732) were not in agreement with those obtained with more recent instruments. He therefore defined precise rules for the fabrication and graduation of thermometers and provided twelve standard models to the Academy of Sciences.

Lavoisier also studied atmospheric electricity and the formation of thunder and in 1781 with Laplace and Volta demonstrated that hydrogen, nitric oxide, carbon dioxide and water vapor, in passing from the liquid to the vapor state, emitted electrical charges that could be measured with an electrometer. With Benjamin Franklin, Lavoisier installed lightning rods on the roof of Saint-Paul's Church.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AltaiUnknown dOne of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011
DjiboutiUnknown c (Mi?)
Unknown ic
One of MS4 (a-d)
One of imperforate MS4 (a-d)
2006
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdcOne of MS4 and cachet on FDC
France464 (Mi?)1943(200th anniv. birth)
France464 maxi1Maxicard
France464 maxi2Maxicard (different)
GermanyNoneCinderella (poster stamp)pre-WWI
Grenada Grenadines911 (Mi?)1987
MalawiUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2008
Maldive Islands1389 (Mi?)1990Lavoisier and his wife
Mali476 (Mi?)
i476

From imperforate MS10 (i476a (10x i476))
1983200th anniv. Lavoisier's determination of the composition of water
Mali476 ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (476)
Marshall IslandsUnknown l (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012
NigerUnknown ms (Mi?)
Unknown ims
In (lower-left) magin of MS2 (a-b)
In (lower-left) magin of imperforate MS2 (a-b)
2012
RwandaUnknown h (Mi?)One of MS12 (a-l)2009
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on postal card2011
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on postal card2011
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on postal card2011
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on postal card2011
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on postal card2011
RomaniaNoneCachet on postal card2011
San Marino1024 (Mi?)1982
San Marino1024 maxiMaxicard
TogoUnknown ss (BL?)On stamp of SS12011


Jefferson

Jefferson, Thomas
(1743 - 1826)

Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence, a founding father of the United States and the third President of that country. He and his friend James Madison (who later became the fourth US president) were very interested in meteorology, partly for its intrinsic scientific value and partly because they felt that they had to refute the French naturalist Buffon's published claim that American nature was somehow inferior to that of Europe, due to a supposedly inferior climate. As a result, Jefferson and Madison made a large number of weather observations during their lives.

Jefferson made regular weather observations at his home in Monticello from 1772 to 1778. During those same years the president of William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia, the Reverend James Madison (cousin of James Madison the future US president), took his own weather observations in Williamsburg. In 1777 and 1778 Jefferson and Reverend Madison co-operated and took the first known simultaneous weather observations in America.

Jefferson was a dedicated weather observer who kept careful records. He even took an observation at 6:00 am on 4 July 1776, and then again later in the afternoon that same day, and duly recorded the maximum temperature in Philadelphia as 76 degrees Fahrenheit on the first day of existence of the new republic, though it is possible that this observation was taken indoors. This was the practice of the time as prescribed from England by Dr. James Jurin, secretary of the Royal Society of London, who advocated placing the thermometer "in a room which faces the north, where there is very seldom if ever any fire in the fireplace". Washington and Madison also followed this practice in their early observations. However, the Americans eventually realized that observations should be taken out of doors, away from any man-made influence on the readings. Furthermore, Jefferson came to understand the effect that direct sun would have on temperature observations. In 1790, before moving to a new house, he wrote to his son-in-law T. Randolph: "I have not begun my meteorological diary; because I have not yet removed to the house I have taken. I remove tomorrow: but as far as I can judge from its aspects there will not be one position to be had for the thermometer free from the influence of the sun both morning & evening. However, as I go into it, only till I can get a better, I shall hope ere long to find a less objectionable situation."

Jefferson was also interested in how weather, and especially extreme weather, might affect the affairs of man and society. He lived in Paris as American ambassador to France during the years before the outbreak of the French revolution, and commented on the long and severe European winter of 1788-1789: "…while labouring under the want of money for even ordinary purposes, in a government which required a million of livres a day, and driven to the last ditch by the universal call for liberty, there came on a winter of such severe cold as was without example in the memory of man, or in the written records of history. The Mercury was at times 50 degrees below the freezing point of Fahrenheit and 22 degrees below that of Réaumur. All outdoor labour was suspended, and the poor, without the wages of labour, were of course without either bread or fuel. The government found its necessities aggravated by that of procuring immense quantities of firewood, and of keeping great fires at all the cross streets, around which the people gathered in crowds, to avoid perishing with cold… ". In 1801 he expressed a similar idea in a letter to W. Dunbar: "I have often wondered that any human being should live in a cold country who can find room in a warm one. I have no doubt but that cold is the source of more sufferance to all animal nature than hunger, thirst, sickness, & all the other pains of life & of death itself put together."

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
Grendada Grenadines914 (Mi?)1987(160th anniv. birth, in 1986)
Grendada Grenadines917 (Mi?)
Guinea Republic1101 (BL?)SS11988
Micronesia172 (Mi?)1993250th anniv. birth
St. Thomas and Prince Islands1687 (BL?)SS12007
Uganda500 (Mi?)1986Jefferson Memorial
United States12 (Mi?)1856(30th anniv. death)
United States30 (Mi?)1861
United States67 (Mi?)1861
United States76 (Mi?)1863(120th anniv. birth)
United StatesU89-U92Printed stamps on stamped envelopes1870-1871
United States139 (Mi?)1870
United States161 (Mi?)1873(130th anniv. birth)
United StatesUO39Printed stamp on stamped envelope1873
United StatesU189Printed stamp on stamped envelope1875
United States209 (Mi?)1882
United StatesUX8Postal card1885
United StatesUX9Postal card1886
United States228 (Mi?)1890
United StatesUX12Postal card1894
United States275 (Mi?)1895
United StatesUX14Postal card1897
United States310 (Mi?)1903(160th anniv. birth)
United States324 (Mi?)1904
United StatesUX27Postal card1914
United StatesUX29Postal card1917
United StatesUX30Postal card1918
United StatesUX31Postal card, UX29 surcharged1920
United StatesUX32Postal card, UX29 surcharged1920
United StatesUX33Postal card, UX29 surcharged1920
United StatesUX34Postal card, UX29 surcharged1920
United StatesUX35Postal card, UX29 surcharged1920
United States561 (Mi?)1923(180th anniv. birth)
United States590 (Mi?)1926(100th anniv. death)
United States667 (Mi?)1929
United States807 (Mi?)1938
United States851 (Mi?)1939
United StatesKM1925 cents (nickel coin)1938—1942
United StatesKM192a5 cents (silver coin)1942—1945
United StatesKMA1925 cents (nickel coin)1946—2003
United StatesUX39Postal card, UX27 surcharged1952
United StatesUX41Postal card, UX27 surcharged1952
United States1033 (Mi?)1954-1968
United States1047 (Mi?)1956Jefferson's home, Monticello; (130th anniv. death)
United States1278 (Mi?)1968
United States1278ABooklet pane of 8 (8x 1278)1968
United States1278A fdcBooklet pane on FDC1968
United States1687b (Mi?)One of MS5 (1687 (a-e))1976Jefferson (at left); (150th anniv. death)
United States1779 (Mi?)1979
United States2216c (Mi?)One of MS9 (2216 (a-i))1986(140th anniv. death)
United StatesP4972 dollars. (banknote)1995
United StatesP5162 dollars (banknote)2003
United StatesNoneCachet on cover2004
United StatesNoneCancel on cover2004
United StatesKM3605 cents (nickel coin)2004
United StatesKM3615 cents (nickel coin)2004
United StatesKM3685 cents (nickel coin)2005
United StatesKM3695 cents (nickel coin)2005
United StatesKM3815 cents (nickel coin)2006—>


Lamarck

Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste
(1744 - 1829)

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was a French botanist and zoologist who also had scientific interest in meteorology, chemistry, geology and paleontology. He wrote a number of articles related to meteorology, including his first known publication in any field (in 1776): Memoir on the Principal Phenomena of the Atmosphere.

Lamarck felt that climate necessarily influenced animal life, and so must be one of the principal environmental factors in the process of evolution. He speculated that changes in the atmosphere were due to atmospheric tidal effects caused by the sun and the moon. He believed that the total depth of the atmosphere was in the range of 66-80 km, and noted that clouds, winds, rain, thunderstorms, fog, hail and all other common meteors were limited to the lowest part of the atmosphere (a layer he estimated to be about 10 km deep, the 'troposphere' in modern terms).

Lamarck published his Annuaires météorologiques from 1799 to 1810. These works had some similarities to weather almanachs and were destined in part for the use of people such as farmers, doctors and mariners. Each volume included his estimate of the probabilities of different weather for different time periods. However, each volume also presented some of his general ideas about meteorology, such as his proposed cloud classification (see below). Thus these works were more than mere weather almanachs.

Lamarck proposed the first system of cloud classification in 1802, in the Annuaire météorologique (Volume 3) and in a paper entitled "On Cloud Forms". He noted that "it is not in the least amiss for those who are involved in meteorological research to give some attention to the form of clouds; for, besides the individual and accidental forms of each cloud, it is clear that clouds have certain general forms which are not all dependent on chance, but on a state of affairs which it would be useful to recognize and determine". He initially proposed five cloud types "related to general causes which are easily ascertained":

In the Annuaire for 1805 he proposed a more detailed classification: 12 different categories and a total of 20 different cloud types. However, Lamarck's system was not taken up by others, possibly because of its unusual terminology combined with its relatively large number of categories. The Englishman Luke Howard proposed his own cloud classification in 1803, and it became widely accepted, while Lamarck's system disappeared into history.

In the Annuaire for 1807 Lamarck proposed the creation of a French central meteorological bureau that would collect data from different observatories and then use the data to produce weather forecasts. An attempt to do this through the French medical academy and directed by Lamarck had already been made in 1801; it was discontinued soon thereafter. The first national French meteorological bureau, the Bureau central météorologique, would not formally come into existence until 1878, following some 20 years of work by Urbain LeVerrier to build its various components. Morse's electric telegraph, which would permit the rapid diffusion of weather data in the 1850s and thereafter, was a key development without which central weather bureaus could not exist. Lamarck's idea was simply some 50 years ahead of its time.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AltaiUnknown cOne of MS8 (a-h), also blackprint MS8 (a-f), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011
FranceNoneCancel and cachet on cover1979150th anniv. death
United StatesSP1549 back
SP1549
Back of souvenir page (3878)2004"Lamarck" (in text)


Jeffries

Jeffries, John
(1745 - 1819)

John Jeffries was an American physician and scientist-adventurer with an interest in meteorology. He began a daily weather record in Boston in 1774, and so was one of the first Americans to make regular weather observations. (Two other early American weather observers were Thomas Jefferson, whose weather record at his home at Monticello extends from 1772 to 1778, and James Madison, who with his father made some 16,000 observations at their home in Montpelier from 1784 to 1802). Jeffries also made two balloon flights in Europe with the French aeronaut J.-P. Blanchard in 1784 and 1785. On his return to Boston in 1789, he recommenced his weather observations, which he continued to make until 1814.

In a memorandum to the Royal Society in 1786, Jeffries outlined his objectives for those balloon flights: "I wished to see the following points more clearly determined: First, the power of ascending or descending at pleasure, while suspended, and floating in the air. Secondly, the effect which oars, or wings, might be made to produce towards this purpose, and in directing the course of the Balloon. Thirdly, to determine the state and temperature of the atmosphere at different heights from the Earth; And fourthly, by observing the varying course of the currents of air, or winds, at certain elevations, to throw some new light on the theory of winds in general".

Jeffries and Blanchard made their first flight on 30 November 1984. Jeffries had with him a mercury barometer, a thermometer, a hygrometer and an electrometer. He also had special air flasks for sampling the air at different levels. Henry Cavendish had agreed to carry out the analysis of those samples. The flight lasted about one hour and the balloon traveled almost 30 km from London to Dartford. At regular intervals, Jeffries made observations of height, direction of motion, air temperature and humidity, electrical charge, the appearance of the clouds and the horizon line. He also took the air samples for Cavendish. He found that the temperature decreased with height, from 11°C at the ground to -2°C at 9000 feet (2740 m). He also recorded a steady decrease of pressure with height, and noted large variations in humidity as the balloon rose. This was the second balloon flight which had as a goal to make scientific measurements of the atmosphere (in the first, on 1 December 1783, J.A.C. Charles used a barometer and a thermometer to measure the pressure and temperature of the air).

In their second flight, on 7 January 1785, Jeffries and Blanchard became the first people to cross the English Channel by air; they flew from Dover to Calais in about 2½ hours. The balloon flew so low that to avoid hitting the water the aeronauts were forced to throw nearly everything overboard, including most of the clothes they were wearing! Jeffries had planned to make additional atmospheric observations during this flight, but unfortunately the instruments were jettisoned along with everything else.

Jeffries wrote an account of his two balloon trips in a book entitled Narrative of Two Aerial Voyages. It was published in London in 1786.

In honour of Jeffries and his meteorological work, February 5 (his birth date) has been designated National Weatherpersons Day in the US It also marks the contribution of all those whose work culminates in weather services for the public, including observers, forecasters, researchers and broadcasters.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Anguilla543 (Mi?)19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Barbuda580 (Mi661)19831"Blanchard and Jeffries' flight, 7 January 1785"; balloon crossing the English Channel
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serb Admin.)126b (Mi186)One of booklet pane of 7 (126 (a-g + 2 labels))2000Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Cambodia415 (Mi?)19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Central African Republic609 (Mi?)
i609

Imperforate
19831J. P. Blanchard and his balloon crossing the English Channel (with Jeffries)
Comoro IslandsC124 (Mi683)19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Cook Islands762 (Mi949)Stamp and label19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Cook Islands765 (BL143)SS119831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Cook Islands766c (Mi?)One of MS5 (766 (a-e)) (BL144), 762 surcharged19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
CzechoslovakiaC91 (Mi2398)1977Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
FujeiraMi622A
Mi622B

Imperforate
1971Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
FujeiraMi742Mi622 overprinted in red1971Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
FujeiraMi742-744 fdcOne of three stamps on FDC
Great Britain1073j fdcCachet on MS9 (2x 890c + 2x 974 + 4x 1073 + 1084) FDC1985"The Blanchard and Jeffries balloon"
Great BritainNoneCancel1985200th anniv. Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Grenada1522 (Mi1606)1987Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Korea (North)2255d (Mi?)One of MS5 (2255 (a-e + label))19822Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
KyrgyzstanUnknown i (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)20001785 "Blanchard and Jeffries, 1785" (balloon crossing of the English Channel)
Laos460 (Mi?)19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Libya1144d (Mi1212)One of strip of 6 (1144 (a-f)) (BL80)19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Malagasy Republic1390c (Mi2046)One of MS9 (1390 (a-i)) (Mi2044-2052)19981785 "Blanchard et Jeffries" (balloon crossing of the English Channel)
MongoliaC165 (Mi?)19822"1785 - Blanchard - France"; balloon crossing the English Channel (with Jeffries)
NicaraguaBL111In (upper-centre) margin of SS11980Balloon used by Blanchard and Jeffries to cross the English Channel
NicaraguaC1041 (Mi?)In (upper-right) margin of SS119831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Nicaragua2298 (Mi4089)SS11999Blanchard and description of Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon flight across the English Channel in January 1785. However the balloon at the upper-right is the one Blanchard used in his first ascent 2 March 1784
ParaguayC383 (BL227)1974Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Poland2434 (Mi2730)1981"J. Blanchard, J. Jeffries, 1785"; balloon crossing the English Channel
Rwanda1187 (Mi1271)19842"Blanchard et Jeffries, 1-7-1785"; balloon crossing the English Channel
St. Thomas and Prince Islands704a (Mi?)In (left and lower-right) margin of MS12 (4x (703a+703b+704))19831"John Jeffries" (at lower-right)
United States2032 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC19831Jeffries and barometer; Jeffries and Blanchard (in text)
United States2032-2033 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC (also with C54)Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Upper Volta620 (Mi887)19831Jeffries; Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Upper Volta620a (BL63)SS1 (620)
Vanuatu356 (Mi?)19831"1785 - Blanchard and Jeffries"; balloon crossing the English Channel
Vietnam1265 (Mi?)19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Yemen (PDR)316d (Mi?)One of MS4 (316 (a-d)), or one of deluxe MS4 (316 ds (a-d))19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel

1All items issued in 1983 commemorate the general theme of the 200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon. It took place on 21 November 1783. On that date, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose in a hot air balloon and flew approximately 9 km from the centre of Paris to the suburbs in about 25 minutes.
2200th anniversary (in 1983) of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon (for items issued in 1982 or 1984)
3200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon the United States, by Jean-Pierre Blanchard (for items issued in 1993).


Monge

Monge, Gaspard
(1745 - 1818)

Gespard Monge was a French mathematician and member of the Académie des Sciences. He also worked in other scientific fields such as physics, chemistry and meteorology, and contributed studies in those areas to the Académie. He studied the composition of water, which he was able to deduce at about the same time as Lavoisier.

Monge participated in Napoleon's campaign in Egypt, where he studied the physical cause of desert mirages. He explained that they were related to the layer of superheated air next to the desert surface: the boundary between this air and the cooler, denser air just above causes light rays from the sky to bend upward and into the eye of the observer, instead of moving in a straight line and striking the sand. This creates the illusion of water in the distance (the observer interprets the light as water on the sand). Monge's paper explaining the phenomenon appeared in 1800 in the Mémoires sur l'Égypte of the Egyptian Institute. It was still being cited 70 years later by the French scientific writer Flammarion.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
FranceB279 (Mi?)1953
France2232a (Mi?)One of MS4 (2232 (a-d))1990
France2232a fdcCancel and cachet on FDC
France2232a fdc2Cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
France2232a fdc3Cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
France2232a fdc4Cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
France2232a maxiMaxicard
France2232a folderFDC folder
FranceNone(Blue rubber-stamp) cachet on cover2011B. E. M. Monge (ship, named after Gaspard Monge)
San Marino1020 (Mi?)1982probably Monge in background (upon receipt of Napoleon's offer of Treaty of Friendship with San Marino, which Monge then delivered to San Marino on 7 February 1797)


Volta

Volta, Alessandro
(1745 - 1827)

Alessandro Volta was an Italian physicist who invented the battery. He also made important contributions to meteorology and the study of gases, notably with his discovery of methane.

At the tender age of 18 Volta began his studies of electricity. He examined Benjamin Franklin's investigations into static electricity and concluded that Franklin was indeed correct when he stated that lightning is a form of static electricity.

In 1783 Volta showed that air expands at a constant rate with increasing temperature. He published this result, but his paper was ignored and forgotten. The relationship was re-derived by Charles in 1787 (who did not publish it) and by Gay-Lussac in 1802 (who did publish it). It is now most commonly known as Charles' Law.

As part of his research into batteries, Volta developed several new devices. One of them, the straw electrometer, was designed to measure atmospheric electricity.

To honour his scientific work, Volta's name was given to the SI (International System of Units) unit of electric potential. See the SI (metric system) unit names page for other persons after whom metric units were named.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Afars and IssasC105 (Mi170)1977(150th anniv. death)
AltaiUnknown bOne of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011
Cyrenaica25 (Mi?)Italy 188 changed colour and overprinted1927100th anniv. death
Cyrenaica26 (Mi?)Italy 189 changed colour and overprinted
Cyrenaica27 (Mi?)Italy 191 changed colour and overprinted
DjiboutiC107 (Mi?)Afars and Issas C105 overprinted1977150th anniv. death
Eritrea102 (Mi125)Italy 188 changed colour and overprinted1927100th anniv. death
Eritrea103 (Mi126)Italy 189 changed colour and overprinted
Eritrea104 (Mi127)Italy 191 changed colour and overprinted
Italy188 (Mi259)1927100th anniv. death
Italy189 (Mi260)
Italy190 (Mi261)
Italy191 (Mi262)
Italy526 (Mi784)1949Voltaic pile
Italy527 (Mi785)1949
Italy1873 (Mi2205)1992
Italy2309 (Mi2560)1999
San Marino1042 (Mi?)1983
Somalia97 (Mi?)Italy 188 changed colour and overprinted1927100th anniv. death
Somalia98 (Mi?)Italy 189 changed colour and overprinted
Somalia99 (Mi?)Italy 191 overprinted
Trieste (Italy)53 (Mi76)Italy 526 overprinted1949Voltaic pile
Trieste (Italy)54 (Mi77)Italy 527 overprinted1949
Tripolitania25 (Mi?)Italy 188 changed colour and overprinted1927100th anniv. death
Tripolitania26 (Mi?)Italy 189 changed colour and overprinted
Tripolitania27 (Mi?)Italy 191 changed colour and overprinted


Charles

Charles, Jacques Aléxandre César
(1746 - 1823)

J. A. C. Charles was a French chemist, physicist and aeronaut. On 27 August 1783 he tested his unmanned hydrogen balloon and along with Benjamin Franklin watched it rise into the atmosphere. On 1 December 1783 Charles and Nicolas Robert made the first manned ascent in a hydrogen balloon in his balloon La Charlière (the earlier ascent of Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes on 21 November 1783 was made in a hot air balloon). Charles made a second flight that same day, without Robert, in which he ascended to approximately 3000 m. He had a barometer and thermometer with which he made some measurements of the pressure and the temperature of the air. This was, in effect, the first scientific balloon flight since it provided the very first meteorological sounding information. In that flight, Charles' barometer fell by some nine inches as the balloon rose, and the temperature dropped from 50°F at the surface to 20°F at the highest level reached.

In 1787 Charles discovered the relationship between the volume of a gas and its temperature (at a constant volume the pressure of a gas is proportional to its temperature in kelvins), though he never published the work. Volta had already published in 1783 a similar result, but his work was ignored or forgotten. Gay-Lussac later referred to Charles' work and re-derived the law and published it in 1802. It is generally known as Charles' law, but has also been referred to Gay-Lussac's law.

Note: Charles' balloon, La Charlière, is mentioned frequently in the table below.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
Andorra (French Admin.)304 (Mi?)19831La Charlière (at right)
Azerbaijan507 (Mi?)1995First hydrogen balloon (tested by Charles in Paris on 27 August 1783)
Belgium1146 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC19831La Charlière
BerneraLocal c (Mi?)One of MS419831La Charlière, 1783
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serb Admin.)216a (Mi292)On label from MS8 (216a (8x 216 + label))2003La Charlière
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serb Admin.)265 (Mi352)From MS8 (265a (8x 265 + label))2005La Charlière (at upper-left)
Central African RepublicC191 (Mi544)1978La Charlière (balloon is very similar to La Charlière as depicted in Latvia CB11)
Central African RepublicC191a (BL28)SS1 (C191)
Central African Republic614 (BL256)SS119831Charles and La Charlière (at left)
Central African Republic1331h (Mi2473)One of MS8 (1331 (a-h)) (Mi2466-2473)2000"J.A.C. Charles 1st hydrogen balloon 1783"
ChadC263 (Mi963)19831"MM Charles et Robert - 1.12.1783"; La Charlière
Cuba2576 (Mi?)19831La Charlière
Ecuador1059 (Mi1966)19842La Charlière
Ecuador1060 (BL111)In (lower-right) margin of SS1
France1863 cardBlack cancel on special postal card19831Charles and La Charlière
France1864 (Mi2388)From MS20 (1864a (10x (1863-1864) + 10 labels))19831J. Charles and M-N Robert; La Charlière
France1864 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC19831Charles and La Charlière
France1864 card1(Violet) cancel and cachet on special card19831"Jacques Charles" and La Charlière; "200th anniversary of first flight in a hydrogen balloon made by Professor Charles and his mechanic Robert on 1st December 1783"
France1864 card2Cachet on special card (different)19831Charles
FranceNoneCancel19831"Charles et Robert"
FranceNoneCancel (different)19831"Charles et Robert"
FranceNoneCancel (different)19831"Charles et Robert"
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesC81 (Mi?)From strip of 2 (C82a (C81-C82 + label))19842"J. Charles and N. Robert" and La Charlière
Guinea RepublicBL67In (upper and right) margin of SS119831Charles and Robert's 1st ascent in a hydrogen balloon, 1.12.1783; balloon La Charlière
Guinea-Bissau443 (Mi651)19831La Charlière
Ivory CoastC72 (Mi773)19831La Charlière
Korea (North)2255c (Mi?)One of MS5 (2255 (a-e + label))19822La Charlière landing at Nesle, 1 December 1783
KyrgyzstanUnknown c (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)2000La Charlière
LatviaCB11 (Mi?)
CB11a
Perforated and imperforate1932La Charlière, 1783
Laos459 (Mi?)19831La Charlière
Malagasy Republic1390b (Mi2045)One of MS9 (1390 (a-i)) (Mi2044-2052)1998Charles and Robert, 1783 and La Charlière
Mauritania523 (Mi?)19831La Charlière
MonacoJ45 (Mi?)One of pair (J45a (J45+J54))1953La Charlière
NetherlandsNoneCancel on postcard1943La Charlière (at right)
NetherlandsNonePostcard, back1943Charles and Robert's balloon La Charlière landing at Nesle, 1 December 1783
NigerC319 (Mi?)19831"1-12-1783 - Ballon à hydrogène" (La Charlière)
NigerC319 ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (C319)
Nicaragua2300 (Mi4087)SS11999Charles and his flight with Robert in La Charlière
Paraguay2104 label (Mi3704 label)One of three labels from MS6 (2104a (6x 2104 + 3 labels)1983La Charlière
Rwanda1185 (Mi1269)19842"Charles et Robert, 1-12-1783"; La Charlière (at left)
St. Thomas and Prince Islands704a (Mi?)In (left) margin of MS12 (4x (703a+703b+704))19831"J. A. C. Charles" (at left)
SomaliaMi7501999La Charlière
Surinam657 (Mi1054)19831La Charlière
Surinam655-657 fdcOne of three stamps on FDC
Turks and Caicos573 (Mi?)19831La Charlière
United States2032 fdc (Mi? fdc)(DRC) cachet on FDC1983La Charlière (in centre of cachet)
United StatesNoneCancel1985La Charlière
Upper Volta619 (Mi886)19831Charles; Charles' and Robert's flight, 1783; La Charlière
Upper Volta619a (BL62)SS1 (619)
Upper Volta623 (BL59)In (lower) margin of SS119831"Charles 1783"
Vanuatu355 (Mi?)19831"1783 - J.A.C. Charles"; La Charlière
Vietnam2621 (Mi2695)1995"La Charlière, 1-12-1783"
Yemen (PDR)316b (Mi?)One of MS4 (316 (a-d)), or one of deluxe MS4 (316 ds (a-d))19831La Charlière
Zaire1161 (Mi?)1984"1783 - Ballon de Charles et Robert"; La Charlière
Zaire1414 (Mi1089)1161 surcharged1994"1783 - Ballon de Charles et Robert"; La Charlière

1All items issued in 1983 commemorate the general theme of the 200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon. It took place on 21 November 1783. On that date, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose in a hot air balloon and flew approximately 9 km from the centre of Paris to the suburbs in about 25 minutes.
2200th anniversary (in 1983) of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon (for items issued in 1982 or 1984)


von Goethe

von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang
(1749 - 1832)

Johann von Goethe was a German poet and philosopher who also had a wide variety of scientific interests, including meteorology.

Goethe's poetry and philosophy sometimes treated weather-related subjects. For example, he said "Soul of man how equal to water! Fate of man how equal to wind!", thus equating the dynamism of water and air to that of Man. This is reminiscent of Heraclitus, who considered wind, water and life and concluded that "everything flows" (panta rhei).

In 1775 von Goethe entered the court of the Duchy of Weimar, where he worked in various government offices. As a member of the cabinet, he was able to indulge his scientific pursuits. For example, his interest in the weather led him to set up an early weather station in the Duchy. This was the precursor of a weather observing network in the Duchy, which in turn was a precursor of modern state meteorological services in Europe.

During his travels around Europe, Goethe discovered a simple water barometer known as a weather glass and introduced it to the German-speaking countries. His promotion of the instrument linked it to him and it became known in Europe as the Goethe barometer. His personal weather glass is still found in his former home (now the Goethe Museum) in Weimar, Germany.

Goethe had long been fascinated by clouds and their forms, and enthusiastically adopted the cloud classification system introduced by the Englishman Luke Howard in 1803. He used it in his own weather journals as well as in the Weimar observation network. Goethe later included in his meteorological writings the poem Howard's Ehrengedächtnis (To the Honoured Momory of Howard) consisting of four strophes: 'Stratus', 'Cumulus', 'Cirrus' and 'Nimbus'. He also published an essay, Wolkengestalt nach Howard (Cloud Shapes according to Howard), as well as the German language translation of an autobiographical memoir written by Howard at his request. For Goethe, Howard was "the first to hold fast conceptually the airy and always-changing form of clouds, to limit and fasten down the indefinite, the intangible and unattainable and give them appropriate names".

Several books or treatises have been written about von Goethe's work in meteorology, including:

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AustriaNoneCinderella (poster stamp)?
Antigua and Barbuda2264b (Mi?)One of MS3 (2264 (a-c))1999(250th anniv. birth)
Antigua and Barbuda2265 (BL?)SS1
Bulgaria4077 (Mi?)1999(250th anniv. birth)
Central African Republic518 (Mi836)1982(150th anniv. death)
Central African Republic643 (Mi?)1984
Chad487 (Mi?)1984
Chile1291-1292 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cancel and cachet on FDC1999(250th anniv. birth)
Comoro Islands549 (Mi?)1982(150th anniv. death)
Comoro Islands550 (Mi?)
Congo (People's Republic)638 (Mi?)1982(150th anniv. death)
Congo (People's Republic)638 ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (638)
Dominica2156b (Mi?)On one and in (upper-right) margin of MS3 (2156 (a-c))1999(250th anniv. birth)
Dominica2156 fdcMS3 on FDC
Dominica2157 (BL?)SS1
Equatorial GuineaUnknown d (Mi?)One of strip of 4 (a-d)1999(250th anniv. birth)
France863 (Mi?)1957
France863 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
France863 maxiMaxicard
France863 proof1Colour proof
France863 proof2Two-colour proof
France863 proof3Colour proof (red)
France863 proof4Colour proof (green)
GermanyNoneCinderella (poster stamp)early 1900s
Germany351 (Mi?)1926
Germany352 (Mi?)1927
Germany358 (Mi?)1926
Germany365 (Mi?)358 overprinted1927
GermanyNoneCinderella1932(100th anniv. death)
GermanyNonePostal card1932100th anniv. death
Germany1844 (Mi?)One of booklet pane of 10 (1844a (10x 1884))1997Goethe-Schiller Monument; Goethe (at left)
GermanyNonePrinted stamp on postal card1997Goethe-Schiller Monument; Goethe (at left)
Germany2052 (Mi?)1999(250th anniv. birth)
Germany2052 folder1Folder
Germany2052 folder2Folder (different)
Germany2052 scStamp and cancel and cachet on souvenir card250th anniv. birth
GermanyNoneCachet on postal card1999250th anniv. birth
GermanyKM19710 euros (? coin)1999(250th anniv. birth)
Germany2123 (Mi?)200150th anniv. Goethe Institute
Germany2276 (BL?)MS2 (2276 (a-b))2004150th anniv. première Goethe's Faust
GermanyNoneCancel2007175th anniv. death
Germany (West)B306 (Mi?)1949200th anniv. birth
Germany (West)B307 (Mi?)
Germany (West)B308 (Mi?)
Germany (West)NoneCinderellalate 1950s?
Germany (West)833 (Mi?)1961
Germany (West)833 maxi1Maxicard
Germany (West)833 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Germany (West)833 maxi3Maxicard (different)
Germany (West)1369 (Mi?)1982(150th anniv. death)
Germany (West)KM1565 marks (silver coin)1982(150th anniv. death)
Germany (West)NoneCancel and cachet on postcard1983(150th anniv. death)
Germany (West)NoneCancel and cachet (different) on postcard1983(150th anniv. death)
GermanyNoneCancel and cachet and coin (KM156) on cover, also back1992
GermanyNoneCancel and cachet and coin (KM156) on cover, also back1994
GermanyNoneCachet and coin (KM156) on cover (different)1994
Germany (East)966 (Mi?)1967Goethehaus in Weimar
Germany (East)KM2520 marks (? coin)1969(220th anniv. birth)
Germany (East)1471 (Mi?)1973
Germany (East)2245a (Mi?)One of MS2 (2245 (a-b))1982(150th anniv. death)
Germany (East)KM855 marks (? coin)1982Goethe's cottage; (150th anniv. death)
Germany (East)2833 (Mi?)1990Goethe and Schiller
Germany (East)NonePostal card1990Goethe and Schiller
Germany (French Admin.)4N11 (Mi?)1945
Germany (Baden)5NB12 (Mi?)1949200th anniv. birth
Germany (Baden)5NB13 (Mi?)
Germany (Baden)5NB14 (Mi?)
Germany (Berlin)9N61 (Mi?)1949(200th anniv. birth)
Germany (Berlin)9N62 (Mi?)
Germany (Berlin)9N63 (Mi?)
Germany (Berlin)9N185 (Mi?)1961
Germany (Rhine Palatinate)6NB7 (Mi?)1949200th anniv. birth
Germany (Rhine Palatinate)6NB8 (Mi?)
Germany (Rhine Palatinate)6NB9 (Mi?)
Germany (Russia)10NB6 (Mi?)1949200th anniv. birth
Germany (Russia)10NB7 (Mi?)
Germany (Russia)10NB8 (Mi?)
Germany (Russia)10NB9 (Mi?)
Germany (Russia)10NB10 (Mi?)
Germany (Russia)10NB11 (BL?)SS1
Germany (Russia)10NB13 (Mi?)(200th anniv. birth)
Germany (Thuringia)16N7 (Mi98A)1945
Germany (Thuringia)16N7a (Mi98B)16N7 imperforate
Germany (Thuringia)16N7b (BL?)MS4 (16N2+16N4+16N6-16N7)
Germany (Thuringia)16N8 (Mi99A)
Germany (Thuringia)16N8a (Mi99B)16N8 imperforate
Germany (Thuringia)16N9b (Mi108)One of MS5 (16N9 (a-e)) (BL3Ax)1946
Germany (Thuringia)16N9fb (Mi?)One of MS5 (16N9f (a-e)) (BL3Bya), watermarked
Germany (Thuringia)16N9b error (Mi108 error)One of MS5 (16N9 var (a-e)) (BL3BFI), colour error
Germany (Weimar)KM763 marks (? coin)1932(100th anniv. death)
Germany (Weimar)KM775 marks (? coin)
Germany (Wurttemburg)8NB9 (Mi?)1949200th anniv. birth
Germany (Wurttemburg)8NB10 (Mi?)
Germany (Wurttemburg)8NB11 (Mi?)
Ghana2140b (Mi3013)One of MS3 (2140 (a-c))1999(250th anniv. birth)
Ghana2141 (BL383)SS1 (Mi3015)
Grenada2858b (Mi?)One of MS3 (2858 (a-c))1999(250th anniv. birth)
Grenada2860 (BL?)SS1
Guinea Republic879 (Mi976)1984
Guinea Republic879a (BL84)On stamp and in (right) margin of SS1 (879)
Guinea Republic1608b (Mi2675)On one and in (upper-left) margin of MS3 (1608 (a-c)) (Mi2674-2676)1999(250th anniv. birth)
Guinea Republic1609 (BL621)SS1 (Mi2677)
Guinea RepublicMi6573One of MS6 (Mi6568-6573)2009(260th anniv. birth)
Guyana3413b (Mi?)One of MS3 (3413 (a-c))1999(250th anniv. birth)
Guyana3414 (BL?)SS1
HungaryCB5 (Mi1025)1948
Hungary2777 (BL?)SS11982150th anniv. death
Hungary2777 fdcSS1 and cancel and cachet on FDC
HungaryNonePostal card (gold)1982(150th anniv. death)
HungaryNonePostal card (blue)
ItalyNoneCancel and cachet on cover1988200th anniv. Goethe's visit to Italy
Italy2304 (Mi?)1999(250th anniv. birth)
Italy2304 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
Italy2304 fdc2Stamp and cancel on FDC
Italy2304 maxi1Maxicard
Italy2304 maxi2Maxicard (different cancel)
Italy2304 maxi3Maxicard (different)
Italy2929 (Mi?)2009von Goethe (at left); (260th anniv. birth)
Ivory Coast626 (Mi?)1982(150th anniv. death)
Korea (North)2071 (Mi?)1981Goetz von Berlichingen, subject of poem by von Goethe; von Goethe at right; (150th anniv. death, in 1982)
Korea (North)2134 (Mi?)Stamp-on-stamp: France 8631981
Korea (North)2199 (Mi2259)
i2199
From MS9 (2199a (9x 2199))
From imperforate MS9 (i2199a (9x i2199))
1982150th anniv. death
Korea (North)2200 (Mi2260)
i2200
From MS9 (2200a (9x 2200))
From imperforate MS9 (i2200a (9x i2200))
Korea (North)2201 (Mi2261)
i2201
From MS9 (2201a (9x 2201))
From imperforate MS9 (i2201a (9x i2201))
Korea (North)2202 (Mi2262)
i2202
From MS9 (2202a (9x 2202))
From imperforate MS9 (i2202a (9x i2202))
Korea (North)2203e (Mi2267)From MS5 (2203 (a-e + label)) (Mi2263-2267)
Korea (North)2203 label (Mi? label)
Korea (North)2204 (BL121)SS1
Korea (South)1964 (Mi?)1999250th anniv. birth
Korea (South)1964 maxi1Maxicard
Korea (South)1964 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Korea (South)1965 (BL?)SS1
Korea (South)NoneMeter on cover1999250th anniv. birth
Liechtenstein723 (Mi?)1981
Liechtenstein1151 (Mi?)1999(250th anniv. birth)
Liechtenstein1152 (Mi?)
Luxembourg593 (Mi?)1977
Luxembourg593 fdcStamp on FDC
Luxembourg593-596 fdcOne of four stamps on FDC
Luxembourg1020 (Mi?)1999(250th anniv. birth)
Maldive Islands671 (Mi?)1977Goethe (at left)
MaliC467 (Mi?)
iC467

Imperforate
1982(150th anniv. death)
MaliC467 ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (C467)
MaliC467 proofDie proof
Moldova322 (Mi326)1999(250th anniv. birth)
Moldova322 fdcStamp and cancel on FDC
Moldova551 (Mi577)From MS10 (551a (10x 551))2007
Moldova548-551 fdcOne of four stamps on FDC
Niger578 (Mi788)1982(150th anniv. death)
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local gOne of MS8 (a-h + label)2011(180th anniv. death, in 2012)
Paraguay953 (Mi?)
i953

Imperforate with changed colours
1966
Paraguay953 muestra
i953 muestra
Overprinted "muestra"
Imperforate overprinted "muestra", changed colours
Paraguayi954 muestra (Mi? muestra)Overprinted "muestra"; In (right) margin of imperforate
Paraguay956 (Mi?)
i956

Imperforate with changed colours
Paraguay956 muestra
i956 muestra
Overprinted "muestra"
In stamp and in (right) margin of imperforate, overprinted "muestra", changed colours
Paraguayi957 muestra (Mi? muestra)Overprinted "muestra"; In (right) margin of imperforate
Paraguayi958 muestra (Mi? muestra)Overprinted "muestra"; In (right) margin of imperforate
Paraguay958a
i958a
In (lower-left) margin of SS1
In (lower-left) margin of imperforate SS1, changed colours
Paraguay958a muestra
i958a muestra
In (lower-left) margin of SS1, overprinted "muestra"
In (lower-left) margin of imperforate SS1, overprinted "muestra", changed colours
Paraguay2445 (Mi4621)1993paintings of Goethe
Paraguay2446 (Mi4622)
Paraguay2445-2446 fdcTwo stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
Paraguay2451 (Mi4627)2445 overprinted1993
Paraguay2452 (Mi4628)2446 overprinted
Paraguay2451-2452 fdcTwo stamps on FDC
Philippines3378Block of 4 (3378 (a-d))2011Goethe Institute; (180th anniv. death, in 2012)
Romania3135c (Mi?)One of MS4 (3135 (a-d))1983
Romania3135 fdcMS4 on FDC
Romania3135c cardStamp and cancel and cachet on card1991
Romania4304 (Mi?)1999(250th anniv. birth)
Romania4304-4305 fdcOne of two stamps on FDC
Romania4304 maxiMaxicard
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on cover1999250th anniv. birth
RomaniaNoneCancel on cover (different)1999250th anniv. birth
St. Thomas and Prince Islands612 (Mi695A)
i612 (Mi695B)

Imperforate
1981
St. Thomas and Prince Islands613 (BL57A)
i613 (BL57B)
SS1 (Mi696A)
Imperforate SS1 (Mi696B)
St. Thomas and Prince Islands654 (Mi765)
i654

Imperforate
1982150th anniv. death
St. Thomas and Prince Islands655 (BL91A)
i655 (BL91B)
SS1 (Mi766A)
Imperforate SS1 (Mi766B)
St. Thomas and Prince IslandsMi3509One of MS6 (Mi3506-3511)2008
St. Vincent2709b (Mi4702)One of and in (upper-left) margin of MS3 (2709 (a-c)) (Mi4702+4704-4705)1999(250th anniv. birth)
St. Vincent2709b (Mi4702)One of and in (upper-left) margin of MS3 (2710 (2709b+2710 (a-b))) (Mi4701-4703)
St. Vincent2711 (BL493)SS1 (Mi4706)
St. Vincent2712 (BL494)SS1 (Mi4707)
Serbian RepublicUnknown (Mi?)From MS8 (a-h + label)2007175th anniv. death
Sierra Leone2229b (Mi3311)One of and in (upper-left) margin of MS3 (2229 (a-c))1999(250th anniv. birth)
Sierra Leone2229b (Mi3311)One of and in (upper-left) margin of MS3 (2230 (2229b+2230 (a-b))
Sierra Leone2231 (BL425)SS1 (Mi3315)
Sierra Leone2232 (BL426)SS1 (Mi3316)
Sierra Leone2794c (Mi?)One of MS3 (2794 (a-c))2005Statue of Schiller and Goethe
TogoC190 (Mi953)
iC190

Imperforate
1972140th anniv. death
TogoC190 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
TogoC190 ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (C190)
TogoUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS3 (a-c)2011
United StatesNoneCancel1999250th anniv. birth
Uruguay1146 (Mi1673)1983150th anniv. death
Uruguay1146 fdcStamp on FDC
Uruguay1147a (BL54)MS4 (1144-1147)
Upper Volta316 (Mi?)1973
Upper Volta642 (Mi925)1983150th anniv. death
Zambia794b (Mi956)One of and in (upper-left) margin of MS3 (794 (a-c)) (Mi955-957)1999(250th anniv. birth)
Zambia795 (BL56)SS1 (Mi958)


Berthollet

Berthollet, Claude-Louis
(1748 - 1822)

Claude-Louis Berthollet was a French chemist who in the early 1800s wanted to find out how the composition of the atmosphere changed with altitude. Laplace was also interested in this question, and in 1804 proposed that the French Academy of Sciences fund scientific balloon flights that would make the required measurements. The proposal was accepted, and in August of that year Louis-Joseph Gay-Lussac (a student and lab assistant of Berthollet) and Jean-Baptiste Biot rose to some 4000 m in a balloon over Paris. In September of that year, Gay-Lussac made a second flight, this one solo. Air samples collected near the highest level reached, around 7000 m, were later analyzed and found to have the same composition as air at the ground.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
France872 (Mi?)1958(210th anniv. birth)
France872 dsDeluxe sheet (872)
France872 proofArtist proof
France872 fdc1Cancel and cachet on FDC
France872 fdc2Cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France872 fdc3Cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France872 maxiMaxicard
France872 maxi2Maxicard (different)
France872 maxi3Maxicard (different)
France872 maxi4Maxicard (different)


Laplace

Laplace, Pierre-Simon
(1749 - 1827)

Pierre-Simon Laplace was a French mathematician and astronomer. His name is used to refer to a particular mathematical function that is now widely used in meteorology: the "Laplacian".

Laplace needed to know how his astronomical observations were affected by the refraction of light caused by the atmosphere. To determine this, he needed vertical profiles of temperature and moisture. Some such measurements had been made outside France, but in 1804 Laplace proposed to the French Academy of Sciences that funds be allotted for balloon flights that would make the necessary measurements within the country. Claude-Louis Berthollet, who wanted to find out how the composition of the atmosphere changes with altitude, supported the proposal. The Academy agreed, and in August 1804, Louis-Joseph Gay-Lussac (Berthollet's student and lab assistant) and Jean-Baptiste Biot rose in a hot air balloon to some 4000 m over Paris while making observations of the atmosphere. Gay-Lussac made another ascent in September of that year. In these flights it was found that the air became drier with height, while the temperature decreased.

As a result of this work, Laplace was able to deduce a hypsometric equation (an equation that relates atmospheric pressure to geometric height, given known profiles of atmospheric temperature and humidity). His formula was later used by other researchers. For example, Angot, Hergesell and Rykatchef showed in a study published in Part 1 of the 1896 Memoirs of the French Central Meteorological Bureau that while a single hypsometric equation valid for a deep layer of the atmosphere would be complex and difficult to derive, such a layer could be divided into thin sub-layers, each of which could then be treated with Laplace's simpler equation. The results for all the layers could then simply be summed to obtain an accurate solution.

Laplace also did some initial work on the laws that govern atmospheric pressure tides. This work was later extended by Kelvin and generalized by Rayleigh and Margules.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
FranceB298 (Mi?)1955
FranceB298 maxiMaxicard
Guinea RepublicMi5842A
Mi5842B
One of MS6 (Mi5838A-5843A)
One of imperforate MS6 (Mi5838B-5843B)
2008
Guinea RepublicMi5838A-5843A_ms6 fdcMS6 on FDC
Guinea RepublicMi7645One of MS6 (Mi7641-7646)2010
Guinea RepublicMi7641-7646_ms6 fdcOne of MS6 on FDC
MozambiqueUnknown d (Mi?)
Unknown id
One of MS6 (a-f)
One of imperforate MS6 (a-f)
2001
MozambiqueUnknown ss (BL?)On stamp of SS1
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local labelOne of MS8 (a-h + label)2011


Madison

Madison, James
(1751 - 1836)

James Madison was the fourth president of the United States. He and his friend Thomas Jefferson were keenly interested in meteorology, partly from a strict scientific viewpoint and partly because they felt that they had to refute the French naturalist Buffon's published claim that American flora and fauna were somehow inferior to those of Europe, due to a supposedly inferior climate.

Jefferson, who made weather observations at Monticello from 1772 to 1778, encouraged Madison to make his own observations. As a result Madison and his father recorded some 16,000 weather observations at Montpelier (their home) from 1784 to 1802. Before 1787, Madison's thermometer was located inside his house. This was standard practice at the time (following the instructions of the Englishman Dr. James Jurin, secretary of the Royal Society of London, who advocated placing the thermometer "in a room which faces the north, where there is very seldom if ever any fire in the fireplace"). However, Madison came to the conclusion in the winter of 1786-1787 that his observed temperatures could be inconsistent with what was happening outside (for example, the Madison family weather diary for 10 December 1786 noted that trees were covered in ice and that the thermometer dropped from 30 degrees Fahrenheit to 22 when put "on the porch"). As a result, on 16 February 1787 Madison moved his thermometer outdoors to the porch. This action was a bold step forward for the times, representing as it did a break with overseas authority. It of course immediately changed the character of Madison's temperature observations, which then showed much larger diurnal differences than had been the case previously. It can be said that in meteorology as in politics, Madison was among the American founders of measures that represented a revolution against British practices.

Madison's weather observations are far more complete than those of Jefferson, in number and type (Madison regularly observed both temperature and precipitation). Researchers from University of Virginia and the University of Arkansas have recently taken advantage of Madison's work in their development of a history of precipitation over central Virginia during the past two centuries (Druckenbrod, D., M. Mann, D. Stahle, M. Cleaveland, M. Therrell and H. Shugart, 2003: Late Eighteenth-Century Precipitation Reconstructions from James Madison's Montpelier Plantation. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 84(1) (January 2003), 57-71). The authors used tree rings from a Montpelier forest to estimate Virginia precipitation in the late 18th and 19th centuries, and calibrated their tree ring data from the beginning of that period with Madison's actual observations of precipitation. They then connected the resulting reconstruction to modern observations, resulting in a precipitation record over 200 years long. They concluded that from Madison's time there has been a shift in Virginia from May to June in the timing of the main spring precipitation. Madison's temperature observations have also been compared to modern observations, with the conclusion that the climate in Virginia was probably cooler in the late 18th century than it is now, particularly in summer.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
Central African Republic880 (Mi1306A)
i880 (Mi1306B)

Imperforate
1988
Central African RepublicBL430 (BL?)SS11988
Grenada1557 (Mi?)SS11987
United States262 (Mi?)1894
United States277 (Mi?)1895
United States312 (Mi?)1903
United States479 (Mi?)1917
United States808 (Mi?)1938
United States843 (Mi?)1939
United States843 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
United States843 fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United StatesNoneCancel1942Madison WI
United States2216d (Mi?)One of MS9 (2216 (a-i))1986(150th anniv. death)
United States2875a (Mi?)MS4 (4x 2875)1994
United States3545 (Mi?)2001


Blanchard

Blanchard, Jean-Pierre
(1753 - 1809)

Jean-Pierre Blanchard was a French aeronaut who made some 60 balloon flights during his life. Two of them were made with the American physician and scientist John Jeffries.

In their first flight together on 30 November 1784, they flew about one hour and travelled almost 30 km from London to Dartford. Jeffries made some observations of the atmosphere. He found that the temperature decreased with height, from 11°C at the ground to -2°C at 9000 feet (2740 m). He also recorded a steady decrease of pressure with height, and noted large variations in humidity as the balloon rose.

In their second flight, on 7 January 1785, Blanchard and Jeffries became the first people to cross the English Channel by air; they flew from Dover to Calais in about 2½ hours. The balloon flew so low that to avoid hitting the water the aeronauts were forced to throw nearly everything overboard, including most of the clothes they were wearing! Jeffries had planned to make additional atmospheric observations during this flight, but unfortunately the instruments were jettisoned along with everything else.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Anguilla543 (Mi?)19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Antigua and Barbuda1713 (Mi1872)19933First airmail in the US via Blanchard's balloon, 1793
Antigua and Barbuda1715 (Mi1873)
Antigua and Barbuda1719 (BL272)SS1
Barbuda580 (Mi661)19831"Blanchard and Jeffries' flight, 7 January 1785"; balloon crossing the English Channel
Belize679 (BL?)SS119831"Blanchard"; (in upper margin) the balloon he used in his first ascent 2 March 1784; (at left) his Chelsea balloon on 2 November 1784
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serb Admin.)126b (Mi186)One of booklet pane of 7 (126 (a-g + 2 labels))2000Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Cambodia415 (Mi?)19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Central African Republic609 (Mi?)
i609

Imperforate
19831J. P. Blanchard and his balloon crossing the English Channel (with Jeffries)
Chad451 (Mi979)19831Blanchard and Chelsea balloon (1784)
Chad451a (BL66)SS1 (451)
ChadC264 (Mi?)19831"J.P. Blanchard, Berlin, 1788"; balloon
Comoro IslandsC124 (Mi683)19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Cook Islands762 (Mi949)Stamp and label19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Cook Islands765 (BL143)SS1Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Cook Islands766c (Mi?)One of MS5 (766 (a-e)) (BL144), 762 surchargedBlanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
CzechoslovakiaC91 (Mi2398)1977Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Dominica1577 (BL244)SS119933Blanchard's balloon, 1793 in the US
FranceNoneCancel1987
France3260f (Mi?)One of MS6 (3260 (a-f)) (BL65)2006"Blanchard - Ballon à rames" (the balloon he used in his first ascent 2 March 1784)
FujeiraMi622A
Mi622B

Imperforate
1971Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
FujeiraMi742Mi622 overprinted in red1971Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
FujeiraMi742-744 fdcOne of three stamps on FDC
Gambia1388 (BL?)SS11993Blanchard's balloon used in his first ascent, 2 March 1784
GermanyNonePostcard back, also front?"Blanchard in Nürnberg, 1787"
Ghana1564 (BL223)In (upper-right) margin of SS11993"Blanchard's hot air balloon, 1793" (in the USA)
Ghana1934c (Mi2509)One of MS3 (1934 (a-c))1997"Pierre Blanchard, 1784, first airmail flight"
Great Britain1073j fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on MS9 (2x 890c + 2x 974 + 4x 1073 + 1084) FDC1985"The Blanchard and Jeffries balloon"
Great BritainNoneCancel1985200th anniv. Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Grenada1522 (Mi1606)1987Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Grenada2285 (Mi2691)1993Bicentennial of 1st (US) airmail delivery; liftoff of Blanchard's balloon from Philadelphia
Grenada2286 (Mi2692)Bicentennial of 1st (US) airmail delivery; "Blanchard carried a passport from President George Washington"
Grenada2287 (BL356)SS1Bicentennial of 1st (US) airmail delivery and 1st gas balloon flight in America; "Blanchard's balloon approaches Deptford, NJ"
Grenada Grenadines1620 (Mi1816)1993Bicentennial of 1st (US) airmail delivery; "Blanchard's balloon crosses the Delaware River"
Grenada Grenadines1621 (Mi1819)Bicentennial of 1st (US) airmail delivery; "Blanchard carried a passport of introduction from George Washington"
Grenada Grenadines1622 (BL291)SS1Bicentennial of 1st (US) airmail delivery and 1st gas balloon flight in America; "Blanchard's balloon"
Korea (North)2255d (Mi?)One of MS5 (2255 (a-e + label))19822Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
KyrgyzstanUnknown i (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)20001785 "Blanchard and Jeffries, 1785" (balloon crossing of the English Channel)
Laos460 (Mi?)19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Libya1144d (Mi1212)One of strip of 6 (1144 (a-f)) (BL80)19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Malagasy Republic1390c (Mi2046)One of MS9 (1390 (a-i)) (Mi2044-2052)19981785 "Blanchard et Jeffries" (balloon crossing of the English Channel)
MongoliaC165 (Mi?)19822"1785 - Blanchard - France"; balloon crossing the English Channel (with Jeffries)
NicaraguaBL111In (upper-centre) margin of SS11980Balloon used by Blanchard and Jeffries to cross the English Channel
NicaraguaC1041 (Mi?)In (upper-right) margin of SS119831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Nicaragua2298 (Mi4089)SS11999Blanchard and description of Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon flight across the English Channel in January 1785. However the balloon at the upper-right is the one Blanchard used in his first ascent 2 March 1784
ParaguayC383 (BL227)1974Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
ParaguayC532 (BL385)In (lower-right) margin of SS119831Balloon used by Blanchard in his first ascent, 2 March 1784
Poland2434 (Mi2730)1981"J. Blanchard, J. Jeffries, 1785"; balloon crossing the English Channel
Poland2643 (Mi2939)1984Blanchard's balloon flight in Poland in 1790
Redonda (Antigua)8309 (BL?)In (upper) margin of SS119831"Blanchard in America, 1793"
Rwanda1185 (Mi1269)19842"Blanchard, 2-3-1784" (at right is the balloon Blanchard used in his first ascent 2 March 1784)
Rwanda1186 (Mi1270)Blanchard and his wife in the gondola of their balloon
Rwanda1187 (Mi1271)"Blanchard et Jeffries, 1-7-1785"; balloon crossing the English Channel
St. Thomas and Prince Islands555 (Mi?)1979"Blanchard, 1784"; balloon used in his first ascent 2 March 1784
St. Thomas and Prince Islands704a (Mi?)In (left and lower-right) margin of MS12 (4x (703a+703b+704))19831"Jean-Pierre Blanchard" (at left)
St. Vincent1867 (Mi?)19933Bicentennial of 1st (US) airmail; "Jean-Pierre Blanchard - balloonist Blanchard carried a passport of introduction from President Washington"
St. Vincent1867 specimenOverprinted "specimen"
St. Vincent1871 (Mi?)Bicentennial of 1st (US) airmail; liftoff of Blanchard's balloon from Philadelphia
St. Vincent1874 (Mi?)On stamp and in (lower-right) margin of SS1Bicentennial of 1st (US) airmail; "Blanchard's balloon"; "Jean-Pierre Blanchard - 1st gas balloon flight in America - 9 January 1793"
St. Vincent1874 specimenSS1 specimen
Sierra Leone890 (Mi1011)1987"Blanchard's balloon - first US balloon flight"
Uganda974d (Mi1042)One of MS9 (974 (a-i)) (Mi1039-1047)1992Blanchard's balloon
United StatesNoneCancel1976America's first manned (balloon) flight, 1793 (by Blanchard)
United States2032 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC19831Jeffries and barometer; Jeffries and Blanchard (in text)
United States2032 fdc2 (Mi? fdc2)Cachet (different) on FDCBlanchard and balloon (Philadelphia, 9 January 1793)
United States2032-2033 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC (also with C54)Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
United States2035a fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDCBlanchard and balloon (Philadelphia, 9 January 1793)
Upper Volta620 (Mi887)19831Jeffries; Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Upper Volta620a (BL63)SS1 (620)
Vanuatu356 (Mi?)19831"1785 - Blanchard and Jeffries"; balloon crossing the English Channel
Vietnam1265 (Mi?)19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel
Vietnam2622 (Mi2696)1995Blanchard's balloon, used in his first ascent 2 March 1784
Yemen (PDR)316d (Mi?)One of MS4 (316 (a-d)), or one of deluxe MS4 (316 ds (a-d))19831Blanchard and Jeffries' balloon crossing the English Channel

1All items issued in 1983 commemorate the general theme of the 200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon. It took place on 21 November 1783. On that date, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose in a hot air balloon and flew approximately 9 km from the centre of Paris to the suburbs in about 25 minutes.
2200th anniversary (in 1983) of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon (for items issued in 1982 or 1984)
3200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon the United States, by Jean-Pierre Blanchard (for items issued in 1993).


Forster

Forster, Johann Georg Adam
(1754 - 1794)

Johann Forster was a German naturalist, botanist, ethnographer and writer who, with his father, accompanied Captain James Cook on his second expedition (1772-1775).

The expedition visited Australia, whose climate Forster described and compared to that of South Africa in 1786 in his book Neuholland und die brittische Colonie in Botany-Bay (New Holland and the English Colony at Botany Bay): "From the above-mentioned latitudes, it may be seen that this country lies within good climatic zones. Its northern areas, which lie 12 degrees within the Tropics and so are exposed to the direct rays of the sun, suffer occasionally from excessive heat; but beyond the Tropic of Capricorn up to the latitude of 43 degrees South, the climate is temperate and to be compared, for instance, to the Cape of Good Hope. Even the southernmost point of van Diemen's land, which is situated a full 9 degrees farther south than the African Cape, seems to be favoured in the same degree, probably because there are no snowy mountains like those that lie to the north of the Cape, which cool the atmosphere and give a penetrating sharpness to the wind". Forster also commented on the Australian bush fires that he saw, and that still occur in Australia and elsewhere, particularly in areas affected by drought. He wrote that "he who knows the steppe fire in Russia will be able to imagine the terrifying speed with which fire spreads through dry grass in New Holland".

Forster also noted the general climatological principles that the western borders of continents in temperate latitudes are always warmer than corresponding latitudes of their eastern borders, and also that temperatures are milder in the vicinity of the sea than in the interior of continents. Von Humboldt would later (in 1817) include these ideas in his work Des Lignes Isothermes et de la Distribution de la Chaleur sur le Globe (On Isotherms and the Distribution of Heat around the Globe) and would illustrate them with his 'isothermal lines' which he introduced in that work.

The German Democratic Republic (DDR) and then Germany had a research station in Antarctica that was named after Forster. It was closed and removed in 1996.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Falkland Islands Dependency1L98 (Mi?)1985Johann Georg's father, J. R. Forster
Falkland Islands Dependency1L99 (Mi?)
Falkland Islands Dependency1L97-1L100 fdcTwo of four stamps and cachet on FDCJohann Georg Forster and his father, J.R. Forster
Germany (East)1998 (Mi?)1979Forster; Cook's ship Resolution
Germany (East)2667 (Mi?)1988Georg Forster Antarctic Research Station
Germany (East)2667 maxiMaxicard
Germany (East)1998 cover1 (Mi? cover)(Black circular) cancel and (black) cachet and (violet penguin) cachet and (name in red) cachet on cover1988Georg Forster Antarctic station
Germany (East)None(Black circular) cancel and (purple) cachet on postal card1988Georg Forster Antarctic station
Germany (East)2667 cover (Mi? cover)Stamp and cancel and cachet on cover1988Georg Forster Antarctic station
Germany (East)/Russia (USSR)None(Black circular) cancel and (black) cachet on cover (with Russian stamp)1989Georg Forster station ozone research
Germany (East)None(Black circular) cancel and (violet) cachet on cover1989Georg Forster station ozone research
Germany (East)2667 cover (Mi? cover)(Black circular) cancel and (purple) cachet on cover1990Georg Forster Antarctic station; and GEOMAUD I
Germany (East)None(Black circular) cancel and (purple) cachet on cover1990Georg Forster station
Germany (East)1998 cover2 (Mi? cover)(Black circular) cancel and (black circular rubber-stamp) cachet on cover1990Georg Forster Antarctic station
Germany (East)NoneCancel1990 or 1991Georg Forster station and ship Polarstern
GermanyNone(Black circular) cancel and (black) cachet on postcard1990Georg Forster Antarctic station
GermanyNone(Black circular) cancel and (black) cachet on cover1991Georg Forster station; and GEOMAUD II
GermanyNone(Black circular) cancel and (blue) cachet on cover1991Georg Forster station
GermanyNone(Upper-middle) and (lower-left) cachets on cover1993Georg Forster station on Antarctic map
IndiaNone(Lower-left black) cachet on cover1994Georg Forster station
RussiaNone(German blue circular) cachet on cover1993Georg Forster station on Antarctic map
South AfricaNone(Upper-left black) cachet on cover1995Georg Forster Antarctic station
South AfricaNone(Lower of two purple) cachet on cover1996Georg Forster Antarctic station


Staszic

Staszic, Stanislaw
(1755 - 1826)

Stanislaw Staszic was a Polish scientist and priest who became known as the father of Polish geology and mining. He designed the salt graduation towers in Ciechocinek which were built to produce salt from the abundant brine in the area. The first two were constructed in the period 1824-1828, and the third in 1859. The brine was pumped to the tops of the towers and then allowed to trickle down their side walls where it evaporated due to the effects of solar radiation and the wind. The salt from the brine was left behind. Furthermore, the procedure released iodine and moisture into the air. This changed the microclimate of the tower area, making it more like a marine environment than a continental one. People came to Ciechocinek to take advantage of the therapeutic properties of the local air, and the town became a major health resort with many sanatoriums for people with various health problems that could be treated by inhaling the iodine-rich air. This was an early example of a manmade change of the microclimate.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
PolandNoneCachet on postal card1938
PolandNoneCachet on postal card1947
Poland511 (Mi694)1951
Poland1341 (Mi?)1965Staszic Palace; (210th anniv. birth)
PolandNonePrinted stamp on postal card1965(210th anniv. birth)
PolandP15350,000 zlotych (banknote)1969
PolandNoneCancel on cover1976-03-28150th anniv. death
PolandNoneCancel (different) on postal card1976-02-20"Year of Staszic"; (150th anniv. death)
PolandNoneCancel (different) on postal card1976-07-22"Year of Staszic"; (150th anniv. death)
PolandNoneCancel (different) on postal card1976-10-09"Year of Staszic"; (150th anniv. death)
PolandNoneCancel (different) on postal card1976-12-05Staszic Museum; Year of Staszic; (150th anniv. death)
PolandNoneCancel on cover1978-12-022nd Staszic Philatelic Expo
PolandNoneCancel on postal card1980-12-143rd Staszic Philatelic Expo
PolandNoneCancel and (brown overprinted) cachet on postal card1982-12-044th Staszic Philatelic Expo
PolandNonePostal card1984
PolandNoneCancel on postal card1984-05-125th Staszic Philatelic Expo
PolandNoneCancel and (green overprinted) cachet on postal card1984-05-195th Staszic Philatelic Expo
PolandNoneCancel (different) on cover1984-05-19
PolandNoneCancel (different) on cover1984-10-13
PolandNoneCancel and cachet on cover1985-05-20
PolandNoneCancel and cachet on cover1985-06-01Staszic's salt graduation tower at Ciechocinek
PolandNoneCancel1985-10-05
PolandNoneCancel on postal card1985-12-15
PolandNoneCancel; also detail1986-06-01"Staszicfjellet" or Staszic Mountain; (160th anniv. death)
PolandNoneCachet (exists in blue or brown), also detail1986160th anniv. death; "Staszicfjellet"
PolandNoneCancel on postal card1986-09-20400th anniv. Lyceum "Stanislaw Staszic"
PolandNoneCachet on postal card199475th anniv. Staszic Academy of Mining and Metallurgy
PolandNoneCancel and cachet on postal card1996-04-29Staszic and his salt graduation tower at Ciechocinek
PolandNoneCachet on postal card1999"Stanislawa Staszica" (in text)
PolandNonePrinted stamp on postal card2000Staszic Museum; (245th anniv. birth)
PolandNonePrinted stamp on postal card2005-11-04250th anniv. birth


Nelson

Nelson, Horatio
(1758 - 1805)

Horatio Nelson was a Royal Navy flag officer. He won a number of significant naval victories, culminating in the defeat of the combined French and Spanish Armada in the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. However he was killed in that battle.

Nelson had a keen appreciation of the weather and its effects. While at sea he was known to keep a personal meteorological journal whose entries included the day, date, time, barometer reading, wind speed and wind direction.

On his deathbed aboard his flagship Victory after being grievously wounded by a French sniper at Trafalgar, Nelson still had the presence of mind to notice a growing swell. Despite the fine weather at that time, he concluded that bad weather was imminent and ordered his ships to anchor to avoid being driven ashore by the coming storm. The order was not carried out but the tempest did indeed arrive during the night. It raged for three days during which some British ships were nearly lost and 12 of 16 captured enemy ships were lost.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
Antigua246 (Mi?)1970Nelson and HMS Boreas
Antigua246a (Mi?)Watermark change
Antigua250 (Mi?)1970Nelson and HMS Victory
Antigua371 (Mi?)One of MS5 (373A (369-373))1975Nelson and HMS Boreas; (170th anniv. death)
Barbados102 (Mi?)1905100th anniv. death
Barbados103 (Mi?)
Barbados104 (Mi?)
Barbados105 (Mi?)
Barbados106 (Mi?)
Barbados107 (Mi?)
Barbados108 (Mi?)
Barbados110 (Mi?)1905100th anniv. death
Barbados111 (Mi?)
Barbados112 (Mi?)
British Indian Ocean Territory301 (Mi?)One of MS6 (302a (297-302))2005200th anniv. Battle of Trafalgar; (200th anniv. death)
British Indian Ocean Territory315 (Mi391)2005200th anniv. Battle of Trafalgar; (200th anniv. death)
Central African Republic1454 (Mi?)2003
Central African Republic1454a (BL?)SS1 (1454)
Gibraltar394 (Mi?)Also booklet cover (Mi? booklet cover)1980175th anniv. death
Gibraltar395 (Mi?)
Gibraltar396 (Mi?)
Gibraltar396a (BL?)SS1 (396)
Gibraltar397 (Mi?)
Gibraltar766 (Mi?)Also booklet cover (Mi? booklet cover)1998"Nelson - The Battle of the Nile"
Gibraltar1028 (Mi?)MS2, from dual-country presentation pack with Isle of Man; contains Isle of Man 1127a2005200th anniv. death
Great Britain993 (Mi?)1982
Isle of Man1082a (Mi?)From strip of 2 (1082 (a-b))2005200th anniv. Battle of Trafalgar; (200th anniv. death)
Isle of Man1082b (Mi?)
Isle of Man1083a (Mi?)From strip of 2 (1083 (a-b))
Isle of Man1083b (Mi?)
Isle of Man1084a (Mi?)From strip of 2 (1084 (a-b))
Isle of Man1084b (Mi?)
Isle of Man1085a (Mi?)From strip of 2 (1085 (a-b))
Isle of Man1085b (Mi?)
Isle of Man1086 (Mi?)MS2 (1086 (a-b))
Isle of Man1127 (Mi?)MS2, from dual-country presentation pack with Gibraltar; contains Gibraltar 1028a2005200th anniv. death
Isle of ManKM12831 crown (silver coin)2005200th anniv. Battle of Trafalgar; (200th anniv. death)
Isle of ManKM1284 ?1 crown (silver coin) different
Lesotho1381 (Mi?)MS4 (1381 (a-d))2005200th anniv. Battle of Trafalgar; (200th anniv. death)
Lesotho1382 (BL?)SS1
Nauru545 (Mi?)2005200th anniv. Battle of Trafalgar; (200th anniv. death)
RwandaUnknown f (Mi?)One of MS12 (a-l)2009
Solomon Islands1034 (Mi?)2005200th anniv. Battle of Trafalgar; (200th anniv. death)
Tristan da Cunha904 (Mi?)2010


Webster, N

Webster, Noah
(1758 - 1843)

Noah Webster was an American lexicographer, editor and author.

In his 1799 essay "On the Supposed Change in the Temperature of Winter" Webster criticized the popular opinion of the time, in America and Europe, that the climate, especially in winter, had become warmer. He argued that "we have no reason to suppose that the inclination of the Earth's axis to the plane of its orbit has ever been varied; but strong evidence to the contrary. If this inclination has always been the same, it follows that the quantity of the solar rays, falling annually on the particular country, must have always been the same. Should these data be admitted, we are led to conclude that the general temperature of every climate, from the Creation to this day, has been the same, subject only to small annual variations, from the positions of the planets in regard to the Earth, or the operations of the element of fire in the globe and its atmosphere".

Webster had no way of knowing that variations in the Earth's orbital parameters related to climate changes do, in fact, occur over various time scales as shown by Milutin Milanković some 130 years later.

Webster did believe, however, that the climate had at least become more variable, and in particular could change in response to agricultural cultivation. In the same 1799 essay he wrote that "it appears that all the alterations in a country, in consequence of clearing and cultivation, result only in making a different distribution of heat and cold, moisture and dry weather, among the several seasons. The clearing of lands opens them to the sun, their moisture is exhaled, they are more heated in summer, but more cold in winter near the surface; the temperature becomes unsteady, and the seasons irregular." Arago had similar ideas, and wrote in 1836 that an important change in the physical aspect or the nature of the cultivation at any location could bring about a change its mean temperature. These ideas relate to what would be called in modern terms the 'microclimate' and its variations. Webster explained that forests and trees must moderate the summer heat and prevent the ground from being "scorched" by the sun, as well as protecting the land from strong winds. He concluded that cleared land would be hotter in summer and colder in winter than forested land, which would result in larger temperature swings from winter to summer.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Dominica776 (BL?)SS11982"Noah Webster" (in various locations in surrounding margin text); (140th anniv. death, in 1983)
United States1121 (Mi?)1958200th anniv. birth
United States1121 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
United States1121 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United States1121 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United States1121 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United States1121 fdc5Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United States1121 fdc6Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United States1121 fdc7Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United States1121 fdc8Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United States1121 fdc-card1Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC card
United States1121 fdc-card2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC card


Scoresby Sr

Scoresby, William Sr
(1760 - 1829)

Scoresby, William Jr
(1789 - 1857)

Scoresby Jr

William Scoresby Sr. was an Arctic navigator, explorer and whaling captain. He did much to improve the techniques of Arctic marine navigation, including introducing the crow's nest, which he used as a high vantage point on his ship from which a better idea of the state of the surrounding ice could be gained.

William Scoresby Jr., following in his father's footsteps, made regular visits to northern waters in the early nineteenth century. Encouraged by contacts with scientists of the day, he made observations of ocean temperature, meteorological phenomena, atmospheric refraction, ice conditions and snow crystals. The idea that an open polar sea existed was still common in his time, but Scoresby Jr. rejected it. Instead, he suggested that ice-free conditions might recur once every ten or twenty years, after encountering much less ice than usual off the east coast of Greenland between 74° and 80° North in 1817.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Argentina2181 (Mi?)2002"Larus scoresbii"
British Antarctic Territory203 (Mi?)1993ship HMS William Scoresby
British Antarctic Territory397 (Mi?)2008ship William Scoresby
Falkland Islands90 (Mi?)1938RRS William Scoresby
Falkland Islands831 (Mi?)2003"Larus Scoresbii" (in text)
Falkland Islands Dependencies1L25 (Mi?)1954RRS William Scoresby
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoryC75 (Mi179)One of strip of 3 (C75a (C73-C75)) (Mi177-179)1983"Scoresby Sund"
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoryC75 dsDelxue sheet (C75)
GreenlandNoneCachet on cover1961"Scoresby Land"
GreenlandNoneCancel and cachet on cover1973"Scoresbysund"
GreenlandNoneCancel1974"Scoresbysund"
GreenlandNoneCachet on cover1982"Scoresby Sund"
GreenlandNoneCancel and cachet on cover1985"Scoresbysund"
GreenlandNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover1985"Scoresbysund"
Greenland164 cover (Mi? cover)Cancel and cachet on cover1986"Scoresbysund"
GreenlandNoneCancel and cachet on cover1987"Scoresbysund"
South Georgia45 (Mi53)1976ship William Scoresby


Robert

Robert, Marie-Noël Nicolas
(1761 - 1828)

Marie-Noël Robert was a French balloon builder who with his brother Anne-Jean constructed (under the supervision of J.A.C. Charles) the balloon that came to be known as La Charlière. On 1 December 1783 near Paris he flew with Charles in La Charlière to a height of about 3000 m. They carried a barometer and a thermometer to measure the pressure and the temperature of the air, making this not only the first manned hydrogen balloon flight but also the first balloon flight to provide meteorological measurements of the atmosphere above the Earth's surface.

Note: This table includes items that mention Robert's name, and those referring to the Robert brothers' balloon flight with Colin Hullin. Other items showing the balloon La Charlière (in which Robert flew with Charles) but without the name "Robert" are found in the Charles table.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Central African RepublicC282 (Mi938)19831The Robert brothers' and Colin Hullin's balloon, 19 September 1784
Central African RepublicC282 ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (C282)
ChadC263 (Mi963)19831"Charles et Robert; 1.12.1783"; La Charlière
France1864 (Mi2388)From MS20 (1864a (10x (1863-1864) + 10 labels))19831J. Charles and M-N Robert; La Charlière
France1864 fdcStamp on FDC
France1864 card(Violet) cancel and cachet on special card19831"Jacques Charles" and La Charlière; "first flight in a hydrogen balloon made by Professor Charles and his mechanic Robert"
FranceNoneCancel19831"Charles et Robert"; La Charlière
FranceNoneCancel (different)19831"Bicentenaire de Charles et Robert"; La Charlière
FranceNoneCancel (different)19831"Charles et Robert, 1 Déc 1783"; La Charlière
Guinea RepublicMi94319831Robert brothers; also the balloon they flew with Colin Hullin, 19 September 1784
Guinea RepublicBL67SS1
Malagasy Republic1390b (Mi2045)One of MS9 (1390 (a-i)) (Mi2044-2052)1998"1783 Charles et Robert"; La Charlière
NetherlandsNonePostcard, back1943Charles and Robert's balloon La Charlière landing at Nesle, 1 December 1783
Nicaragua2300 (Mi4087)SS11999Charles and his flight with Robert in La Charlière
ParaguayC530 label (Mi? label)Label from MS5 (C530 (a-e + 4 labels)) (Mi3617)19831The Robert brothers' and Colin Hullin's balloon, 19 September 1784
Rwanda1185 (Mi1269)19831"Charles et Robert; 1.12.1783"; La Charlière (at left)
Upper Volta619 (Mi886)19831Charles' and Robert's flight, 1783; portrait of Charles; La Charlière
Upper Volta619a (BL62)On stamp and in (lower) margin of SS1 (619)19831Charles' and Robert's flight, 1783; portrait of Charles and La Charlière (on stamp); the Robert brothers' and Colin Hullin's balloon, 19 September 1784 (in lower margin)
Zaire1161 (Mi?)1984"1783 - Ballon de Charles et Robert"; La Charlière
Zaire1414 (Mi1089)1161 surcharged1994"1783 - Ballon de Charles et Robert"; La Charlière

1All items issued in 1983 commemorate the general theme of the 200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon. It took place on 21 November 1783. On that date, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose in a hot air balloon and flew approximately 9 km from the centre of Paris to the suburbs in about 25 minutes.


Dalton

Dalton, John
(1766 - 1844)

John Dalton was an English chemist who developed the first useful atomic theory of matter around 1803. He was however fascinated by meteorology from an early age and made weather observations and kept a meteorological journal throughout his life. By the end of his life, it contained some 200,000 observations.

Dalton presented papers to the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society on topics including general meteorology (e.g. rainfall, dew, evaporation, the formation of clouds, the distribution and character of atmospheric moisture, the concept of the dew point), the aurora borealis and meteorological instruments (the barometer, thermometer and hygrometer). One of these papers, presented in March of 1799, bore the title "Experiments and Observations to Determine Whether the Quantity of Rain and Dew is Equal to the Quantity of Water carried off by the Rivers and Raised by Evaporation; with an Enquiry into the Origin of Springs" (Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, vol.5, pt.2, 1802). In it, Dalton outlined the increasingly common use of rain gauges in England and presented rainfall data for various locations, taking care to separate counties into inland and coastal sections. He concluded that the inland counties have less rain than those near the sea, particularly in western England. He also estimated the yearly amount of water that flows to the sea from the rivers of England and Wales along with the amount of dew being deposited on the ground.

Dalton's interest in meteorology fostered his work on gases. In 1801 he formulated his law of partial pressures which came to be known as 'Dalton's Law': the total pressure exerted by a mixture of gases is equal to them sum of the pressures that would be exerted by individual gases occupying the same volume. He published this result in 1802 in the paper "Experimental Essays on the Constitution of Mixed Gases; on the Force of Steam or Vapour from Water and other Liquids in Different Temperatures, both in a Torricellian Vacuum and in Air; on Evaporation; and on the Expansion of Gasses by Heat". In this article he also established a relationship between vapour pressure and temperature.

From his early days Dalton was fascinated by the aurora borealis, which he first observed as a boy in the Kendal and Keswick areas of England. In a book entitled Meteorological Observations and Essays (first published in 1793) he summarized his observations of the aurora made during the period 1786 to 1793, including details of their appearance, brightness and movement. He concluded that there must exist some relation between the aurora and the Earth's magnetic field.

Dalton also considered the trade winds, and concluded that their existence was related to the rotation of the Earth. Essentially, his argument was that the trades must be deflected toward the west, because "in approaching the equator they constantly pass over surfaces of the Earth having a greater and greater velocity of rotation, and so, as it were, tend to lag behind". Dalton arrived at this conclusion independently in 1793, unaware that Hadley had already proposed it in 1735. When he became aware of this fact, Dalton did acknowledge Hadley's work.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
DjiboutiUnknown d (Mi?)
Unknown id
One of MS4 (a-d)
One of imperforate MS4 (a-d)
2006
Malagasy Republic1100c (Mi1480)One of MS16 (1100 (a-p))1993
MaliUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2010
Marshall IslandsUnknown q (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012
NigerUnknown a (Mi?)
Unknown ia
One of MS2 (a-b)
One of imperforate MS2 (a-b)
2012
Redonda (Antigua)NoneCachet on cover1987"Meteorology was the first love of this colour blind chemist"
RomaniaNoneCachet on stamped envelope2003200th anniv. Dalton's atomic theory of matter
TogoUnknown ss (BL?)In (lower) margin of SS12011


Fourier

Fourier, Jean-Baptiste Joseph
(1768 - 1830)

Jean-Baptiste Fourier was a French mathematician and physicist. Among his many contributions he showed that any continuous function can be broken down into combinations of trigonometric functions in a technique that was named Fourier analysis. It is widely used in modern numerical analysis and computations.

In the early 1820s Fourier calculated that the Earth should be colder than it is if the only source of heat were the solar energy available to be absorbed by the surface of the planet. He also considered other possible heat sources (the internal heat of the Earth itself and interstellar radiation) but found that they could not supply enough heat either. He then studied an experiment that had been conducted by Horace de Saussure, who installed glass panes separated by air layers in an insulated vase and allowed sunlight to enter the vase. The sunlight went through the glass panes and air layers. De Saussure observed that the resulting temperatures inside the vase were higher at deeper levels under more layers of glass. Fourier hypothesized that the Earth's atmosphere might be acting as an "insulator" like those panes of glass. The atmosphere is more complicated, of course, but Fourier's observation, for which a glass-walled greenhouse is an analogy, is recognized as the first statement of what is now called the atmospheric "greenhouse effect". It is now known that due to the greenhouse effect, the mean surface temperature of the Earth, which is about 15°C, is approximately 33°C warmer than it would be if there were no atmosphere.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AltaiUnknown hOne of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011(180th anniv. birth, in 2010)
Germany (East)1900 (Mi2312)Also detail1978"Fourier Spektrometer" (in text); (named after Fourier)
Germany (East)1900 fdcStamp on FDC
Germany (East)1898-1900 fdcOne of three stamps on FDC
Germany (East)2530 (Mi3007)One of block of 4 (2531a (2528-2531)), also detail1986"Fourier Spektrometer" (in text); (named after Fourier)


Cuvier

Cuvier, Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert
(1769 - 1832)

Georges Cuvier was a French naturalist who established that some past life forms such as the woolly mammoth had indeed become extinct. He then suggested that mass extinctions could occur as a result of "revolutionary" (i.e. catastrophic) changes in environmental conditions. Cuvier suggested that the most recent "revolution" (that others equated with Noah's flood) involved a sudden, intense and widespread rush of water that changed the sea level, killed the mammoths and buried them under a layer of detritus. This was followed according to Cuvier by a sudden severe cooling of the atmosphere that froze the mammoths and began an Ice Age (Louis Agassiz would later propose an alternative theory for the formation of Ice Ages). Cuvier suggested that after such climate-related cataclysms, God would create new organisms to replace the extinct ones.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Belize751 (Mi?)1985"Cuvier's kinglet"
Comoro IslandsUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS4 (a-d)2010
FranceB430 (Mi1672)
iB430

Imperforate
1969(200th anniv. birth)
FranceB430 dsDeluxe sheet (B430)
FranceB430 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
FranceB430 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB430 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB430 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB430 fdc5Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB430 fdc6Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB430 maxi1Maxicard
FranceB430 maxi2Maxicard (different)
FranceB430 maxi3Maxicard (different)
FranceB430 maxi4Maxicard (different)
FranceB430 scSouvenir card
FranceB429-B431 scOne of three on souvenir card
FranceUnknown (Mi?)Card and cancel1989(220th anniv. birth)
Guinea RepublicUnknown c (Mi?)From MS6 (a-f)2008
Guinea RepublicUnknown f (Mi?)
MaliUnknown (Mi?)2011?
Monaco1853d (Mi?)One of MS4 (1853 (a-d))1993"Baleine Bécune de Cuvier"; (160th anniv. death, in 1992)
Monaco1853d fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
Monaco1853d fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local bOne of MS6 (a-f)2011(180th anniv. death, in 2012)
TongoLocal2007"Cuvier's gazelle" (in text)
VietnamUnknown (Mi?)2007"Cuvier" (in text)
VietnamUnknown fdcStamp on FDC


von Humboldt

von Humboldt, Alexander
(1769 - 1859)

Alexander von Humboldt was a German naturalist, physical scientist and geographer who has been described as the last universal scholar in the field of the natural sciences. Darwin described him as the "greatest scientific traveler who ever lived". Meteorology and climatology were among Humboldt's many scientific interests.

In 1798, von Humboldt and the botanist Aimé Bonpland planned a major scientific expedition to South America. In 1799 they obtained permits to travel in the Spanish colonies from the Spanish king himself. After five months in Madrid spent studying the local climate and flora (the same work they planned to accomplish during their travels) they departed on 5 June. The expedition lasted from 1799 to 1804. They visited Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru (Lima was the southernmost point of their journey) and Mexico before arriving in the US on 18 May 1804 as a guest of President Thomas Jefferson, who was greatly interested in Humboldt's research. Although this visit lasted only six weeks, Humboldt made a great impression on America, and his name is still found across the US in, for example, the names of towns and counties.

During the expedition, Humboldt did a variety of work related to meteorology and climatology. He climbed South American mountains to study the relationship between temperature and altitude. He made temperature measurements at Quito in 1802 and found a mean temperature of 18°C in one set and 14.4°C in another, and acted as a mentor for de Caldas who made his own temperature measurements at Quito in 1804. Humboldt considered the origins and movements of tropical storms (this work provided clues that would later be useful in the studies of mid-latitude storms). He made measurements of the ocean current that flows along the west coast of South America, which became known as the Humboldt Current. He also made measurements of the Earth's magnetic field, and in particular how it varied with latitude. All these studies were in addition to extensive work in other scientific fields including botany.

Humboldt returned to Europe in August 1804. In the fall of that year, he worked with Gay-Lussac at the École Polytechnique. Their collaboration led to the result that came to be known as Gay-Lussac's Law of Combining Volumes. It states that when gases are combined to form other gases, then if all volumes are measured at the same temperature and pressure, the ratio of the volumes of the initial gases to those of the products can be expressed as whole numbers. This work was published in 1805 (Humboldt, A. and J.-L. Gay-Lussac, 1805: "Expériences sur les moyens eudiométriques et sur la proportion des principaux constituents de l'atmosphère", Annales de chimie, 53, 239-259).

Humboldt lived mostly in Paris until 1827, when he returned permanently to Berlin. He continued to take readings of the magnetic field, and noticed in December 1805 that it exhibited strong variations during the presence of the aurora borealis. This led him to coin the term Magnetischer Sturm (magnetic storm) which is still used today. He would continue to be interested in magnetism throughout his life, and after returning to Berlin continued to use magnetometers to make geomagnetic field measurements. He corresponded with K. F. Gauss who also was doing research into magnetism. Von Humboldt was convinced that simultaneous magnetic measurements at different locations could help determine whether magnetic storms were of terrestrial origin or whether they depended on external factors such as the Sun. The first such experiment was carried out at two locations (Paris and Freiburg in Saxony) in 1828

The French scientist Arago, through his long friendship with Humboldt, was encouraged by to write articles on meteorology and physical geography (e.g. "Meteorological Essays with an Introduction by Baron Alexander von Humboldt", London, 1855).

Shortly after his return to Berlin, Humboldt was invited to Russia by the tsar, and in 1829 he went on a scientific expedition to Siberia. While there he made meteorological and magnetic measurements and discovered what is now called permafrost. On his return to St. Petersburg, he advocated the creation of a Russian network of magnetic and meteorological observing stations. He based this idea partially on the way meteorological data were published in the American Meteorological Register. To this end, he wrote that "If only, following this fine example [i.e. the Register], there could be similar calibrated thermometer observations at the behest and expense of a mighty monarch in the eastern part of our old continent - in the widespread space, equal to half the lunar surface, between the Vistula and the Lena …; then all of climatology would gain a new and improved stature in a few years". By 1835 such a network was in place across northern Asia. Humboldt was able to use the resulting data to conclude that most of Russia has a "continental" climate (one found in the interiors of continents where the temperature extremes are greater than elsewhere due to the lack of a moderating influence from an ocean). However, Humboldt's larger goal was a worldwide network, and to this end he convinced the British authorities to establish permanent magnetic observatories in British colonies around the world: Canada, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, Jamaica and Australia. Sir Edward Sabine, the network director, would later correlate the cycles of magnetic storms and sunspots following the discovery of an 11 year sunspot cycle by the German astronomer Samuel Heinrich Schwab in 1843. The idea of international cooperation through worldwide networks of observing stations taking simultaneous scientific observations is one of Humboldt's legacies. He was the first to formulate such an idea (primarily for magnetic observations) and to see it through to completion. The approach would later be taken up by others (such as Karl Weyprecht, the "father" of the International Polar Years) and applied to multiple geophysical disciplines including meteorology.

Humboldt spent much of the time from 1804 to 1827 in Paris developing and publishing scientific results from his journey to the Americas. This included of course meteorology and climatology. He was a member of the Société d'Arcueil, a group of physical scientists who met regularly from 1806 to 1822 to discuss scientific issues of the time (its members were Arago, Berard, Berthollet, Biot, Chaptal, De Candolle, Dulong, Gay-Lussac, Humboldt, Laplace, Poisson, and Thenard). In the third volume of the Mémoires de Physique et de Chimie de la Société d'Arcueil, he published in 1817 a paper entitled "Des Lignes Isothermes et de la Distribution de la Chaleur sur le Globe" (On Isotherms and the Distribution of Heat around the Globe). This seminal paper presented Humboldt's ideas on climatology. In it, he showed how the climates of various locations could be compared through the introduction of "isothermal lines": lines on a map joining places having the same mean annual temperature. Humboldt knew that climate was much more than simply a function of latitude. He noted that the early American settlers were unprepared for the harshness of the climate of eastern North America despite having arrived from similar European latitudes. Georg Forster had observed in Australia during Cook's second voyage that the western portion of the continent was warmer than the corresponding latitudes of its eastern side. Other climatic controlling factors pointed out by Humboldt included the altitude and the presence or absence of a nearby large body of water such as an ocean. He also understood in a general sense the effects of the various atmospheric currents, which he compared to oceanic currents. He stated that the atmospheric currents flow in determined directions, and have a strong influence on the climate of each area. In his paper he produced a map of isothermal lines for much of the Northern Hemisphere. The important factors influencing the climate, related to both geographical and atmospheric considerations, were incorporated in Humboldt's map and could be deduced from it. The idea of isothermal lines, singularly original for the time, was nothing less than the introduction of a scientific approach to the study of climatology. Humboldt can therefore be considered as the precursor of modern climatology.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
ChadUnknown h (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)2009(240th anniv. birth); (150th anniv. death)
ChadUnknown fdcOne of three stamps on FDC
ChadUnknown ms fdcMS9 on FDC
ChadUnknown d (Mi?)One of MS4 (a-d)
One of imperforate MS4 (a-d)
2009(240th anniv. birth); (150th anniv. death)
ChadUnknown ss (BL?)Imperforate SS1
ChadUnknown fdcOne of four stamps on FDC
ChadUnknown ms fdc
Unknown ims fdc
MS4 on FDC
Imperforate MS4 and cachet on FDC
Chile1291 (Mi?)1999200th anniv. Humboldt's arrival in S. America
Chile1292 (Mi?)
Chile1291-1292 fdc1Two stamps on FDC
Chile1291-1292 fdc2Two stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
Chile1532 (Mi?)2009Humboldt penguin
Colombia713 (Mi?)1960100th anniv. death
Colombia714 (Mi902)
Colombia715 (Mi?)
ColombiaC357 (Mi?)
ColombiaC358 (Mi?)
ColombiaC359 (Mi?)
ColombiaC411 (Mi?)713 overprinted1961100th anniv. death
ColombiaC413 (Mi?)715 overprinted
ColombiaC513 (Mi?)1969200th anniv. birth
ColombiaC513 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Cuba1433 (Mi?)1969(200th anniv. birth)
Cuba1434 (Mi?)
Cuba1435 (Mi?)
Cuba1433-1435 fdc1Three stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
Cuba1433-1435 fdc2Three stamps and cancel (different) and cachet on FDC
Cuba4118 (Mi4322)2000200th anniv. Humboldt's visit to Cuba
Cuba4119 (Mi4323)
EcuadorC341 (Mi995)1959100th anniv. death
Ecuador1571 (Mi2563)2001
Germany (Berlin)9N93 (Mi?)1953Wilhelm von Humboldt, brother of Alexander
Germany (Berlin)9N93 fdcStamp and cancel on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N155 (Mi171)1959(100th anniv. death)
Germany (Berlin)9N155 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N155 fdc2Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N155 fdc3Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N50 fdc (Mi? fdc)1969200th anniv. birth
Germany (Berlin)9N281 (Mi346)Common design with Venezuela C10121969200th anniv. birth
Germany (Berlin)9N281 essayPhoto essay
Germany (Berlin)9N281 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N281 fdc2Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N281 fdc3Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N281 fdc4Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N281 fdc5Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N281 fdc6Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (Berlin) + Venezuela9N281 fdc + Venezuela C1012 fdcDual-country FDC1969200th anniv. birth
Germany (Berlin)9N499 (Mi731)1985Wilhelm von Humboldt, brother of Alexander
Germany (Berlin)9N499 maxi1Maxicard
Germany (Berlin)9N499 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Germany (Berlin)9N499 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N499 fdc2Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N499 fdc3Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (East)59 (Mi261)1950
Germany (East)430 (Mi684)1959(100th anniv. death)
Germany (East)431 (Mi685)
Germany (East)430-431 fdcTwo stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (East)430-431 postcardTwo stamps and cancel and cachet on picture postcard back, also front
Germany (East)522 (Mi797)1960150th anniv. Humboldt University, Berlin
Germany (East)523 (Mi798)150th anniv. Humboldt University, Berlin; the design was later used in a cancel in 1985
Germany (East)521-522 fdcOne of two stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC150th anniv. Humboldt University, Berlin
Germany (East)520+523-524 fdcOne of three stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (East)520-524 fdcTwo of five stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (East)P225 marks (banknote)1964
Germany (East)KM185 marks (? coin)1967Wilhelm Humboldt, brother of Alenander
Germany (East)1079 (Mi?)1969(200th anniv. birth)
Germany (East)1078-1079 fdcOne of two stamps on FDC
Germany (East)1215 (Mi1584)1970Archeological work in Sudan by Humboldt University
Germany (East)1216 (Mi1585)
Germany (East)1217 (Mi1586)
Germany (East)1218 (Mi1587)
Germany (East)1219 (Mi1588)
Germany (East)1220 (Mi1589)
Germany (East)1221 (Mi1590)
Germany (East)1215-1217+1219 fdcFour stamps on FDC
Germany (East)1218+1220-1221 fdcThree stamps on FDC
Germany (East)NoneCachet on cover1972Humboldt University
Germany (East)NoneCancel and cachet on cover1980Humboldt penguin
Germany (East)2363 (Mi2816)1983Humboldt (at left)
Germany (East)NoneCachet on PPO postal card1984
Germany (East)NoneCancel and cachet (same) on PPO postal card1984
Germany (East)NoneCachet on PPO postal card (different)1984
Germany (East)NoneCancel and cachet on postcard1984Humboldt and part of letter of application to Freiburg Mining Academy
Germany (East)2508 (Mi2980)1985175th anniv. Humboldt University, Berlin
Germany (East)2508-2509 fdcOne of two stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (East)2508-2509 folderStamp and reproduction and cancel and illustration on FDOI folder
Germany (East)NoneCancel on cover1985175th anniv. Humboldt University, Berlin; same design as East Germany 523
Germany (East)NoneCancel (different) on cover1985175th anniv. Humboldt University, Berlin
Germany (East)NoneCancel (different) on cover1985175th anniv. Humboldt University, Berlin
Germany (East)2812 (Mi3324)1990100th anniv. Natural History Museum of Humboldt University
Germany (East)2813 (Mi3325)From MS4 (2813a (4x 2813))
Germany (East)2814 (Mi3326)
Germany (East)2815 (Mi3327)
Germany (East)2816 (Mi3328)
Germany (East)2812-2814 fdcThree stamps and cachet on FDC
Germany (East)2815-2816 fdcTwo stamps and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)800 (Mi309)1959(100th anniv. death)
Germany (West)NoneCinderellalate 1950s?
Germany (West)NoneCinderella (different)late 1950s?
Germany (West)KM1205 marks (? coin)1967A. Humboldt (at right), W. Humbolt, his brother (at left)
Germany (West)NoneCancel and cachet on cover1989Alexander von Humboldt (sailing ship)
GermanyNoneCancel1999Humboldt art exposition
GermanyNoneCancel2008Alexander von Humboldt (sailing ship)
Guatemala650 (Mi?)2011"In memorium - von Humboldt - 1769-1859" (in text)
Liechtenstein1022 (Mi1079)1994
Liechtenstein1023 (Mi1080)
Liechtenstein1022-1023 fdcTwo stamps and cachet on FDC
MalawiUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2008(150th anniv. death, in 2009)
Mexico908 (Mi?)1960100th anniv. death
Mexico2176 (Mi2817)1999200th anniv. Humboldt's arrival in the Americas
Mexico2176 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Mexico2176 folderFDC folder
MozambiqueMi3420-3425_ms6MS6 (Mi3420-3425)2009(150th anniv. death)
MozambiqueBL282SS1
NetherlandsNoneCachet on cover2000Alexander von Humboldt (sailing ship)
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local dOne of MS6 (a-f)2011
ParaguayC383 (BL227)1974
Paraguay1689 (Mi?)1976Alexander von Humboldt (sailing ship)
Paraguay1689 muestraOverprinted "muestra"
Peru853 (Mi?)1985Humboldt's penguin (Spheniscus humboldti)
Peru935 (Mi?)1988BIC Humboldt (research ship)
PeruNone(Two rubber-stamp) cachets on cover1988"Humboldt" (in text); First Peruvian Antarctic Expedition and BIC Humboldt (research ship)
PeruNoneCachet on cover1989Second Peruvian Antarctic Expedition and BIC Humboldt (research ship)
Peru1349 (Mi?)Stamp and label2002200th anniv. Humboldt's arrival in Peru; Humboldt and BIC Humboldt (research ship)
Peru1349 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Peru1349a (Mi?)Tête-bèche pair (2x 1349)
Peru1614 (BL?)In (upper-left) margin of MS2 (1614 (a-d))2008BIC Humboldt (research ship)
PolandNone (Fisher catalogue CP86:37)Cachet on postal card, also detail1938von Humboldt (at far right)
Romania3135b (Mi?)One of MS4 (3135 (a-d))1983
Romania3135 fdcMS4 on FDC
Romania3135b cardStamp and cancel and cachet on card1991
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on cover1999140th anniv. death
RomaniaNoneCancel (different) and cachet (different) on cover1999(140th anniv. death); Humboldt Foundation members and Nobel Prize winners
RomaniaNoneCachet on stamped envelope200350th anniv. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
RomaniaNoneCachet on stamped envelope (different)
RomaniaNoneCachet on stamped envelope (different)
RomaniaNoneCachet on stamped envelope (different)
RomaniaNoneCachet on stamped envelope (different)
RomaniaNoneCachet on stamped envelope (different)
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on cover2003Humboldt Foundation symposium
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover2003Humboldt Foundation symposium
Romania3135b card1Stamp and cancel and cachet on card200350th anniv. Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (on cancel)
Romania3135b card2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on card
Romania3135b card3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on card
Romania3135b card4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on card
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on postal card2009(150th anniv. death); (240th anniv. birth)
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on postal card2009(150th anniv. death); (240th anniv. birth)
Russia (USSR)2196 (Mi2224)1959100th anniv. death
Saar322 (Mi448)1959(100th anniv. death)
Saar322 maxiMaxicard
Saar322 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
Saar322 fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Saar322 fdc3Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Saar322 fdc4Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Saar322 fdc5Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Saar322 fdc6Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Saar322 fdc7Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Spain1747-1751 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cancel and cachet on FDC1999200th anniv. Humboldt's visit to Canary Islands
SpainNoneCinderella on cover2004Alexander von Humboldt (sailing ship)
TogoUnknown a (Mi?)One and in (upper-left) margin of MS3 (a-c)2011
TongaKM1531 pa'anga (silver coin)1993
Umm al QiwainMi6331972Humboldt penguins
United StatesNoneCancel and cachet on postal card1888Humboldt County IA
United StatesNoneCancel on postcard1906Humboldt AZ
United States567 precancelPrecancel on stamp1923Humboldt TN (post office)
United StatesNoneCancel1934Humboldt MI
United StatesNoneMeter on cover1961Humboldt State College, Arcata CA
United StatesNoneCancel and cachet on cover1962Humboldt IA airport dedication
United States (Nevada)86L11Local stamp?Humboldt Express, Carson City, Nevada
Uruguay1097 (Mi1610)1981
Uruguay1097 fdc1Stamp and cancel on FDC
Uruguay1097 fdc2Stamp and cancel on FDC (different)
Venezuela743 (Mi?)1960100th anniv. death
Venezuela744 (Mi?)
Venezuela745 (Mi?)
VenezuelaC709 (Mi?)
VenezuelaC710 (Mi?)
VenezuelaC711 (Mi?)
VenezuelaC1012 (Mi1800)Common design with Germany (Berlin) 9N281 (Mi?)1969200th anniv. birth
VenezuelaC1012 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Venezuela + Germany (Berlin)C1012 + Germany (Berlin) 9N281 fdcDual-country FDC1969200th anniv. birth
Venezuela1016-1027 (Mi?)Set of 12197310th anniv. Humboldt Planetarium
Venezuela1030a (Mi?)Strip of 3 (1028-1030)
Venezuela1030a fdcStrip of 3 and cancel and cachet on FDC
Venezuela1616g (Mi?)One of MS10 (1616 (a-j))2000Humboldt Peak

1Local catalog number


Lewis and Clark

Lewis, Meriwether
(1774 - 1809)

Clark, William
(1770 - 1838)

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were American explorers who undertook an epic journey of discovery across the northern United States and to the Pacific Ocean from 1804 to 1806. Thomas Jefferson was the force behind the voyage. He hoped it would provide knowledge about "the climate, as characterized by the thermometer; the proportion of rainy, cloudy and clear days; the winds prevailing at different seasons; and the dates at which particular plants put forth or lose their flowers or leaves".

The American West was mostly an unknown land at the time. Lewis and Clark encountered rivers that "shut up with ice," violent winds, flash floods and, in the High Plains of the Dakotas, a day in which there was an abrupt temperature change of 59°F in an eight hour period.

Lewis and Clark were the first to make scientific measurements of the weather of the western US They had three thermometers at the beginning of the expedition, which they carefully calibrated. They measured the temperature each day, at sunrise and again at 4 pm, from 19 September 1804 through 6 September 1805 (when their last thermometer finally broke in the Bitterroot Mountains near what is now the Montana-Idaho border). These temperature measurements were carried out across what are now South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana. Convinced of the scientific value of their work, they made careful records of their observations, in duplicate (in case one copy would be lost or damaged). In what is now Oregon, Lewis noted that "I am confident that the climate here is much warmer than in the same parallel of latitude on the Atlantic Ocean". They described the winter weather on the Oregon coast in their journals as "horrible" and "miserable" because of the constant rain.

Lewis and Clark were truly pioneers, both as explorers and as scientists. Their exploration of the American West was a seminal event in American history.

Reference:

Solomon, S., and J. Daniel, 2004: Lewis and Clark: Pioneering Meteorological Observers in the American West, Bulletin of American Meteorological Society, 85(9), 1273-1288)

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
Items are generally for both Lewis and Clark; a few refer only to one or the other.
Comoro Islands165 (Mi257)1976Lewis and Clark expedition
Comoro Islands165a (BL12)On stamp of SS1 (165)
Cook IslandsKM107$50 (silver coin)1988
Cook IslandsKM201$50 (gold coin)1992
Dominica2430 (Mi?)2003200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
Dominica2431 (Mi?)
Dominica2432 (Mi?)
Dominica2433 (Mi?)
Dominica2434 (Mi?)
Dominica2435 (Mi?)
Dominica2436 (Mi?)200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition; "Lewis after the Expedition"
Dominica2437 (Mi?)200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
Dominica2438 (BL?)SS1200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition; Lewis
Dominica2439 (BL?)SS1200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition; Clark
Grenada3465a (Mi?)From MS3 (3465 (a-c))2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition; Lewis
Grenada3465c (Mi?)200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition; Clark
Marshall Islands833a-c (Mi?)Strip of 3 from MS9 (833d (3x 833a-c))2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
Marshall Islands840a-c (Mi?)Strip of 3 from MS9 (840d (3x 840a-c))
Marshall Islands845a-c (Mi?)Strip of 3 from MS9 (845d (3x 845a-c))
Marshall Islands885 (Mi?)Pair (885 (a-b))2006Lewis and Clark expedition
Sierra LeoneUnknown d (Mi?)From MS4 (a-d)2008Lewis and Clark expedition
United StatesNoneCinderella set1905Issued for Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition (Portland, Oregon, June-October 1905
United States1063 (Mi?)1954150th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States1063 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
United States1063 fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States1063 fdc3Stamp and cachet (sifferent) on FDC
United States1063+3854 fdcDual-date fdc1954 and 2004150th (and 200th) anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United StatesUX91Postal card1981Lewis and Clark expedition
United StatesUX91 fdc1Printed stamp and (? Haly) cachet on postal card FDC
United StatesUX91 fdc2Printed stamp and (Farnum) cachet on postal card FDC
United StatesUX91 fdc3Printed stamp and (Colorano silk) cachet on postal card FDC
United StatesUX91 fdc4Printed stamp and (Kribbs) cachet on postal card FDC
United StatesUX91 fdc5Printed stamp and cachet (different) on postal card FDC
United StatesUX91 fdc6Printed stamp and (DRC) cachet on postal card FDC
United StatesUX91 fdc7Printed stamp and cachet (different) on postal card FDC
United StatesUX91 fdc8Printed stamp on postal card FDC
United StatesUX91 fdc9Printed stamp and (TM Weddle hand-pained) cachet on postal card FDC
United StatesUX91+3854 fdcPrinted stamp and stamp and cachet on dual-date postal card FDC
United StatesNoneCancel and cachet on cover2003Lewis (on cancel); both (on cachet)
United StatesNoneCancel and cachet on cover (different)2003Clark (on cancel); both (on cachet)
United States3782 cover (Mi? cover)Cancel and cachet on cover2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3854 (Mi?)2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3854 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
United StatesUX91+3854 fdcPrinted stamp and stamp and cachet on dual-date postal card FDC
United States3854 cover1Stamp and cancel (Atchison KS) and cachet on cover2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3854 cover2Stamp and cancel (Big Timber MT) and cachet on cover2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3854 cover3Stamp and cancel (Chamois MO) and cachet on cover2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3854 cover4Stamp and cancel (Jefferson City MO) and cachet on cover2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3854 cover5Stamp and cancel (Missouri Valley IA) and cachet on cover2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3854 cover6Stamp and cancel (Portage des Sioux MO) and cachet on cover2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3854 cover7Stamp and cancel (State Park Station, Onawa IA) and cachet on cover2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3854 cover8Stamp and cancel (Three Forks MT) and cachet on cover2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3855 (Mi?)2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition; Lewis
United States3855 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
United States3856aBooklet pane of 10 (5x (3855-3856)) from Bk297200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3856 (Mi?)2004200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition; Clark
United States3856 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
United StatesSP1549 back
SP1549
Back of souvenir page (3878)2004"Lewis and Clark" (in text)
United StatesKM3615 cents (nickel coin) keelboat design2004(200th anniv.) Lewis and Clark expedition
United StatesKM3695 cents (nickel coin) Pacific view design2005(200th anniv.) Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3854 cover (Mi? cover)Stamp and cancel (Bison Station, Hazen ND) and cachet on cover2005200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3855 cover (Mi? cover)Stamp and cancel (Sacagewea Station, Richland WA) and cachet on cover2005200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United States3856 cover (Mi? cover)Stamp and cancel (Jefferson City MO) and cachet on cover2006Lewis and Clark Homeward Bound; 200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition
United StatesNoneCancel (Boone National Guard Station KY) and cachet on cover2006200th anniv. Lewis and Clark expedition


de Caldas

de Caldas, Francisco José
(1770 - 1816)

Francisco de Caldas, trained as a lawyer, developed an interest in science in the late 1700s. He mastered the rudiments of astronomy and meteorology through independent study even though he had no books to guide him. He then constructed a barometer and used it to make pressure measurements.

The 'hypsometer' (or 'hypsometric thermometer') is an instrument that can measure altitude indirectly, through the use of a thermometer to measure the temperature of boiling water at that altitude followed by the application of relationships between the boiling point of water and atmospheric pressure and between atmospheric pressure and altitude. The instrument can be traced back to Fahrenheit in 1724. De Caldas was unaware of that earlier work, and independently invented the hypsometer some time before the visit of Alexander von Humboldt to Colombia in 1801.

Von Humboldt tutored de Caldas in meteorology and astronomy and computational techniques, and perhaps also influenced him to expand his scientific interests to include botany and geography. In 1802 von Humboldt made temperature measurements at Quito and found the mean temperature to be 18°C in one set of observations, and 14.4°C in another. Two years later, de Caldas made his own measurements, and came up with a value of 15°C. Later measurements in the 1800s gave values similar to those of de Caldas.

De Caldas was appointed Director of the Bogota Observatory in 1805. He instituted programs of astronomical and meteorological observation, taught local students and published a weekly scientific journal.

His politics were radical for the time. He advocated independence from Spain and as a result was executed by the Spanish military in 1816.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Colombia335 (Mi231)1910(140th anniv. birth)
Colombia339 (Mi239)1917(100th anniv. death, in 1916)
Colombia339 proof1Die proof (black)
Colombia339 proof2Die proof (orange)
Colombia402 (Mi300)1926(110th anniv. death)
Colombia402 proofDie proof (olive)
Colombia410 (Mi320)402 overprinted1932
Colombia410a (Mi?)402 inverted overprint
Colombia410b (Mi?)402 double overprint
ColombiaO3 (MiO43)402 overprinted in black1937
Colombia473 (Mi409)1939(170th anniv. birth, in 1940)
Colombia518 (Mi447)1944
Colombia518a (Mi?)Imperforate pair (517-518)
ColombiaC146 (Mi508)1947(130th anniv. death, in 1946)
Colombia680 (Mi827)1958
ColombiaC309 (Mi828)
Colombia680+C309 fdcTwo stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
ColombiaC310 (Mi829)
Colombia683 (Mi?)1958
Colombia684 (Mi?)
ColombiaP40120 pesos oro (banknote)1953-1965
ColombiaP409 (P409d)20 pesos oro (banknote)1966-1983 (1983)
Colombia1204 (Mi?)MS12 (1204 (a-l + 8 labels))2003Departmento de Caldas
Colombia1243 (BL62)MS2 (1243 (a-d))2005100th anniv. Departmento de Caldas; (190th anniv. death, in 2006)
Colombia1243a-b fdcTwo stamps from MS2 and cachet on FDC


Howard

Howard, Luke
(1772 - 1864)

Luke Howard was an English chemist and pharmacist with a passion for the weather. His weather observations led to the publication in 1818 of his book The Climate of London (the first book to present the climatology of an urban setting). His Seven Lectures on Meteorology (1837) was the first modern textbook on weather. He also published A cycle of eighteen years in the seasons of Britain in 1842, and Barometrographia in 1847.

The United Kingdom's earliest meteorological society, the Meteorological Society of London, came into being in 1823, and Howard was present at its inaugural meeting in the London Coffee House on 15 October of that year (he was not a member of a subsequent society of the same name formed in 1848). The British Meteorological Society was founded on 3 April 1850, and Howard became one of its vice-presidents approximately one month later.

Howard's major contribution to the science of meteorology was his introduction of the cloud classification system that lies at the heart of the modern cloud classification system. He became known as the "man who named the clouds".

Howard loved nature, weather and clouds from an early age. Between May and August of 1783, the skies of Europe were filled with the "Great Fogg", a haze composed of dust and ash from volcanic eruptions of Eldeyjar and Laki-Skaptar in Iceland, and Asama Yama in Japan. Howard was fascinated by this event, and he became a devoted observer of the atmosphere, combining his visual observations with information from a thermometer and barometer for over 30 years in London. (That same "Great Fogg" led Benjamin Franklin to hypothesize that large amounts dust and ash in the atmosphere from volcanic eruptions could be related to subsequent long periods of cold weather). In the course of his observations, Howard noted certain common characteristics of clouds, and developed a cloud classification system based on them. In December 1802, he presented his system to the Askesian Society in London. He proposed descriptive categories with Latin names, in an approach similar to that of Linnaeus in the plant and animal kingdoms. Howard's three basic categories were Cumulus ("heap"), Stratus ("layer") and Cirrus ("curl of hair"). A fourth category, Nimbus ("rain"), denoted "a cloud in the act of condensation into rain, hail or snow". According to Howard, "while any of the clouds, except the nimbus, retain their primitive forms, no rain can take place; it is by observing the changes and transitions of cloud form that weather may be predicted". Howard summarized his work in 1803 in his Essay on the Modifications (i.e. "Classification") of Clouds.

The French botanist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck had proposed his own cloud classification system in 1802. However, it was Howard's system that quickly gained wide acceptance both in Britain and abroad. One of its biggest supporters was the German poet, philosopher and scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He used Howard's classification in his weather journals, and also in the Duchy's weather observing network, and also dedicated poems and an essay to Howard and his clouds.

Howard wondered whether or not it might be possible to document changes in climate through human memory, but concluded that such memories were too unreliable to lead to convincing conclusions. To this end, he wrote in The Climate of London:

"The result of my experience is, on the whole, unfavourable to the opinion of a permanent change having taken place of latter times, either for the better or the worse, in the climate of this country; our recollection of the weather, even at the distance of a few years, being very imperfect, we are apt to suppose that the seasons are not what they formerly were; while in fact, they are only going through a series of changes such as we may have heretofore already witnessed and forgotten".

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
United States3878 (Mi?)
3878 back
MS152004Howard and his work are briefly described on the back of this sheet
United StatesSP1549
SP1549 back
(USPS) souvenir page (3878)(As above)
United StatesCP719
CP719 back
(USPS) commemorative panel (3878)(As above)
United StatesUX421-UX435 booklet
UX421-UX435 back
Postal card booklet of 20, 15 different (UX421-UX435)The description of Howard and his work are repeated on the back of the booklet


Beaufort

Beaufort, Sir Francis
(1774 - 1857)

Francis Beaufort was an English naval officer who became Admiral of the Navy and later Hydrographer of the Navy. Early in his career at sea, he began to keep a meteorological journal in the form of brief comments on the general weather scene. He would continue this practice until his death. Beaufort's name is familiar to all mariners for his Wind Force Scale and his Weather Notation coding, which he devised in the early years of his command, starting around 1805. The Wind Force Scale on was based on Beaufort's observations of the effects of the wind on fully-rigged frigates at sea, and originally consisted of 14 degrees of wind strength, from calm to hurricane. Beaufort outlined the details of the Wind Force Scale in a memorandum to Commander Robert Fitzroy in 1831. Fitzroy would write "all honor to Beaufort, who used and introduced this succinct method of approximation by scale..."

The Weather Notation coding was made the standard for the British fleet for all log entries in 1833. In 1838, the British Admiralty officially made the use of the Beaufort wind scale, with 13 degrees of wind strength, mandatory for all ships' log entries.

In August 1872 at the International Meteorological Conference in Leipzig, delegates debated the question "what scale should be employed for the force of the wind when it is not determined by actual measurement but only by estimation?" The First Conference on Marine Meteorology in London in 1874 answered this question by recommending the Beaufort scale for general use in wind estimation in weather observations. However, to do so it was necessary to consider wind phenomena over the land as well as at sea. A modified Beaufort scale for estimated winds was therefore adopted for international use in weather telegraphy later in 1874 in Utrecht at a meeting of the International Meteorological Committee.

The Beaufort scale is the oldest organized method of judging wind force and speed. It is still in use today, in modified form, by mariners around the world.

The Beaufort Wind Force Scale

Beaufort wind forceWind speed (knots)WMO descriptive termWave height (feet)Wind effect on the sea
01Calm0Sea like a mirror
11 - 3Light air0.25Ripples with appearance of scales; no foam crests
24 - 6Light breeze0.5 - 1Small wavelets; crests of glassy appearance, not breaking
37 - 10Gentle breeze1 - 3Large wavelets; crests begin to break; scattered whitecaps
411 - 16Moderate breeze3 - 5Small waves, becoming longer; numerous whitecaps
517 - 21Fresh breeze6 - 8Moderate waves, taking longer form; many whitecaps; some spray
622 - 27Strong breeze9 - 13Larger waves forming; whitecaps everywhere; more spray
728 - 33Near gale13 - 19Sea heaps up; white foam from breaking waves begins to be blown in streaks
834 - 40Gale18 - 25Moderately high waves of greater length; edges of crests begin to break into spindrift; foam is blown in well-marked streaks
941 - 47Strong gale23 - 32High waves; sea begins to roll; dense streaks of foam; spray may begin to reduce visibility
1048 - 55Storm29 - 41Very high waves with overhanging crests; sea takes white appearance as foam is blown in very dense streaks; rolling is heavy and visibility is reduced
1156 - 63Violent storm37 - 52Exceptionally high waves; sea covered with white foam patches; visibility further reduced
1264+Hurricane45+Air filled with foam; sea completely white with driving spray; visibility greatly reduced

Beaufort's weather journal entries became a regular part of his daily routine, ultimately increasing in frequency to observations at two-hour intervals. To describe the state of wind and weather accurately but briefly, he devised a system of notation that was to become the forerunner for modern weather observation codes.

One part of this observation notation was the wind force number from his wind force scale. The second part of the code was a series of alphabetic symbols of one to three characters which described the state of the sky and weather, differentiating between types of precipitation and cloud conditions. With slight alterations, this Beaufort weather notation was adopted by the British Navy in 1833. Nearly a century later, the British Meteorological Office adopted the code for use, again with only slight alterations. An international meeting in Warsaw, Poland in 1935 then officially approved a form of the Beaufort notation for international exchange of weather observations.

Postal items showing the Beaufort scale in use are available in the weather symbols section of the weather maps page.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Cayman Islands404a (Mi?)One of MS6 (404 (2x (a-c)))1978"Yale of Beaufort"1
Great Britain1798 (Mi?)1998"Yale of Beaufort"1
LuxembourgNoneCancel?"Beaufort"
Tristan da Cunha284 (Mi?)1980"1806 - Islands surveyed by Francis Beaufort, RN, in HMS Woolwich"

1Note: the mythical animal known as the Yale is used in English heraldry, particularly by the Beaufort family.


Turner

Turner, Joseph M. W.
(1775 - 1851)

Joseph Turner was an English painter. He and other Romantic era painters were influenced by Luke Howard's work on cloud classification. They used Howard's descriptions to depict clouds with more detail and accuracy than previous painters. Turner first learned of Howard's work in 1821 and was as a result inspired to paint a series of cloud studies. One, entitled Heavy Dark Clouds, shows an approaching heavy rain shower. The painting is realistic in its overall presentation and in the details of the storm, but at the same time has an emotional impact: there is a touch of apprehension at the approach of the storm.

In his classic book Tropical Meteorology (McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1954) Herbert Riehl states (p 119) that "it is one of the amusements reserved for the meteorologist to stroll through a picture gallery and deduce the weather situation from the clouds appearing in the landscapes, especially the cumuli. Since good painters are accurate observers, their clouds contain an excellent feeling for the kind of motion in them". It is not known whether or not Riehl was thinking of Turner when he wrote those words, but clearly they apply to Turner's cloud studies.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Central African Republic1439e (Mi?)From MS6 (1439 (a-f))2002(150th anniv. death, in 2001)
Central African Republic1439f (Mi?)Mornings Amongst the Conniston Falls, Cumberland; (150th anniv. death, in 2001)
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1, also front2010Snowstorm - Steamer off a Harbour's Mouth (same as Great Britain 737)
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (same)2010Snowstorm - Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (same)2010The Wreck of a Transport Ship
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (same)2010Self Portrait
France3773 (Mi?)2010La Plage de Calais à marée basse; (160th anniv. death, in 2011)
France3773 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
France3773 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France3773 proofsProgressive proofs
France3773 dsEngraved deluxe sheet (3773)
France3773 scSouvenir card
Great Britain736 (Mi?)1975Peace - Burial at Sea; 200th anniv. birth
Great Britain736 maxiMaxicard
Great Britain736 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Great Britain737 (Mi?)Snowstorm - Steamer off a Harbour's Mouth; painting also reproduced in ChinaPR postal card back 2010; 200th anniv. birth
Great Britain738 (Mi?)Arsenal, Venice; 200th anniv. birth
Great Britain738 maxiMaxicard
Great Britain739 (Mi?)View of St. Laurent; 200th anniv. birth
Great Britain739 maxiMaxicard
Great Britain736-739 fdc1Four stamps and cachet on FDC200th anniv. birth
Great Britain736-739 fdc2Four stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Great Britain736-739 fdc3Four stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Great Britain736-739 fdc4Four stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Great Britain736-739 fdc5Four stamps and cachet (same) on FDC (different cancel)
Great Britain736-739 fdc6Four stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Great Britain736-739 fdc7Four stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Great Britain736-739 fdc8Four stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Great Britain736-739 packPresentation pack (736-739)
Great BritainNoneCancel on cover1975Turner Royal Academy; (200th anniv. birth)
Great BritainNoneCachet on cover1981(130th anniv. death)
Grenada Grenadines422 (Mi?)1981The Fighting Temeraire; (130th anniv. death)
Guinea RepublicUnknown ss(7B-439) (BL?)In (upper-left) margin of SS12007Longships Lighthouse, Land's End painting
Luxembourg594 (Mi?)1977
Luxembourg594 maxiMaxicard
Luxembourg594+596 scSouvenir card (594+596)
Luxembourg593-596 fdcOne of four stamps on FDC
Malagasy1148d (Mi1497A)
i1148d (Mi1497B)
One of MS16 (1148 (a-p)) (Mi1494A-1509A)
One of imperforate MS16 (i1148 (a-p)) (Mi1494B-1509B)
1993
Serbia-KrajinaUnknown (Mi?)2002Flint Castle

1This postal card is only one of a large number of similar cards issued by China for various scientists. No effort is made to list all such cards.


Avogadro

Avogadro, Amedeo
(1776 - 1856)

Amedeo Avogadro was an Italian chemist who also worked in physics and mathematics. He is mainly remembered for Avogadro's Law (equal volumes of different gases, at the same temperature and pressure, contain equal numbers of molecules) and Avogadro's number (the number of molecules in one mole of a substance).

During his teaching career in Turin, he held posts in statistics, meteorology and weights and measures.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AltaiUnknown eOne of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011
Italy714 (Mi?)1956100th anniv. death
Italy714 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Italy714 cardFDOI card
ItalyNone(Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS)) cinderella (21 lire)1963
ItalyNone(Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS)) cinderella (24 lire)
ItalyNone(Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS)) cinderella (27 lire)
ItalyNone(Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS)) cinderella (31 lire)
ItalyNone(Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS)) cinderella (24 lire)1966
ItalyNone(Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS)) cinderella (27 lire)
ItalyNone(Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale (INPS)) cinderella (31 lire)
ItalyNoneCancel and cachet on cover2005200th anniv. Avogadro Institute
ItalyNoneCancel and cachet on cover2006(280th anniv. birth); (150th anniv. death)
ItalyNoneCancel and cachet on cover2011200th anniv. formulation of Avogadro's Law


Gauss

Gauss, Karl Friedrich
(1777 - 1855)

Karl Gauss was a German mathematician and physicist. One of his interests was the Earth's geomagnetic field. In 1838 he proved that the vast majority of the Earth's magnetic field was internal, originating inside the Earth. However, in 1839 he conjectured that electric currents in a conductive layer of the upper atmosphere cause small variations in the overall magnetic field, which he in turn related to the aurora borealis. He wrote that "our ignorance gives us no right absolutely to deny the possibility of such [electric] currents; we are forbidden to do so by the enigmatic phenomenon of the aurora borealis, in which there is every appearance that electricity in motion performs a principal part".

An earlier hint of this conclusion had been provided by Ørsted in 1819. Alexander von Humboldt also did work on geomagnetism in the 1830s. However, the upper conductive layer was named "ionosphere" only in 1926 by Robert Watson-Watt.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1, also front2009Statue of Gauss (sitting) and Weber in Göttingen
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (same)2009Statue of Gauss (sitting) and Weber in Göttingen
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (same)2009
China (People's Republic)NonePostal card back1 (different), also front (same)2009
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoryC84 (Mi195)Stamp and label1984ship Gauss
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoryC84 fdc1Stamp and label and cachet on FDC
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoryC84 fdc2Stamp and label and cachet (same) on FDC (different cancel)
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoryC84 fdc3Stamp and label on FDC (different cancel)
French Southern and Antarctic Territory307 (Mi491)2002ship Gauss
Germany (East)1811 (Mi?)1977200th anniv. birth
Germany (East)1811 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (East)1811 cover (Mi? cover)Stamp and cancel and cachet on cover1977200th anniv. birth
Germany (East)KM6620 marks (? coin)1977(200th anniv. birth)
Germany (West)725 (Mi?)1955(100th anniv. death)
Germany (West)NoneCinderella (poster stamp)1950s?
Germany (West)NoneTwo (a-b) of imperforate cinderella MS4 (a-d)1964ship Gauss
Germany (West)NoneCachet on cover1964ship Gauss
Germany (West)1246 (Mi928)1977200th anniv. birth
Germany (West)1246 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)1246 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1246 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1246 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1246 fdc5Stamp and cancel (same) on FDC (different)
Germany (West)1246 fdc6Stamp and cancel (same) on FDC (different)
Germany (West)1246 sc1Souvenir card
Germany (West)1246 sc2Souvenir card (different)
Germany (West)KM1455 marks (silver coin)1977(200th anniv. birth)
Germany (West)NoneCachet on cover1979ship Gauss
Germany (West)NoneCancel1980Gauss Tower
GermanyNoneCancel on postal card1990
GermanyP3810 marks (banknote)1991
GermanyNoneCachet on cover1991ship Gauss
GermanyNoneCachet and coin (KM145) on cover, also back1995
GermanyNoneCachet on cover~2000ship Gauss
Germany2143a (Mi?)One of MS2 (2143 (a-b)) (BL57)2001ship Gauss
Germany2143a fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
GermanyNoneCancel2001ship Gauss
GermanyNoneCancel (different) on cover2001ship Gauss
GermanyNoneCancel2004
GermanyNoneCancel2005(150th anniv. death)
GermanyNoneCancel2006(150th anniv. death, in 2005)
GermanyNoneCancel on cover2007ship Gauss
GermanyNoneCancel on cover2011
GermanyNonePersonalized2011
GermanyNonePersonalized (same) and cancel on cover2011
GermanyNonePersonalized (different)2011
GermanyNonePersonalized2011Statue of Gauss (sitting) and Weber in Göttingen
GermanyNonePersonalized2012
GermanyNonePrivate post2012?Statue of Gauss (sitting) and Weber in Göttingen
GermanyNonePersonalized2013
Guinea RepublicMi7641One of MS6 (Mi7641-7646)2010
Guinea RepublicMi7641-7646_ms6 fdcOne of MS6 on FDC
JapanNoneCancel and cachet on cover2009West Germany 725 (in cancel and cachet)
Marshall IslandsUnknown n (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012
Nicaragua1985i (Mi3300)One of MS16 (1985 (a-p))1994
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on cover2005(150th anniv. death)
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover2005(150th anniv. death)
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover2005(150th anniv. death)
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover2005(150th anniv. death)
RomaniaNonePrinted stamp and cachet on stamped envelope2010
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on cover1978"K.F. Gauss" and ship Gauss; (200th anniv. birth, in 1977)
Sakhalin Island (Russia)Local ssSS12010Also Germany P38 (in left margin)
Yugoslavia1834 fdc (Mi2210 fdc)Cachet on FDC, also back1987(210th anniv. birth)

1This postal card is only one of a large number of similar cards issued by China for various scientists. No effort is made to list all such cards.


Ørsted

Ørsted, Hans Christian
(1777 - 1851)

Hans Ørsted was a Danish physicist. In 1819 he discovered that electric currents cause a deflection of a compass needle. Other researchers had already noted compass needle fluctuations in the presence of the aurora. Ørsted's discovery was a hint that there are electrical effects during auroral displays. This hypothesis about the aurora would later be confirmed by others.

A Danish satellite named Ørsted was launched in 1999. It carried instruments to make measurements in the ionosphere, the area of the atmosphere where the aurora occur.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AltaiUnknown eOne of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011(160th anniv. death)
Denmark329 (Mi?)1951(100th anniv. death)
Denmark471 (Mi?)1970"H. C. Ørsted"; (120th anniv. death, in 1971)
Denmark471 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
DenmarkP46100 kroner (banknote)1970(120th anniv. death, in 1971)
Denmark1143 (Mi?)1999"Ørsted satellite"


Ross

Ross, Sir John
(1777 - 1856)

John Ross was a Scottish naval commander and Arctic explorer. He made three expeditions to what is now the Canadian Arctic. In the first, in 1818, he reached Lancaster Sound (the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage) but was fooled by a mirage into believing that mountains blocked any farther westward passage. During this expedition, following instructions from the British Admiralty and the Royal Society, he carried out geomagnetic, meteorological and oceanographic observations. Ross's second expedition lasted from 1829 to1833. The ship was lost in the ice in 1832 and the crew were stranded and struggled to survive the winter at Felix Harbour on the Boothia Peninsula before being rescued the following year. During that voyage Ross made magnetic observatioins and located the magnetic North Pole. He also made meteorological observations. Ross's third Arctic voyage in 1850-1851 was an attempt to find the missing Franklin expedition.

Ross became an honorary member of the British Meteorological Society, probably some time in the late 1840s. The Society's membership list of 31 December 1850 lists his address as the 'North Pole', presumably because he was away in the Arctic at the time! The same was true of Charles Phillips who commanded the second ship of the 1850-1851 expedition. Ross and Phillips made meteorological observations during that voyage. In the Society's Annual General Meeting of 25 May 1852 it was reported that the Society had received seven months of "hourly thermometrical observations taken in the Arctic seas by Admiral Sir J. Ross and Commander Phillips".

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Greenland575a (BL51)MS2 (574-575 + label)2010
Greenland575a fdcMS2 and cancel on FDC
Isle of Man1221 (Mi1391)2007(230th anniv. birth); (150th anniv. death, in 2006)


Gay-Lussac

Gay-Lussac, Joseph-Louis
(1778 - 1850)

Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac was a French chemist, physicist and aeronaut.

In 1802, after referring to work done by J. A. C. Charles, Gay-Lussac re-derived and published the relationship between the volume of a gas and its temperature (at a constant volume the pressure of a gas is proportional to its temperature in kelvins). The relationship is generally known as Charles' Law (Charles derived it in 1787 but did not publish it). It has also, however, been referred to Gay-Lussac's law. In fact, in 1783 Volta had already published a similar result, but his work was ignored or forgotten.

In 1804 Laplace, supported by Berthollet, proposed that the French Academy of Sciences fund a scientific balloon flight that would make atmospheric measurements to determine how the composition of the atmosphere changes with altitude. The proposal was accepted, and on 24 August of that year Gay-Lussac (who was then a student and lab assistant of Berthollet) and Jean-Baptiste Biot rose to some 4000 m in a balloon over Paris. The main object of this ascent was to determine whether the Earth's magnetic field decreases with height. They found that there were no obvious changes in the magnetic field as the balloon rose. They also found that the air became drier as they ascended, while the temperature decreased. On 6 September of that year, Gay-Lussac flew alone to nearly 7000 m. Air samples collected near that level were later analyzed and found to have the same percentage of oxygen as air at the surface. The temperature at the surface was 82°F while at 7000 m it was only 14°F. Gay-Lussac remarked that at the highest point of the flight there were still clouds above him.

Alexander von Humboldt returned to Europe in August 1804 from his scientific journey to the Americas. In the fall of that year, he worked with Gay-Lussac at the École Polytechnique. Their collaboration led to the result that came to be known as Gay-Lussac's Law of Combining Volumes. It states that when gases are combined to form other gases, then if all volumes are measured at the same temperature and pressure, the ratio of the volumes of the initial gases to those of the products can be expressed as whole numbers. This work was published in 1805 (Humboldt, A. and J.-L. Gay-Lussac, 1805: "Expériences sur les moyens eudiométriques et sur la proportion des principaux constituents de l'atmosphère", Annales de chimie, 53, 239-259).

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Central African Republic610 (Mi?)19831200th anniv. first manned balloon ascent
FranceNoneCachet (return address) on cover1930(80th anniv. death)
FranceB260 (Mi911)1951(100th anniv. death, in 1950)
FranceB260 fdcStamp and cancel on FDC
FranceB260 maxi1Maxicard
FranceB260 maxi2Maxicard (different)
FranceB260 maxi3Maxicard (different)
FranceB260 maxi4Maxicard (different)
France870 fdcCachet on FDC1958(180th anniv. birth)
FranceNoneMedallion?
FranceNoneMeter on cover1983Gay-Lussac Museum
FranceNoneCancel2000150th anniv. death
Upper Volta623 (BL59)In (lower) margin of SS119831Gay-Lussac name; 200th anniv. first manned balloon ascent

1All items issued in 1983 commemorate the general theme of the 200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon. It took place on 21 November 1783. On that date, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose in a hot air balloon and flew approximately 9 km from the centre of Paris to the suburbs in about 25 minutes.


Berzelius

Berzelius, Jöns Jakob
(1779 - 1848)

Jöns Berzelius was a Swedish chemist who developed a method of measuring the dew point and the relative humidity of the air. In the Traité de Chimie (vol.8, no.6, p. 254) he proposed that the temperature of a wet bulb thermometer should be the arithmetic mean of the actual air temperature and the dew point temperature. Given that the wet bulb temperature could be measured, and the air temperature as well (through the use of an ordinary dry bulb thermometer) then this relationship could be used to calculate the dew point. With this information he could then estimate the relative humidity of the air. John Dalton, a contemporary of Berzelius, had also worked in the area of hygrometry, and Johann Döbereiner put forth the principles of the dewpoint hygrometer or condensation hygrometer in or around 1822. The invention of the dew point hygrometer, however, is generally credited to John Frederic Daniell, who developed in 1820 an instrument that would become a standard for humidity measurement.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Grenada1536 (Mi?)1987(140th anniv. death, in 1988); "Jöns" spelled "John"
Grenada1536 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Marshall IslandsUnknown h (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012
Sweden293 (Mi?)From coil strip of 5 (293a (5x 293))1939(160th anniv. birth)
Sweden295 (Mi?)From coil strip of 5 (295a (5x 295))
Sweden297 (Mi?)
Sweden297 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Sweden297a (Mi?)From booklet pane of 10 (297b), contained in booklet of 10 (297c)
Sweden1293 (Mi1073)1979(200th anniv. birth)
Sweden2637a (Mi?)From strip of 2 (2637 (a-b))2010"Jöns Jacob Berzelius" (in text)
Sweden2637b (Mi?)


Döbereiner

Döbereiner, Johann Wolfgang
(1780 - 1849)

Johann Döbereiner was a German chemist. He proposed the principles of operation of the dewpoint hygrometer or condensation hygrometer in or around 1822. Berzelius, Dalton and Daniell also worked in the area of hygrometry in the early 1800s. In 1845, Victor Regnault built a dewpoint hygrometer based on Döbereiner's principles.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Germany (East)2088 (Mi?)1980(200th anniv. birth)


Brewster

Brewster, Sir David
(1781 - 1868)

Brewster was a Scottish physicist and instrument builder who made major contributions to the field of optics. He apparently had a minor interest in meteorology and atmospheric optical phenomena. For example, in an 1827 letter to William Jerdan, he mentioned some "observations on the present low temperatures, with details of thermometer readings, with a lowest reading of 10 degrees Fahrenheit". In an 1842 letter to David Milne, he mentioned that an anemometer was to be erected at the meteorological station at Kingussie, and also outlined "observational methods to date". In addition, Brewster included in that letter "proposals for further experiments on atmospheric electrostatics". In the 1852 report of the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, he published a meteorological note entitled "Account of a remarkable Case of Mirage". He had enough of an interest in meteorology to become a member of the British Meteorological Society, which he joined on 28 October 1851. James Glaisher, Luke Howard, Adolphe Quetelet and Sir John Ross were also members at that time. In 1867 Brewster published a 12 page monograph (in Volume 24 of Transactions, Royal Society of Edinburgh) entitled "Report on the hourly meteorological register kept at Leith Fort in the years 1826 and 1827".

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Northern Territories Local Post (Japan)Local fOne of MS6 (a-f)2011(230th anniv. birth)


Hansteen

Hansteen, Christopher
(1784 - 1873)

Christopher Hansteen was a Norwegian astronomer, physicist and pioneer researcher in terrestrial magnetism and auroral studies. In an expedition to Siberia around 1830, he searched for a region of maximum magnetic intensity. He eventually found that the aurora occur in a ring of maximum frequency around the northern magnetic pole. This conclusion was consistent with the reports of John Franklin, who observed in his 1819-1822 journey to what is now the Canadian Arctic that "the occurrence of the aurora did not increase all the way to the pole".

Hansteen's work provided the basis for the more extensive research into geomagnetism of von Humboldt and Gauss. He established several geomagnetic observing stations, and arranged with sea captains to observe and record the magnetic field throughout the world. The data he collected allowed him to draw one of the first magnetic charts of the Earth (Halley had created a magnetic chart over the region of the Atlantic).

Hansteen made observations in Norway of the aurora during an intense magnetic storm that occurred from 28 August to 2 September 1859. He concluded that "the effect of this aurora upon the telegraph lines in Norway was much greater than in France and Germany". It is now known that strong magnetic storms can affect electrical power grids and wireless communications as well as telegraph communications.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Norway839 (Mi?)1984(200th anniv. birth)
Norway840 (Mi?)
Norway840 maxiMaxicard
Norway839-840 fdcTwo stamps and cancel and cachet on FDC
Norway839-840 essayPhoto essays


Bessel

Bessel, Friedrich Wilhelm
(1784 - 1846)

Friedrich Bessel was a German astronomer. He was one of the first to realize that various sources of error in astronomical observations had to be eliminated before those observations could be trusted. For example, he knew that atmospheric effects such as refraction could have a significant effect on his observations. Bessel believed in the quality of Bradley's and Maskelyne's observations from Greenwich because their work included analyses of factors that could affect their meaurements, including the temperature and pressure of the atmosphere. Bessel used Bradley's observations to create tables of refraction. For this work he was awarded the Prix Lalande by the Institut de France. In his own observations, Bessel worked to eliminate all sources of error (optical, mechanical and meteorological) to obtain data that were much more reliable than those obtained in earlier work that had ignored the sources of error.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Germany (West)1422 (Mi1219)1984200th anniv. birth
Germany (West)1422 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)1422 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1422 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1422 maxi1Maxicard
Germany (West)1422 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Germany (West)1422 maxi3Maxicard (different)
Germany (West)1422 scSouvenir card
Nicaragua1985j (Mi3301)One of MS16 (1985 (a-p))1994(210th anniv. birth)
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1984200th anniv. birth


Green

Green, Charles
(1785 - 1870)

Charles Green was an English aeronaut who made approximately 500 ascents in various balloons. In the early 1830s during some of these flights he noticed what appeared to be a consistent westerly wind blowing at an altitude of around 10,000 feet (3050 m). He realized that such a wind could carry a balloon to mainland Europe, and to test this idea took off from London in his balloon Royal Vauxhall with two passengers on 7 November 1836. The flight was successful: it covered some 770 km and ended in Nassau-Weilburg, Germany after 18 hours. This was a record balloon flight for the time. The Royal Vauxhall became known as the Nassau balloon after this flight. John Wise would later draw a similar conclusion about westerly upper winds in America, and would dream of crossing the Atlantic in a balloon borne by those winds.

In 1852 the directors of the Kew Observatory decided to investigate the meteorology and physical characteristics of the upper atmosphere through balloon flights that would carry observers and instruments aloft. Green agreed to pilot his balloon Nassau for this project, and John Welsh of the Observatory was chosen as the observer. The meteorological instruments used during these flights were a barometer, dry and wet bulb thermometers (aspirated and free) and a Regnault hygrometer (the aspirated thermometers were of Welsh's own design and were among the earliest of this type of instrument). Green and Welsh made four ascents (two in August, one in October and one in November of 1852). The flights attained estimated maximum altitudes of 19,510, 19,100, 12,640 and 22,930 feet, respectively, with minimum observed temperatures of 8.7°F, 12.4°F, 16.4°F and 10.5°F. Air samples were collected from the upper levels and were later compared with air from near the ground. It was found that the relative amounts of nitrogen and oxygen in the air was unchanged from the surface to the upper levels. A general decrease of temperature with height was noted, though in some cases the temperature was found to be constant or even to increase with height in a relatively thin layer (2000 to 3000 feet thick). Green and Welsh may have passed through a frontal zone on those occasions during weather conditions that may have been difficult, but it appears that Green had experience with flights in bad weather from earlier in his career. For example, in one stormy ascent he had witnessed a thunderstorm below him, and observed in that case that 'at every discharge of thunder all the detached pillars of clouds within the distance of a mile around became attracted'.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Belize678 (BL?)SS119831Green and John Welsh in Green's balloon Nassau/Royal Vauxhall
Cambodia414 (Mi?)19831Green's balloon Royal Vauxhall
ChadC265 (Mi?)19831"Charles Green, Londres, 1837"; Royal Vauxhall (balloon)
Cuba2581 (Mi?)19831Green's balloon Royal Vauxhall
Guinea-Bissau444 (Mi?)19831Green's balloon Royal Vauxhall
Laos461 (Mi?)19831Green's balloon Royal Vauxhall
MongoliaC166 (Mi?)19831Green's balloon Royal Vauxhall
Nicaragua2295 (Mi4083-4085)In (upper) margin of MS3 (2295 a-c))1993Green and his balloon Royal Vauxhall
Seychelles519 (Mi?)19831Green's balloon Royal Vauxhall (1836)
United StatesC64 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC1962Green's balloon Royal Vauxhall

1All items issued in 1983 commemorate the general theme of the 200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon. It took place on 21 November 1783. On that date, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose in a hot air balloon and flew approximately 9 km from the centre of Paris to the suburbs in about 25 minutes.


Arago

Arago, Dominique François Jean
(1786 - 1853)

Dominique Arago was a French physicist, astronomer and politician. His long friendship with Alexander von Humboldt encouraged him to write popular articles on meteorology and physical geography, including discussions of the atmosphere, the Earth's temperature and its magnetic variations. He also helped to popularize Humboldt's concept of isothermal lines in the field of climatology. Many of his meteorological works were published in his "Meteorological Essays with an Introduction by Baron Alexander von Humboldt" (London, 1855).

Arago was elected a member of the French Board of Longitude in 1821. For 22 years thereafter he contributed scientific notes on astronomy, meteorology and civil engineering to the Board's Annual Reports.

Arago did work in the field of light and optics. He constructed an instrument known as a polariscope, which allowed him to conduct experiments on the polarization of skylight. He also built an instrument to measure solar radiation which came to be known as the Arago-Davy actinometer, and an early cyanometer designed to measure the blueness of the sky.

Arago considered thunderstorms, and distinguished among three types of lightning: the usual lightning stroke, sheet lightning, and ball lightning. In 1838 he published a survey of reports of ball lightning. Then in a work in 1854 entitled Le Tonnerre he presented his ideas about this strange phenomenon. Arago also studied the aurora borealis and the Earth's magnetic field and the relationship between the two (Dalton and Humboldt had also done work in this area).

Arago also considered meteorological instrumentation and scientific balloon ascents. He insisted that during such ascents ground observations at various points be taken, to compare with the balloon measurements. He also pointed out potential errors of observation of meteorological instruments used in balloon ascents, and in particular the fact that an ordinary thermometer attached to the nacelle could not give the true air temperature because of the lack of relative wind and the possibility of direct solar radiation that would heat the thermometer. Arago therefore recommended that instruments and methods of observation be developed that would provide representative data during balloon flights. In 1852 John Welsh did exactly that. In four scientific balloon flights with Green he used aspirated thermometers of his own design to obtain his temperatures. Unfortunately Glaisher, in his flights in the 1860s, did not use any such special thermometers, and as a result his temperature measurements were later called into question.

It appears that Arago was a realist with respect to the difficulties of forecasting the weather. In what has come to be known as Arago's Admonition, he stated in 1845 that "never, no matter what may be the progress of science, will honest scientific men who have regards for their reputations venture to predict the weather". Though the admonition has proved to be incorrect, its sentiment certainly reflects the respect that forecasters everywhere must have for the atmosphere, which is at times very unforgiving to those who predict what it might do.

La Bonite was a French ship that sailed around the world in 1836-7. The French Academy requested that Arago, because of his knowledge of the physical sciences (and meteorology in particular) present to the ship's officers a set of instructions about the scientific observations to be made during the voyage. Arago's response was entitled "Questions for Solution relating to Meteorology, Hydrography and the Art of Navigation". Following are some of those questions, along with Arago's instructions and explanations. Arago's treatment of the various questions indicates the depth of his knowledge of meteorology and the importance he placed on scientific observations and correct experimental procedure to obtain viable data.

Meteorological Phenomena

"In meteorology it is requisite to submit to making observations which, at the time, are attended with no important result. It is necessary to take care to provide for our successors terms of comparison which we ourselves want [i.e. lack], and prepare for them the means of resolving a multitude of important questions, on which it is not competent for us to enter, because the ancients possessed neither barometer nor thermometer. These considerations will suffice to explain our reason for requesting that, during the whole voyage of La Bonite, note should be taken, both by day and night, and from hour to hour, of the temperature of the air, of the temperature of the surface of the sea and of the atmospheric pressure. They will likewise authorize us to hope that these observations will continue to be made with the same zeal, of which an example has been given by the officers of L'Uranie, La Coquille, L'Astrolabe, La Chevrette and Le Loiret."

Observations designed to characterize the present state of the Globe in regard to Temperature

"Has the Earth arrived at a permanent state with respect to temperature? The solution of this important question seems to require only the direct comparison of the mean temperatures of the same place, taken at two distant periods. But when we take into account the effects produced by local circumstances, when we consider to what an extent the neighbourhood of a lake, of a forest, of a naked or wooded mountain, of a sandy plain, or one formed of meadows, may modify the temperature, everyone will perceive that such thermometrical data alone will not be sufficient; that it is necessary, besides, to ascertain that between the periods in question the country, and even the districts adjoining it, have undergone no important change in their physical aspect and in the nature of their cultivation. It is thus seen that the question becomes singularly complicated..." (The American Noah Webster had expressed in 1799 a similar idea: that the climate could change in response to agricultural cultivation). Arago then went on: "Is there, then, no means of solving the difficulty? These means exist, and are by no means of a complicated nature, for we have only to observe the temperature in the open sea at a great distance from continents. If, for this purpose, we make choice of the equinoctial regions, it is not necessary that the observations should be continued for a series of years; the maximum temperatures observed in crossing the line on two or three occasions will be quite sufficient... Here, then, is a result easy to be obtained, directly connected with the calorific influences on which the temperature of the Earth depends, and as much separated as possible from the effects of local circumstances. It ought to form a meteorological gift, which every age should be anxious to bequeath to that which succeeds it. The officers of La Bonite will certainly not neglect this part of their instructions. The excellent instruments with which they are furnished, warrants us to expect all that accuracy and precision which the present state of science demands."

On the Calorific Action of the Solar Rays viewed in their relation to the situation of places on the Globe

"Animated discussions have taken place among meteorologists regarding the calorific effects which the solar rays may produce by means of absorption in different countries. Some adduce the observations that have been made towards the Arctic circle, from which this singular consequence seems to result, that the sun has a more powerful heat in high than in low latitudes. Others refuse to admit this result, on the pretence that it is not proved. The observations made at the equator do not appear to them sufficiently numerous to be taken as one of the terms of comparison; and it is thought, besides, that these observations were made under unfavourable circumstances. This investigation might therefore be recommended to the officers of La Bonite. To execute it successfully they would have need of two thermometers, the reservoirs of which, on the one hand, absorb the solar rays unequally, and, on the other, are not too sensible to the cooling influences of the currents of air. This double condition may easily be obtained if, after having procured two thermometers in every respect alike, the bulb of one of them be covered to a certain thickness with white wool, and that of the other with an equal quantity of black wool. These two instruments, exposed to the sun, side by side, will never indicate the same degree; that with the black covering will mount highest. The question, therefore, will consist in determining if the difference of the two indications is less at the equator than at Cape Horn, or at any other higher latitude. It will be easily understood that comparative observations of this nature ought to be made at equal altitudes of the sun, and during the most serene weather. Slight differences of altitude, however, will not always impair the accuracy of the observations, if care be taken, under different latitudes, to determine according to what progression the difference of the two instruments increases from sunrise till mid-day, and diminishes from the latter period till sunset. Days on which the wind is very high ought to be altogether excluded, whatever be the state of the atmosphere in other respects."

On the Calorific Action of the Solar Rays on various Soil Types

"Another observation, somewhat analogous to that of the two thermometers differently covered, will consist in determining the maximum temperature which the sun imparts to a dry soil in equinoctial countries. At Paris, in August 1826, during a serene state of the sky, we found that a thermometer lying horizontally, and having its bulb covered with one millimetre of very fine vegetable mould, stood 129.2° Fahr. The same instrument, covered to double that depth with river sand, indicated only 114.8° Fahr."

Experiments to be made on the Radiation of the Sky

"The experiments which we are about to propose ought to give, all other things being equal, the degree of the atmosphere's transparency. This transparency may be appreciated in a manner in some sort inverse and not less interesting, by observations on nocturnal radiation, which are likewise recommended to the commander of La Bonite."

"It has been known for half a century that a thermometer placed under a clear sky, on the grass of a meadow, indicates 11°, 12 ½°, or even 14° Fahr. less than a thermometer, in every respect similar, suspended in the air, at a few feet from the ground. But it is only a few years since an explanation of this phenomenon was given; for it was only in 1817 that Wells established the fact by means of important experiments, and in a thousand different ways, that this inequality of temperature is caused by the feeble radiating power of a clear sky."

"A screen placed between certain solid bodies and the sky prevents them from cooling, because the screen intercepts their radiating communications with the colder regions of the atmosphere. The clouds act in the same manner; they take the place of the screen. But if we distinguish every vapour which intercepts the solar rays coming from above, or the calorific rays ascending from the earth towards the sky, by the name of a cloud, it cannot be said that the atmosphere is ever entirely free from them. The only difference is their greater or lesser density. These differences, however slight they may be, may be indicated by the degree of cold to which solid bodies are reduced in the night; and this accompanying peculiarity is worthy of observation, that the transparency measured in this manner is the mean transparency of the entire firmament, and not that alone of the circumscribed region which may be occupied by a single star."

In order to make these experiments under the most favourable conditions, it is obvious that we must choose bodies which cool most by radiation. According to the researches of Wells, swan-down is the substance that ought to be selected. A thermometer, having its bulb surrounded with this down, should be placed on a table of painted wood supported by slender feet, in a situation where nothing intercepts the view to the horizon. A second thermometer, with the bulb naked, would be suspended in the air at some height above the ground. With regard to the latter, a screen [i.e. a Stevenson screen] will secure it from all radiation towards the sky. In England, Wells obtained a difference of 15° Fahr. between the indications of two thermometers placed in the manner described. It would certainly be strange if less important differences were to result from them in equinoctial countries, which have been so much praised for the purity of their atmosphere. It is doubtless unnecessary for us to demonstrate the utility that would attach to such experiments if they were repeated on a very high mountain, such as Mowna-Roa or Mowna-Kaah, in the Sandwich Islands." (This latter reference is to Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea in Hawaii, which was given the name 'Sandwich Islands' by Captain Cook).

Examination of an Anomaly which Atmospheric Temperatures, taken at different elevations, present in the night, when the Sky is calm and clear

"The temperature of atmospheric strata diminishes in proportion as these strata become more elevated. There is only one exception to this rule, and that is observed in the night during a calm and clear state of the air. In these circumstances, an increasing progression takes place, to a certain height. According to the experiments of Pictet, to whom we owe the discovery of this anomaly, a thermometer then suspended in the air at two yards from the ground may indicate throughout the night from 3½ to 5½° Fahr. less than a thermometer similarly suspended in the air, but fifteen or sixteen yards higher."

"If it be recollected that solid bodies placed on the surface of the ground, pass by means of radiation under a clear sky, to a temperature much below that of the surrounding air, it will not be denied that this air must at length be affected, by means of contact, with the same coldness, and in a greater degree, according as it is nearer the earth. In this, therefore, we find a plausible explanation of the curious fact made known by the natural philosophers of Geneva. Our navigators will impart to it the character of a demonstration, if they repeat Pictet's experiment in the open sea, by comparing, during a clear and tranquil night, a thermometer placed on the deck with another attached to the mast-head. Not that the superficial stratum of the ocean does not experience the same effects of nocturnal radiation, in the same manner as down, wool, grass, etc; but after its temperature has diminished, this bed of stratum is precipitated, because its specific density has become greater than that of the inferior liquid beds. We are not, therefore, to expect in this case, the enormous local colds observed by Wells in certain bodies placed on the surface of the earth, nor the anomalous coldness of the inferior air, which seems to be the consequence of them. Everything, indeed, leads to the belief, that the increasing progression of atmospheric temperature noticed on land does not exist in the open sea; and that there the thermometer on the deck, and that at the summit of the mast, will indicate very nearly the same degree. The experiment, nevertheless, is not the less deserving of attention. In the estimation of a prudent natural philosopher, there is always an immense distance between the result of a conjecture and that of an observation."

Expeditious Method of determining Mean Temperatures in Equinoctial Countries

"In our climates, the stratum of the earth which undergoes neither diurnal nor annual variations of temperature, is situated at a great distance from the surface of the ground. But such is not the case in equinoctial regions; for, according to the observations of M. Boussingault, nothing more is necessary than merely to sink a thermometer to the depth of about one foot English, in order to make it indicate constantly the same degree, or very nearly so. Travellers, therefore, may determine very exactly the mean temperature of all the places they visit between the tropics, either in plains or in mountains, by having the precaution to furnish themselves with a miner's piercer, with which it is easy, in a few minutes, to pierce a hole in the ground of the required depth. It will be found that the action of this instrument on rocks and on the soil, occasions a development of heat, and the observer should always wait till that be entirely dissipated before he commence his experiments. It is likewise necessary that the air in the hole should not be renewed during the whole time of their continuance. A soft substance, such as pasteboard, covered with a large stone, will form a sufficient preventive. The thermometer ought to have a string attached to it, by means of which it may again be drawn up."

"The observations of M. Boussingault, of which we have availed ourselves, in order to recommend perforations to the trifling depth of a foot, as conducting very expeditiously to the determination of mean temperatures in all inter-tropical countries, have been made in sheltered places, in the ground, under Indian huts, and under mere sheds. In these situations, the soil was sheltered from the direct warmth produced by absorption of the solar light, from nocturnal radiation, and infiltration of rains. Everyone trying the experiment should place himself in similar circumstances, for there can be no doubt that in the open air, and in places remote from shelter, it would be necessary to penetrate to a much greater depth in the ground, in order to reach the bed possessing an equal temperature."

"It is well known that the temperature of the water in wells of moderate depth, also affords an easy and exact mode of ascertaining the mean temperature of the surface. This method, therefore, must not be omitted among those recommended by the Academy."

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
DjiboutiUnknown d (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdcOne of MS6 on FDC
France626 (Mi?)1949Arago (at left in stamp, at right in maxicard design)
France626 maxiMaxicard
France625-628+C28 dsCompound deluxe sheet (625-628+C28)
FranceB575 (Mi?)1986200th anniv. birth
FranceB575 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
FranceB575 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB575 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB575 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB575 fdc5Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB575 fdc6Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB575 maxi1Maxicard
FranceB575 maxi2Maxicard (different)
FranceB575 maxi3Maxicard (different)
FranceB575 maxi4Maxicard (different)
FranceB575 sc1Souvenir card
FranceB575 sc2Souvenir card (different)
FranceB575-B579 scSouvenir card, also back
FranceB575-B579 folderFDC-folder
FranceB579aBooklet pane of 5 (B575-B579 + 3 labels)
FranceB579a fdcBooklet pane on FDC
FranceB575-B578+2xB579+B579a fdcTwo of eleven stamps and cancels on FDC
FranceB575-B579+B579a scSouvenir card
New CaledoniaC253 (Mi?)1993ship François Arago
United StatesNoneCancel on cover1935Arago OR (post office)


Franklin J.

Franklin, Sir John
(1786 - 1847)

John Franklin was a British polar explorer and naval commander. His third and last expedition to the Arctic disappeared in 1847.

During his first voyage to the Arctic in 1819-1822, Franklin found that "the occurrence of aurora does not increase all the way to the pole". Hansteen would later confirm the existence of a ring around the magnetic pole of maximum frequency of occurrence of the aurora. It is now known that in the northern hemisphere this ring of maximum occurrence falls roughly in the latitude band 60-70°N, depending on the longitude. Farther north, the auroral frequency drops off, as observed by Franklin.

During his second voyage to the Arctic in 1825-1827, he explored by land parts of what is now the western NWT and made meteorological observations at Fort Franklin on Great Bear Lake.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Canada1234 (Mi?)1989"Finding Franklin's relics"
DjiboutiUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS9 (a-i)2010
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdc (Mi? fdc)One of MS9 on FDC
Grenada Carriacou2327f (Mi?)One of MS6 (2327 (a-f))2001Franklin and HMS Erebus
RwandaUnknown h (Mi?)One of MS12 (a-l)2009
Seychelles885 (Mi?)2009


Becquerel AC

Becquerel, Antoine César
(1788 - 1878)

A. C. Becquerel was a French physicist and chemist, the first of four generations of physicists in the Becquerel family. Antoine Henri Becquerel, who won a Nobel Prize in physics, was Antoine César's grandson

Antoine César Becquerel studied thermoelectricity and constructed an electric thermometer with which he measured the body temperature of animals, the soil temperature at different depths and the atmospheric temperature at different heights. In addition to his basic research in electrochemistry he had a general interest in questions related to meteorology, climate and agriculture.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Wallis and Futuna378 (Mi?)
i378

Imperforate
1988(200th anniv. birth)
Wallis and Futuna378 dsDeluxe sheet (378)


Dumont d'Urville

Dumont d'Urville, Jules S.
(1790 - 1842)

Jules Dumont d'Urville was a French naval commander and explorer of the South Seas and the Antarctic. His first grand voyage was as lieutenant aboard the vessel Coquille in a circumnavigation of the world from 1822 to 1825. Shortly after returning from that trip, he and Commander Louis Duperrey proposed another voyage to the Marquis de Clermont Tonnerre, the Minister of the Marine Department. They had ambitious scientific goals (including studies of terrestrial magnetism and meteorology, hydrographic measurements, mapping, ethnography, zoology and botany). The proposal was accepted and from 1826 to 1829 the Coquille (renamed Astrolabe) under the command of Dumont d'Urville again circumnavigated the globe. That expedition brought back a mass of hydrographic, navigational, zoological, botanical and meteorological information. Dumont d'Urville would command one more voyage of discovery aboard the Astrolabe (but this time accompanied by a second ship Zelée). The trip lasted from 1837 to 1840 and explored both the South Seas and the Antarctic. In 1840 his ships arrived close to the south magnetic pole, near a part of the Antarctic coast that he dubbed Adélie Land (after his wife Adèle). The French Antarctic research station Dumont d'Urville, in Adélie Land, was opened in 1956 as the centre of French scientific activities during the IGY (International Geophysical Year) of 1957-1958. It has remained active as a research base and meteorological observing station ever since. It launches a daily radiosonde balloon, and since 1990 has carried out about 40 balloon soundings each year for the measurement of ozone profiles.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
British Antarctic Territory49a (Mi?)Watermarked 3141973d'Urville with ship Astrolabe
British Antarctic Territory49 (Mi?)Watermarked 3731979d'Urville with ship Astrolabe
Falkland Islands Dependencies1L97 (Mi?)1985
Falkland Islands Dependencies1L97-1L100 fdcOne of four stamps on FDC1985
FranceB598 (Mi?)From booklet pane of 6 (5x B598)1988
FranceB593-B598 folderOne of six stamps on FDC folder cover
FranceB597 card(Right image in) cancel on exposition card
FranceNoneMeter1990200th anniv. birth
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesC7 (Mi?)1965"Découverte de Terre Adélie par Dumont d'Urville, 20 janvier 1840"
French Southern and Antarctic Territories30 (Mi?)1968
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesC17 cover (Mi? cover)(Round, violet) cachet and (rectangular) cachet on cover1970"Station Dumont d'Urville, Terre Adélie" and "Terre Adélie, Base Dumont d'Urville"
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesNone(Round) cachet on cover1970"Station Dumont d'Urville, Terre Adélie"
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesNone(Round) cachet (different) on cover1970"Station Dumont d'Urville, Terre Adélie"
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesC30 (Mi?)1973"Dumont d'Urville, Terre Adélie"
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesC45a (Mi101-102)Strip of 2 (C44-C45 + label)197620th anniv. Dumont d'Urville base
French Southern and Antarctic Territories71 (Mi?)1977d'Urvillea algae
French Southern and Antarctic Territories80 cover (Mi? cover)Cancel and cachet on cover1979
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesC64 (Mi?)1981"Glaces de pression dans la mer Dumont d'Urville"
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesC66 (Mi?)1981"Adèle Dumont d'Urville"
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesC68 fdcCancel and cachet on FDC198125th anniv. Dumont dèUrville and Charcot bases; also latitude-longitude cachet for Dumont d'Urville station
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesNone(Green) cachet on cover1984"Dumont d'Urville, Station météorologique"
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesC145 fdc (Mi379 fdc)Cancel and cachet on FDC1998
French Southern and Antarctic Territories154 (Mi?)1990(200th anniv. birth)
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesC110 (Mi?)1990(150th anniv. death); and "Découverte de la Terre Adélie, 150ième Anniversaire"
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesC112a fdc (Mi? fdc)Cancel and cachets on FDC1990Base Dumont d'Urville; (200th anniv. birth)
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesC123 (Mi285)1992Dumont d'Urville base, Adélie Land; (150th anniv. death)
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesNoneCachet on cover1992Dumont d'Urville météorologie; (150th anniv. death)
French Southern and Antarctic Territories218 cover (Mi? cover)Cancel and two cachets on cover1997Dumont d'Urville base
French Southern and Antarctic Territories224 cover (Mi359 cover)Three cachets on cover1997"Station météorologique Dumont d'Urville 89642" and "Base Dumont d'Urville" and Dumont d'Urville base latitude-longitude
French Southern and Antarctic Territories232 (Mi370)One of strip of 3 (232a (230-232)) (Mi368-370)1997"Dumont d'Urville [base] 1956"
French Southern and Antarctic Territories269 cover (Mi? cover)(Red and pentagon) cachets on cover2000"Dumont d'Urville" base
French Southern and Antarctic Territories270 (Mi?)From booklet pane of 5 (273a (269-273 + 2 labels)), contained in booklet (273b)2000
French Southern and Antarctic Territories270 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
French Southern and Antarctic Territories270 maxiMaxicard
French Southern and Antarctic Territories294b stamp (Mi460)On stamp in booklet pane of 7 (294a-g) and on stamp and in (upper) margin of one SS1 (294b); booklet contains 28 stamps (14 in two different booklet panes of 7 and in 14 SS1 with margin design the same as each stamp); also booklet cover and back)2001Bust of Dumont d'Urville, at the Dumont d'Urville base; note also C123 (showing windsocks) on the booklet cover.
French Southern and Antarctic Territories314 cover (Mi? cover)Cancels and cachets on cover2002
French Southern and Antarctic Territories304+315 cover (Mi? cover)Cancel and two cachets on cover2003Dumont d'Urville [base] with latitude-longitude (on one cachet)
French Southern and Antarctic Territories326c (Mi?)One of MS4 (326 (a-d))2003Dumont d'Urville and his wife
French Southern and Antarctic Territories331 cover (Mi? cover)Three cachets on cover2004Dumont d'Urville Meteor. Station
French Southern and Antarctic Territories342 (Mi?)In (lower) margin of MS4 (342 (a-d))2004Dumont D'Urville [base] with latitude/longitude (on one cachet); part of the base (in 342d)
French Southern and Antarctic Territories359 bk cover (Mi?)Deluxe booklet cover, also back2005Includes reproduction of 270 and Dumont d'Urville base latitude-longitude cachet
French Southern and Antarctic Territories356 fdc (Mi? fdc)Stamp and (circular) cancel and cachet on FDC2005"Dumont d'Urville, T. Adélie"; also latitude-longitude cachet for Dumont d'Urville station
French Southern and Antarctic Territories367 (Mi?)200650th anniv. Dumont d'Urville base, 1956-2006
French Southern and Antarctic Territories389 (Mi?)2007The Sun's path, Dumont d'Urville base, June 21
French Southern and Antarctic Territories389 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC2007Dumont d'Urville base and the Sun's path on June 21
French Southern and Antarctic TerritoriesNone(Blue rubber-stamp) cachet on cover2009"Dumont d'Urville" (in text)
Malagasy RepublicC54 (Mi?)C52 overprinted1949overprint reads "Terre Adélie, Dumont d'Urville, 1840"
Malagasy RepublicC54 cover(Round, black) cachet on cover1949
Malagasy RepublicUnlisted proofProof1995
Micronesia8 (Mi?)1984
Micronesia16 (Mi?)1984
New Caledonia298 (Mi?)1953
New CaledoniaC118 (Mi?)1974
New CaledoniaC118 proofsTrial colour proofs
New Zealand1417 (Mi?)1997
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on cover1992150th anniv. death
St. Helena474 (Mi?)1986
Tonga646 (Mi?)1987"Dumont d'Urville's second voyage"
Tonga646 specimenOverprinted "specimen"
Tonga647 (Mi?)
Tonga647 specimenOverprinted "specimen"
Tonga648 (Mi?)
Tonga648 specimenOverprinted "specimen"
Tonga649 (Mi?)
Tonga649 specimenOverprinted "specimen"
Vanuatu737 (Mi?)1999
Vanuatu737a (Mi?)MS3 (734, 736-737)
Wallis and Futuna IslandsC44 (Mi?)1973
Wallis and Futuna IslandsC44 proofstrial colour proofs


Babbage

Babbage, Charles
(1791 - 1871)

Charles Babbage was an English scientist who originated many of the concepts that underly modern computers. With John Herschel, he did some work on magnetism around 1825. He and Herschel also experimented with barometers.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Great Britain1361 (Mi?)1991(200th anniv. birth)
Great Britain1360-1363 fdcOne of four stamps on FDC
Great Britain2751 (Mi?)One of block of 10 (2756a (2747-2756), or one of booklet pane of 4 (2756b (2747+2751-2752+2756)), from 2756a presentation pack2010
Great Britain2756a fdcOne of block of 10 stamps on FDC
Guinea-BissauUnknown ss (BL?)SS12007
MalawiUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2008


Morse

Morse, Samuel
(1791 - 1872)

Samuel Morse was an American artist and inventor, best known for his invention of the electric telegraph and the Morse code. He first realized in the early 1830s that an electric telegraph might be possible, in part due to Joseph Henry's description of the relevant scientific principles. Morse experimented with prototypes in the mid-1830s. The first public demonstration of his apparatus took place in 1837. The US Congress eventually granted him the necessary financial support so that a demonstation telegraph line could be constructed, from Washington to Baltimore (a distance of 61 km). The line was successfully inaugurated 24 May 1844 when Morse sent the phrase "What hath God wrought?".

Morse received a Turkish patent for the telegraph in 1847. His invention was officially accepted as the standard for European telegraphy in 1851 (except in Britain where the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph was preferred). Morse's American patents were contested because he claimed to be the sole inventor of the device. Henry disagreed. He and Morse had been friends, but the protracted legal battle over the telegraph patent turned them into bitter enemies. Finally in 1853 the Supreme Court ruled in Morse's favour.

Although Morse never worked directly in meteorology, his telegraph would bring about a revolution in the science because it made possible the speedy transmission of weather data, which permitted the creation of weather maps, which in turn could be used to study weather systems and to prepare weather forecasts. The forerunners of centralized national weather services in many countries including France (under LeVerrier), Britain (under Fitzroy) and the US (under Henry) all began to develop once weather telegraphy became available in the late 1840s and the 1850s.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
ArgentinaB1 (Mi?)1944
Burkina Faso910 (Mi?)1991(200th anniv. birth)
Cambodia1220 (Mi?)1992(200th anniv. birth, in 1991)
Cambodia2054 (Mi?)2001(210th anniv. birth)
Canada1137-1138 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC back, also front1987"Morse" (in text)
Central African Republic1358 (Mi2572)2000
Congo (People's Republic)807 (Mi?)19881987: 150th anniv. Morse's first test of the telegraph
Congo (People's Republic)808 (Mi?)
Denmark352 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC1954
DjiboutiC234 (Mi499)
iC234

Imperforate
1987150th anniv. invention of telegraph
DjiboutiC234 ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (C234)
DjiboutiC234a (BL142)SS1 (C234)150th anniv. invention of telegraph; Morse's telegraph, 24 January 1838 (in upper-left margin)"
DjiboutiC234a fdcSS1 on FDC
Gabon180 (Mi221)1965Morse telegraph; 100th anniv. ITU (International Telecommunication Union)
Gabon180 proofDie proof
Gabon180 fdcStamp on FDC
Germany (West)NoneCachet on cover1969"Von Morse bis Telstar" (From Morse to Telstar); 125th anniv. invention telegraph (from inauguration of first telegraph line Washington-Baltimore, 24 May 1844)
GuatemalaC799 (Mi?)1985
MacedoniaUnknown (Mi?)2012
Mali173 (Mi?)
i173

Imperforate
1972(100th anniv. death)
Mali173 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Mauritania294 (Mi?)
i294

Imperforate
1972(100th anniv. death)
Mauritania294 ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (294)
Monaco611 (Mi?)1965100th anniv. ITU (International Telecommunication Union)
Monaco907 (Mi?)1974"Morse" (in text)
Monaco1602 (Mi?)1987150th anniv. invention of telegraph
Monaco1602 maxiMaxicard
Niger752 (Mi?)1987150th anniv. invention of telegraph
Niger752 ds
Niger753 (Mi?)
Niger753 ds
Niger754 (Mi?)
Niger754 ds
Palau538l (Mi?)One of MS17 (538 (a-q))2000
Peru407 (Mi436)1944100th anniv. invention telegraph (from inauguration of first telegraph line Washington-Baltimore, 24 May 1844)
Peru408 (Mi437)
Rwanda811 (Mi875)
i811

Imperforate
1977
Rwanda809-812_fdc (Mi873-876 fdc)One of four stamps on FDC
St. Thomas and Prince IslandsUnknown d (Mi?)One of MS4 (a-d)2007
St. Thomas and Prince IslandUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2008
Tonga730e (Mi?)One of MS12 (730 (a-l))1989
United StatesP336 back2 dollars (banknote), also front1896Morse (at right)
United States890 (Mi?)1940
United States890 fdcStamp and (Crosby) cachet on FDC
United States890 fdc2Stamp and (Crosby) cachet (different) on FDC
United States890 fdc3Stamp and (Crosby) cachet (same) on FDC (different cancel)
United States890 fdc4Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States890 fdc5Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United States890 fdc6Stamp and (Ioor) cachet on FDC
United States890 fdc7Stamp and (NYPO) cachet on FDC
United States890 fdc8Stamp and (Torkel Gundel) cachet on FDC
United States890 fdc9Stamp and (Anderson) cachet on FDC
United States890 fdc10Stamp and (Crosby) cachet (different) on FDC
United States890 fdc11Stamp and (Farnam) cachet on FDC
United States890 fdc12Stamp and (Egolf) cachet on FDC
United States890 fdc13Stamp and (Sadworth) cachet on FDC
United States890 fdc14Stamp and (Ross Engraving) cachet on FDC
United States890 fdc15Stamp and (Ross Engraving) cachet (different) on FDC
United States890 fdc16Stamp and (Mayne) cachet on FDC
United States890 fdc17Stamp and (Crosby blue) cachet on FDC
United States890 fdc18Stamp and (Historic Art) cachet on FDC
United States890 fdc19Stamp and (ArtCraft) cachet on FDC
United States16T99Pane of 5 telegraph stamps1940
United States16T100
United States16T101
United States16T102
United States16T103
United States924 (Mi?)1944"What hath God wrought" (in text on stamp) (Morse's first telegraph message, sent from Washington to Baltimore in 1844)
United States924 fdc1Stamp and (Crosby) cachet on FDC
United States924 fdc2Stamp and (Crosby) cachet on FDC (Washington DC cancel)
United States924 fdc3Stamp and (L.W. Staehle/Cachetcraft) cachet on FDC
United States924 fdc4Stamp and (ArtCraft) cachet on FDC
United States924 fdc5Stamp and (Farnam) cachet on FDC
United States924 fdc6Stamp and (Grimsland) cachet on FDC
United States924 fdc7Stamp and (Anderson) cachet on FDC
United States924 fdc8Stamp and (Ioor) cachet on FDC
United States924 fdc9Stamp and (two-color printed) cachet on FDC
United States924 sp(non-USPS) souvenir panel
United States1274 fdc (Mi? fdc)(ArtCraft) cachet and extra (890) stamp on FDC1965


Coriolis

Coriolis, Gaspard Gustav
(1792 - 1843)

Gaspard Coriolis was a French engineer and mathematician.

The Earth is not a stationary frame of reference: it rotates. The equations of motion of the atmosphere must account for this rotation. In a paper published in 1835 (Sur les équations du mouvement relatif des systèmes de corps) Coriolis showed how to account for the Earth's rotation through the addition of an extra force that has come to be known as the Coriolis force. It is the Coriolis force that explains why the winds do not blow directly from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. Ignoring frictional effects, in the northern (southern) hemisphere the Coriolis force deviates the air motion to the right (left) so that the winds blow parallel to the isobars, with lower pressure to the left (right). This behaviour, generally referred to as the Coriolis effect, is a key concept in meteorology. While Coriolis was the first to provide a clear mathematical explanation of the effect, some earlier researchers did realize that it must exist and proposed qualitative descriptions based on physical reasoning: in particular, Dalton in 1793 and Hadley in 1735.

The name Coriolis was given to a scientific satellite launched 6 January 2003. Coriolis (also referred to as Coriolis/WindSat for the Navy WindSat microwave polarimetric radiometer that it carries) has two primary missions:

  1. to provide data on wind speed and direction at or near the surface of the ocean, and
  2. to provide early warning of coronal mass ejections from the Sun.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
FranceNoneCachet (return address) on cover1992"42, avenue G. Coriolis" (in text); (200th anniv. birth)
FranceNoneCachet (return address) on cover1997"42, Avenue Coriolis" (in text)
FranceNone(Blue rubber-stamp) cachet on cover2011"Mission Coriolis" (in text)
United StatesNone(Space Voyage / Lollini) cachet on Coriolis launch cover2003


Herschel, John

Herschel, Sir John F. W.
(1792 - 1871)

Sir John Herschel was an English astronomer. He was the son of astronomer Sir William Herschel.

John Herschel was deeply interested in meteorology. With Charles Babbage he did some experiments on magnetism and tinkered with barometers. In his work Preliminary Discourse (1830), Herschel wrote that meteorology is "one of the most complicated but important branches of science" in which "any person who will attend to plain rules might do effectual service". He wrote in 1843 that the atmosphere might be considered "a vehicle for wavelike movements which may embrace in their single swell and fall a whole quadrant of the globe". Herschel published in London in 1840 a book entitled Meteorology. He served as the chairman of the Royal Society's Committee for Physics and Meteorology in 1840 and later years. The Committee's reports treated many meteorological topics. For example, the 1840 report contained the following sections relating to meteorology:

PHYSICS AND METEOROLOGY (section and page)
1. Terrestrial Magnetism 1
2. Figure of the Earth 38
3. Tides 39
4. Meteorology 44
5. Distribution of Temperature in the Sea and Land 48
6. Currents of the Ocean 49
7. Depth of the Sea 51
8. Variable Stars 51
9. Refraction 52
10. Eclipses 52
INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS (section and page)
1. Barometers 53
2. Thermometers 58
3. Actinometers 61
4. Radiating Thermometers 69
5. Hygrometers 69
6. Vanes, Anemometers, and Rain-gauges 71
7. Clouds and Meteors 73
8. Electrometers 74
9. Registers 76
APPENDIX
Table I. - Correction to be added to Barometers for Capillary Action 81
Table II. - Reduction of Thermometer to 32° Fahrenheit 82
Table III. - Reduction for Barometers 88
Table IV. - Force of Wind 88
Table V. - Force of Aqueous Vapour 89

Herschel edited in 1851 the British Admiralty's Manual of Scientific Inquiry (Herschel, J. F. W. (editor.), 1851: Admiralty Manual of Scientific Enquiry. 2nd edition. Pall Mall: Dawson). In it he wrote that "there is no branch of physical science which can be advanced more materially by observations made during sea voyages than meteorology". In this manual were codified the preferred methods of observing are recording weather data. For example, it states (p. 292) that "the observer should be furnished with a delicate and accurate thermometer, most carefully compared with a perfectly authentic standard at several temperatures, differing considerably, and of which the freezing point has been most scrupulously verified". Elsewhere (p. 282) it states that changes in the instruments themselves or their positioning or exposure was seen as "exceedingly objectionable and ought to be sedulously avoided". In addition to the habitual meteorological variables that were measured, observers were instructed to record any "Remarkable Observations": any unusual weather, including squalls, storms or cyclones. The Manual specifies (p. 316) that such cases are "those occasions of which the attentive observer will not fail to take advantage, when particular meteorological sequences of cause and effect stand out in unusual prominence, or when opportunity is offered for the exact or approximate determination of some datum of scientific interest". The general principle on which the Manual was based was that "it is to the regular meteorological register, steadily and perseveringly kept throughout the whole of the voyage, that we must look for the development of the great laws of this science".

In 1854 the Crown decided to form a department that would oversee the collection and analysis of weather data at sea, and by May of 1855 such a program had been implemented by the new Meteorological Department of the British Board of Trade (the forerunner of the UK Meteorological Office) under Robert Fitzroy.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Canada1479 (Mi?)1993Herschel Island, named in 1826 by John Franklin for his friend John Herschel (the son of William Herschel); (200th anniv. birth, in 1992)
Great Britain616 (Mi?)1970(100th anniv. death, in 1971); John Herschel (at right); William Herschel, John Herschel's father (at left)


von Baer

von Baer, Karl Ernst
(1792 - 1876)

Karl von Baer was an Estonian physician, anatomist, zoologist and naturalist. He was the president of the Estonian Naturalists' Society from 1869 to 1876. He also conducted meteorological and climatological studies and made significant contributions to the understanding of the climate of the Russian polar regions.

His interest in the Arctic was evident as early as his student years in Tartu from 1810 to 1814. While living in Königsberg in the 1820s he concentrated on his primary biological research but also studied meteorology and mathematical methods and was influenced by scholars such as Friedrich Bessel, Heinrich Dove and Alexander von Humboldt. Von Humboldt was, in fact, invited to Russia by the tsar and in 1829 went on a scientific expedition to Siberia. On his return to St. Petersburg he proposed the creation of a Russian network of magnetic and meteorological observing stations. A. Kupfer of the St. Petersburg Academy was also working toward such a network. Von Baer was inspired by this idea and moved to Russia in 1834, just in time to see the establishment of the first Russion observing network of 9 stations in 1835. He then began a systematic collection of Russian meteorological data from various other sources. He was also one of the first to popularize meteorology as a scientific field in its own right and authored the first Russian newspaper article which treated the science of meteorology in a popular manner.

Von Baer used the Russian weather data he collected to draw conclusions about the climate. He related the existence of the permafrost in Siberia to the Russian continental climate. He published a set of continuous meteorological observations taken from 1832 to 1835 in Novaya Zemlya and calculated from them the mean daily, monthly and yearly temperatures. His comparisons of these data with those of other Arctic regions allowed him to conclude that the mean annual temperature in Novaya Zemlya was lower than those of Yakutsk, Spitzbergen and the coastal areas of Greenland and Labrador. Von Baer was even able to conclude that the mean temperature on the east side of Novaya Zemlya was about one degree colder than on the west side. He related the difference to the mountain range that bisects the area and tends to block cold air over the east from moving farther west. He also found that March was the coldest month in Novaya Zemlya, while August was the warmest, and related the August maximum temperatures to the presence of the Kara sea which tends to be ice-free in August.

Von Baer was the first to apply Russian meteorological data to agriculture. For example, he suggested that "goosefood" (a high altitude plant from South America) might grow where traditional cereal grains would not. Unfortunately, attempts to grow this plant in Russia proved unsuccessful.

Von Baer is remembered for his major contributions to the understanding of climate and meteorology in Russia. Von Humboldt said that in Russia there were three pre-eminent meteorologists who would be the envy of any European country: Adolf Kupfer, Ludwig Kämtz and von Baer.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
EstoniaEesti Post no.17Printed stamp on postal card2003(210th anniv. birth, in 2002); also 150th anniv. Estonian Naturalists' Society


Robinson

Robinson, Thomas Romney
(1792 - 1882)

Thomas Robinson was an Irish astronomer. He was the director of the Armagh Astronomical Observatory from 1823 until his death. The observatory also made meteorological measurements, starting in 1784. The weather observing program has continued to this day, and the full set constitutes the longest series of continuous meteorological observations in Ireland.

Though he was primarily an astronomer, Robinson was also interested in other areas of science. In meteorology, he concentrated on wind measurements. In around 1450, the Italian Leon Battista Alberti was the first to experiment with an early form of anemometer in which the wind deflected a swinging plate. Similar instruments were later re-invented by Leonardo da Vinci in the late 1400s and Robert Hooke in the 1660s. Mikhail Lomonosov experimented with the first rotational anemometer in around 1750. Robinson realized that he could improve on those early designs and invented the first rotating cup anemometer, whose basic design is still used by some modern anemometers. Robinson's instrument, which he completed in 1846, had four hemispherical cups mounted on horizontal arms attached to a vertical shaft. Here is a simple Robinson-style cup anemometer. In this design, the wind catches the concave parts of the cups and so rotates the assembly about the vertical axis. There is no dependence on wind direction. Stronger winds cause faster rotation. Robinson believed that the cups of his anemometer moved at one-third the speed of the wind, but this was later proved to be incorrect. Much later, in the 1920s, it was found by researchers such as the Canadian John Patterson (who would become a director of the Canadian Weather Service) that an anemometer with only three cups had several advantages over the four cup design.

Robinson immediately installed his anemometer on the roof of the Armagh Observatory in 1846. In 1847, he connected a clockwork apparatus to the instrument so that it could provide a continuous record of the wind. In 1867, the Board of Trade selected Armagh as one of seven new first-class meteorological observatories in the British Isles. As noted above, weather observations from the Observatory have continued through to the present day.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Great BritainNoneMedallion1989Robinson's anemometer atop the Armagh Observatory
Great Britain1336 (Mi?)1990The Armagh Observatory, with Robinson's anemometer above it (in stamp)
Great Britain1336 cardPHQ card
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc1One of four stamps on FDC
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc2One of four stamps on FDC (different)
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc3One of four stamps on FDC (different)
Great Britain1336-1339 fdc4One of four stamps on FDC (different cancel)


Biscoe

Biscoe, John
(1794 - 1843)

John Biscoe was an English sea captain and explorer. In April 1832 he became the third person to circumnavigate Antarctica. After that trip he informed the admiralty hydrographer in London that the headlands he had seen were those of a continent (Antarctica). Concerning the weather he had encountered, he advised that future voyagers expect the prevailing winds in the very high Antarctic latitudes to blow east to west (rather than the west to east direction of the Roaring Forties mid-latitude belt farther north).

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
British Antarctic Territory6 (Mi?)1963ship "RRS John Biscoe"
British Antarctic Territory30 (Mi?)6 surcharged and overprinted1971ship "RRS John Biscoe"
British Antarctic Territory48a (Mi?)1973(130th anniv. death)
British Antarctic Territory48 (Mi?)Changed watermark1975
British Antarctic TerritoryNoneCachets on cover1981ship "RRS John Biscoe"
British Antarctic TerritoryNoneCachet on cover1990ship "RRS John Biscoe"
British Antarctic Territory206 (Mi?)1993ship "RRS John Biscoe I"
British Antarctic Territory210 (Mi?)1993"RRS John Biscoe II and RRS Shackleton" (ships)
British Antarctic Territory210a (BL?)SS11997"RRS John Biscoe II and RRS Shackleton" (ships)
Falkland Islands113 (Mi?)1952ship "MSS John Biscoe"
Falkland Islands125 (Mi?)1955ship "MSS John Biscoe"
Falkland Islands Dependencies1L19 (Mi?)1954ship "John Biscoe 1947-52"
Falkland Islands Dependencies1L50 (Mi90)1980ship "RRS John Biscoe in Cumberland Bay"
Falkland Islands Dependencies1L50 reissue (Mi90 type2)1984ship "RRS John Biscoe in Cumberland Bay"
Falkland Islands Dependencies1L50a (Mi90Y)Changed watermark 3841985ship "RRS John Biscoe in Cumberland Bay"
RomaniaNonePostal card2006175th anniv. discovery of Enderby Land by Biscoe


Carnot

Carnot, Nicolas Léonard Sadi
(1796 - 1832)

Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (usually referred to simply as Sadi Carnot) was a French engineer who in 1824 pubished a short book that is considered to be the origin of the science of thermodynamics, which can be defined as the study of the conversions between heat energy and other forms of energy. Thermodynamics is an integral component of broader disciplines such as engineering, physics, chemistry and meteorology and so Carnot's work found application in all these areas.

Carnot described a process now known as the Carnot cycle or the Carnot heat engine in which a system gains energy at a relatively high temperature and loses it at a lower temperature. The Hadley cell (important in meteorological studies of the general circulation) and the hurricane can both be thought of in the broadest sense as Carnot heat engines: energy is lost to frictional and turbulent dissipation at relatively low temperatures and is gained through sensible and latent heat from the warm ocean surface. This is analagous to the situation in which falling water in a waterfall can drive a turbine to produce electricity. The incoming water at the top has more energy (the potential energy due to its greater height) than the outgoing water at the bottom. Part of the difference goes to making the turbines rotate, and part is lost to various frictional and mechanical effects. In the atmospheric case, the difference between the energy input at higher temperatures and the energy loss at lower temperatures is available to make the system rotate (i.e. intensify its circulation). As the circulation strengthens, the frictional effects also increase, so that eventually a balance is attained, so that in the absence of other effects the system no longer intensifies. The balance can go the other way as well. If a hurricane moves over land or over cold water, then its energy source at warm temperatures is cut off. The system as a whole loses energy, and the circulation decreases, i.e. the hurricane weakens.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Central African RepublicBL477On stamp of SS1 (Mi1397)1989Lazare Carnot, father of Sadi
FranceB251 (Mi?)1950Lazare Carnot, father of Sadi
FranceB287 (Mi?)1954Marie-François Sadi Carnot, grandson of Lazare Carnot and nephew of Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot
FranceNoneCancel and cachets on cover1984"Centenaire du lycée Sadi Carnot"; "Sadi Carnot, l'Inventeur de la Thermodynamique"


Quetelet

Quetelet, Adolphe
(1796 - 1874)

Adolphe Quetelet was a Belgian astronomer, statistician and meteorologist. In 1828 he founded the Belgian Royal Observatory and became its first Director. The Observatory would become the base for his extensive magnetic and meteorological observations. He devoted himself to the application of statistical techniques to meteorological data and described the climate of Belgium in his work Sur le Climat de Belgique. The Royal Observatory was the precursor of the modern Belgian Royal Meteorological Institute and Quetelet can be considered the "Father" of the meteorological service in Belgium.

As Director of the Royal Observatory, Quetelet was one of the Belgian representatives at the International Marine Conference in Brussels in1853. The goal of the conference was to create a uniform international system of meteorological observations at sea. This was, in fact, the earliest formal meeting in which significant international cooperation in the area of meteorology was both planned for and realized. In this sense it can be considered as the first international meteorological conference. Its success pointed the way to the establishment, 20 years later, of the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), the predecessor of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Quetelet was elected President of the International Marine Conference by unanimous vote.

Quetelet also made some observations of the aurora borealis, including those that occurred during the solar storm of 28 August - 2 September 1859.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Belgium885 (Mi1794)1974100th anniv. death
Belgium885 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Belgium885 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) on FDC
Belgium885 fdc3Stamp and cachet on FDC
Belgium885 fdc4Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Belgium885 fdc5Stamp and cachet (same) on FDC (different cancel)
Belgium885 fdc6Stamp and cancel (same) on FDC (different cancel)
Belgium885 fdc cardFDC card
Belgium885 sc1Souvenir card
Belgium885 sc2Souvenir card
Belgium885 sc3Souvenir card (different cancel)
Belgium885 sc4Souvenir card
Belgium885 maxiMaxicard
Belgium885 folder1Folder (Flemish)
Belgium885 folder2Folder (French)


von Siebold

von Siebold, Philipp Franz
(1796 - 1866)

Philipp von Siebold was a German physician, scientist, explorer and diplomat. His works include studies of the flora, fauna, geology and meteorology of Japan.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Germany1918 (Mi?)From MS10 (1918a (10x 1918))1996200th anniv. birth; (130th anniv. death)
Germany1918 scSouvenir card
Germany1918 musterOverprinted "muster"
Germany1918 maxiMaxicard
Germany1918 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany1918 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Japan2513 (Mi?)1996200th anniv. birth; (130th anniv. death)
Vietnam1124 (Mi?)~1980Treron sieboldii


Henry

Henry, Joseph
(1797 - 1878)

Joseph Henry was an American physicist, meteorologist and scientific administrator. He is generally considered to be the "father" of the US National Weather Service. He also discovered electromagnetic induction independently of Faraday. As a result of that discovery, Henry's name was given to the SI (International System of Units) unit of inductance.

Henry developed an interest in meteorology during the time he spent as a professor at Albany Academy in Albany, New York. While there he collected statewide weather observations for the University of the State of New York. Later, he was a professor at the College of New Jersey in Princeton where he conducted research on lightning and studied storm patterns and atmospheric physics.

Henry became first secretary of the newly-formed Smithsonian Institution in 1846. He would serve in that capacity until his death in 1878. He immediately set up a meteorological program at the Institution and in 1847 called for "a system of extended meteorological observations for solving the problem of American storms". He clearly understood that the electric telegraph would play a key part in such a system. Henry had described the basic scientific principles of the telegraph in the early 1830s, but Samuel Morse is credited with the actual development of the telegraph. Henry knew that storms in the US generally moved from west to east (Benjamin Franklin was the first to realize this) and wrote in the Smithsonian's 1847 annual report that "the extended lines of the telegraph will furnish a ready means of warning the more northern and eastern observers to be on the watch for the first appearance of an advancing storm".

By 1849 Henry had established a network of some 150 volunteer weather observers linked by telegraph. He convinced several telegraph companies to transmit weather data to the Smithsonian free of charge. The Institution served as the administrative and scientific centre of the weather telegraphy network. It provided instructions, standardized forms and in some cases instruments to the observers, who were expected to make several observations each day of temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind, cloud conditions and precipitation amounts. They were also instructed to note "casual phenomena" such as thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, meteors and the aurora. All this information was summarized in monthly reports submitted to the Smithsonian, where Henry used it to create a large daily weather map whose purpose was, as he wrote, to "show at one view the meteorological condition of the atmosphere over the whole country". The map was displayed for the first time in 1856 in the Castle (the original building of the Smithsonian Institution). It used a system of coloured disks to indicate the type of weather observed (blue for snow, black for rain, brown for cloudy conditions and white for fair weather) with arrows showing the prevailing wind direction. The public was fascinated by this map. Henry noted that tourists who viewed it "all appear to be specially interested in knowing the condition of weather to which their friends at home are subjected at the time". Henry also experimented with using the map for weather forecasting. He noted, for example, that "if a black card [disk] is seen in the morning on the station at Cincinnati, indicating rain at that city, a rain storm may confidently be expected at Washington at about seven o'clock in the evening". Henry had enough confidence in this rule that he would postpone evening lectures at the Smithsonian on days when Cincinnati had rain in the morning.

Henry also provided weather observations to the Washington Evening Star which began publishing daily weather conditions at nearly twenty different cities in May 1857. This was one of the earliest examples of the popular newspaper weather page.

Henry also advocated a system of storm warnings and wrote in his annual report for 1857 that he hoped to arrange with telegraph companies "to give warning on the eastern coast of the approach of storms".

By around 1860 the meteorological network had grown to include more than 600 volunteer observers in Canada, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the United States. The mass of weather observations received at the Smithsonian during the 1850s formed a large data base that had to be checked and interpreted. Henry hired Professor James H. Coffin of Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania to carry out this work. In 1861 Coffin published the first of two volumes of climatic data and storm observations based on the reports for 1854 through 1859.

The American Civil War almost derailed Henry's meteorological work. He wrote in 1861 that the project "suffered more from the disturbed condition of the country than any other part of the operations of the Smithsonian establishment." Weather reports had to compete for telegraph time with public war-related traffic. All reports from the South were cut off. After the war, in his annual report for 1865, Henry called on the federal government to establish a national weather service capable of issuing storm warnings and other weather predictions. At roughly the same time other countries were also moving toward their own national weather services (e.g England under Fitzroy and France under LeVerrier). In 1870 Congress transferred the responsibility for storm warnings and weather predictions to the US Army's Signal Service. By 1874, Henry had convinced the Signal Service to take over the volunteer observer system as well. In 1891, the newly-formed US Weather Bureau took over all the weather-related work of the Signal Service. It later became the National Weather Service, in which Henry's vision and leadership live on today.

In addition to the table below, another list of Henry items is available on the SI (metric system) unit names page.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
United States943 (Mi548)Also detail1946100th anniv. Smithsonian Institution; the building shown, known as the Castle, in Washington DC, has a statue of Henry in front of it, barely seen in this stamp.
United States1237 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC, also detail1963Henry was one of the founding members of the National Academy of Sciences, whose charter was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on 3 March 1863
United States3059 (Mi?)1996150th anniv. Smithsonian Institution; Henry was the secretary of the Smithsonian from 1846 until his death in 1878; the Castle is depicted on this stamp, but no trace of Henry's statue is seen.


Comte

Comte, Auguste
(1798 - 1857)

Auguste Comte was a French philosopher, who wrote of what he called "positive science". He used meteorology as one example in his reasoning. He wrote that:

"Positive science may deal either with objects themselves as they exist, or with the separate phenomena that the objects exhibit. Of course we can only judge of an object by the sum of its phenomena; but it is open to us either to examine a special class of phenomena abstracted from all the beings that exhibit it, or to take some special object and examine the whole concrete group of phenomena. In the latter case we shall be studying different systems of existence; in the former, different modes of activity. As good an example as can be given of the distinction is that, already mentioned, of Meteorology. The facts of weather are evidently combinations of astronomical, physical, chemical, biological, and even social phenomena; each of these classes requiring its own separate theories. Were these abstract laws sufficiently well-known to us, then the whole difficulty of the concrete problem would be so to combine them, as to deduce the order in which each composite effect would follow. This, however, is a process which seems to me so far beyond our feeble powers of deduction, that, even supposing our knowledge of the abstract laws perfect, we should still be obliged to have recourse to the inductive method".

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Brazil854 (Mi?)1957100th anniv. death
Bulgaria1001 (Mi?)1957100th anniv. death
France848 (Mi?)
i848

Imperforate
1957(100th anniv. death)
France848 dsDeluxe sheet (848)
France848 proofTrial-color proof
France848 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
France848 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France848 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) on FDC
France848 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet on FDC
France848 fdc5Stamp and cancel (different) and cachet (same) on FDC
France848 fdc6Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France848 fdc7Stamp and cancel (same) on FDC
France848 maxi1Maxicard
France848 maxi2Maxicard (different)
France848 maxi3Maxicard (different)
France848 maxi4Maxicard (different)
France848 maxi5Maxicard (different)
France848 maxi6Maxicard (different)
France848 maxi7Maxicard (different)
France848 maxi8Maxicard (different cancel)
Romania1219 (Mi?)1958(100th anniv. death, in 1957)


Kupfer

Kupfer, Adolf Yakovlevich
(1799 - 1865)

Adolf Kupfer was a Russian physicist and academician who organized meteorological and magnetic observations in Russia.

After his university education in Germany, Kupfer obtained in 1823 a position as professor of chemistry at Kazan University in Russia. He traveled to Paris in that year to purchase equipment for his department. There he met Arago and von Humboldt who encouraged his interest in terrestrial magnetism and meteorology. In 1828 Kupfer became an academician at the Imperial Academy of Sciences and moved to St. Petersburg where be began to organize a network of meteorological observation stations in Russia. Von Humboldt also contributed to this effort. He was invited to Russia by the tsar and went on a scientific expedition to Siberia in 1829. On his return to St. Petersburg he proposed the creation of a Russian network of magnetic and meteorological observing stations. These combined efforts bore fruit in 1835 with the establishment of the first Russian network (of 9 stations across the country). Kupfer and von Baer continued these efforts and by 1837 had established 11 more observing stations. Eventually Kupfer and others realized that there should be a central bureau to supervise the operation of the overall network and collect all the observations. This bureau, named the Main Geophysical Observatory, was established in St. Petersburg in 1849. It would serve through the remainder of the 19th and the first part of the 20th centuries as the administrative and scientific centre of Russian hydrometeorological activities. Kupfer was its first director, a position he would retain until his death in 1865.

Kupfer was interested in international sharing of data. For example, he implemented twice-weekly reporting to Hamburg of weather and ice conditions in the Gulf of Finland. He established in 1864 the first Russian telegraphic reporting system with a network of 9 domestic and two foreign stations

Kupfer said that "the science of meteorology has a highly extensive field for research; it considers all terrestrial atmosphere which from different directions touches the surface of the Earth and which renders huge influence on all elements of human life". He believed that there were meteorological questions that "without the assistance of Russian observers will forever remain riddles".

Kupfer also said that "in due course to explain the relationships between the pressure of the atmosphere, the humidity of the air and the formation of clouds and their interactions during rain and snow and between the directions of winds; it may be that there will be a way to calculate beforehand the time of their continuation as are calculated the ways of the planets". This was one of the earliest statements of the idea of numerical weather prediction (NWP). This idea was well ahead of its time. L.F. Richardson would eventually pioneer the development of the earliest numerical techniques in weather forecasting in the early 1920s.

For the scope of his contributions to Russian meteorology, Kupfer has been called the "Father" of the Russian Weather Service.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
RussiaNoneCachet on stamped envelope1999(200th anniv. birth); also 150th anniv. Main Geophysical Observatory, St. Petersburg
Russia7139 (Mi1548)From MS8 (7140a (4x (7139-7140)))2009(210th anniv. birth)
Russia7139-7140 fdcOne of two stamps on FDC
Russia7140a fdcMS8 and cachet on FDC


Schönbein

Schönbein, C. F.
(1799 - 1868)

Christian Friedrich Schönbein was a German-Swiss chemist.

In 1785, Dutch chemist Martinus van Marum (1750 - 1837) noted an unusual smell during his experiments with electrical sparking above water, and attributed it to the electrical reactions. He had, in fact, created ozone, but did not identify it as a particular form of oxygen. During similar experiments in the late 1830s, Schönbein detected the same pungent odour and realized that it was the smell that often follows a strong stroke of lightning. In 1839 he succeeded in isolating the gas and named it ozone, from the Greek "ozein" (to smell). For this reason, Schönbein is credited with the discovery of ozone. He described this discovery in a letter entitled "Research on the nature of the odour in certain chemical reactions" presented to the Académie des Sciences in Paris in 1840.

For philatelic items related to ozone, please consult the ozone page of this Website.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Switzerland1060 (Mi1697)1999(200th anniv. birth)
Switzerland1060 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC


Marsh

Marsh, George Perkins (1801 - 1882)

Marsh was an American lawyer, congressman and diplomat who is sometimes considered to be America's first environmentalist. During his time as a congressman (1843 - 1849) he helped establish the Smithsonian Institution.

Like his contemporaries John Muir and Henry David Thoreau, Marsh put forth the controversial idea that humans can affect the environment that supports them, and that some of those effects are negative. His ideas related to climate were far ahead of their time, and he was a proponent of what would now be called "sustainable development". In a speech in 1847 to the Agricultural Society of Rutland County, Vermont, he said:

"Man cannot at his pleasure command the rain and the sunshine, the wind and frost and snow, yet it is certain that climate itself has in many instances been gradually changed and ameliorated or deteriorated by human action. The draining of swamps and the clearing of forests perceptibly affect the evaporation from the earth, and of course the mean quantity of moisture suspended in the air. The same causes modify the electrical condition of the atmosphere and the power of the surface to reflect, absorb and radiate the rays of the sun, and consequently influence the distribution of light and heat, and the force and direction of the winds. Within narrow limits too, domestic fires and artificial structures create and diffuse increased warmth, to an extent that may affect vegetation. The mean temperature of London is a degree or two higher than that of the surrounding country, and Pallas believed that the climate of even so thinly a peopled country as Russia was sensibly modified by similar causes".

In these words we can see Marsh grappling with concepts that would now be referred to as the urban heat island effect, the greenhouse effect and climate change. He also understood clearly the value of forests in the climate system. For example, he said that

"Forests serve as reservoirs and equalizers of humidity. In wet seasons, the decayed leaves and spongy soil of woodlands retain a large proportion of the falling rains, and give back the moisture in time of drought, by evaporation or through the medium of springs. They thus both check the sudden flow of water from the surface into the streams and low grounds, and prevent the droughts of summer from parching our pastures and drying up the rivulets which water them. On the other hand, where too large a proportion of the surface is bared of wood, the action of the summer sun and wind scorches the hills which are no longer shaded or sheltered by trees, the springs and rivulets that found their supply in the bibulous soil of the forest disappear, and the farmer is obliged to surrender his meadows to his cattle, which can no longer find food in his pastures, and sometime even to drive them miles for water. Again, the vernal and autumnal rains, and the melting snows of winter, no longer intercepted and absorbed by the leaves or the open soil of the woods, but falling everywhere upon a comparatively hard and even surface, flow swiftly over the smooth ground, washing away the vegetable mould as they seek their natural outlets, fill every ravine with a torrent, and convert every river into an ocean. The suddenness and violence of our freshets increases in proportion as the soil is cleared; bridges are washed away, meadows swept of their crops and fences, and covered with barren sand, or themselves abraded by the fury of the current, and there is reason to fear that the valleys of many of our streams will soon be converted from smiling meadows into broad wastes of shingle and gravel and pebbles, deserts in summer, and seas in autumn and spring".

In these words are found some of the first expressions of the concepts of land degradation and desertification.

Marsh published his ideas in 1864 in his book "Man and Nature: Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action".

He served for the last 21 years of his life as the US ambassador to the newly united Kingdom of Italy, and is buried in Rome.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
ItalyNoneCancel and cachet on cover2011Marsh conference; (210th anniv. birth)


Airy

Airy, G. B.
(1801 - 1892)

Sir George Airy was a British astronomer who was appointed Astronomer Royal in 1835. He immediately expanded the range of science carried out at the Greenwich Observatory by establishing a Magnetic and Meteorological Department within the Observatory with James Glaisher as superintendent. Not only did Airy want to know the temperature and how it affected astronomical observing, but also he wanted to establish a more general program of meteorological study. Some magnetic and meteorological measurements had already been made at the Observatory under Airy's predecessor, but Airy introduced systematic daily readings of temperature and other variables.

Airy also experimented with barometers and barometer scales. As a result of this work, a barometer known as "Airy's altitude barometer" that incorporated a scale he designed ("Airy's altitude scale") was manufactured by the Short and Mason company.

Airy was involved in the establishment of the Greenwich Meridian as a base longitude from which other longitudes are measured. The time zone at Greenwich, originally referred to as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and now referred to as UTC (Universal Time, Coordinated), is a standard time which is used as an international reference. In meteorology, synoptic observations are made at 00 UTC, 06 UTC, 12 UTC and 18 UTC at all observing stations around the world, independent of the local time.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Great Britain1061 (Mi996)1984"Airy's transit telescope"; 100th anniv. Greenwich Meridian
Great Britain1058-1061 fdc1One of four stamps and cachet on FDC
Great Britain1058-1061 fdc2One of four stamps and cachet (same) on FDC (different cancel)
Great Britain1061 fdcStamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Nicaragua1985l (Mi3303)One of MS16 (1985 (a-p))1994
Tonga586 (Mi?)1984"Sir George Airy, pioneer of the Greenwich Meridian"
Tonga586 proof1Black-and-white proof
Tonga586 proof2Chromalin proof
Tonga586 specimenOverprinted "specimen"
Tonga586 specimen+labelOverprinted "specimen" and gutter label


Domeyko

Domeyko, Ignacy
(1802 - 1889)

Ignacy Domeyko was a Polish geologist who emigrated to South America. He became interested in meteorology and established a network of meteorological stations in Chile. He eventually founded the Chilean Meteorological Service, became its first director and is considered to be the "Father" of the Chilean Meteorological Service.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
ArgentinaNoneCachets on cover197010th anniv. Ignacio Domeyko Polish Library in Buenos Aires
BelarusNoneStamp and cancel and cachet on stamped envelope2002200th anniv. birth; Domeyko's childhood house (on cachet)
Central African RepublicUnknown ss (BL?)SS12011
Chile282 (Mi?)1954150th anniv. birth, in 1952
ChileC171 (Mi?)1954150th anniv. birth, in 1952
Chile1389 (Mi?)Dual-country issue with Poland 36452002200th anniv. birth
Chile1389 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC2002200th anniv. birth
LithuaniaNonePrinted stamp and cachet on postal card2002200th anniv. birth
LithuaniaNoneFirst-day cancel from postal card2002200th anniv. birth
Poland2009 (Mi?)1973(170th anniv. birth, in 1972)
PolandNoneCancel on cover1984
Poland3645 (Mi?)Dual-country issue with Chile 13892002200th anniv. birth
Poland3645 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC


Doppler

Doppler, Christian Andreas
(1803 - 1853)

Christian Doppler was an Austrian physicist who first described in 1842 how the observed frequency of light and sound waves was affected by the relative motion of the source and the detector. This phenomenon became known as the Doppler effect. It is best illustrated by the change in pitch of a train whistle as it approaches, passes and then moves away from an observer beside the tracks. Modern meteorology takes advantage of this principle in special radars known as Doppler radars, which provide information about the components of atmospheric motion toward and away from the radar site. Traditional weather radars provide different data known as radar reflectivity, from which can be inferred information about the structure of weather systems and the associated precipitation-sized particles found within them. Doppler radar therefore provides important complementary information to the traditional radar reflectivity.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Austria1563 (Mi?)1992150th anniv. discovery of the Doppler effect
Austria1563 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Austria1563 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
MaliUnknown b (Mi?)
Unknown ib
One of MS2 (a-b)
One of imperforate MS2 (a-b)
1992150th anniv. discovery of the Doppler effect


Fitzroy

Fitzroy, Robert
(1805 - 1865)

Robert Fitzroy was a British naval commander, hydrographer and meteorologist. He commanded the HMS Beagle in its second survey expedition (Dec 1831 - Oct 1836) which circumnavigated the world with Charles Darwin. His interest in meteorology grew as a result of the weather encountered by the Beagle. In particular, a "pampero" (strong southerly winds accompanied by a sharp drop in temperature) off the South American coast nearly sank his ship. This incident would remain with Fitzroy for the rest of his life. His written record of the expedition, published in 1839, contains many references to the weather. Supported by Sir Francis Beaufort, Fitzroy also commanded the Beagle on its third survey voyage, during which Fitzroy used the Beaufort wind scale for wind observations.

Fitzroy retired from the Navy in 1850 and turned his attention to the study of meteorology. In 1854, he wrote a paper supporting the American Matthew Maury's ideas for international cooperation in collecting weather information. In it, Fitzroy referred to weather charts that would give a "synoptic" view of the weather (a view over a large area of the weather at a particular time), thus coining a term which is still in widespread use among meteorologists today. In 1854 the Crown decided to form a department that would oversee the collection and analysis of weather data at sea, and on the recommendation of the president of the Royal Society Fitzroy was appointed Meteorological "Statist" (Statistician) of the Meteorological Department of the Board of Trade (the forerunner of the modern UK Meteorological Office). He had a staff of three people. He immediately invited the captains of ships to co-operate in a program of marine weather observing. To this end, the Board loaned observing instruments to the Royal Navy and to captains in the Mercantile Marine, and by May 1855 some fifty merchant ships and thirty Royal naval vessels had been outfitted with the required instruments.

At first the work of the Department was concerned solely with marine weather data. Fitzroy designed a sturdy, practical and inexpensive barometer and arranged for it to be made available at every port. It was to be consulted by mariners before setting out to sea, and in fact, the stone supports for those barometers are still visible at many fishing harbours. In 1858 he prepared a manual containing forecast rules based on the behaviour of the barometer. In fact, the invention of several different types of barometers has been attributed to Fitzroy. Perhaps these were no more than storm glasses, which Fitzroy is known to have designed while aboard the Beagle. They were produced in some cases into the 20th century and often were inscribed with his special remarks on interpretation, such as "When rising: In winter the rise of the barometer presages frost"). Fitzroy also designed his own weather display system in the form of diagrams that he called "wind stars" (wind roses in modern terms) that showed the average distribution of wind speed and direction around a 16 point compass. These diagrams were published in the Board of Trade Wind Charts for given oceanic areas for each quarter of the year (Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep, and Oct-Dec). Here is an example, from the August 1855 first edition of the Board of Trade Wind Charts, of Fitzroy's wind stars at four Atlantic stations for the summer months (Jul-Sep).

In October 1859 a severe storm off the British Isles sank the ship Royal Charter. More than 450 lives were lost. Fitzroy had already been considering weather over land, although his mandate was only to study marine weather. He believed that storms could be visualized through the use of synoptic weather charts and that from those charts one could "foretell", or "forecast" the weather. Fitzroy was the first to use the term "weather forecasts" (this neutral term was designed to remove connotations of astrology, sorcery or religion; at the time in the United States the term "probabilities" was used). Fitzroy presented these ideas formally in a paper in 1860. As a result of the storm, the Crown decided to distribute storm glasses to small fishing communities around the British Isles. These instruments would become known as "Fitzroy's storm barometers" or "Fitzroy's storm glasses". Furthermore, with support from Prince Consort Albert, Fitzroy and the Meteorological Department were granted approval in June 1860 to establish a marine storm warning service. Much of the required weather data would come from land weather observing stations: 15 such stations were soon established in the British Isles. They had barometers and other weather instruments. Their observations were made at fixed hours (9 am at first, 8 am later on) and telegraphed to London using an existing electric telegraph system (Britain was using the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph system rather than the one invented by Morse). Fitzroy was also able to obtain observations by telegraph from six sites on the European mainland. The first marine storm warnings under the new system were issued on 6 February 1861. They were telegraphed to some 50 locations (increased to 130 the following year). The warnings were also posted using a novel signalling system of hoisted warning cones and drums at the main ports when a gale was forecast. The signals remained the same from any viewing direction. At night three lights were used to define the triangles, and four to define the drums. For illustrations of the daytime and nighttime signals see storm signals.

A modified version of these signals in which the cylinder is replaced by a ball has been reproduced on one stamp of a recent set issued by Jersey in 2008 for the 300th anniversary of the signal station at Port Regent, St. Helier (images of this stamp and others in the set are available in the weather symbols section of the weather maps page.

Many fishing fleet owners objected to the storm warnings since under them fishing vessels could not leave port. As a result the warnings were abandoned shortly after Fitzroy's death, but the working fishermen reacted angrily, since for them it was clear that the system had saved many lives. This led to the reinstatement of the gale warning system.

In 1863 Fitzroy published The Weather Book: a Manual of Practical Meteorology. This work contained some of the early weather charts produced by the Meteorological Department. Fitzroy said that "this popular work is intended for many, rather than for few, with an earnest hope of its utility in daily life".

The strain of running the Meteorological Department and of maintaining the gale warning service apparently proved too much for Fitzroy; on 30 April 1865 he died by his own hand. However, his tireless work had borne fruit, and Fitzroy is remembered as the "father" of the British weather service. In his honour, the British marine forecast area Finisterre was renamed Fitzroy in 2002.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Argentina641 (Mi630)Perforated 13.5 x 131955Mount "Fitz Roy"; (150th anniv. birth); (90th anniv. death)
Argentina641a (Mi?)Perforated 13.5 x 13.5
ArgentinaNoneCancel2000Mount Fitzroy
Australia (Queensland)NonePostal card?Fitzroy Bridge
AustraliaNoneCancel1976Fitzroy PO; (170th anniv. birth, in 1975); (110th anniv. death, in 1975)
Australia844 cover (Mi? cover)Cachet on cover1982Fitzroy Lions
AustraliaNoneCancel on cover1989Fitzroy, Victoria PO
Australia1513a (Mi?)Booklet cover1996Fitzroy Lions; (190th anniv. birth, in 1995); (130th anniv. death, in 1995)
Australia1959+label (Mi2046+label)On labels and in (right) margin of MS20 (1959a (20x 1959 + 20 labels))2001"Fitzroy Crossing" (in text)
Australia2060-2063 cover (Mi? cover)Cancel on cover2002Fitzroy Crossing
Australia3104 (Mi?)2009Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne
British Antarctic Territory202 (Mi?)1993SS Fitzroy (research ship)
British Antarctic Territory217 (Mi?)1994SS Fitzroy (research ship)
Cocos Islands219 (Mi?)One of MS4 (221a (218-221))1990
Falkland Islands108 (Mi?)1952RMS Fitzroy
Falkland Islands123 (Mi?)1957RMS Fitzroy
Falkland Islands263 (Mi?)1978Fitzroy (mail ship)
Falkland Islands263a (Mi?)263 inscribed "1982"1982Fitzroy (mail ship)
Falkland Islands431 (Mi?)1985(120th anniv. death); (180th anniv. birth)
New ZealandNoneCancel on cover1969Port Fitzroy
St. Helena463 (Mi?)1986(120th anniv. death; 180th anniv. birth; both in 1985)
Tuvalu896a (Mi?)One of MS4 (896 (a-d))2002Mount Fitzroy


Nervander

Nervander, Johan Jacob
(1805 - 1848)

Johan Nervander was a Finnish physicist and poet whose teacher K. F. Gauss influenced him to study geomagnetism. In the 1820s there was little interest in the subject in Finland, but Nervander met the Russian meteorologist and acadamician A. Kupfer of St. Petersburg who strongly supported the idea of magnetic studies. Kupfer suggested in around 1836 that Alexander University (which would become the University of Helsinki) should construct a magnetic and meteorological observatory to complement the Russian network of nine such observatories. Nervander worked to make this proposal a reality and largely as a result of his efforts the Helsinki Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory was completed in 1839. Regular magnetic and meteorological observations from the Observatory commenced in 1844. Nervander was appointed as its first Director. The Observatory was the precursor of the modern Finnish Meteorological Institute.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Finland325 (Mi437)1955(150th anniv. birth)
Finland325 fdc1Stamp and cancel on FDC
Finland325 fdc2Stamp and cancel on FDC
Finland325 fdc3Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC


Maury

Maury, Matthew F.
(1806-1873)

Maury was an American naval officer, oceanographer and meteorologist who has been called the "father of modern oceanography and naval meteorology".

As a young naval officer in the 1820s and 1830s he studied navigation, meteorology, winds and ocean currents. He became the first superintendent of the Navy's Depot of Charts and Instruments (which later became the US Naval Observatory) in 1842, a position he held until 1861. The Jesuit meteorologist Father Angelo Secchi was one of Maury's students at the Observatory in 1848 and 1849, and the two remained lifelong friends.

At the Observatory Maury undertook the study of thousands of old US Navy ships' logs and charts from which he extracted information on winds and currents in all oceans and seasons. The American Isaac Greenwood had proposed the same procedure back in 1727, but it appears that he did not follow up on the idea and that it was lost until Maury independently revived it. Starting in around 1847 and continuing in the 1850s, he published his results in a series works with the general name of Wind and Current Charts. He was something of an entrepreneur and distributed his charts and books free of charge to mariners, but only if they would agree in return to supply him with their observations. In this way he greatly expanded his available data. His book Physical Geography of the Seas and Its Meteorology, published in 1861, became a standard reference.

In the 1850s Robert Fitzroy, who in 1854 became the head of the precursor to the UK Meteorological Service, did similar work to that of Maury in the area of marine meteorology and produced charts, based on the logs of British ships, with some similarities to Maury's Wind and Current Charts.

In 1851, Maury enthusiastically received a proposal from the British Royal Engineers about possible cooperation with the United States in meteorological measurements, and proposed that an international conference be held with the goal of establishing standards for both land and sea observations. The US Congress was not interested in funding land weather observations (at about the same time Joseph Henry was taking a different tack and was organizing a network of volunteer land weather observers; it would grow to eventually become part of the US Weather Service). The Europeans argued that they already were cooperating to some degree in land weather observing, but agreed that there was work to be done in the marine area. Maury therefore modified his proposal to emphasize international standards and sharing for marine meteorological observations. The resulting conference, known as the International Marine Conference, was held in 1853 in Brussels with Adolphe Quetelet, the director of the Belgian Royal Observatory, as chairman. Maury was however a key participant; much of the work of the conference was based on his detailed proposals. The delegates agreed on a standard form which mariners would use to record weather and ocean data. This was a great step forward for international marine meteorology. Maury continued to work hard in the United States to try and convince the authorities of the necessity of American participation in a system of international cooperation and standards in land-based meteorological observations. This goal, however, was not attained in his lifetime.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
United States4522 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC2012


Agassiz

Agassiz, Jean Louis Rodolphe
(1807 - 1873)

Jean Agassiz, born in Switzerland, was a naturalist who worked in areas including paleontology, biology, glaciology and geology. In particular, he did pioneering work in establishing the existence of ice ages, which of course are related to the long term climatic history of the Earth.

Agassiz proposed publicly in 1837 that ice had once covered much of Europe, Asia and North America. The naturalist Jean de Charpentier and the botanist Karl Schimper (who actually coined the term "ice age" (in German, Eiszeit)) had both proposed the idea a few years earlier, but Agassiz took it and became its champion. Through extensive field work he attempted to build a scientific basis for the theory, but it received a chilly reception in Europe. He moved to the United States in 1846 where he became a professor at Harvard University. The theory gained some acceptance in the US, but Agassiz could not overcome its main weakness: the lack of an explanation for what could cause an ice age. After his death in 1873, the theory languished. It was only in the 1930s that a theoretical framework describing a possible astronomical cause of ice ages was proposed by the Serbian mathematician Milutin Milanković. The astronomical theory remained controversial but finally gained general acceptance in the 1970s as one factor in the occurrence of ice ages.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
CanadaNoneCancel1948Agassiz BC (post office); (140th anniv. birth, in 1947)
Comoro IslandsUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2008(100th anniv. birth, in 2007)
United StatesNoneInformation postcard back1892Agassiz Assoc. Official Bulletin
United States1237 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC, also detail1963Agassiz was one of the founding members of the National Academy of Sciences, whose charter was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on 3 March 1863
United StatesNoneCachet on cover1975"Agassiz Station"; the cancel is from Harvard MA (Agassiz was a professor there)


Wise

Wise, John
(1808 - 1879)

John Wise was an American aeronaut who made approximately 470 balloon flights. For him, the balloon was more than a novelty. His flights were done to investigate the atmosphere and many of his observations had scientific value. In one flight in June 1843 he encountered a thunderstorm. He flew under a large dark threatening black cloud and was swept upward in an ascending vortex that caused his balloon to spin and swing violently. The cold became intense, and ice formed on the rigging, but still the uncontrolled ascent continued. The balloon was finally ejected from the rising current and dropped rapidly, but then was picked up again by the rising current. Wise went up and down like this several times. He heard thunder and saw dense clouds moving with the upper currents and observed that "the surface of the lower stratum swelled up suddenly like a boiling cauldron, which was immediately followed by the most brilliant ebullition of sparkling coruscations".

Wise's observations made during many flights led him to conclude that there exists a regular current of air, blowing from west to east, in the upper levels of the atmosphere. He estimated its speed to be "twenty to forty and even sixty miles per hour, according to its height from the Earth" and concluded that a trip across the Atlantic in a balloon carried by this current would be possible. Charles Green had earlier made a similar observation in England and drawn the similar conclusion that a balloon flight from England to mainland Europe should be possible (and in fact, he did just that in 1836). Wise however would never cross the Atlantic in a balloon.

Wise is also known for transporting the first official US airmail in a bag carried aboard his balloon Jupiter. The trip originated in Lafayette, Indiana but ended prematurely in Crawfordsville, Indiana. The bag was sent onward to its destination, New York City, by rail.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Central African RepublicC283 (Mi939)19831"John Wise 1 juillet 1858"; Jupiter (balloon)
Central African RepublicC283 ds (BL?)Deluxe sheet (C383)
Malagasy Republic1390f (Mi2049)One of MS9 (1390 (a-i))1998Wise's balloon Atlantic, 1858
Mauritania541 (Mi?)19831Wise with Jupiter (balloon)
St. Thomas and Prince Island558 (Mi?)19831"John Wise, Atlantic (balloon), 1859"
St. Thomas and Prince Island704a (Mi?)In (right) margin of MS12 (4x (703a+703b+704))19831
United StatesC54 (Mi?)1959100th anniv. first official US airmail; Wise's Jupiter balloon; (80th anniv. death)
United StatesC54 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
United StatesC54 fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United StatesC54 fdc3Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United StatesC54 fdc4Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United StatesC54 fdc5Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
United StatesNoneCancel2008
UpperVoltaBL67On stamp and in (left) margin text of SS119831
Yemen (PDR)316c (Mi?)One of MS4 (316 (a-d)), or one of deluxe MS4 (316 ds (a-d))19831Wise's balloon Atlantic

1All items issued in 1983 commemorate the general theme of the 200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon. It took place on 21 November 1783. On that date, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose in a hot air balloon and flew approximately 9 km from the centre of Paris to the suburbs in about 25 minutes.


Glaisher

Glaisher, James
(1809 - 1903)

James Glaisher was an English meteorologist and aeronaut. He is best known for series of scientific balloon ascents that he made from 1862 to 1866.

In 1834 George Airy (the seventh Astronomer Royal) established a Magnetic and Meteorological Department at the Greenwich Observatory with Glaisher as superintendent. Glaisher thus became the first full-time UK government meteorologist. He would hold that position for 34 years. Beginning in 1836, weather observations at the Observatory were recorded during the solstices and equinoxes. In November 1840 Glaisher implemented a program of regular daily weather observations. He insisted on consistency, and the observational routine as well as the instruments at the Observatory remained essentially unchanged until 1949. Furthermore, Glaisher's observing routine was implemented at other observatories in Britain in the 19th century, including, from 1854, the stations of the Meteorological Office. The Greenwich Observatory weather data (1840-1949) form one of the longest series of consistent and regular observations in the UK, second only to those from Kew (1842-1980).

In 1845 Glaisher published his dew point tables for the measurement of humidity. He was then commissioned by the London Daily News to collect weather data from around Britain. To do this, he established a network of amateur weather observers (one of them, Samuel Whitbread, would become the first President of the British Meteorological Society). The resulting weather reports were published in text form in the "Daily Weather Report" of the Daily News starting 31 August 1848. Then in 1851 Glaisher published the first British weather maps, using reports he was able to obtain from the new telegraph system.

Glaisher and Whitbread were two of the founding members of the British Meteorological Society, which came into existence on 3 April 1850 (Glaisher would serve as its secretary for many years, and also served as President in 1867-1868). Luke Howard became a member on 7 May 1850, and was appointed as one of the vice presidents. The enthusiasm and leadership of Glaisher and Charles Walker saved the Society from a financial crisis in the early 1860s, and then allowed it to receive its Royal Charter in 1866.

The British Association for the Advancement of Science decided in 1859 to consider the feasibility of making scientific observations in the upper levels of the atmsophere by means of balloon ascents. The committee in charge of this project entered into a contract in 1861 with the aeronaut Henry Coxwell for a balloon and his services as pilot. Glaisher, a member of the committee, volunteered to serve as the observer.

The principal goals of the flights were to measure the profiles of temperature and humidity in the atmosphere to the highest levels that could be reached. There were also several secondary goals:

  1. to measure the dewpoint temperature using Daniell's and Regnault's hygrometers, as well as dry and wet bulb thermometers, and to compare the results;
  2. to compare the readings of an aneroid barometer with those of a mercury barometer up to a height of 5 km;
  3. to determine the electrical state of the air;
  4. to determine the oxygen content of the air;
  5. to make magnetic observations by measuring the frequency of vibration of a magnet;
  6. to collect air samples at different elevations;
  7. to determine the speed and direction of motion of different currents in the atmosphere;
  8. to note the heights and kinds of clouds, their densities and thicknesses; and
  9. to make observations on sound.

In addition to the instruments mentioned above, the balloon was equipped with maximum and minimum thermometers, a horizontally-vibrating magnet, sealed glass tubes with the air removed, and an electrometer. Surprisingly, Glaisher did not follow the lead of earlier researchers, such as Arago and Welsh, who had insisted that balloon-borne instrumentation (and in particular thermometers) had to be specially adapted in order to take observations representative of the true state of the atmosphere. For example, in his flights with Green, Welsh had used aspirated thermometers of his own design. This weakness in Glaisher's procedure was noted in the 1870s by Mendeleev and again later in the 19th century by the German meteorologists Assman, Berson and Süring.

The first ascent was made on 17 July 1862 from the gas-works at Wolverhampton. Glaisher and Coxwell made a total of 28 ascents, the last on the 26 May 1866. Seven of these were high level ascents. In one of these in July of 1862, the team ascended to approximately 30,000 feet (9000 m). Glaisher lost consciousness and both men almost died of asphyxiation before Coxwell managed to pull the hydrogen valve with his teeth (his hands were frozen and unusable). This flight set an altitude record that was not clearly broken until an ascent in 1901 by Berson and Süring.

A complete record of the observations was made in the Reports of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for 1862 to 1866. Most of the scientific goals of the project were met through a combination of careful planning and execution and also the perseverance of the two aeronauts. Their flights resulted in the most complete set of upper-level meteorological measurements that had ever been made until that time.

In 1868 Glaisher retired from his position as superintendent of the Magnetic and Meteorological Department at Greenwich. He did not retire from meteorology, however. For example, he edited Flammarion's book The Atmosphere which was published in London in 1873.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
United States2034-2035 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC19831200th anniv. first manned balloon ascent; Glaisher spelled "Glaesher"
Upper Volta623 (BL59)SS119831200th anniv. first manned balloon ascent; "Glaisher et Coxwell, 1862"

1All items issued in 1983 commemorate the general theme of the 200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon. It took place on 21 November 1783. On that date, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose in a hot air balloon and flew approximately 9 km from the centre of Paris to the suburbs in about 25 minutes.


LeVerrier

LeVerrier, Urbain Jean-Joseph
(1811 - 1877)

Urbain LeVerrier was a French astronomer, director of the National (Astronomical) Observatory and member of the Academy of Sciences. His professional interests were not limited to astronomy, however. Already in the early 1850s, he was advocating the creation of a central French meteorological service that would obtain weather data from a national observation network through the use of the electric telegraph (the system developed by Samuel Morse in the 1830s and 1840s became the official standard for European telegrapy in 1851). Such a weather service had already been proposed by Lamarck in 1807, but at that time there was no way for a central bureau to rapidly obtain current weather information.

On 14 November 1854 a violent storm near Sebastopol in Crimea caused the loss of some 41 French, English and Turkish ships. LeVerrier immediately undertook a study of the weather conditions across Europe between 12 November and 16 November. He was able to re-create the history of the storm, including its trajectory, and concluded that it could have been forecast if suitable real time weather data from a weather telegraphy network had been available. It was but a small step to conclude that other storms could be predicted as well. On 16 February 1855 he proposed to Emperor Napoleon III that a weather telegraphy network be created in France. By chance, only the day before another severe storm had struck the frigate La Sémillante near the southern French coast. The vessel, with more than 600 men aboard, was lost. This was the greatest maritime disaster the Mediterranean had ever seen, and LeVerrier's project was approved by the Emperor on 17 February, only one day after he heard the proposal.

French ports formed the first part of the new French meteorological observing network, but soon other French observing stations were added, and it wasn't long before the network become international. Already in 1856 there were 24 observing stations in the French network1. Daily weather observations gathered via telegraph were published beginning 2 November 1857 in the Bulletin international de l'Observatoire de Paris. On 7 September 1863 in that same journal was published one of the earliest European weather maps, created from the observations of the French stations and approximately 50 stations outside France. LeVerrier would work for some 20 years to build the nascent French meteorological service, but meteorology and astronomy competed for his time and attention and for the resources of the Observatoire de Paris. Just before his death, LeVerrier was able to establish services that would issue meteorological warnings for ports and for agriculture. In 1878, the year after his death, the meteorological division of the Observatoire de Paris became an independent organization, the Bureau central météorologique. Its responsibilities were atmospheric studies, weather warnings for ports and agriculture, weather observatories, climatology and scientific publications. It was the forerunner of today's Météo-France. With it, the vision of LeVerrier (and of Lamarck before him) was finally realized. LeVerrier can be considered the "father" of the French meteorological service.

1In the 1850s experiments with networks of weather observing stations and weather telegraphy were also being carried out by Robert Fitzroy in England and by Joseph Henry and the Smithsonian Institution in the US

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Comoro Islands414 (Mi508)
i414

Imperforate
1979
Comoro Islands414a (BL206)
i414a
SS1 (414)
Imperforate SS1 (i414)
FranceP12750 francs (banknote)1947-1950
France792 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC1956"LeVerrier" (in text)
France870 (Mi1183)
i870

Imperforate
1958
France870 dsDeluxe sheet (870)
France870 proofArtist's proof
France870 fdc1Cancel and cachet on FDC
France870 fdc2Cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France870 fdc3Cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France870 fdc4Cancel (same) on FDC
France870 maxi1Maxicard
France870 maxi2Maxicard (different)
France870 maxi3Maxicard (different)
France870 maxi4Maxicard (different)
Korea (North)1985a (Mi2044-2045)In (lower-left) margin of MS2 (1985-1986)1980
MozambiqueUnknown c (Mi?)
Unknown ic
One of MS6 (a-f)
One of imperforate MS6 (a-f)
2001
MozambiqueUnknown ss (BL?)On stamp of SS1
United StatesNone(Space Voyage) cachet on Voyager-2 launch cover1989


Sikdar

Sikdar, Radhanath
(1813 - 1870)

Radhanath Sikdar was a Bengali mathematician and surveyor who was the Superintendent of the Calcutta Meteorological Observatory from 1852 to 1862. His first task was to prepare a table for reducing barometric observations to a standard temperature of 32°F. He developed the necessary formula to do this, based on the known thermal expansion and contraction with temperature of the barometer's brass scale and of the mercury itself. This was necessary to allow the comparison of pressures observed in the presence of different temperatures. Before 1852, the Observatory had made irregular observations. Sikdar immediately established a program of regular hourly weather observations which included the application of the necessary corrections related to instrument performance. He became a member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1853, and in fact, had already arranged (starting in December 1852) for the regular publication in the Society's Proceedings and Journal of his Observatory's hourly observations as well as various daily and monthly means. This publication program continued until 1877. Later H. F. Blanford, the first Meteorological Reporter to the Government of India and one of the founders of the Indian Meteorological Department, said that the 24 years of data from 1853 to 1877 were "the finest piece of our knowledge of the climate of Calcutta".

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
India2066 (Mi?)2004(190th anniv. birth, in 2003)
India2065-2067 fdcOne three stamps on FDC
India2067a (Mi?)On one of MS3 (2065-2067)


Secchi

Secchi, Angelo Pietro
(1818 - 1878)

Angelo Secchi was an Italian Jesuit astronomer who invented the meteorograph (an automated device for recording barometric pressure, temperature, wind direction and speed, and rainfall). He received a prize for it at the Paris International Exhibition in July 1867.

Secchi was a student of the American oceanographer and meteorologist Matthew Maury at the US Naval Observatory in 1847 and 1848. The two remained thereafter lifelong friends.

This Jesuit priest and meteorologist Federico Faura founded the Manila Observatory in 1869 in response to the need for advance warning of typhoons. In that same year the Observatory acquired Secchi's meteorograph for use in its program of weather observations.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Vatican City654 (Mi745)From MS20 (654a (20x 654))1979100th anniv. death, in 1978; Secchi's meteorograph
Vatican City654 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Vatican City654 maxi1Maxicard
Vatican City654 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Vatican City654 postcardSouvenir postcard back with first-day cancel, also front
Vatican City655 (Mi746)
Vatican City655 maxi1Maxicard
Vatican City655 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Vatican City656 (Mi747)
Vatican City656 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
Vatican City656 fdc2Stamp and cachet on FDC
Vatican City656 maxiMaxicard
Vatican City654-655 fdc1Two stamps and cachet on FDC
Vatican City654-655 fdc2Two stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Vatican City654-656 fdc1Three stamps and cachet on FDC
Vatican City654-656 fdc2Three stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Vatican City654-656 fdc3Three stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Vatican City654-656 fdc4Three stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Vatican City654-656 fdc5Three stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Vatican City654-656 fdc6Three stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Vatican City654-656 fdc7Three stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Vatican City654-656 fdc8Three stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Vatican City654-656 fdc9Three stamps and cachet (different) on FDC
Vatican City655-656 fdcTwo stamps and cachet on FDC


Stevenson

Stevenson, Thomas
(1818 - 1887)

Stevenson screen

Thomas Stevenson was a Scottish civil engineer who invented the meteorological instrument shelter that came to be known as the Stevenson screen. The screen is essentially a ventilated box that encloses the instruments. They are protected from direct solar radiation but at the same time air can circulate freely around them. The most characteristic feature of the Stevenson screen is its louvred sides. The louvres are slanted in such a way as to shade the interior of the box, while at the same time the spaces between the louvres permit air to circulate through the shelter. The screen is painted white (a dark colour would cause the shelter to absorb solar energy and as a result to heat up: such heating would cause the instruments to give readings not representative of the temperature and humidity of the air). The Stevenson screen generally contains at least a dry bulb thermometer for measuring the air temperature and a wet bulb thermometer for measuring the humidity. Maximum and minimum temperature thermometers are often included, and recording instruments for temperature and humidity may be present as well.

The Stevenson screen came into common use in weather observing stations in the late 1860s. To this day it is an integral part of the equipment of standard weather observing stations throughout the world.

The well-known author Robert Louis Stevenson was the son of Thomas Stevenson. No stamps or philatelic items are known to refer to Thomas Stevenson, so the following table contains items depicting or referring to his son Robert Louis. Many such items have been issued. This table contains only an incomplete sample of those items.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Great BritainNoneAerogramme1994100th anniv. death R. L. Stevenson (son of Thomas Stevenson)
Marshall Islands190 (BL?)MS9 (190 (a-i))1988Pacific voyages of R. L. Stevenson (son of Thomas Stevenson)
Marshall Islands190a-c fdcThree stamps and cachet on FDC
Marshall Islands190d-f fdcThree stamps and cachet on FDC
Marshall Islands190g-i fdcThree stamps and cachet on FDC
Samoa184 (Mi?)1939(90th anniv. birth, in 1940) of R. L. Stevenson (son of Thomas Stevenson)
Samoa308 (Mi?)1969(75th anniv. death) R. L. Stevenson (son of Thomas Stevenson)
Samoa309 (Mi?)
Samoa310 (Mi?)
Samoa311 (Mi?)
SamoaKM81 tala (copper-nickel coin)1969(75th anniv. death) R. L. Stevenson (son of Thomas Stevenson)
Samoa858 (Mi?)1994100th anniv. death R. L. Stevenson (son of Thomas Stevenson)
Samoa859 (Mi?)
Samoa860 (Mi?)
Samoa861 (Mi?)


Albert

Albert, Prince Consort of England
(1819 - 1861)

Prince Albert was the German-born Prince of Saxe-Coburg. He married Queen Victoria in 1840 and became known as Albert, Prince Consort.

Albert donated the original weather observatory that was constructed at Braemar, Scotland in 1855. The observing record from this location is continuous since that year, though the modern observatory is located very slightly away from the original (which is still standing). Braemar has twice recorded Scotland's lowest observed temperature of -27.2°C.

With support from Albert, FitzRoy and the Meteorological Department were granted approval in June 1860 to establish the first marine storm warning service in Britain. The first warnings under this program were issued on 6 February 1861.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Canada2 (Mi?)1851
Canada5 (Mi?)1855
Canada10 (Mi?)1857
Canada13 (Mi?)1859(40th anniv. birth)
Canada16 (Mi?)1859(40th anniv. birth)
Canada17 (Mi?)1859(40th anniv. birth)
Canada756 (Mi?)Stamp-on-stamp: Canada 51978
Canada756 fdcStamp and cachet on FDC
Canada756a (Mi?)MS3 (754-756)
Great BritainNonePerforated and imperforate essay, brown1852
Great BritainNonePerforated and imperforate essay, red-brown<
Great BritainNonePerforated and imperforate essay, black
Great BritainNonePerforated and imperforate essay, blue
Great Britain1189 (Mi?)1987
Newfoundland27 (Mi?)1865


Foucault

Foucault, Léon
(1819 - 1868)

Léon Foucault was a French physicist who demonstrated the rotation of the Earth through an experiment using what came to be known as the Foucault pendulum. The rotation of the Earth means that it is not a fixed frame of reference, so parcels of air moving in the atmosphere with no apparent forcing still deviate from the straight line of motion expected in a fixed reference frame. A variable known as the Coriolis parameter accounts for this effect and must be included in any study of atmospheric motions.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
DjiboutiUnknown f (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010(190th anniv. birth, in 2009)
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdcMS6 on FDC
France871 (Mi?)1958(90th anniv. death)
France871 dsDexluxe sheet (871)
France871 proofArtist's proof
France871 proofsTrial-colour proofs
France871 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
France871 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France871 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France871 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) on FDC
France871 maxi1Maxicard
France871 maxi2Maxicard (different)
France871 maxi3Maxicard (different)
France2436 (Mi?)1994"Pendule de Foucault" (Foucault's pendulum)
France2436 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
France2436 fdc2Stamp on FDC


Coxwell

Coxwell, Henry Tracey
(1819 - 1900)

Henry Coxwell was a British aeronaut who was the pilot in a series of scientific balloon ascents with James Glaisher in the 1860s.

The British Association for the Advancement of Science decided in 1859 to consider the feasibility of making scientific observations in the upper levels of the atmsophere by means of balloon ascents. The committee in charge of this project entered into a contract in 1861 with Coxwell for a balloon and his services as pilot. Glaisher, a member of the committee, volunteered to serve as the observer.

The principal goals of the flights were to measure the profiles of temperature and humidity in the atmosphere to the highest levels that could be reached. There were also several secondary goals:

  1. to measure the dewpoint temperature using Daniell's and Regnault's hygrometers, as well as dry and wet bulb thermometers, and to compare the results;
  2. to compare the readings of an aneroid barometer with those of a mercury barometer up to a height of 5 km;
  3. to determine the electrical state of the air;
  4. to determine the oxygen content of the air;
  5. to make magnetic observations by measuring the frequency of vibration of a magnet;
  6. to collect air samples at different elevations;
  7. to determine the speed and direction of motion of different currents in the atmosphere;
  8. to note the heights and kinds of clouds, their densities and thicknesses; and
  9. to make observations on sound.

In addition to the instruments mentioned above, the balloon was equipped with maximum and minimum thermometers, a horizontally-vibrating magnet, sealed glass tubes with the air removed, and an electrometer.

The first ascent was made on 17 July 1862 from the gas-works at Wolverhampton. Glaisher and Coxwell made a total of 28 ascents, the last on the 26 May 1866. Seven of these were high level ascents. In one of these in July of 1862, the team ascended to approximately 30,000 feet (9000 m). Glaisher lost consciousness and both men almost died of asphyxiation before Coxwell managed to pull the hydrogen valve with his teeth (his hands were frozen and unusable). This flight set an altitude record that was not clearly broken until an ascent in 1901 by Berson and Süring.

A complete record of the observations was made in the Reports of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for 1862 to 1866. Most of the scientific goals of the project were met through a combination of careful planning and execution and also the perseverance of the two aeronauts. Their flights resulted in the most complete set of upper-level meteorological measurements that had ever been made until that time. However, there remained some questions about the representativity of some of their data because they did not use instruments adapted for use in balloons, such as aspirated thermometers. Arago had recommended that balloon-borne instruments be designed for use in balloons as early as 1840, and Welsh, in his 1852 flights with Green, did use aspirated instruments of his own design.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Upper Volta623 (BL59)SS119831200th anniv. first manned balloon ascent; "Glaisher et Coxwell, 1862"

1All items issued in 1983 commemorate the general theme of the 200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon. It took place on 21 November 1783. On that date, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose in a hot air balloon and flew approximately 9 km from the centre of Paris to the suburbs in about 25 minutes.


Ruskin

Ruskin, John
(1819 - 1900)

John Ruskin was an English art critic, poet and essayist. He supported naturalism in art, and argued that the naturalistic style of some then-current landscape painters such as J. M. W. Turner was superior to the classical style of the Old Masters.

Ruskin's sensitivity to nature was reflected in his observations about the weather and atmospheric phenomena. He said that "sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather".

Ruskin carried this romantic outlook even farther in his opus Modern Painters, in which he "celebrated the sky as a repository of numinous truth, the 'part of creation in which nature has done more for the sake of pleasing man, more for the sole and evident purpose of talking to him, than in any other of her works'. Ruskin's lifetime, however, spanned the most heated period of the British industrial revolution, when coal production increased nearly twentyfold, coal-stoked air pollution reached its thickest, and a pronounced increase in mortality rates could be tied to the acidic fogs that descended regularly upon the cities. He came to fear that Britain's single-minded devotion to Mammon had infected the sky with a new form of pestilence, unprecedented in the annals of meteorology. 'I believe that the powers of Nature are depressed and perverted, together with the Spirit of Man,' Ruskin wrote in Fors Clavigera, 'and therefore that conditions of storm and of physical darkness, such as never were before in Christian times, are developing themselves, in connection also with forms of loathsome insanity, multiplying through the whole genesis of modern brains'. In a pair of 1884 lectures published as The Storm Cloud of the Nineteenth Century, Ruskin warned London audiences that air pollution was the outward sign of an inward moral pollution and described the coal smog as a 'plague-cloud', a 'strange, bitter, blighting wind' blowing restlessly across the land as though it were 'made of dead men's souls'. With its avarice and blasphemy now manifest in the very atmosphere, England, Ruskin told his listeners, faced imminent Judgement".*

*Quoted from Ando Arike, Harper's magazine, January 2006, in the article "Owning the Weather", p. 67 ff.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
CanadaNoneCancel1940s+50sRuskin BC
FranceNoneSlogan cancel on cover1999"John Ruskin, 1819-1900" (in text); (100th anniv. death, in 2000; 180th anniv. birth)
FranceNoneSlogan cancel (same, except for year)2004"John Ruskin, 1819-1900" (in text)
Great BritainNonePostcard1929(110th anniv. birth)
United StatesNoneCancel1930Ruskin NE; (110th anniv. birth, in 1929)


Baudelaire

Baudelaire, Charles
(1821 - 1867)

Charles Baudelaire was a French poet, translator and literary critic. He wrote a poem titled l'Étranger (The Stranger) in 1860:

L'Étranger

Qui aimes-tu le mieux, homme énigmatique, dis ? Ton père, ta mère, ta soeur ou ton frère ?
- Je n'ai ni père, ni mère, ni soeur, ni frère.
- Tes amis ?
- Vous vous servez là d'une parole dont le sens m'est resté jusqu'à ce jour inconnu.
- Ta patrie ?
- J'ignore sous quelle latitude elle est située.
- La beauté ?
- Je l'aimerais volontiers, déesse et immortelle.
- L'or ?
- Je le hais comme vous haïssez Dieu.
- Eh ! qu'aimes-tu donc, extraordinaire étranger ?
- J'aime les nuages... les nuages qui passent... là-bas... là-bas... les merveilleux nuages !

The last two lines state his love of clouds:

Well! What then do you love, extraordinary stranger?
I love clouds…the passing clouds…there…and there…the marvellous clouds!

Taken with the rest of the poem, those lines also indicate his broader love of nature, as symbolized by the infinite flow and diversity of clouds. What meteorologist is not fascinated by clouds?

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
France666 (Mi926)1951(130th anniv. birth)
France666 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
France666 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France666 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) on FDC
France666 maxi1Maxicard
France666 maxi2Maxicard (different)
France666 maxi3Maxicard (different)
FranceNoneMeter1969
FranceNoneCancel and cachet on cover1986(120th anniv. death, in 1987)
FranceNoneStamped envelope, also back2007(140th anniv. death)
Mauritius1054 (Mi?)2008(140th anniv. death, in 2007)
Monaco820 (Mi?)1972150th anniv. birth, in 1971
Monaco820 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
Monaco820 fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC
Monaco820 scSouvenir card


von Helmholtz

von Helmholtz, Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand
(1821 - 1894)

Hermann von Helmholtz was a German physician and physicist who made discoveries in physiology, optics, electrodynamics, mathematics and meteorology. Early in his career he studied energy conservation, energy transfer and wave motion. Those studies would be useful later in his meteorological work.

Helmholtz's initial work on vortex theorems was published in 1858. He also collaborated with Kelvin in studies of vortices in fluids, which led to Kelvin's publishing of his own circulation theorem in 1869. All this work on vortices in fluids was a precursor to Helmholtz's studies of circulation and vorticity in the atmosphere, which are key concepts for meteorologists. He published the results of those studies in 1888 in his paper 'On Atmospheric Motions' (Sitz.-Ber. Alead. Wiss., Berlin, 647-663).

Helmholtz suggested to his student Heinrich Hertz that he should investigate electromagnetic waves and so in 1887 Hertz began experiments with radio waves. Those experiments would lay the foundations for radio communications and radar, including meteorological radar.

Helmholtz and Kelvin are also jointly remembered in meteorology through a form of atmospheric instability known as Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AltaiUnknown gOne of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h), and from self-adhesive MS282011(190th anniv. birth)
Germany (East)62 (Mi?)1950(130th anniv. birth, in 1951)
Germany (West)NoneCachet on cover1974
Germany1867 (Mi1752)1994100th anniv. death
Germany1867 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany1867 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany1867 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany1867 sc1Souvenir card
Germany1867 sc2Souvenir card (different)
Germany (Berlin)9N314 (Mi401)1971150th anniv. birth
Germany (Berlin)9N314 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N314 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N314 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N314 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (Berlin)9N314 fdc5Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC


Mendel

Mendel, Johann Gregor
(1822 - 1884)

Johann Mendel was an Austrian botanist and mathematician who is best remembered as the 'father' of the science of genetics.

Mendel also had a keen interest in the weather. He made weather observations and maintained careful records of the daily weather and the various weather elements. In this he was similar to others such as Dalton whose avocation had also been the weather.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Austria1264 (Mi1763)1984(100th anniv. death)
Austria1264 blackBlackprint
Austria1264 fdc1Stamp on FDC
Austria1264 fdc2Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Austria1264 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Austria1264 maxi1Maxicard
Austria1264 maxi2Maxicard (different) and cancel (same)
Czechoslovakia1329 (Mi1557)1965(80th anniv. death, in 1964)
Danzig238 (Mi308)1939
DanzigNonePostcard1939
DjiboutiUnknown c (Mi?)
Unknown ic
One of MS4 (a-d)
One of imperforate MS4 (a-d)
2006
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdc
Unknown ims fdc
MS4 on FDC
Imperforate MS4 on FDC
France2056 fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC, also back1987
Germany (West)1411 (Mi1199)1984100th anniv. death
Germany (West)1411 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)1411 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1411 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1411 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Germany (West)1411 fdc5Stamp and cancel (same) on FDC
Germany (West)1411 scSC, also back
Germany (West)1411 maxi1Maxicard
Germany (West)1411 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Guinea RepublicUnknown d (Mi?)On one of and in (upper-right) margin of MS6 (a-f)2009
Maldive Islands1270 (Mi?)1988
Marshall IslandsUnknown p (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012(190th anniv. birth)
Transkei102 (Mi?)1984(100th anniv. death)
Transkei101-104 fdcOne of four stamps and cachet on FDC
Uganda1658h (Mi?)One and in (left) margin of MS17 (1658 (a-q))2000
Vatican City729 (Mi?)1984100th anniv. death
Vatican City729 maxi1Maxicard
Vatican City729 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Vatican City729 maxi3Maxicard (different)
Vatican City730 (Mi?)
Vatican City730 maxi1Maxicard
Vatican City730 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Vatican City730 fdcStamp and cancel on FDC
Vatican City729-730 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Vatican City729-730 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Vatican City729-730 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Vatican City729-730 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Vatican City729-730 fdc5Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC


Kelvin

Thomson, William
(Lord Kelvin)
(1824 - 1907)

William Thomson was a Scottish physicist and engineer. He made a wide range of contributions to meteorology, but is best remembered as the originator of the Kelvin temperature scale.

In 1848 Thomson proposed a temperature scale based on the fundamental laws of thermodynamics. The construction of his scale was such that there had to exist a point in it at which no "caloric" (heat) could be transferred. This absolute cold (now known as absolute zero) was an idea that had been discussed as far back as Boyle, in his 1665 work New Experiments and Observations touching Cold. Laplace and Lavoisier also considered the concept during their work on heat and calorimetry in the 1780s, as did Dalton in his 1808 work A New System of Chemical Philosophy.

Thomson was given the title First Baron Kelvin in 1892, and came to be known as Lord Kelvin, just as his temperature scale became widely known as the Kelvin scale, with temperatures measured in degrees Kelvin. In modern scientific usage (Système international, or SI) these temperatures are referred to as kelvins, with the symbol K. 0 K (absolute zero) is equal to -273.16°C on the Celsius scale and -459.67°F on the Fahrenheit scale.

Thomson considered vortices in fluids, and did some work with von Helmholtz in this area. This work led to Thomson's theorems on fluid circulation which were published in 1869. The two men are also remembered for their study of a form of atmospheric instability now known as Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.

Thomson studied atmospheric moisture and precipitation, and in 1862 gave the first correct description of the saturated adiabatic process. In such a process, the rate of cooling with height of a rising parcel of saturated air is less than that of a rising unsaturated parcel. These ideas are important in studies of convection and stability in the atmosphere. This work was later extended by Heinrich Hertz, who in 1884 published a diagram for calculating the changes in a parcel of moist air rising adiabatically in the atmosphere. This diagram was the precursor of all modern thermodynamic diagrams.

Thomson also did some preliminary work on the laws that govern atmospheric pressure tides, following pioneering studies in this area by Laplace. This work was later generalized by Rayleigh and Margules.

Thomson recognized the existence of atmospheric electric fields in various weather conditions including fair weather (Franklin's well-known work on atmospheric electricity was mainly associated with thunderstorms and lightning). This followed the pioneering work of Giambatista Beccaria who made quantitative measurements of atmospheric electricity in various weather conditions in Italy in the 1770s, and wrote in 1775 that "if, when the rain has ceased … a strong excessive [i.e. positive] electricity obtains, it is a sign that the weather will continue fair for several days; if the electricity is but small, it is a sign that such weather will not last so much as that day, and that it will soon be cloudy again, or even will again rain" (Beccaria, G., 1775: Della elettricite terrestre atmosferica a cielo serno, Turin). Some 8 decades later Thomson also strongly believed that knowledge of atmospheric electricity could be useful in weather forecasting. He described his ideas in a paper presented to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1859 (Thomson, W., On the necessity for incessant recording, and for simultaneous observations in different localities, to investigate atmospheric electricity. 29th meeting, British Association for the Advancement of Science, Aberdeen, September 1859). Thomson stated in a lecture to the Royal Institution in 1860 that "there can be no doubt but the electric indications, when sufficiently studied, will be found important additions to our means for prognosticating the weather; and the speaker hopes soon to see the atmospheric electrometer generally adopted as a useful and convenient weather glass".

To make his own measurements of atmospheric electricity, Thomson invented the water dropper electrometer. In this instrument, the water droplets in a spray from water in an insulated metal tank acquired the local electric potential of the atmosphere which could then be measured using a normal electrometer. This was a major contribution to the science of atmospheric electricity measurement.

The water dropper electrometer was adopted at the British Met Office observatory at Kew, where Thomson established a program of continuous measurements of atmospheric electricity in 1861. He found that the electrification of the atmosphere in clear sky conditions could be explained through the presence of atmospheric positive charges. Thomson's instrument was later adopted at other weather observatories, including the one at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and was also used in some European scientific balloon flights of the early 20th century.

Kelvin's electrometer measured relative changes in the electric field. C.T.R. Wilson (who had demonstrated an early version of his cloud chamber to Kelvin in the late 1890s) also worked in the area of atmospheric electricity, and as part of his research in the early 1900s made improvements to Kelvin's measurement techniques and designed updated electrometers.

In honour of his scientific work, Kelvin's name was given to the SI (International System of Units) unit of thermodynamic temperature. Kelvin is the absolute temperature scale, and one kelvin is the same size as one degree Celsius. See the SI (metric system) unit names page for other persons after whom metric units were named.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Cuba2173 (Mi2268)1977Temperature unit name: kelvin
Guinea-Bissau540 (Mi702)1983
Hungary2420 (Mi?)1976Temperature unit name: kelvin
MaliUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2011
Marshall IslandsUnknown t (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012
Redonda (Antigua)Unknown fdc (Mi? fdc)Cachet on FDC, also back1987(80th anniv. death)
Scotland (Clydesdale Bank)P20820 pounds (banknote)1972—1981
Scotland (Clydesdale Bank)P215 (like P208)20 pounds (banknote)1982—1990
Scotland (Clydesdale Bank)P217 (like P215)100 pounds (banknote)1985, 1991
Scotland (Clydesdale Bank)P223 (face like P217)100 pounds (banknote)1996
Scotland (Clydesdale Bank)P229D (like P223)100 pounds (banknote)2001
Serbia394 (Mi?)2007100th anniv. death
United StatesNoneCancel1907Kelvin AZ (post office)


Welsh

Welsh, John
(1824 - 1859)

John Welsh was an English meteorologist affiliated with the Kew Observatory.

In 1852 the directors of the Observatory decided to investigate the meteorology and physical characteristics of the upper atmosphere through balloon flights that would carry observers and instruments aloft. The aeronaut Charles Green agreed to pilot his balloon Nassau for this project and Welsh was chosen as the observer. The meteorological instruments used during these flights were a barometer, dry and wet bulb thermometers (aspirated and free) and a Regnault hygrometer. The aspirated thermometers were of Welsh's own design. His long experience in observing at the Kew Observatory had led him to conclude that because of the lack of a breeze in a baloon (which moves with the wind), and also because of the potential for direct solar radiation, balloon-borne thermometer readings could be in error. To meet these objections, he designed and constructed his own aspirated thermometer. It consisted of a simple polished tube containing the thermometer and through which a stream of air was forced by bellows. This was one of the earliest such instruments.

Green and Welsh made four ascents in 1852 (two in August, one in October and one in November). The flights attained estimated maximum altitudes of 19,510, 19,100, 12,640 and 22,930 feet, respectively, with minimum observed temperatures of 8.7°F, 12.4°F, 16.4°F and 10.5°F. Air samples were collected from the upper levels and were later compared with air from near the ground. It was found that the relative amounts of nitrogen and oxygen in the air were unchanged from the surface to the upper levels. A general decrease of temperature with height was noted, though in some cases the temperature was found to be constant or even to increase with height in a relatively thin layer. Unfortunately the scientific aeronauts who followed Welsh, including the well-known Glaisher, did not understand the need to aspirate and shelter thermometers carried in balloons. This error was corrected only in the late 1800s, when German meteorologists critically examined the scientific equipment used in the British and French ascents and realized, like Welsh, that the measurement instruments would have to be specially adapted for use in a balloon. The meteorologists R. Assman, A. Berson and R. Süring were at the forefront of this work.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Belize678 (BL?)SS119831Welsh and Charles Green in Green's balloon Nassau/Royal Vauxhall

1All items issued in 1983 commemorate the general theme of the 200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon. It took place on 21 November 1783. On that date, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose in a hot air balloon and flew approximately 9 km from the centre of Paris to the suburbs in about 25 minutes.


Goyder

Goyder, George
(1826 - 1898)

Goyder was an English-born surveyor who spent most of his life in South Australia, where he became Assistant Surveyor-General in 1856 and Surveyor-General in 1861.

Australia is a dry country. Rainfall is highly variable and droughts occur. New farms were established farther and farther northward from the coast in South Australia in the wet period of the 1850s and early 1860s. A dry year in 1864 brought disaster: crops withered, animals died and farms were abandoned. Goyder was assigned to determine where crops had failed and where they had not. In 1865 he established "Goyder's Line of Rainfall" or more simply "Goyder's Line": the line where mean annual precipitation was approximately 300 mm (some accounts refer to a limit of 250 mm). He recommended that no attempt be made to grow cereal crops to the north of the line, where conditions were on average too dry. Even sheep farming and pastoralism would be risky in those areas. His recommendation was ridiculed by some Australians, but subsequent droughts proved that it was in fact quite reasonable, and the line came to be accepted as an estimate of how far inland farming would stand a reasonable chance of being successful over a period of time that could include both dry and wet periods. Goyder's Line is also visible in the native vegetation of the area: to its north saltbrush prevails. It is still marked in some areas by commemorative plaques such as this one.

Goyder later defined a similar line in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Australia459 (Mi415)1969100th anniv. Northern Territory expedition led by Goyder, the seated figure closest to the viewer; (70th anniv. death, in 1968)
Australia459 fdc1Stamp on FDC
Australia459 fdc2Stamp on FDC (different cancel)


von Neumayer

von Neumayer, Georg
(1826 - 1909)

Georg von Neumayer was a Bavarian polar explorer and scientist. In 1852 he arrived in Australia, where he became convinced of the importance of meteorology. He returned to Bavaria in 1854 to obtain the instruments necessary to establish an observatory in Melbourne, the Flagstaff Observatory for Geophysics, Magnetism and Nautical Science. He also established a number of observing stations throughout Victoria, mainly at lighthouses. A regular program of meteorological and nautical observations began at the Flagstaff Observatory on 1 March 1858, and a few weeks later von Neumayer added regular observations of atmospheric electricity and changes in the magnetic elements. In 1860 he published his Results of the Magnetical, Nautical and Meteorological Observations from March 1858 to February 1859, and in 1864 appeared his Results of the Meteorological Observations 1859-1862 and Nautical Observations 1858-1862. He returned to Germany in 1864. In 1867 he published his Discussion of the Meteorological and Magnetical Observations made at the Flagstaff Observatory.

In the 1870s von Neumayer met Karl Weyprecht and was inspired by his idea that polar activities should be driven by science rather than nationalism. In 1879 the two men presented a proposal to the 2nd International Meteorological Congress in Rome for an international polar research program in which simultaneous regular meteorological and magnetic observations would be made at a number of special stations in the Arctic and Antarctic. As a result, the International Polar Commission was formed later that year with the mandate of developing a detailed research plan. Von Neumayer and Weyprecht acted as co-chairs of the Commission. Weyprecht unfortunately died in 1881, and it was left to von Neumayer and the Commission to move forward and implement the program, which took place in 1882-1883 under the name of the first International Polar Year (IPY).

Von Neumayer was the director of the German Marine Observatory (Norddeutsche Seewarte) in Hamburg, from 1876 - 1903. He also organized the Antarctic Year of 1901. His name was given to the Georg von Neumayer Station, a German Antarctic research station which opened in March 1981 and carried out meteorological observations and an atmospheric chemistry research program, in addition to other scientific research.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Germany (West)1353 (Mi?)1981opening of Georg von Neumayer Antarctic research station
Germany (West)None(Red) cachet on cover1981Neumayer station, and 20 years of German Antarctic research
Germany (West)None(Purple) cachet and (blue) courier label on cover1981Neumayer station
Germany (West)NoneCachet (different) on cover1981Neumayer station and location on Antarctic map
Germany (West)1353 cover (Mi? cover)(1981 blue) cachet on cover1984Neumayer Antarctic station and location on Antarctic map
Germany (West)None(1981 green) and (black) cachets on cover1986Neumayer station and location on Antarctic map
Germany (West)1473 cover (Mi? cover)(1981 purple) cachet and (red and yellow) courier label on cover1987Neumayer station and location on Antarctic map
Germany (West)NoneCancel and cachet on postcard1988
Germany (West)None(1989-1990) cachet on cover1990Neumayer station
GermanyNone(1981 black) cachet on postcard1992Neumayer station and location on map of Antarctica
GermanyNone(1992 black) cachet on cover (different)1992Neumayer station and location on map of Antarctica
Germany2143 (BL57)MS2 (2143 (a-b))2001
Germany2143 fdcMS2 and cachet on FDC
GermanyNoneCancel2007Neumayer Station III
MozambiqueMi3466One of MS6 (Mi3462-3467)2009(100th anniv. death); von Neumayer and Weyprecht - founders of the 1st IPY
MozambiqueMi3462-3467_ms6 fdcOne of MS6 on FDC
RussiaNone(Red-violet graph and green and purple) cachets on cover2004"Neumayer"; latitude-longitude and temperature trace at Neumayer Station
South AfricaNoneTwo (black, and turquoise) cachets and (red and yellow) courier label on cover1985Neumayer station
South AfricaNone(Violet and blue) cachets on cover199110th anniv. Neumayer station, and location on map of Antarctica
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands348 (Mi433-434)Strip of 2 (348 (a-b))2007Neumayer Glacier, 1958 and 2003


Iradier

Iradier, Manuel
(1854 - 1911)

Manuel Iradier was a Spanish explorer with a passion for Africa. He made two trips to Spanish equatorial Africa, during which he studied the geography, meteorology, geology, botany and ethnography of the Spanish colony. His wife Isabel (née Urquiola) and her sister Juliana accompanied him on the first trip. They arrived at Little Elobey Island in the Gulf of Guinea (just off the coast of what is now Equatorial Guinea) in May 1875, where they established the expedition base and a meteorological observatory at the house of the governor. They planned to make observations of the weather and climate of the area that could be of use to the Spanish government. The observatory was equipped with regular and maximum thermometers, an evaporation glass, a photometer, a dew collector, a Saussure hygrometer, a pluviometer and an anemometer, among others (Iradier himself had constructed the latter three). The barometer had unfortunately been destroyed during the outbound voyage. Iradier and the Urquiola sisters began their meteorological observation program on 1 June 1875. It included regular measurements of temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind speed and direction and cloud type (eight times per day for the winds, four times per day for the other variables). In addition, the beginning and end times of daytime rainfall were recorded. During the remainder of 1875, Iradier was often away, exploring the African mainland for up to three months at a time. Isabel and Juliana made all the weather observations during his absences. This is the earliest known example of a significant program of regular weather observations conducted in large part by women. Their weather observations were also the first ever made in that area.

Their record shows that November and December of 1875 were hotter and rainier than the modern climatological averages. There were some intense storms, including one on December 11 that was described by Iradier as follows:

"Today 11 December at 4 of the afternoon a horrifying storm is declared. The strong wind of the north jumps to the south and became a hurricane. The Saussure hygrometer marks 99° [sic]. The thermometer fell to 23°. The plumb-bob and the compass undergo disturbances. The water goes remarkably cold. The rain that has fallen in a single event indicates in the rain gauge 0.49 m [error corrected in Iradier 1879, 0.049 m]; two nimbus [cumulonimbus?] cross the sky at 900 feet (250 m) above the ground, the dark, the lightning storms, the whistle of the wind and the roars of the sea, make the nature picture truly sublime. At 6 it has finished. Several huts have fallen and many boats have wrecked." (Iradier 1887b, p. 335).

In publications based on his expeditions (Iradier 1887a, b), Iradier devoted more than 100 pages to tables of the meteorological observations from Little Elobey Island and personal accounts of the weather.

References:

Iradier, M., 1879: Fragmentos de un diario de viajes de exploracion en la zona de Corisco. Bol. R. Soc. Geogr. Madrid, 4, 253-356.

Iradier, M., 1887a: Africa: Viajes y Trabajos de la Asociación Eúskara la Exploradora: Reconocimiento de la Zona Ecuatorial de Africa en las Costas de Occidente: Sus Montañas, Sus Ríos; Sus Habitantes; Clima, Producciones y Porvenir de Estos Países Tropicales. PosesionesEspañolas en el Golfo de Guinea. Adquisición Para España de la Nueva Provincia del Muni. vol.1, Viuda e Hijos de Iturbe, 501 pp.

Iradier, M., 1887b: Africa: Viajes y Trabajos de la Asociación Eúskara la Exploradora: Reconocimiento de la Zona Ecuatorial de Africa en las Costas de Occidente: Sus Montañas, Sus Ríos; Sus Habitantes; Clima, Producciones y Porvenir de Estos Países Tropicales. Posesiones Españolas en el Golfo de Guinea. Adquisición Para España de la Nueva Provincia del Muni. vol.2, Viuda e Hijos de Iturbe, 539 pp.

Gallego, M. Cruz, F. Domínguez-Castro, J. M. Vaquero, and R. García-Herrera, 2011: The hidden role of women in monitoring 19th-century African weather - instrumental observations in Equatorial Guinea. Bul. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 323, March 2011.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Spanish Guinea337 (Mi?)1955100th anniv. birth (in 1954)
Spanish Guinea338 (Mi?)
Spanish Guinea337-338 fdcTwo stamps and cachet on FDC


Poincaré, A

Poincaré, Antoni
(1829 - 1911)

Antoni Poincaré was a distinguished French civil servant (the Inspector General of Roads and Bridges), who also worked in the area of meteorology and communicated with the Académie des Sciences about several fundamental meteorological problems. Antoni was the uncle of Henri Poincaré.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
FranceNoneCinderella (poster stamp)1913Raymond Poincaré, the son of Antoni Poincaré1
France637 (Mi?)
i637

Imperforate
1950Raymond Poincaré, the son of Antoni Poincaré1
France637 proofDie proof
France637 maxi1Maxicard
France637 maxi2Maxicard (different)

1No stamps are known to show Antoni Poincaré


Eiffel

Eiffel, A. C.
(1832 - 1923)

Eiffel Tower

A. C. Eiffel was a French engineer who built bridges and other large structures. He designed the large iron tower that was constructed from 1887 to 1889 in Paris and came to bear his name. It was the world's tallest structure until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York City in 1930.

The tower immediately found practical use as a giant radio broadcasting mast, and Eiffel also used it in wind resistance and aerodynamics experiments. Eiffel had meteorological instruments placed at various locations in the tower, and in 1889 he authorized the BCMP (Bureau central météorologique de Paris) to install a meteorological observatory at the top of the tower, 300 m above the ground. Eiffel designed housings for his thermometers and other instruments that protected them while allowing for the free flow of air around them. He also established a private weather observing network of 25 stations (including one in Algiers). The data he collected were summarized in weather atlases published from 1903 through 1912. The recording instruments used in the Eiffel Tower observatory were of Jules Richard's design.

The Eiffel Tower was also used to make atmospheric electrical measurements at various levels up to its summit, which in turn were used to study the vertical profiles of smoke particle concentration in the boundary layer. This was one of the earliest studies of pollution in Paris.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
Antigua and Barbuda1215 (Mi?)In (right) margin of SS11989(100th anniv.) "Eiffel Tower"
Comoro IslandsUnknown ss (BL?)
Unknown iss
SS1
Imperforate SS1
2009Eiffel, and Eiffel Tower
DubaiC56 (Mi392)1971Eiffel Tower
FranceB85 (Mi?)1939"La Tour Eiffel", 50th anniv.
FranceB85 cardCommemorative card1939"La Tour Eiffel", 50th anniv.
FranceNoneMeter on cover1951"La Tour Eiffel"
FranceNoneMeter1961"La Tour Eiffel"
France1380 (Mi?)1973"Tour Eiffel"; 75th anniv. Eiffel Tower - Pantheon radio link
FranceB546 (Mi?)1982(150th anniv. birth; 60th anniv. death, in 1983)
FranceB546 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
FranceB546 fdc2Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB546 fdc3Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB546 fdc4Stamp and cancel and cachet (different) on FDC
FranceB546 maxi1Maxicard
FranceB546 maxi2Maxicard (different)
France2148 (Mi?)From strip of 5 (2151a (2147-2151))1989"Tour Eiffel, 100 ans"
FranceNonePrinted stamp and cancel and cachet on postal card1989100th anniv. Eiffel Tower
FranceKM9685 francs (copper-nickel coin)1989100th anniv. Eiffel Tower
FranceP159200 francs (banknote)1995-1999Eiffel, and Eiffel Tower
FranceKM160110 euros (? coin)2009
FranceKM160220 euros (silver coin)2009
FranceKM160350 euros (silver coin)2009
FranceKM160450 euros (gold coin)2009
FranceKM1605500 euros (gold coin)2009
France3908d (Mi?)One of MS4 (3908 (a-d))2010"Tour Eiffel" (in text)
France42242012"La Tour Eiffel" (in text)
Guinea RepublicUnknown ss (BL?)SS11998Eiffel Tower
Malagasy RepublicUnknown e (Mi?)From MS9 (a-i)1999"Tour Eiffel"
Romania4920 (Mi?)2007(175th anniv. birth)
Romania4920+4923 fdcOne of two stamps and cachet on FDC
Romania4921-4922 fdcCachet on FDC
St. VincentUnknown ms (BL?)MS2, overprinted1988Eiffel Tower
Turks and Caicos Islands662 (Mi?)1985Eiffel (at right)
United StatesNone(Ken Kribbs) cachet on cover1994
Wallis and Futuna Islands300 (Mi?)198360th anniv. death; (150th anniv. birth, in 1982); and Eiffel Tower


Lowe

Lowe, Thaddeus
(1832 - 1913)

Thaddeus Lowe was an American inventor and aeronaut. As a boy he was fascinated with the winds and the movements of the clouds. This interest probably contributed to his becoming an aeronaut. As a young man he studied chemistry, aeronautics and meteorology and made weather observations from his balloons.

By the late 1850s Lowe had developed his own meteorological theories. Like his fellow American John Wise, Lowe was convinced that a transatlantic balloon flight would be possible because of the consistent westerly upper winds that he had observed. The westerly direction was not as regular as he thought, however. In April 1861 he ascended in a balloon from Cincinnati, Ohio, hoping to arrive somewhere to the east on the US east coast. The winds, in fact, carried him toward the southeast, all the way to South Carolina, where he was arrested as a Union spy (he was quickly released).

During the Civil War Lowe organized and directed the Union army's balloon force. He telegraphed information about Confederate infantry and heavy artillery from his tethered balloon Intrepid.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Marshall Islands947b (Mi?)One of strip of 5 (947 (a-e)), or two of MS10 (947f (2x (947 (a-e)))2009Lowe's balloon Intrepid
United States2032 (Mi?)One of block of 4 (2035a (2032-2035))19831Lowe's balloon Intrepid
United States2032 fdc1Stamp on FDC
United States2032 fdc2Stamp on FDC (different)
United States2032 fdc3Stamp on FDC (different)
United States2032 maxiMaxicard
United States2032-2033 fdcOne of three stamps on FDC (also with C54)
United States2035a fdcOne of block of four stamps on FDC
United StatesUC64Aerogramme1990Lowe and his balloon Intrepid
United StatesUC64 coverExtra cachet on aerogramme2008Lowe and his balloon Intrepid

1All items issued in 1983 commemorate the general theme of the 200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon. It took place on 21 November 1783. On that date, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose in a hot air balloon and flew approximately 9 km from the centre of Paris to the suburbs in about 25 minutes.


Mendeleev

Mendeleev, Dimitri
(1834 - 1907)

Dimitri Mendeleev was a Russian chemist who is known as the 'father' of the periodic table. He also served as a science adviser to the Russian government and headed the Russian Bureau of Weights and Measures from 1892 until the end of his life.

Mendeleev also did work in meteorology. After completing his research into the chemical periodic table, he turned his attention to the study of gases in 1871. He hoped to prove the existence of a universal ether through detailed studies of the compressiblity and expandibility of gases. He felt that atmospheric gases would finally stop expanding at some undetermined level which would be the boundary between the atmosphere and the ether. He therefore conducted experiments that carefully measured the temperature, pressure and volume of various gases and tried to determine anomalies that went against Boyle's gas law. He was unable to do so, and as a result turned his attention to the study of gases in the "natural laboratory" of Earth's atmosphere. His working hypothesis was then that there must be a source of heat for the upper atmosphere that would allow its very thin gases to continue to expand with height. Mendeleev expected that such studies could lead to information that could be useful in understanding the weather and explained that "in order to establish a correct understanding of a large number of meteorological phenomena, in order to determine the refraction of light in the air, in order to conduct hypsometric measurements and for many other investigations, it is necessary to know the law of the change of temperatures in different layers of air". However, since he could not make direct observations of the upper atmosphere from the ground, he considered the idea of making scientific balloon flights instead. Mendeleev was familiar with the flights of Gay-Lussac and Glaisher. He did not trust Glaisher's data, however, because he had not used observing instruments specially adapted for use in a baloon ascent. Arago had argued by around 1840 that specially designed instruments had to be used in balloon ascents, and Welsh, in his scientific flights with Green in 1852, used aspirated thermometers of his own design to obtain representative measurements. Unfortunately Mendeleev was unable to obtain financing and his planned balloon flights did not take place.

Mendeleev also hoped to popularize the science of meteorology and so had his assistants translate Heinrik Mohn's book Meteorology from German into Russian. It was published (with a preface written by Mendeleev) in 1876.

Mendeleev was always an outsider to the Russian meteorological establishment (for example, he feuded professionally with Rykatchef). He proposed the creation of an organization for collecting meteorological data that would operate in parallel with the existing Main Geophysical Observatory, but the idea was rejected by the authorities. By the late 1870s Mendeleev's interest in meteorology was waning as he turned his attention to other activities.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
AltaiUnknown aOne of and in (left) margin of MS8 (a-h), also from imperforate MS8 (a-h); and from and in centre of self-adhesive MS282011
Bulgaria2947 (Mi?)1984(150th anniv. birth)
Bulgaria2947 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Bulgaria2947 fdc2Stamp and cancel on FDC
DjiboutiUnknown d (Mi?)
Unknown id
One of MS4 (a-d)
One of imperforate MS4 (a-d)
2006(100th anniv. death, in 2007)
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdc
Unknown ims fdc
MS4 and cachet on FDC
Imperforate MS4 on FDC
GabonUnknown ss (BL?)SS12010
Germany (West)NoneCachet on postal card1986Mendeleev (at left)
Guinea-BissauMi3177-3179 labelLabel from MS3 (Mi3177-3179 + 6 labels)2005(170th anniv. birth, in 2004)
Korea (North)2436 (Mi?)1984150th anniv. birth
Korea (North)2436 specimenOverprinted "specimen"
Korea (North)2437 (BL?)SS1
Macedonia415 (Mi?)2007(100th anniv. death)
MalawiUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS2 (a-b)2011
Marshall IslandsUnknown m (Mi?)One of MS20 (a-t)2012
NigerUnknown b (Mi?)
Unknown ib
One of MS2 (a-b)
One of imperforate MS2 (a-b)
2012
Poland881 (Mi1133)1959
RomaniaNoneCancel on stamped envelope1994125th anniv. Mendeleev's construction of the periodic table
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on postcard2007(100th anniv. death); "Mendeleev in memoriam"
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on postcard
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on postcard
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on postcard2011
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on postcard
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on postcard
Russia (USSR)536 (Mi?)1934100th anniv. birth
Russia (USSR)537 (Mi?)
Russia (USSR)538 (Mi?)
Russia (USSR)539 (Mi?)
Russia (USSR)1577 (Mi?)1951
Russia (USSR)1906 (Mi?)1957(50th anniv. death)
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1957?(50th anniv. death?)
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope196875th anniv. Mendeleev Institute of Metrology (not meteorology) in Leningrad.
Russia (USSR)3607 (Mi?)1969
Russia (USSR)3608 (BL?)SS1
Russia (USSR)3608 fdcSS1 and cancel and cachet on FDC
Russia (USSR)NoneExtra (3607) stamp and cancel and cachet (same design as 3607) on stamped envelope1969
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1984(150th anniv. birth)
Russia (USSR)Y1941 ruble (copper-nickel coin)1984(150th anniv. birth)
Russia7128 (BL?)SS12009175th anniv. birth
Russia7128 fdcSS1 and cancel and cachet on FDC
Russia7128 stamp fdcStamp (only) and cancel and cachet on FDC175th anniv. birth; Russia 536, 537, 538, and 539 (in cachet)
Russia7128 stamp coverStamp (only) and cancel (different, with different date) and cachet (same) on cover2009140th anniv. Mendeleev's construction of the periodic table; Russia 536, 537, 538, and 539
RwandaUnknown j (Mi?)One of MS12 (a-l)2009
St. Thomas and Prince IslandsUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS4 (a-d)2007(100th anniv. death)
St. Thomas and Prince IslandsUnknown c (Mi?)One of MS4 (a-d)2009
Serbia396 (Mi?)2007(100th anniv. death)
Spain3476 (Mi?)2007"Tabla periódica de elementos de Mendeléiev"; (100th anniv. death)
Sverdlovsk (province, Russia)P-none100 francs (banknote)11993
TogoUnknown b (Mi?)One of MS3 (a-c)2011
TogoUnknown ss (BL?)In (lower) margin of SS1

1This banknote and other similar ones were printed in Ekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk province in the Urals) for possible circulation in that province, but were never formally issued. Apparently these notes did find some limited local use in Serov (Sverdlovsk province). They are not listed in any catalogue.


Stefan

Stefan, Joseph
(1835 - 1893)

Joseph Stefan was an Austrian physicist who in 1879 gave an empirical demonstration that the radiation emitted from a black body is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature. Boltzmann, one of his students, extended the work in 1884 and derived the law mathematically. It became known as the Stefan-Boltzmann law. It is used to calculate the amount of long wave radiation emitted by the Earth, and is one important quantity in the calculation of the heat balance (and therefore the temperature) of the Earth's surface "skin" layer (whether composed of land, ice or open water). This type of calculation is done in numerical weather prediction models, for example.

The Stefan-Boltzmann law was also used by Svante Arrhenius in 1896 to provide the first quantitative estimate of how much atmospheric warming might be expected as a result of the greenhouse effect caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

Stefan's original work was the first successful connection between long wave radiation and temperature. He later built on this work to study theoretically the growth of sea ice. The balance between sea ice and open water in the polar regions is crucial in the surface heat balance of the oceans, which in turn affects the weather in the short term and the climate in the long term.

Stefan also studied the diffusion of aqueous vapour from a pure water surface into the atmosphere. This is related to evaporation, which can also have an important effect on the weather.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Austria1307 (Mi?)1985(150th anniv. birth)
Austria1307 fdcStamp on FDC
Slovenia152 (Mi?)1993(100th anniv. death)


Twain

Twain, Mark
(Samuel Clemens)
(1835 - 1910)

Mark Twain (the nom de plume of Samuel L. Clemens) was an American writer. He travelled extensively in the US and around the world. He encountered many different types of weather during those travels and seemed stimulated to write about his weather experiences, mostly in his humourous and irreverant way, but sometimes in a serious, emotional manner. Climate, winds, storms, floods, temperature, barometers, lightning rods - all these sooner or later found a place in his writing.

While working as a correspondent for the New Orleans Times-Democrat, Twain gave an extended personal account of the flood of 1882 in which the Mississippi river was at one point 110 km (70 miles) wide. He also described in some detail the severe thunderstorms that he encountered in the area. In the western US he experienced first-hand the chinook winds of Nevada.

Twain was fascinated by the variability of the daily weather. For example, he wrote that in spring in New England he had "counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours". He composed a weather forecast that he felt would serve for any typical New England day: "Probably northeast to southwest winds, varying to the southward and westward and eastward, and points between, high and low barometer swapping around from place to place; probable areas of rain, snow, hail, and drought, succeeded or preceded by earthquakes, with thunder and lightning".

The climate was also a subject of great interest to Twain. He observed that different locations at the same latitude (such as San Franciso on the west coast and the Chesapeake Bay area on the east coast of the US) could have very different climates, and was unable to explain this fact. Von Humboldt's pioneering climatological work Des Lignes Isothermes et de la Distribution de la Chaleur sur le Globe (On Isotherms and the Distribution of Heat around the Globe), published in 1817, did discuss some factors other than latitude that influence climate, such as the presence of a nearby large body of water, and indeed Twain noted of Australia that "apparently this vast continent has a really good climate nowhere but around the edges" (as opposed to the searing desert of the interior). Concerning the hot climate of much of India, Twain stated that "'cold weather' is merely a conventional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy".

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
This list is an incomplete sample of the numerous postal items that contain this person.
Anguilla653 (Mi?)1985(150th anniv. birth; 75th anniv. death)
Anguilla654 (Mi?)
Anguilla654A (Mi?)From MS8 (654Ab (8x 654A))
Anguilla655 (Mi?)
Anguilla656 (BL?)SS1
Comoro Islands606 (Mi?)1985(150th anniv. birth; 75th anniv. death)
Congo (Democratic Republic)Unknown e (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2001(90th anniv. death, 165th anniv. birth, in 2000)
Cook IslandsKM139$50 (silver coin)1990
Dominica948 (Mi?)1986(150th anniv. birth; 75th anniv. death, in 1985)
Dominica987 (Mi?)948 overprinted with Halley's comet logo
Germany (West)1456 fdc (Mi1273 fdc)Cachet on FDC1986
Guinea RepublicUnknown g (Mi?)Possibly unofficial; one of MS9 (a-i)1998Twain (at right); 1910 - death Twain (90th anniv. death, 165th anniv. birth, in 2000)
Guinea RepublicUnknown ss (BL?)SS1
HungaryCB10 (Mi1030)1948
Mauritius1055 (Mi?)2008
Redonda (Antigua)Unknown ss (BL?)SS11985(150th anniv. birth; 75th anniv. death)
Romania1341 (Mi?)1960(125th anniv. birth; 50th anniv. death)
San Marino1830 (Mi?)2010(100th anniv. death)
Sierra Leone731 (Mi?)1985(150th anniv. birth; 75th anniv. death)
Sierra Leone733 (Mi?)
Sierra Leone734 (Mi?)
Sierra Leone735 (Mi?)
Sierra Leone738 (Mi?)In (lower) margin of SS1
Turks and Caicos Islands671 (Mi?)1985(150th anniv. birth; 75th anniv. death)
Turks and Caicos Islands672 (Mi?)"Mark Twain"; (150th anniv. birth; 75th anniv. death)
Turks and Caicos Islands675 (BL?)SS1
United States863 (Mi?)1940"Samuel L. Clemens"; (105th anniv. birth; 30th anniv. death)
United StatesNoneAerogramme, also back1985(150th anniv. birth; 75th anniv. death)
United States4545 (Mi?)2011(100th anniv. death, in 2010)


van der Waals

van der Waals, Johannes
(1837 - 1923)

Johannes van der Waals was a Dutch physicist who derived a relationship (the van der Waals equation of state) among the pressure, temperature and volume of a fluid (gas or liquid). His equation is a generalization of the ideal gas law (first derived by Émile Clapeyron in 1834) which itself was a combination of earlier gas laws: Boyle's law (at constant temperature, the volume of an ideal gas is inversely proportional to its pressure) and Charles' or Gay-Lussac's law (at a constant volume the pressure of a gas is proportional to its temperature in kelvins). Van der Waals was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1910 for his work on the equation of state.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Chad733 (Mi?)1997(160th anniv. birth)
Chad733a (BL?)On stamp of SS1
Chad733b (Mi?)MS4 (4x 733)
Grenada3274d (Mi?)One of MS6 (3274 (a-f))2002(80th anniv. death, in 2003)
Guinea-BissauUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS5 (a-e + label)2009
Maldives2114a (Mi?)One of MS9 (2114 (a-i))1995
Netherlands841 (Mi?)1993(70th anniv. death); van der Waals' equation
Netherlands841 maxi1Maxicard
Netherlands841 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Netherlands841 maxi3Maxicard (different)
Netherlands841-843 scSouvenir card of 3 (841-843)
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on cover2010
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover2010
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover2010
RomaniaNoneCancel (different) and cachet (different) on cover2010
Sweden879 (Mi698C)2 sides imperforate from coil strip of 5 (879a)197060th anniv. van der Waals' Nobel Prize; van der Waals (at right)
Sweden882 (Mi698Du)1 side imperforate from booklet pane of 10 (882a (10x 882)); also booklet (882b, MH698Do/Du)
Sweden878-880+2x881+2x882 fdcThree of seven stamps on FDC, also insert


Weyprecht

Weyprecht, Karl
(1838 - 1881)

Karl Weyprecht was an Austro-Hungarian naval officer and Arctic explorer who was the co-leader of the expedition that discovered Franz Josef Land in 1873. He was not, however, the typical polar explorer of the time. He regarded most Arctic expeditions as being little more than northward dashes designed to gain publicity through their competitive and nationalistic aspects. He was convinced that polar activities should be driven by science rather than nationalism, with coordination among nations in the form of an international network of stations that could make meteorological and other geophysical observations. In the mid-1870s he presented these ideas at several scientific conferences, where they were favourably received. His passion inspired the Bavarian polar explorer and scientist Georg von Neumayer. In 1879 the two men presented a proposal to the 2nd International Meteorological Congress in Rome for an international polar research program in which simultaneous regular meteorological and magnetic observations would be made at a number of special stations in the Arctic and Antarctic. As a result, the International Polar Commission was formed later that year with the mandate of developing a detailed research plan. Weyprecht unfortunately died in 1881, and it was left to von Neumayer and the Commission to move forward and implement the program, which became known as the first International Polar Year (IPY).

Weyprecht's last contribution to the first IPY was a set of instructions for men who would make observations of the aurora ("Instructions for the Observation of the Aurora"). It was published in 1881 (but it is not known if it appeared before or after Weyprecht's death on 29 March of that year).

The 1st IPY took place in 1882-1883. It was followed by three others (2nd IPY, 1932—1933; 3rd IPY, more commonly known as the International Geophysical Year (IGY), 1957—1958; and the 4th IPY, 2007—2008).

Weyprecht is known as the 'father' of the IPYs. His vision from the 1870s of international cooperation in polar research, with coordinated observations, standardized data recording and full data sharing, has continued to inspire modern geophysical research programs, not only in the polar regions, but also worldwide. Meteorology was a key scientific area of study in the first IPY. Subsequent IPYs expanded their areas of research, but meteorology always remained an important component of their activities.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Germany (East)NoneCancel and cachet on cover1982
GermanyNoneCancel and cachet on postcard2006
Guinea RepublicUnknown ss (BL?)SS12008"La première [i.e. the first IPY] est organisée grâce à Karl Weyprecht" (in text)
Guinea RepublicUnknown ss fdcSS1 on FDC
MozambiqueMi3466One of MS6 (Mi3462-3467)2009170th anniv. birth, in 2008); Weyprecht and von Neumayer - founders of the 1st IPY
MozambiqueMi3462-3467_ms6 fdcOne of MS6 on FDC
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on postcard2007
United StatesCP783(USPS) commemorative panel (4123)2007


Gibbs

Gibbs, Josiah Willard
(1839 - 1903)

Josiah Gibbs was an American physicist who originated the Gibbs function (also known as the Gibbs free energy): a particular combination of thermodynamic variables whose value remains constant during a reversible isobaric and isothermal process. It is used in meteorology to study the changes in phase (solid, liquid or vapour) of water.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
United States3907 (Mi?)
3907 back
One of block of 4 (3909a (5x 3906-3909)), or five of MS20 (3909c (5x (3906-3909)))2005
United States3908 fdc1Stamp and cancel and (Colorano silk) cachet on FDC
United States3907 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United States3907 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United States3907 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and (Wilson) cachet on FDC
United States3907 fdc5Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United States3907 fdc6Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United States3907 fdc7Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United States3907 fdc8Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
United StatesSP1563(USPS) souvenir page (3906-3909)
United StatesCP733(USPS) commemorative panel (3909a)
United States3906-3909 fdoiFDOI ceremony FDC and program


Abbe

Abbe, Ernst
(1840 - 1905)

Ernst Abbe was a German physicist who was appointed professor of physics at the University of Jena in 1870. Much of his work was done in the area of optics. In 1878 he became the director of the University's Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Germany (East)311 (Mi545)1956(50th anniv. death, in 1955)
Germany (East)311 maxi1Maxicard
Germany (East)311 maxi2Maxicard (different)
Germany (East)KM7820 marks (? coin)1980(75th anniv. death); (140th anniv. birth)
Germany (East)2753a (Mi?)Pair of stamps (2752-2753 + label)1989Abbe (on label)
Germany (East)2753a fdcPair of stamps and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)980 (Mi?)1986(80th anniv. death, in 1985); name only (on stamp)
Germany (West)980 fdc1Stamp and cachet on FDC
Germany (West)980 fdc2Stamp and cachet (different) on FDC


Faura

Faura, Father Federico
(1840 - 1897)

Father Federico Faura was a Jesuit priest and meteorologist who founded the Manila Observatory in 1869 in response to the need for advance warning of typhoons. In that same year the Observatory acquired Angelo Secchi's invention, the meteorograph, for use in its program of weather observations. The Observatory's reputation was established the following year after some success in predicting typhoons. People in the Philippines and the Far East came to depend upon its service. The Observatory became so important that the Spanish government designated it an official institution and secondary observing stations were set up throughout Luzon. Faura designed an aneroid barometer for use in the Philippines and it became a well-known household article.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Philippines1535 (Mi?)1981(140th anniv. birth, in 1980)
Philippines1537 (Mi?)Imperforate MS4 (1533-1536)
Philippines1737 (Mi?)Imperforate MS4 (1533-1566) surcharged1985
Philippines1737 varImperforate MS4 (1533-1536) surcharged, missing period after the "3"


Rykatchef

Rykatchef, M. A.
(1841 - 1919)

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Rykatchef was a Russian meteorologist and member of the Academy.

Rykatchf graduated from the Russian Naval Academy in 1865. In 1867 Heinrich Wild was appointed as Director of the Main Geophysical Observatory in St. Petersburg. Rykatchef became Assistant Director and worked with Wild to re-organize the local network of weather observing stations. In 1876 a new weather telegraphy and marine meteorology branch was established in the Observatory. With Rykatchef at its head, it was responsible for storm warnings. Then in 1885 a full meteorological branch finally was created. Its director, I. B. Schpindler, had previously done meteorological research under Rykatchef. Rykatchef was the Director of the Main Geophysical Observatory from 1896 to 1913. In addition to his meteorological work, he was interested in hydrological problems, and in 1897 implemented the first public warning system for high water levels on the Neva River.

Angot, Hergesell and Rykatchef used Laplace's hypsometric equation (that related atmospheric pressure to geometric height, given known profiles of atmospheric temperature and humidity) in a study published in 1896 in Part 1of the Memoirs of the French Central Meteorological Bureau. They showed that while a single hypsometric equation valid for a deep layer of the atmosphere would be complex and difficult to derive, such a layer could be divided into thin sub-layers, each of which could then be treated with Laplace's simpler equation. The results for all the layers would then simply be summed to obtain an accurate solution.

Rykatchef also used kites to carry instruments aloft to make atmospheric measurements at Pavlovsk near St. Petersburg. He reported on such measurements made in 1904 and 1905 at the Fifth Conference of the International Committee on Scientific Aeronautics (Milan, October 1906).

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Russia (USSR)NoneCachet on stamped envelope1990(150th anniv. birth, in 1991); (70th anniv. death, in 1989)


von Payer

von Payer, Julius
(1841 - 1915)

Julius von Payer was an Austro-Hungarian Arctic explorer. In 1869-1870 he participated in the 1869-70 2nd German North Polar Expedition to the East Greenland Sea, and in 1871 he and Karl Weyprecht participated in the preliminary Austro-Hungarian expedition to Novaya Zemlya. Then in 1872-1874 he served as co-leader, with Weyprecht, of the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition, during which Franz Josef Land was discovered. Magnetic measurements and auroral observations were conducted during these expeditions. Air temperature measurements were also made, and sea ice growth was studied in the winter.

The scientific results of the 1869-1870 expedition were published in Leipzig in 1874. In 1876 von Payer published Die Oesterreichisch-Ungarische Nordpol Expedition in den Jahren 1872-1874. This book also made reference to the 1869-1870 expedition. Weyprecht discussed sea ice in his 1879 book entitled Die Metamorphosen des Polareises. Josef Stefan later used the data from the 1869-1870 expedition in his theoretical work on the growth of sea ice in cold water.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Austria949 (Mi?)1973"J. Payer"; 100th anniv. discovery of Franz Josef Land
Austria949 fdcStamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Hungary3430 (Mi4287)1994120th anniv. end of Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on cover1992150th anniv. birth; reproduction of Austria 949 (in cachet)
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on postcard2007135th anniv. beginning of Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition
RomaniaNoneCancel and cachet on postcard (different)2007135th anniv. beginning of Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition


Flammarion

Flammarion, Camille
(1842 - 1925)

Camille Flammarion was a French astronomer and aeronaut who also did work in climatology and meteorology. He was interested in the influence of the sun on the Earth, and studied the 11 year solar cycle. In 1867 and 1868 he made eight scientific balloon ascents over Paris with the well-known pilot Eugene Godard. He collected similar observations to those of Glaisher, though the balloon attained only low heights. Flammarion published a collection of 50 reports of ball lightning in his book l'Atmosphère. This book treated various topics related to the atmosphere in a journalistic and popular style. Glaisher edited the English version of this book which was published in London in 1873.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
ArgentinaNoneCinderella1939
British Antarctic Territory131 (Mi?)1986Scene with Halley's Comet drawn by Flammarion in his 1880 work l'Astronomie
DjiboutiUnknown d (Mi?)One of MS6 (a-f)2010
DjiboutiUnknown ms fdcMS6 and cachet on FDC
FranceNoneCancel on cover195025th anniv. death
France792 (Mi?)
i792

Imperforate
1956(30th anniv. death, in 1955)
France792 dsDeluxe sheet (792)
France792 fdc1Stamp and cancel on FDC
France792 fdc2Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
France792 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France792 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France792 fdc5Stamp and cancel (different) and cachet (same) on FDC
France792 fdc6Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France792 fdc7Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
France792 maxi1Maxicard
France792 maxi2Maxicard (different cancel)
France792 maxi3Maxicard (different)
France792 maxi4Maxicard (different)
France792 maxi5Maxicard (different)
FranceNoneCancel1957Observatoire Camille Flammarion
FranceNoneCancel (slightly different)1968Observatoire Camille Flammarion
FranceNoneCancel and cachet on cover1975Observatoire Camille Flammarion
FranceNoneCancel1982
FranceNoneCancel1996
Guinea RepublicUnknown ms (BL?)In (lower) margin of MS62009


Rayleigh

Strutt, John William
(Lord Rayleigh)
(1842 - 1919)

Rayleigh was an English physicist who studied the optical properties of the atmosphere as well as other topics in meteorology. His father, John James Strutt, was the second Baron Rayleigh. He died in 1873, at which point John William inherited the Barony, becoming the third Baron Rayleigh, known as Lord Rayleigh.

He examined how light is scattered by atmospheric particles smaller than its wavelength. This type of scattering, now known as Rayleigh scattering, is the cause of the blue colour of the sky since the amount of scattering is proportional to the minus fourth power of the wavelength of light. The shorter wavelength of blue light means that it undergoes more scattering than the longer red wavelength so that the eye captures blue light coming from all directions, which makes the whole sky look blue. The main exception to this is when light travels a longer than normal distance through the atmosphere at sunrise and sunset. In those cases the blue can be scattered so much that it becomes "lost" within the red wavelengths that are scattered enough in those circumstances to be seen as a red hue in the sky in the direction of the sun. On the other hand, if the scattering particles are larger than the wavelength of the light, then all wavelengths are scattered equally and the result is a whitish colour. For example, the light from clouds tends to be white.

Rayleigh made measurements of the intensity of the auroral green line and noted that this line is present in the night sky (this is now called airglow).

Rayleigh and Margules explained the process by which a diurnal temperature wave produces a semidiurnal pressure oscillation. Their work was based on a study of the laws that govern atmospheric pressure tides by Laplace.

Rayleigh studied atmospheric convection in the early 1900s, and in 1916 attempted to explain what is now known as Rayleigh-Bénard convection. It is sometimes found in the atmosphere as a pattern of open and closed cloud cells, though it is now known that the assumptions made by Rayleigh in his explanation would actually lead to convective clouds in lines or "rolls" rather than to a cellular pattern. Cloud rolls are a line of low convective clouds in which there is ascent on one side of the line and descent on the other. They are more commonly referred to as cloud streets and can form during the cold season over water surfaces that are relatively warm compared to cold air that is flowing from the land to the water.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Grenada Grenadines1772i (Mi?)One of MS9 (1772 (a-i))19951904 Nobel Prize winner: Rayleigh
Guinea-BissauUnknown a (Mi?)One of MS5 (a-e + label)2009
RomaniaNoneCancel on cover2004100th anniv. Rayleigh's 1904 Nobel Prize
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet on cover
RomaniaNoneCancel (same) and cachet (different) on cover
Sweden673 (Mi529)Perforated vertically19641904 Nobel Prize winners: Rayleigh (at right)
Sweden673aCoil strip of 5 (5x 673)
Sweden675 pair (Mi529Dl/Dr)Pair, one imperforated left, the other imperforated right
Sweden675aBooklet pane of 20 (20x 673)
Sweden673+2x675+674+2x676 fdc1Three of six stamps on FDC
Sweden673+2x675+674+2x676 fdc2Three of six stamps and cachet on FDC
Sweden(673-674)x3 fdcThree of six stamps and cachet on FDC
Sweden675bBooklet of 20 (20x 675)1904 Nobel Prize winners: "Rayleigh" name on booklet covers
Sweden676bBooklet of 20 (20x 676)


Tissandier

Tissandier, Gaston
(1843 - 1899)

Gaston Tissandier was a French chemist and editor who had a strong interest in meteorology that led him to become an aeronaut. In his first balloon trip, launched from Calais in 1868, he drifted out over the sea before rising into an opposing current of air that took him back to the land. In the 1870s he made many ascents in his balloon Zenith2. One of these was made 23-24 March 1875. Tissandier and his brother Albert were aboard, along with their colleagues Jobert, Crocé-Spinelli and Sivel. The team's goal was to make meteorological observations from the balloon. They had thermometers, a barometer and a dew point hygrometer. The pressure, temperature and sky conditions along the balloon's trajectory were recorded on forms that were thrown overboard by Jobert with the idea that they would be retrieved and forwarded to Paris. They reached a height of 1100 m during the flight. On 15 April 1875, however, disaster struck. Gaston Tissandier ascended with Crocé-Spinelli and Sivel to 8600 m. His colleagues died in the thin air, while Tissandier survived but became deaf as a result of the flight. While very high, this flight was not a record for the time; Glaisher and Coxwell had reached approximately 9000 m in 1862 (and came close to dying of asphyxiation).

Tissandier reported his meteorological observations to the French Academy of Sciences in the 1870s, and they were also frequently cited in the Danish Tidsskrift for Physik og Chemi. He founded in 1873 a weekly scientific magazine, La Nature, which he would edit until 1896. In 1879 he published a summary of his meteorogical observations made in balloons: Observations météorologiques en ballon - Résumé de 25 ascensions aérostatiques.

In the early 1880s Tissandier and his brother turned their attention to airships (dirigible balloons) that could be steered through the use of a propeller powered by a small motor, and in 1883 they successfully flew an airship equipped with an electric motor.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Azerbaijan508 (Mi?)1995Tissandier brothers' Giffard-type airship
Cambodia366 (Mi?)1975Tissandier brothers' Giffard-type airship
Cambodia366a (BL?)SS1 (366)
Central African Republic614 (BL256)SS119831(140th anniv. birth); Tissandier (at right); Tissandier brothers' Giffard-type airship
Germany1763 (Mi1638)1992Tissandier's balloon Zenith2; (140th anniv. birth, in 1983)
Germany1763a (BL43)SS1 (1763)
Grenada841 (BL69)In (left) margin of MS2 (841 (a-b))1978Tissandier brothers' Giffard-type airship
Guinea-Bissau445 (Mi653)19831(140th anniv. birth); Tissandier's balloon Zenith2
HungaryCB24 (Mi2318)Text on postcard1971"Gaston + Albert Tissandier"; Tissandier brothers' Giffard-type airship
Liberia803 (Mi1056)1978"Tissandier brothers' dirigible, 1883"
Korea (North)2254 (Mi2309)From MS6 (2254a (6x 2254)) (Mi3391-3407)1982(140th anniv. birth, in 1983); test flight of Tissandier's balloon Zenith2, 18 March 1873
Moldova437 (Mi?)2003"Tissandier brothers" and their Giffard-type airship France, 1883
St. Thomas and Prince Islands704a (BL?)In (left and lower-right) margin of MS12 (4x (703a+703b+704))19831(140th anniv. birth); Tissandier (at lower-right)
Vietnam2176 (Mi?)1990Tissandier brothers' Giffard-type airship, 1883
Zaire901 (BL22)
i901
SS1 (Mi588)
Imperforate SS1
1978Tissandier brothers' Giffard-type airship

1All items issued in 1983 commemorate the general theme of the 200th anniversary of the first manned balloon ascent in an untethered balloon. It took place on 21 November 1783. On that date, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes rose in a hot air balloon and flew approximately 9 km from the centre of Paris to the suburbs in about 25 minutes.
2Several small striped balloons were attached to the basket of the balloon Zenith. Their purpose was to provide oxygen to the aeronauts at high altitudes. The small balloons contained a mixture of gases with 72% oxygen, and were connected to breathing mouthpieces. These small balloons are depicted in Guinea-Bissau 445 and Germany 1763.


Boltzmann

Boltzmann, Ludwig
(1844 - 1906)

Ludwig Boltzmann was an Austrian physicist. His professor Josef Stefan showed empirically in 1879 that the radiation emitted from a black body is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature. Boltzmann was able to derive the law mathematically in 1884. It became known as the Stefan-Boltzmann law. It is used to calculate the amount of long wave radiation emitted by the Earth, and is one important quantity in the calculation of the heat balance (and therefore the temperature) of the Earth's surface "skin" layer (whether composed of land, ice or open water). This type of calculation is done in numerical weather prediction models, for example.

The Stefan-Boltzmann law was also used by Svante Arrhenius in 1896 to provide the first quantitative estimate of how much atmospheric warming might be expected as a result of the greenhouse effect caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of IssueNotes on Content
Austria1184 (Mi1677)198175th anniv. death
Austria1184 blackBlackprint
Austria1184 maxiMaxicard
Austria1184 fdc1Stamp and cancel and cachet on FDC
Austria1184 fdc2Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Austria1184 fdc3Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Austria1184 fdc4Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Austria1184 fdc5Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Austria1184 fdc6Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Austria1184 fdc7Stamp and cancel (different) and cachet (same) on FDC
Austria1184 fdc8Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
Austria1184 fdc9Stamp and cancel (same) and cachet (different) on FDC
NicaraguaC763 (Mi?)
C763 back
1971"Ley de Boltzmann" (Boltzmann's law for gases)
NicaraguaC761-765 fdcOne of five stamps on FDC


Greely

Greely, Adolphus
(1844 - 1935)

Adolphus Greely was an American military officer and polar explorer. He commanded the Lady Franklin Bay expedition that was part of the US contribution to the First International Polar Year (IPY). The expedition arrived at Discovery Harbour on the northeastern coast of Ellesmere Island in August 1881. The camp that was set up became known as Fort Conger. A program of regular meteorological, magnetic and auroral observations (part of the IPY science plan) was carried out for a period of almost two years. "The meteorological observations involved hourly recordings of pressure, air temperature and dew point, wind speed and direction, type, amount and movement of clouds, state of the weather, and aurora (if any). The meteorological screen (1.2 m square and 2.1 m high) stood about 40 m northeast of the hut; anemometer and wind vane were mounted on the roof of the hut, and the barometer was housed inside the hut. Seawater temperature was measured on the 1st, 11th and 21st of each month, and the ice thickness was recorded at the same time" (Barr, William: The Expeditions of the First International Polar Year, 1882-1883. Arctic Institute of North America, University of Calgary, 1985, p.23-24). "Aurora was observed about twice a week on average, but rarely was it as bright or colourful as farther south" (ibid, p. 26).

In August 1883 the expedition was forced to head south on their own since no re-supply ships had arrived. They reached Pim Island near Cape Sabine on the east coast of Ellesmere Island, where they spent a disastrous winter. 19 of 25 expedition members died, mostly of starvation. The remaining men, including Greely, were finally rescued in June 1884. All the scientific records of the expedition were saved.

CountryCatalog NumberType of ItemYear of Issue