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dc.contributor.authorAspaas, Per Pippin
dc.contributor.authorHansen, Truls Lynne
dc.date.accessioned2013-12-05T12:33:07Z
dc.date.available2014-05-01T05:50:03Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractThe Societas Meteorologica Palatina, or Meteorological Society of Mannheim, was set up in 1781 to coordinate observations of the weather on an international scale. In addition to temperature, pressure and humidity, observers connected to the network were instructed to record various atmospheric phenomena, among these the aurora borealis. The 39 stations of the network reported about 1400 individual sightings of auroras during the Society's dozen years of existence. The reported sightings are subjected to a statistical analysis that brings out striking discrepancies between the number of auroras that one would expect and the number that was reported. The statistical analysis is supplemented by an analysis of the theoretical and phenomenological comments in the Society's annual reports. The study suggests that observers on the Continent considered themselves just as advantageously situated as observers further north when trying to solve the riddle of the northern lights. It also illustrates the variety of conflicting ideas about the aurora borealis that existed during the late Enlightenment, and how these might have influenced the number of reported auroras. This lack of consensus contributed to many anomalies in the data presented in the Society's reports. By combining linguistic and scientific competence it is possible to shed light on these anomalies and on the historical context that shaped them.en
dc.identifier.citationActa Borealia 29(2012) nr. 2 s. 157-176en
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 979405
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08003831.2012.732283
dc.identifier.issn0800-3831
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/5584
dc.identifier.urnURN:NBN:no-uit_munin_5272
dc.language.isoengen
dc.publisherRoutledgeen
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccess
dc.subjectVDP::Humaniora: 000::Historie: 070::Nyere tids historie (før 1800): 082en
dc.subjectVDP::Humanities: 000::History: 070::Recent history (before 1800): 082en
dc.titleThe Role of the Societas Meteorologica Palatina (1781–1792) in the History of Auroral Researchen
dc.typeJournal articleen
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen
dc.typePeer revieweden


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