H-Sci-Med-Tech: New posted content
Li on Naylor, 'The Observatory Experiment: Meteorology in Britain and Its Empire' [Review]
Naylor, Simon. The Observatory Experiment: Meteorology in Britain and Its Empire. : Cambridge University Press, 2024. 285 pp. $110.00 (cloth), ISBN 9781009207232.
Reviewed by
Xinyue Li (University of Manchester)
Published on
H-Sci-Med-Tech (February, 2026)
Commissioned by
Penelope K. Hardy (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse)
Printable Version: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=62522
The Observatory Experiment: Meteorology in Britain and Its Empire is a meticulously researched investigation into the construction and operation of meteorological observatories in the nineteenth century. By the early nineteenth century, the study of weather had shifted from isolated practitioners’ documentation of unusual atmospheric phenomena to coordinated observations across space aimed at tracking atmospheric movement. In this transition, the observatory became a central site for the pursuit of meteorological science, where observers and instruments were housed, data were collected and analyzed, and meteorological theories were developed.
The book’s title accurately describes its core argument. Simon Naylor argues that we should “view all meteorological observatory projects in the nineteenth century as observatory experiments—as investigations both into weather science and how it might be most effectively prosecuted” (pp. 3-4). He invites readers to reconsider what counted as a meteorological observatory. In this account, the observatory is not defined by its architectural form, but rather by a set of techniques, including the proper use of precision observing and measuring instruments, data manipulation and visualization, the management of personnel, and international collaboration. As a result, the observatories in the book took various shapes, mobile or fixed, at sea or on a mountain, a single building or distributed points.
The term “experiment” here not only refers to the scientific work conducted in observatories but also suggests their construction and sustaining were open to challenge. It captures the debate over the value and utility of meteorological observatories in nineteenth-century Britain. As Naylor demonstrates, the outcomes of these observatory projects often remained uncertain, as they were entangled with problems of funding, management, local environments, and cultural issues, and frequently failed to operate smoothly.
An important concern in the history of science is precision observation. Naylor treats it as a crucial technique and considers it from the perspective of observatory science and survey science. As an observatory science, meteorology followed astronomy as a model, yet the meanings of precision, accuracy, and uniformity in meteorology required negotiation across observatories, journals, and public debate. By treating meteorology as a survey science, Naylor also draws attention to relatively underexamined aspects of nineteenth-century meteorology, particularly “the value of the mobile observation and the exploration of different environmental atmospheres” (p. 237). Bringing these perspectives together, Naylor structures the book from the perspective of the sites of weather observation.
The Observatory Experiment includes four empirical chapters, each focusing on observatories of different forms situated in distinct geographical environments across Britain and its empire, including naval vessels, colonial outposts, mountain tops, and suburban back gardens. Each chapter examines an observatory designed to address an important concern of the discipline. They operated with loose control from central observatories and scientific institutions, and faced shared challenges related to observation, the operation of meteorological networks at a distance, data management, and the justification of their scientific value.
Chapter 1 explores how maritime exploration and surveying contributed to the development of a culture of meteorology on naval vessels. It argues that Admiralty support transformed ships into floating observatories, formalizing an earlier, more informal culture of meteorological inquiry. Admiralty hydrographer Francis Beaufort (1774–1857) and Army engineer William Reid (1791–1858) were central to this maritime meteorological experiment. Under Beaufort’s leadership, surveying ships of the Hydrographic Office functioned as mobile weather stations, and ships’ logbooks served as a textual instrument for recording wind and weather. Beaufort’s schema enabled Reid’s storm research. In turn, its promise of storm prediction justified marine meteorology and encouraged the adoption of meteorological instruments and regulated observation at sea.
Chapter 2 highlights shared difficulties faced by observatories on the imperial periphery, including fragile supply chains of instruments, uneven regulation of observers, and uncertain data quality, by examining meteorological work at the Colaba Observatory in Bombay. It was built in the 1820s to support terrestrial surveying. Its early efforts to adopt the principles of a model observatory proved unsuccessful, owing to poorly managed instruments, personnel, observational routines, and data. Following a review of the observatory’s infrastructure and instruments in the 1860s, its observational routines were stabilized, methods of registration improved, and telegraphic communication extended. Yet as a centralized meteorological network emerged across India, Colaba Observatory was increasingly marginalized, with part of its functions relocated to India’s Central Meteorological Observatory in Alipore, Calcutta.
Chapter 3 focuses on mountain meteorology in Scotland, paying particular attention to the challenging environment of observation and the funding difficulties in its operation. Observatories were constructed on the summit and lower levels of Ben Nevis in the 1880s and 1890s, with the support of the Scottish Meteorological Society, to advance high-altitude meteorology. The physical hardships highlighted by mountain meteorologists echoed contemporary mountaineering culture and helped justify the establishment of an observatory on the summit. This, in turn, transformed the epistemological status of the mountain from a field site into a meteorological laboratory. Conceived as an experiment in vertical atmospheric investigation, the observatory’s value was assessed by its forecasting utility and national benefit, ultimately leading to funding shortages and its closure.
Chapter 4 reconfigures distributed rainfall stations into an observatory. It examines George Symons’s efforts to establish a rainfall observatory network maintained by volunteers across the British Isles to explore the geographies of the rain. The establishment of a rainfall archive, rainfall experiments at various locations, and visualization of rain data into a rainfall map were three key projects that defined the success of Symons’s network. The chapter places particular emphasis on the importance of uniformity in running the rainfall observation network, adapted to the volunteer observers’ everyday lives and domestic spaces. The establishment of rainfall experiment sites in various locations promoted standardized gauge. Rain maps served as a statistical technique to address problems of data integrity and to visualize rainfall data.
In the conclusion, Naylor argues that “meteorology’s status as an observatory science was constantly on trial over the course of the nineteenth century” (p. 237). The success or failure of an observatory depended on four key conditions: “the significance of geographical particularity in justifications of observatory operations; the sustainability of coordinated observatory networks at a distance; the ability to manage, manipulate and interpret large data sets; and the potential public value of meteorology as it was prosecuted in observatory settings” (p. 237).
The book examines a wide range of meteorological practices in rich detail. It will be of particular value to readers interested in the history of terrestrial physics and scientific infrastructure. As none of the observatories in the book had a long lifespan, the book also offers cases of the failure and fragility of scientific practices. There is one limitation concerning the case selection. Naylor emphasizes that environmental variation itself mattered in weather science, producing different problems, solutions, and failures. However, readers may wish for a more explicit account of why these particular environments, rather than others, were chosen for analysis.
Citation:
Xinyue Li.
Review of
Naylor, Simon.
The Observatory Experiment: Meteorology in Britain and Its Empire.
H-Sci-Med-Tech, H-Net Reviews.
February, 2026.
URL:
https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=62522
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
H-Net Job Guide Weekly Report for H-Sci-Med-Tech: 25 January - 1 February [Announcement]
The following jobs were posted to the H-Net Job Guide from 25 January to 1 February. These job postings are included here based on the categories selected by the network editors for H-Announce. See the H-Net job guide web site at https://www.h-net.org/jobs/ for more information. To contact the Job Guide, write to jobg...@mail.h-net.org or call +1-517-432-5134 between 9 AM and 5 PM US Eastern time.
History of Science, Medicine, and Technology
History of Science, Medicine, and Technology
Stetson University - Visiting Assistant Professor of Ancient or Medieval History
https://networks.h-net.org/jobs/69747/stetson-university-visiting-assistant-professor-ancient-or-medieval-history
Call +1-517-432-5134 between 9 am and 5 pm US Eastern time.
CfP: World Association for the History of Animal Health 2026 Congress (Seoul, South Korea June 24-26) [Announcement]
Seoul
South Korea
The World Association for the History of Animal Health (https://www.wahvm.co.uk/) invites you to submit an abstract for its biennial Congress in Seoul from June 24 - 26, 2026.
Abstracts (max 300 words) for presentations or posters are due Saturday, February 28. See the congress website www.WAHAH2026.kr for more details and to submit your abstract.
We welcome scholars working on any aspect of animal health including animal husbandry. In the past, presenters included people working in the history of agricultural sciences, medicine, biotechnology, biology, chemistry, physics, ethology, ethics, philosophy, and economics and fields like linguistics, archaeology, law, meteorology, geophysics, astronomy, and others. If your works relates to non-human animals and any aspects of their care and keeping, please apply.
The organizing committee has done a wonderful job keeping the costs of attending the congress in Seoul as low as possible. Costs for registration and the social program are no more than $100, but if you present a paper or a poster you pay nothing at all. Conference registration includes a half-day cultural tour of Seoul and several meals.
Please feel free to share this CFA widely with colleagues, students, or anyone else to whom it might be of interest.
Rebecca Kaplan
CfA-FIELD TRANING SCHOOL & RESEARCH SEMINAR "URBAN RESEARCH: THEORY AND METHODS" [Announcement]
PT
Italy
This 7-day Training School is organised and hosted by the International Urban Symposium-IUS in collaboration with an international group of senior scholars from leading universities.
The School is aimed at postgraduate students, postdoctoral scholars and practitioners who are interested in research in urban settings and in empirically-grounded analysis.
The School offers an interactive learning environment and opportunities to discuss the rationale and practices of traditional and new research methods and mainstream debates.
The primary aim is to train participants in the “art” of conducting ethnographic fieldwork, develop the link between ethnographically-based analysis and social theory and bring out the relevance of such analysis to the broader society.
The School will address key contemporary urban issues, including: governance; legitimacy and legitimation; urban diversity; stereotypes and stigma; informality; urban infrastructure; healthy living; application and challenges of new technologies (e.g., digital technologies and AI); public space, vernacular landscape, heritage.
The School Programme includes:
- Teaching Seminars led by senior scholars from international universities.
- Targeted observational field trips.
- Research seminars, and the chance to publish in a peer-reviewed journal.
Teaching will be in English.
DEADLINE: Applications will be accepted until Monday 22 March 2026.
FULL DETAILS and INFORMATION on HOW TO APPLY are available at:
https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/urban/2026/01/22/field-training-school-and-research-seminar-2026/
Prof. Giuliana B. Prato, University of Kent, UK
Neuroeducation and Learning: Bridging Neuroscience and Classroom Practice - A Call for Interdisciplinary Dialogue
Dear Colleagues,
As a Professor of Neuroeducation, I would like to open a dialogue on the emerging field that bridges neuroscience and educational practice. Neuroeducation represents a crucial intersection where findings from cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and pedagogy converge to transform how we understand and facilitate learning.
Key Questions for Discussion:
- How can we effectively translate neuroscientific research findings into practical classroom strategies without oversimplifying the science?
2. What role does brain plasticity play in designing educational interventions for diverse learners, including those with learning difficulties?
3. How should we approach the "neuromyths" that have proliferated in educational settings (e.g., learning styles, left-brain/right-brain dominance)?
4. What ethical considerations arise when applying neuroscience to education, particularly regarding neurotechnology in classrooms?
Current Research Directions:
Recent advances in neuroimaging and cognitive science have provided unprecedented insights into the neural basis of reading acquisition and mathematical reasoning, the impact of stress and emotions on learning and memory consolidation, the role of sleep in academic performance and cognitive development, and attention mechanisms and their implications for instructional design.
I am particularly interested in hearing from colleagues working at the intersection of history of science, medicine, and education. How has the historical relationship between brain science and pedagogy shaped current practices? What lessons can we draw from past attempts to apply neuroscience to education?
I look forward to a rich interdisciplinary exchange.
Juan Moises de la Serna, PhD
Professor of Neuroeducation
Speakers Academy & International Events
Re: Hagley Research Seminar/February 11th/Noon EST via Zoom
Thank you for sharing this fascinating research seminar announcement. The intersection of labor history and technological change that Kevin Dwyre explores resonates deeply with contemporary discussions in neuroeducation and cognitive science.
From a neuroeducational perspective, the historical debate between labor's "conscious social ends" approach and management's "economic natural selection" framework mirrors current discussions about how we prepare human cognition for technological disruption. The union proposals for worker retraining programs in the 1950s-60s anticipated what we now understand through neuroscience: brain plasticity enables lifelong learning, but this requires institutional support and intentional design.
I find particularly relevant the concept of a "Technological Clearing House for national planning" - today we might frame this as evidence-based educational policy informed by cognitive science. The challenge of "mitigating labor market dislocation" remains central, and neuroeducation research on skill acquisition, cognitive flexibility, and adaptive learning offers insights into how workers can be supported through technological transitions.
This historical perspective enriches our understanding of why current debates about AI and automation feel familiar - the fundamental tensions between market-driven adaptation and planned social intervention have deep roots.
I look forward to attending the seminar.
Juan Moises de la Serna
Professor of Neuroeducation
Hagley History Hangout Podcast - New Episode - Film and American World's Fairs 1893-1964 with Dominique Bregent-Heald [Announcement]
Hagley History Hangout Podcast - New Episode - Film and American World's Fairs 1893-1964 with Dominique Bregent-Heald
Tune in here or wherever you find your podcasts: https://www.hagley.org/research/history-hangout-dominique-bregent-heald
Film has played a role in America’s world’s fairs since the 1893 Chicago exhibition where a horse galloping was the big cinematic draw.
In her latest book project, Dr. Dominique Bregent-Heald, professor at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, explores the history of film at American world’s fairs, such as the educational and industrial films shown by corporate sponsors. These spectacles were conceived of as a means to make industrial products and processes entertaining, and to induce fair goers to identify with the film subjects.
In support of her work Dr. Bregent-Heald received finding from the Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society at the Hagley Museum and Library. For more information, and more Hagley History Hangouts, visit us online at hagley.org.
To make a donation underwriting this program and others like it please visit our Eventbrite page.
Dr. Gregory A. Hargreaves
Assistant Director
Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society
Hagley Museum and Library
Call for Special Issue 2028 - Journal for the History of Knowledge [Announcement]
The Journal for the History of Knowledge features an annual special issue, compiled by guest editors, which explores atheme central to the journal’s scope. The special issues of previous years have been Histories of Bureaucratic Knowledge(2020), Histories of Ignorance (2021), Situated Nature (2022), Entangled Temporalities (2023), Mapping Uncertain Knowledge (2024), and Knowledge and Power: Projecting the Modern World (2025).
We are currently accepting proposals for the 2028 Special Issue. Proposals should contain the following:
- A description of the proposed theme (1500-2000 words) highlighting its significance for the history of knowledge
- A table of contents (typically 8-12 articles of 8000 words)
- Abstracts of the articles
- Two-page CVs of the editors; short biographies of the contributors
- An outline of the production process up to manuscript submission. All manuscripts must be submitted to thejournal by 1 May 2027.
Please send your proposal to: jhokj...@gmail.com
Proposal deadline: 1 May 2026
Notification of acceptance: by 15 July 2026
After submission, all manuscripts will go through a process of peer review, author’s revisions, and copy editing. JHoKis a diamond open access journal, at no charge to the authors. The journal will be available in print (on demand) at Brepols Publishers.
Details of the journal’s scope and a full list of the editorial team and advisory editorial board are available on the journal's website.
The 