British weather and the climate of enlightenment / Jan Golinski.

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2007.

xv, 284 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Includes bibliographical references (p. [241]-268) and index.

Experiencing the weather in 1703 -- The "exquisite atmography" and its author -- The atmosphere and the earth -- Clouds in the head -- Public weather and the culture of enlightenment -- The great storm in public debate -- Providence and the British climate -- Conversation and weather lore -- Recording and forecasting -- The discipline of the diary -- The calendar and the seasons -- Forecasting by the heavens -- Barometers of enlightenment -- The genealogy of weather instruments -- The instrument trade and consumers -- Interpreting the "oraculous glasses" -- Sensibility and climatic pathology -- The hippocratic revival -- Aerial sensitivity and social change -- The politics of atmospheric reform -- Climate and civilization -- The enlightenment debate on climate -- Medicine and the colonial situation -- America: climate and destiny -- Conclusion: the science of weather.