Ancient Thinkers
Who proposed that water was the fundamental principle of everything?
Thales
What do we call the movement of air?
Wind
What is the title of Aristotle’s famous work on meteorology?
Meteorologica
What instrument measures atmospheric temperature?
Thermometer
What early device invented by Galileo showed temperature changes but did not have a standardized numerical scale?
Thermoscope
Who proposed that everything originated from the theory of apeiron, or the opposites?
Anaximander
Anaxagoras explained the formation or origin of___?
Hail
What were the two types of exhalation in Aristotle’s explanation of weather?
Wet or moist exhalation and hot or dry exhalation.
What instrument measures atmospheric pressure?
Which scientist developed a widely used mercury thermometer and the Fahrenheit temperature scale?
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit
Which Greek thinker believed that air was the fundamental substance of everything?
Anaximenes
Babylonian Civilization observed that weather has______ and not just merely a gift from Gods.
patterns
According to Aristotle’s theory, which type of exhalation was responsible for clouds and rain?
Wet or moist exhalation.
What instrument measures the moisture content of the air (humidity)?
Hygrometer
Water freezes at 0°C. What is this temperature in Fahrenheit?
32°F
Which philosopher proposed that matter consisted of atoms moving through empty space?
Democritus
What was the name of the wind that causes the flood of the Nile River according to Thales?
Etesian Winds
What was one major weakness of Aristotle’s approach to explaining weather?
He often relied on his deductive reasoning to prove his theories.
What instrument measures wind speed?
Anemometer
A thermometer reads 25°C. Convert this temperature to Fahrenheit.
77°F
Which Greek philosopher explained matter through the interaction of four elements: earth, water, air, and fire?
Empedocles
Democritus used the difference in the arrival times of lightning and thunder to explain that they occur together. Which one did he believe people perceived first?
Lightning, because sight is faster than hearing.
Why is Aristotle’s Meteorologica historically important even though many of its explanations were incorrect?
It was one of the earliest comprehensive, systematic attempts to explain atmospheric and weather phenomena and influenced Western thought for more than 2,000 years.
Why did the invention of instruments such as thermometers and barometers mark an important turning point in meteorology?
They made it possible to measure atmospheric conditions quantitatively instead of relying only on observation and speculation.
A thermometer records a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. Convert this temperature to Kelvin.
298.15 K