Weather foreasting and the development of meteorological theory at the Paris Observatory, 1853–1878

Summary Summary This paper makes a study of the meteorological work of the Paris Observatory in the middle years of the nineteenth century. Starting with an introduction to the state of meteorological theory in France and abroad up to 1850, the account begins after the Brussels Conference of 1853 when Leverrier was appointed director of France's most prestigious astronomical establishment. Comparison is made between French and British practice in the two storm warning systems which began in the 1860s, together with an account of their cooperation and rivalry, and their separate crises and periods of suspension. A particular interest of this paper is the contribution by French professional meteorologists, highly trained in mathematics and science at the École Normale Supérieure, to the development of theories relating to the general circulation of the atmosphere.