Fitzroy Storm Glass: the Dawn of Modern Meteorology
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- Опубликовано: 19 май 2024
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Popularized in the 1860s by Vice Admiral Robert Fitzroy, the Storm Glass is a sealed glass tube filled with various solvents and solutes whose internal crystallization patterns were purported to be able to predict the weather. While it has since been proven useless for actual forecasting, the Storm Glass is nonetheless intimately tied to the earliest pioneering days of modern meteorology.
SOURCES:
www.weatherstationadvisor.com...
web.archive.org/web/200707050...
rammb.cira.colostate.edu/dev/...
cdn.ymaws.com/www.eps.org/res...
archive.org/details/bub_gb_qN...
web.archive.org/web/200410101...
web.archive.org/web/201412252...
www.bbc.com/news/magazine-324...
archive.org/details/s4philoso...
I love this channel because it's like halfway between technology connections and forgotten weapons
Great channels indeed.
I know forgotten weapons now I must go check out technology connections
Such a great description. I almost thought this was an offshoot of forgotten weapons at first.
Thats a perfect description of this channel. I hadnt been able to put it into words, but I've kinda been thinking the same thing.
Never a more perfect description has been levied.
I was accidentally watching RUclips shorts when I came across a man who claimed "very little is known" about how these Storm Glasses work and I knew right away that I needed to seek out someone else, lol.
Thanks for putting this together, keep up the good work.
100 bucks said we watched the exact same short and came here for the exact same reason :D
Me too! Shorts greatest benefit is prompting me to look up better, actually educational content
reminds me of the "weather rock" project we would make at boy scout camp. you would make a tripod of sticks and suspend a rock with rope, and then interpret it according to various instructions:
If the rock is wet, it's raining.
• If the rock is swinging, the wind is blowing.
• If the rock casts a shadow, the sun is shining.
• If the rock does not cast a shadow and is not wet, the sky is cloudy.
• If the rock is difficult to see, it is foggy.
• If the rock is white, it is snowing.
• If the rock is coated with ice, there is a frost.
• If the ice is thick, it's a heavy frost.
• If the rock is bouncing, there is an earthquake.
• If the rock is under water, there is a flood.
• If the rock is warm, it is sunny.
• If the rock is missing, there was a tornado.
• If the rock is wet and swinging violently, there is a hurricane.
• If the rock can be felt but not seen, it is night time
If the rock is oily wet and colored, sloppy painters are around....
If the rock has tire tracks, beware of reckless drivers...
If the rock is shattered, watch out for rock hammer welding rockhounds...
If the rock suddenly hits you in the head, beware of juvenile delinquents with slingshots....
Hey, the rock is like a Rohrshak test! ;*[}
If the rock is glowing: nuclear event in progress.
Great video. I always found it fascinating that people like writer Jules Verne _thought_ it worked. In his novel _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,_ serialized from 1869-1870, one of the instruments used by Captain Nemo on his submarine *Nautilus* is a Fitzroy Storm Glass.
I have one of these on my desk right now, it’s somewhat reliable for me about 70% of the time at best
I think Punxsutawney Phil is also about that accurate.
Ok, unrelated, but the percentage got my attention)
So, at 70%, it means that's better than the modern forecasts :)
I wonder what we use today that people will look back on in 150 years and say “well that was cute”
Excellent video as always
Thank you for covering this. I had just seen one at the toy shop and was thinking "there's no way that actually works because it can only react to temperature"
had a little antique one which hung on the wall in a wooden frame with an illustrated paper backing… would sometimes grow beautifully feathery crystals… had totally forgotten - thanks for reminding me!
The official US Boy Scout weather prediction tool is the Weather Rock. If the rock feels warm, it is sunny; cool it's cloudy. If wet, it's raining. It's hung from a chain and when the chain is horizontal it's (very) windy...you get the idea! 🙂
If the rock is white, it's snowing. If gone, tornado.
The one at Camp Fleischmann says if the rock is gone, Mt. Lassen has erupted. Interesting to know there are different interpretations for a missing rock depending on where the rock is supposed to be.
Bottom line, missing weather rock means bad things.
I say ask the Girl Scouts they go where the money is
I once tried to make my own storm-glass, but had had a thinko and filtered the solution before sealing, thus leaving the majority of the camphor unemployed and the storm-glass didn't work (who might have thunk?). The smell of camphor isn't pungent but rather annoying one, albeit I love it
I just found your video on the Fresnel Lens and immediately subsribed because I love interesting discussions about niche topics. And this newest video confirmed that I made the right choice. Amazing content.
You know the sea is rough when the damn thing falls over.
Glad you mentioned the Tempest Prognosticator, was going to say something about it myself! There is one in existence at the Whitby museum in the UK. Not the original, but built to the same plans, a truly wacky bit of kit.
I am worried about the leeches. Were they fed? If so, was feeding them the job of the footman, or the under parlour-maid? Are antique examples full of mummified leeches?
@@ClimateScepticSceptic-ub2rg I’m pretty sure any member of the working class would do for nourishment, children especially were quite affordable back in those days.
All good gilles on a side note "This thing of darkness" is a very good novel by harry thompson about fitroy who was by all accounts a decent bloke who was very unlucky with money and his health. The book covers his journey half way round the world with darwin and his meticulous experiments and charting. Im sure you and your subs will enjoy it
The changes in the stormglass are not only relevant to the *current temperature* , but also to the *speed of change of temperature* and *total change* .
Fast temperature drop will produce different looking crystals than slow drop. The mixture is basically tweaked to show a "battle" of three solutes and two solvents near their saturation points, where dynamic equlibrium is highly influenced by initial state and rate of change. However, as you correctly pointed out, this serves its purpose not better than just checking the thermometer and noting how fast the temperature is dropping and to what value. It's a nice looking thermoscope, nothing more, but it's really nice to observe and play with.
In the 90's My mom had one of these, she swore by it. I learned at a very young age that it was always wrong, but I was never really sure what it was doing. My mom kept in in the dark in the pantry and we were told not to move it. I suspected it was temperature. Thanks for the explanation.
More i follow this chanel more i get excited about new video. Always someting to learn. Thankyou for good content sir.
Please make a video on the military M-1950 stove. It has lots of stuff that you would like, such as legs and pot supports that flip out (it looks like a lunar lander), a wrench which clips onto it, a cleaning rod operated simply by turning the valve, and even a set of spare parts INSIDE the pump housing. It’s a really clever bit of engineering from Coleman - and you can even explore the several other companies that made it under license, which opens up whole avenues you can explore regarding the state of U. S. manufacturing and the supply chain back then.
legs _and_ pot supports? wow!
Just found your channel a little while ago and became a subscriber. I really love your content. Thank you very much !
As soon as I saw you and your backdrop, I knew I came to the right place for wisdom!
Well done, sir. I have a FitzRoy Storm Glass in my own Wunderkammer, and so took special note of your analysis & commentary. In fact, along with the published sources which you referenced, in the corresponding citation within my digital card catalogue (Libib) I've added a link to this video, so that future interested parties & users of the catalogue can easily find your engaging presentation. I'm a recent subscriber, BTW. Best wishes.
As a chemist I find this rather interesting, as anyone who works with oil paints can tell you temperature and humidity can pretty drastically affect the rate of reaction (oil paints don’t exactly “dry” they react with the air.) the open glasses might well have produced the effects of a wet bulb thermometer and a barometer but, well, confused and mixed together.
I had always wondered how the storm glass worked: or, it turns out, didn't.
As for the leech powered Prognosticator, it is like something out of a Terry Pratchett novel, created by his famous fictional inventor, the counterpart of Capability Brown, Bloody Stupid Johnson.
Actually, it reminds me more of the Death of Rats auditor detector. I think from Thief of Time or Hogfather.
It measures how malevolent the universe is by buttering many pieces of toast, throwing them into the air, and then counting how many land butter side down.
I'd like to see a story about Hail Cannons. This instrument is bewildering in it's use and success rate.
Saw a couple of original ones here in Australia, out at Charleville in Queensland.
Thank you. well delivered information.
I have one of those and if definitely changes with the weather but probably not in a predictable way?I would guess it is temperature that causes the change in the material within the storm glass.
In a roundabout way, this reminds me of the story of Peter Brock, a well respected Australian race car driver, who’s reputation was tarnished and took a long time to recover after he claimed that putting a crystal on the rear passenger shelf, made his car handle better and go faster.
Very interesting. Amazon has at least a dozen versions of this instrument from about 20 to $50. I will get one!
It measures the time derivative of temperature by looking at the appearance of the crystals. In other words, is the temperature going up or is the temperature going down, or not changing very quickly at all?
Oooooh, just what I needed to cheer up on this icky morning! 🎉😊🎉
Great video, Gilles...👍
So it's a 1800's lava lamp.
Fitzroy also has an area of the UK shipping forecast named after him. It's to the south of the "Sole" area on the map at 2:00 .
Thanks for the great content :)
Hearing about this device, I am wondering if they’re actually might be just a little bit more than it’s given credit for. Rather than just being a thermometer, it sounds like it might vary based on the rate of temperature change.
Once you see that, I’m wondering if it might be accurate a bit more than half the time, but only in the place that it was designed and tested in. Because the same rapid changes in temperature might signify the same weather coming on, but only for that area.
You got it correct. Initial state and rate of change is what is important with this complex mixture of substances. Fast cooling produces different crystals than slow cooling. It's a very peculiar thermoscope.
Great videos.
Downloaded the book, it's very informative, thanks! Ammonium chloride really produces these fern-like crystals, both from water and alcohol.
This looks cool!
fun prank/experiment, control the temperature of a storm glass to get the correct output as per weather predictions 😆
Might not be that difficult, either. A Peltier effect device on the bottom, and a small microcontroller to control it, and you can heat or cool the vessel as required.
Fun to watch as like those floaty temperature bulb things. Weather rock works too.
You mean the old cobalt chloride paper that changes color according to humidity? 😅
8:18 "The chances of the storm glass accurately predicting the weather were no greater than 50%. That is, no better than chance."
The idea that 50% probability corresponds to a chance outcome is completely wrong. For example, if I could predict the roll of a six-sided dice with 50% accuracy, that would be much better than chance, since random guessing would only be right one sixth (17%) of the time. Being able to predict the weather with 50% accuracy actually sounds pretty good, to me. There are many possible outcomes (sunny, cloudy, windy, snow, frost, thunder and probably a few more that I've forgotten), so being able to predict the right one of those 50% of the time is potentially much better than chance.
The one I have is round. It is a nice conversation piece.
Lots of people keep a jar of bear oil (renderings from bear fat) in a North window as a way to predict weather. Often seen in the north east and maritimes.
I have a couple of these Fitzroy glasses.
oh now you upload 1080 sorry about that, subscribed!
Great video. The RUclips channel Nighthawkinlight made a video showing how to make one of these in a canning jar.
A thermoscope sounds like a device from a 50s sci fi movie. "Activate the thermoscope!"
Where the Heck do you find these bizarre, obscure things?! Regards from the Left Coast of Canada 🇨🇦
can you cover the geophone on your channel one day? it's an interesting device that nobody outside of the field talks about.
"You know, medicine is not an exact science, but we are learning all the time. Why, just fifty years ago, they thought a disease like your daughter’s was caused by demonic possession or witchcraft. But nowadays we know that Isabelle is suffering from an imbalance of bodily humors, perhaps caused by a toad or a small dwarf living in her stomach."
Possibly the Storm Glass could be miniaturized and marketed as an early version the Mood Ring. The Tempest Prognosticator, not so much. I mean, ew.
The shape of the glass reminds me of my Galileo thermometer.
Fitzroy ended as the organizer of Meteorological Gala, later known as Metgala
I would colour one and keep it as a decoration.
Is that a Rolls Razor on the shelf next to the Fresnel lens and Dippy Bird?
The name "Fitzroy" would suggest he was an illegitimate child of the king.
My thought exactly. Or one of his ancestors, possibly.
Can you explain?
My grandfather had a device where a figure with or without an umbrella stood outside the house - it was supposed to tell what the weather would be like - but I don't remember how it was supposed to work.
Those are usually hygrometers.
The one I've seen had the figures suspended from a length of hair, which twists and relaxes slightly based on humidity.
Oooh interesting so its an analog 0 accuracy thermometer, primative temperature sensor, thingy? I might just have an idea, see i have hydroponic planters for my houseplants and i try to make em look nice. But you either can look into it and let light in and fight the algae (which isn't that bad) or close the tank and not be able to read the water level at a glance. I bet if i simply strap stormglasses to the side of the tanks I'll be able to read the shape of the crystals instead of looking at the water. And that would even look cool too.
Notification Squad! :D
"Tempest Prognosticator" sounds like an AI generated name for a D&D character.
Or possibly an exotic dancer.
Actually, a 1960's muscle car built by Pontiac.
I want the leach instrument now🐉
In the recipe, it's *potassium* nitrate! 'K' is the atomic sign for potassium.
YAYYYYYYYYYYYY
If you're testing more than one possible outcome shouldn't you have to get less than 50% in order for it to be as good as chance? Does that mean that this thing does work or did he misspeak or what?
Doesn't it rain in the UK like 360 days a year. Just assume it's gonna be overcast and rainy. You don't need any instruments.
Always suspected this is BS, the glass container means it’s not sensitive to changes in pressure or humidity, two of the most important meteorological measurements.
it's true that sailors take delight at the light of the evening. Meaning clear skies lie ahead. Same can be said for us land lubbers, Would give anything to behind the wheel of a sailboat or a ship. The sea... she's like the great star ocean over our heads. I'd love nothing other than to navigate both. The sea and the stars. What's out there?
A lot of water among other things....these days the ships are huge, and steering them is done by instruments - autopilot, compass, GPS, radar and at night human watch standers keeping an eye out....
But steering them manually takes some getting used to - they respond so slowly to the helm....you have to think way ahead and navigate in slow motion. Once that massive hull full of containers or oil or bulk grain or cruise passengers gets moving in any direction, it wants to keep going that way. It's really amazing to see an experienced AB or 3rd mate take the wheel and finesse that thousand-some foot floating metal behemoth through some traffic filled bay or canal...
And then there's sailboats, where you roll with every wave and any kind of inclement weather shakes you like dice in a jam-packed space where every change of location inside is a monkey bars balancing act, and topside can be a slippery wind howling ice water deluge, unless it's fair weather and night time bioluminescence outlines the bodies of dolphins and your boats wake...
either way the ocean is something to behold.
Can't speak for stellar navigation, never been...but seeing the images from solar system voyages and giant spatial spy eyes like Hubble, JWST and the rest, even the incredible time lapse videos from the ISS...one can imagine...
Saltpeter in ethanol seems like a very flammable mistake just waiting to happen
I'm reminded of a bit I saw years ago, about a very eccentric man in Montana who claimed to be able to predict the weather using baby food jars full of rendered bear fat. Apparently, cherry-picking experimental results predates divination using purified bear drippings. 🤣🤣🤣. Now I really want to see the weather predicting leeches...😵😵
FitzRoys sad end was probably brought on by a great deal of criticism while at his post involving forecasting weather, as well as his high-strung melancholic nature, meteorology being a maligned anc thankless job even today.😢
It resembles a modern day contraceptive device
You got 2 things wrong that I noticed. Firstly, if it had a probability of 50%, that means that it is not chance. If there were 2 states, then yes, 50% = chance. But there were multiple patterns described to correlate to multiple weather types. This would massively diminish the % accuracy if it were random. In other words, rolling 2 die and landing both on the same number 50% of the time is not random. Furthermore, you said that there is cold on the advancing front of a weather system. That is incorrect, it is hot. Cold air flows into hot air. Therefore the direction of movement will push hot air along. Behind the weather system is cold.
I wonder who took the time and trouble to develop that recipe. It wouldn't be a trivial exercise. Too bad it didn't work as intended!
Perhaps you might have added that Darwin was very distraught when he learned that Fitzroy had committed suicide. He used a razor on his throat. I don't write this for the gore, which YT loves, but to point out his terrible realisation that his lifelong intense belief in Creation was wrong. It also makes Darwin's 20-year delay in publishing more understandable. I am so pleased you don't ruin your videos with inane adverts. Very interesting video as always - Great Stuff. Buy you a pint ?
I'd like to order that leech machine, with leeches included of course.
Prognositicstor sounds like a torture device
Potassium nitrate.
This thing looks just like those devices attached to inverted conveyer belt that is used to make condoms by dipping these type of things in to a latex tub . Very similar looking device
Tempest Prognosticator = Steam Punk
The saying "red sky at night" doesn't have any weather relevance...it was in regards to seeing redlight districts as they approached ports after months at sea. "Red sky in morn...sailor fair warn...if you're still in the district at sun up, your ship likely already sailed. Regards.
Seems legit
(no seriously, makes sense)
@@stevengill1736 That's what I was told by my Captain on the Toronto Brigantine (T.S. Playfair, S.T.V. Pathfinder), way back in the 1990's.
In Britain, it's usually shepherds, not sailors, who delight in red skies at night. :-)
50% huh? So the storm class is about as good at predicting the weather as modern meteorologists.
Testing a theory by trying to prove it wrong is real science.
Pity it seems to have been abandoned by so may "scientists" today.
I don't see how an accuracy of 50% is the same as guessing it by chance in this context, since there is a high number of possible weather outcomes it can show. It's like saying that you have a 50% chance to guess the lottery since you are either right or wrong, but that's not how probability works...
Sorry for being picky about it, love your videos otherwise.
this only works by changing the temperature! it has no practical value in forecasting the weather!
It sounded like potassium to me
So the inventor was lost to history too huh
Thermometers are basically just sealed up barometers…
LEECHES
Unfortunately Firtzroy committeed suicide following extensive criticizm of his inaccurate weather predictions. Trolls have existed throughout history and contributed nothing by way of advancement of humanity.
I unliked my own comment
I liked my own reply
I disliked it and reported is as spam.
I liked and subscribed.
@@dogcarman I disliked your reply and took the liberty to counter-report🫡
So you were partaking in "self care"? 😂🎉
Red sky at night? There's an E.V. alight. Red sky in the morning? It's still burning.
Less accurate than the 'Weather Predicting Rock on a Rope'...
They definitely could have made the leech thing cheaper tho, probably some "political" bs tbh...
Enough with the arcane language and descriptions just tell us how it works. You have a great channel but this is seriously off-putting. Pointing us towards the historical descriptions will be far away enough. Incase you are wondering, I actually stopped the video half way to write this trope
Dude, you story telling needs a lot of practice.
It’s POTASSIUM nitrate, not calcium nitrate. Know your elements bro!
I AM definitely saying potassium nitrate; the microphone must not have picked up the "P" properly.
@@CanadianMacGyver I heard potassium nitrate watching the video with a desktop and very large, good speakers.
3:49 He definitely says Potassium Nitrate. He also spells it out on the screen. Stop trolling, Bro!
Hope you are not a compounding pharmacist or something equally deadly. Bro.
Near the start of the video you used "they" to refer to a single person. You should be stripped of your bow tie.
And perhaps you should read more Shakespeare who used it the same.
@@lauxmyth Shakespeare wrote during a time when English was substantially different from its modern form. He or she refers to one person. They refers to more than one. Anything else is simply incorrect.
No Shakespeare did not.@@lauxmyth
@@apu_apustaja I and others feel language does drift and change over time. Grammar like spelling needs to be seen as descriptive of how people really use the word over pure commanded edict. Often 'they' is used in the singular when the gender of the single person is not known. This is how the inventor of the Fitzroy Storm Glass was used above. I will grant I tossed off the first reply without looking up a reference. Having now found a few from Shakespeare and Chaucer, I am comfortable with this usage and literary support.
Also, it has nothing to do with the style choice to wear a bow tie.
Pretty crazy stance you have on the isreal palestine conflict. You really believe that Our Own Devices?