The many faces of meteorology: weather knowledge at the Société Royale de Médecine in the French Enlightenment

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• Valentine Delrue (Ghent University & Ca' Foscari University)
• Monday 15 May 2023, 13:00-14:00
• Seminar Room 1, Department of History and Philosophy of Science.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Silvia M. Marchiori.

In the eighteenth century, meteorology was a site of lively debate and discussion as multiple visions of weather knowledge were proposed. Despite this diversity in meteorological conceptions and methods, however, individuals and institutions involved in creating weather knowledge often shared the goal of managing living bodies. Therefore, to better understand the disciplinary dynamics of meteorology in this context, Valentine Delrue will look at different (bio-political) projects that aimed to advance meteorological knowledge. Through an analysis of their development, exchanges, and debates, Valentine aims to understand the different conceptions of meteorology that lie at the heart of these various undertakings. Perhaps the most well-known of these French projects was the network of meteorological correspondents of the Société Royale de Médecine (1778–1793). This network was managed by the priest and meteorologist Louis Cotte (1740–1815), who himself had been appointed by the permanent secretary of the Société Royale de Médecine, Félix Vicq d’Azyr (1748–1794). The network’s general aim was to improve the understanding and management of diseases across France by collecting and analyzing observations sent every three months by medical correspondents. While on the surface level, Cotte’s ambitions might have lined up with those of the Société and correspondents, their different ways of observing reveal telling differences in how they related to meteorology as a developing discipline.

This talk is part of the Cabinet of Natural History series.

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