![PSM V50 D012 William C Redfield](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/PSM_V50_D012_William_C_Redfield.jpg)
William C. Redfield (March 26, 1789 – February 12, 1857) was an American
meteorologist
A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...
. He was the first president of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
(1848).
Redfield is known in meteorology for his observation of the directionality of winds in
hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
s (being among the first to propose that hurricanes are large circular vortexes (
John Farrar
John Clifford Farrar ( ; born 8 November 1946) is an Australian music producer, songwriter, arranger, singer, and guitarist. As a musician, Farrar is a former member of several rock and roll groups including The Mustangs (1963–64), The Stra ...
had made similar observations six years earlier), though his interests were varied and influential.
Redfield organized and was a member of the first expedition to
Mount Marcy
Mount Marcy (Mohawk: ''Tewawe’éstha'') is the highest point in New York, with an elevation of . It is located in the Town of Keene in Essex County. The mountain is in the heart of the Adirondack High Peaks region of the High Peaks Wildern ...
in 1837; he was the first to guess that Marcy was the highest peak in the Adirondacks, and therefore in New York.
Mount Redfield
Mount Redfield is a mountain located in Essex County, New York.
The mountain is part of the Marcy Group of the Great Range of the Adirondack Mountains.
Mount Redfield is flanked to the northwest by Cliff Mountain, and to the northeast by Moun ...
was named in his honor by
Verplanck Colvin
Verplanck Colvin (January 4, 1847 – May 28, 1920) was a lawyer, author, illustrator and topographical
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features t ...
. He was elected a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1844 and an Associate Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
in 1845.
At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in 1854, Redfield mentioned a storm-path in which no less than seventy odd vessels had been wrecked, dismasted, or damaged.
[Maury's p. 66]
__NOTOC__
Notes
References
* Moore, Peter (2015), "The Weather Experiment, the pioneers who sought to see the future", New York,
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...
,
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redfield, William Charles
1789 births
1857 deaths
American meteorologists
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
People from Middletown, Connecticut