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. Dep ...

s (being among the first to propose that hurricanes are large circular vortexes ( John Farrar 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 Wilderne ...

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 Mount ...

was named in his honor by

Verplanck Colvin Verplanck Colvin (January 4, 1847 – May 28, 1920) was a lawyer, author, illustrator and topographical engineer whose understanding and appreciation for the environment of the Adirondack Mountains led to the creation of New York's Forest Preserve ...

. 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, a ...

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