Johann Jakob d'Annone (12 July 1728 – 18 September 1804) was a Swiss educator, scientist and lawyer. He graduated in philosophy and law from the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

in 1752. After initial appointments teaching

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

and

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

(especially

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

) (1759–60), he was named professor of

eloquence Eloquence (from French language, French ''eloquence'' from Latin ''eloquentia'') is the quality of speech or writing that is marked by fluency, elegancy, and persuasiveness. It is also defined as one of the aims of formal oratory and, in this ...

in 1766 and professor of law in 1779. D'Annone served as rector of the University of Basel in 1782–83 and 1794–95, and was elected cean of the faculty of law on eight occasions. From 1774 he acted as legal adviser to the City of Basel. He was an authority on

antiquities Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean such as the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt, and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures such as Ancient Persia (Iran). Artifact ...

and Roman artefacts. He also assembled important collections of fossils, minerals and coins, and founded a library of some 10,000 volumes.

Meteorological observations

From 5 June 1755 until shortly before his death, D'Annone kept one of Switzerland's longest continuous instrumental

meteorological Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agriculture ...

series under his own name. Measurements were made at his residence at Heuberg 16 in Basel (280 metres asl) three times each day, originally at 07:00, 14:00 and 20:00 (Basel hours; later adjusted to 07:00, 15:00 and 19:00). During the summers of 1761, 1765 and 1784 he recorded data at nearby

Muttenz Muttenz is a municipality with a population of approximately 17,000 in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. It is located in the district of Arlesheim and next to the city of Basel. History Under the Roman Empire a hamlet called Montet ...

and

Pratteln Pratteln (Swiss German: ''Brattele'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland, located in the district of Liestal. History Pratteln is first mentioned around 1102-03 as ''Bratello''. Geography Pratteln has an area, ...

before returning to Basel. He back-filled his series to 1 January 1755 by transcribing observations made by (1707–1776). Temperature was read on a Micheli Du Crest spirit-in-glass thermometer (11 Parisian-line bulb) and atmospheric pressure with a "good barometer" calibrated in Parisian inches (1.75-line bore). His meticulous manuscript notebooks (an April 1757 folio is preserved in the University Library of Basel) provided the data later concatenated into the long Basel series used by Bider and Schüepp (1958) and modern climate reconstructions.

Legacy

D’Annone's subdaily records form the first 50 years of the Basel instrumental series (1755–1804), now

digitized Digitization is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-readable) format.Collins Dictionary. (n.d.). Definition of 'digitize'. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english ...

MeteoSwiss MeteoSwiss, officially the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, is an office of the federal administration of Switzerland. It employs 290 people at locations in Zurich, Zurich Airport, Geneva, Locarno and Payerne. History Originally ...

and incorporated into global climate databases. His work remains a cornerstone for studies of pre-industrial climate variability in Switzerland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:d'Annone, Johann Jakob 1728 births 1804 deaths Academic staff of the University of Basel Swiss meteorologists Swiss mineralogists Swiss numismatists