Editing Meteorology (section)

===Ancient meteorology up to the time of Aristotle===
[[File:AlpineRainbow.jpg|thumb|[[Parhelion|Parhelion (sundog)]] in [[Savoie]]]]

Early attempts at predicting weather were often related to prophecy and [[divining]], and were sometimes based on astrological ideas. [[History of religion#Origin|Ancient religions]] believed meteorological phenomena to be under the control of the gods.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Frisinge |first=H. Howard |title=The History of Meteorology: to 1800 |publisher=[[American Meteorological Society]] |year=1983 |isbn=978-1-940033-91-4 |pages=1}}</ref> The ability to predict [[rain]]s and [[flood]]s based on annual cycles was evidently used by humans at least from the time of agricultural settlement if not earlier. Early approaches to predicting weather were based on [[astrology]] and were practiced by priests. The [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]] had [[Rainmaking (ritual)|rain-making rituals]] as early as 3500 BC.<ref name=":1" /> 

Ancient Indian [[Upanishads]] contain mentions of clouds and [[season]]s.<ref name="imd">{{cite web|url=http://www.imd.gov.in/doc/history/history.htm |title=History of Meteorology in India |publisher=Imd.gov.in |access-date=25 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330125208/http://www.imd.gov.in/doc/history/history.htm |archive-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref> The Samaveda mentions sacrifices to be performed when certain phenomena were noticed.<ref name=":0" /> [[Varāhamihira]]'s classical work ''Brihatsamhita'', written about 500 AD,<ref name="imd" /> provides evidence of weather observation.

[[Cuneiform]] inscriptions on [[Babylon]]ian tablets included associations between thunder and rain. The [[Babylon|Chaldean]]s differentiated the [[22° halo|22°]] and [[46° halo]]s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Hellmann|first=G.|date=1 October 1908|title=The dawn of meteorology|journal=Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society|language=en|volume=34|issue=148|pages=221–232|doi=10.1002/qj.49703414802|issn=1477-870X|bibcode=1908QJRMS..34..221H}}</ref>

The [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] were the first to make theories about the weather. Many [[Natural philosophy|natural philosophers]] studied the weather. However, as [[Meteorological instrumentation|meteorological instruments]] did not exist, the inquiry was largely qualitative, and could only be judged by more general theoretical speculations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frisinge |first=H. Howard |title=The History of Meteorology: to 1800 |publisher=[[American Meteorological Society]] |year=1983 |isbn=978-1-940033-91-4 |pages=8}}</ref> [[Herodotus]] states that [[Thales of Miletus|Thales]] predicted the [[solar eclipse]] of 585 BC. He studied Babylonian equinox tables.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frisinge |first=H. Howard |title=The History of Meteorology: to 1800 |publisher=[[American Meteorological Society]] |year=1983 |isbn=978-1-940033-91-4 |pages=11}}</ref> According to Seneca, he explained that the cause of the [[Nile]]'s annual floods was due to northerly winds hindering its descent by the sea.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frisinge |first=H. Howard |title=The History of Meteorology: to 1800 |publisher=[[American Meteorological Society]] |year=1983 |isbn=978-1-940033-91-4 |pages=4}}</ref> [[Anaximander]] and [[Anaximenes of Miletus|Anaximenes]] thought that thunder and lightning was caused by air smashing against the cloud, thus kindling the flame. Early meteorological theories generally considered that there was a fire-like substance in the atmosphere. Anaximander defined wind as a flowing of air, but this was not generally accepted for centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frisinge |first=H. Howard |title=The History of Meteorology: to 1800 |publisher=[[American Meteorological Society]] |year=1983 |isbn=978-1-940033-91-4 |pages=5}}</ref> A theory to explain summer hail was first proposed by [[Anaxagoras]]. He observed that air temperature decreased with increasing height and that clouds contain moisture. He also noted that heat caused objects to rise, and therefore the heat on a summer day would drive clouds to an altitude where the moisture would freeze.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frisinge |first=H. Howard |title=The History of Meteorology: to 1800 |publisher=[[American Meteorological Society]] |year=1983 |isbn=978-1-940033-91-4 |pages=6}}</ref> [[Empedocles]] theorized on the change of the seasons. He believed that fire and water opposed each other in the atmosphere, and when fire gained the upper hand, the result was summer, and when water did, it was winter. [[Democritus]] also wrote about the flooding of the Nile. He said that snow in northern parts of the world melted during the summer solstice. This would cause vapors to form clouds, which would cause storms when driven to the Nile by northerly winds, thus filling the lakes and the Nile.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frisinge |first=H. Howard |title=The History of Meteorology: to 1800 |publisher=[[American Meteorological Society]] |year=1983 |isbn=978-1-940033-91-4 |pages=8}}</ref> [[Hippocrates]] inquired into the effect of weather on health. [[Eudoxus of Cnidus|Eudoxus]] claimed that bad weather followed four-year periods, according to Pliny.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frisinge |first=H. Howard |title=The History of Meteorology: to 1800 |publisher=[[American Meteorological Society]] |year=1983 |isbn=978-1-940033-91-4 |pages=9–10}}</ref>