History of Geo- and Space Sciences
History of Geo- and Space Sciences
History of Geo- and Space Sciences
Articles | Volume 17, issue 1
Articles | Volume 17, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-17-37-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-17-37-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 17, issue 1
Article
 | 
02 Apr 2026
Article |  | 02 Apr 2026

A 300-year history of understanding and classifying clouds, from a German language perspective

Peter Winkler

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Short summary
Before the Enlightenment, clouds were described phenomenologically. The vacuum pump’s invention enabled the formation of mist droplets by experiment, prompting questions about why clouds float. Around 1800, early proposals for cloud classification emerged. However, it wasn’t until manned balloon ascents provided detailed atmospheric data that the physical basis of cloud formation became clear, even though accurately depicting clouds in atlases remained challenging for some decades.
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