Lightning and thunder explanations in encyclopedias – from ancient Greece to WIKIPEDIA

Abstract. After a brief introduction to encyclopedias, the explanation of lightning and thunder is examined in well-known encyclopedias from Greek philosophers to modern physics. Starting with Aristotle (who is not regarded as encyclopedist, but very important for our topic), ten out of more than two hundred known encyclopedias are treated in some detail. This selection is certainly somewhat arbitrary, but it was attempted to choose encyclopedias which are highlights and were widely circulated at their time. In antiquity and during the Middle Ages the explanations of thunderstorms were generally wrong, for instance explaining lightning as a consequence of thunder. Besides, strange and often weird effects of lightning were reported. Many authors of those times used explanations of former encyclopedias sometime referring to earlier authors, often just plagiarizing. These wrong and strange ideas persisted for almost two millennia in encyclopedias. From the middle of the 18th century onward physical explanations begin to emerge which are still valid today. More and more correct details of lightning and thunder and the results of experiments are reported in encyclopedias. It is also attempted in this manuscript to name insights of other scientists which the authors of contemporary encyclopedias do not mention, but which should have been available at that times. Finally, it is stated that even today not all details of thunderstorms are well understood.