Home
Resource
Measuring the face of the sky
PDF
PDF format is widely accepted and good for printing.
Plug-in required
PDF-1(37.35 MB)
Citation & Export
View Usage Statistics
Staff View

Citation & Export
Hide

Simple citation

Grossman, Sara. Measuring the face of the sky. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T39P340K

Export

Click here for information about Citation Management Tools at Rutgers.

Statistics
Hide

Description

TitleMeasuring the face of the sky
NameGrossman, Sara (author); Maher, Neil (chair); Cortes, Jason (internal member); Snyder, Robert (internal member); Esperdy, Gabrielle (outside member); Rutgers University; Graduate School - Newark
Date Created2016
Other Date2016-10 (degree)
SubjectAmerican Studies, Meteorology--United States--History, Meteorological satellites--United States
Extent1 online resource (ix, 295 p. : ill.)
DescriptionThis dissertation is a cultural history of weather data that charts the evolution of data collection and visualization practices from the 1847 Smithsonian Institution Meteorological Project to NASA's 2012 GOES-14 satellite. While the history of meteorological science has tended to approach the rise of standard data practices through a study of institutional or government-centered histories, this dissertation positions volunteer, amateur, and cooperative practices at the center of data-making rather than at its edge. The first two chapters analyze data collection and visualization practices from 1800-1870, arguing that popular modes of weather data collection and visualization began by employing the sensing body as the first instrument of data labor. The remaining three chapters chart how data practice strategically moved away from local networks of touch to global and semi-galactic collection, transmission, and visualization modes. Rooted in historical archival practice as well as traditional literary methodologies, this dissertation bridges methodological and topical gaps between new media studies and environmental history by analyzing a popular genealogy of environmental data in the United States. Taking data as a form of culture, this project finally argues that we should study weather data as a cultural practice not to deconstruct the veracity of data, but rather to make full sense of the ways humans are implicated in weather and climate systems, from modes of measurement to the release of greenhouse gases.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Noteby Sara Grossman
Genretheses, ETD doctoral
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T39P340K
Languageeng
CollectionGraduate School - Newark Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
Version 8.5.5
Rutgers University Libraries - Copyright ©2024