Thunder and Early Scientific Theory

Thunder and Early Scientific Theory

It lends its name to one of the most common weather phenomenon on

Earth -- the thunderstorm -- and its associated elements: the

thunderhead, thunder cloud, thunder bolt, thundershower and thunder

clap. Early humans believed thunder came from the deities -- the voice and

expression of their god(s). The roster of thunder gods includes: Thor

of the Scandinavians, Donar of the Germans, Zeus of the Greeks,

Jupiter of the Romans, Taranis of the Celts, Perkunis of the Slavs,

Indra of the Indians and Shango of the Nigerian Yoruba. Each is know

to throw thunderbolts or bundles of lightning at the earth while their

voices reverberates across the heavens.

Many early cultures believed thunder was an omen. For example, the

Greeks thought thunder on the right was a good omen; however, the

Romans regarded thunder on the left as favourable. Both agreed that

thunder in the east was more favourable than thunder in the west --

perhaps because, since weather generally moves from west to east,

thunder to the east means the tempest has passed.

Various other cultures recognize a thunderbird as responsible for

thunder and lightning. The power of the thunderbird is frequently

found in the legends of native American nations and African tribes.

For example, the Bantu of south Africa believed that thunder resulted

from the beating of the wings of Umpundulo as the bird dove toward the

earth.

Early Scientific Theory

Eventually, people began to realize that thunder (and lightning) had

natural causes that could be explained through observation and logical

deduction. The earliest know scientific theories of thunde...

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a very high temperature, and has its volume, moreover, considerably

increased. The column of gas thus suddenly heated and expanded is

sometimes several miles long, and as the duration of the flash is not

even a millionth of a second, it follows that the noise burst forth at

once from the whole column, though for a observer in any one place it

commences where the lightning is at the least distance....the

beginning of the thunderclap gives us the minimum distance of the

lightning, and the length of the thunder clap gives us the length of

the column."

Here at last we have a nearly complete answer to the thunder riddle

(although the duration of a lightning flash is longer than a millionth

of a second). Atmospheric studies in the twentieth century would

broaden Hirn's work into the true nature of thunder.