Since the "Ballot Box" seems to have been infected with the meme saying Reid Bryson (who made a name for himself ranting against Al Gore, a couple months ago) is the "father of climatology," I thought a little reality check was warranted:

The first time Reid Bryson was ever referred to in print as the father of anything related to climatology was less than two months ago, in May 2007, in the Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News -- effectively, a power industry house paper. It quotes one of his former students, Joseph Moran, who says his old teacher was “the father of the science of modern climatology.”

Then, a May 28, 2007 article in the "New American" embellished this, when making reference to the Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News piece, and referred to Bryson as "the father of modern climatology." The "New American," in case you're unfamiliar with the workings of the conservative media, is the paper of the extreme right-wing organization, the John Birch Society.

Then, on June 18, 2007, an article in Bryson's home town newspaper called him "the father of scientific climatology" (it's unclear what non-scientific climatology would entail). Since the right-wingers are desperate for any experts who will push an anti-Gore message, Reid Bryson's rant was quickly plucked from the obscurity and given national attention, in conservative media outlets. A few days later, Investors Business Daily ran with it, and it's been disseminated by dittoheads ever since.

After plenty of research, I could find no reference to Reid Bryson as any kind of father of climatology predating just two months ago. However, I did find earlier references to both the "Father of Climatology" (Dr. Helmut Landsberg), and "The Father of Modern Climatology" (Alexander von Humboldt) in older news stories, dating back years.

I also used Amazon.com's "Search Inside" feature, and a search of "Google Books," to see who had been called "the father of climatology" and "the father of modern climatology" in their huge archives of searchable books. No reference is made to Bryson as climatology's father in any of these sources. However, the title is ascribed to "H.H. Lamb" (who also gets that title in a number of scientific discussion archives), and Von Humboldt, along with Alexsander Voeikov. Meanwhile, "the father of American Climatology" is apparently Lorin Bloget.

As a comparison of relative fame, Reid Bryson's Wikipedia entry was created in May of this year (shortly after his rant against Gore got him noticed), and is four lines long. Landsberg's Wikipedia entry is a couple pages long and was created in the first half of 2006. Von Humboldt's is twelve pages long and dates to 2002.

In light of this course of events, I have some advice for any aging scientist mourning his lackluster legacy: Attack Al Gore. If that strategy can let an obscure retired meteorology professor like Reid Bryson win such an impressive title off giants like Landsberg and Von Humboldt, who knows what it may do for you! All you have to do is get some former student to talk you up to an industry rag, then wait for that to be embellished by some extreme right-wing propaganda outlet with a political axe to grind, and within a couple months every gullible halfwit on the Internet will be repeating your new title as if it had some real basis.

A quick google check of the "scientists" quoted by those who deny global warming, will usually turn up someone who is nothing but a lobbyist for the energy corporations who has declared himself an "expert" and a "scientist.

608-262-5814 tel
608-263-4190 fax
rabryson@facstaff.wisc.edu

Reid Bryson received his B.A. degree in geology at Denison University in 1941, and his Ph.D. in meteorology at the University of Chicago in 1948. He joined the faculty of the UW-Madison in 1946 at the end of his military service as a major in the Air Weather Service of the U.S. Arny Air Corps. His first appointment was in the Departments of Geography and Geology (in which he had been a graduate student before World War II).

In 1948, he became the founding chairman of the Department of Meteorology, which has since become the largest and one of the most prestigious meteorology departments in the nation. During the late 1960's, he was active in the university's Interdisciplinary Studies Committee on the Future of Man and in subsequent committees that led to the establishment of the Institute for Environmental Studies, of which he became the first director in 1970.

Over his long career as scientist and teacher, Reid Bryson has significantly advanced the understanding of climate, people, and the environment. He has written more than 200 articles and five books ranging over the fields of geology, limnology, meteorology, climatology, archeology, and geography.

His book, Climates of Hunger, co-authored with Thomas Murray, received the Banta Medal for Literary Achievement, one his articles, a mixture of poetry and science, was chosen as the "outstanding learned article of 1981" by the Educational Press Association, and two papers in Environmental Conservation were awarded prizes for "best paper of the year."

Much of Bryson's work has dealt with climate in relation to human ecology, and this has lead him into extensive travel, especially 26 trips to Asia where he worked primarily on anthropogenic changes of climate and landscape in general. The most obvious result of this work is seen in the introduction of pen-feeding of goats in Rajasthan, which he suggested in the mid-1960s and is now widespread and effective. Other work was on agricultural long-range forecasting of climate, especially the Indian monsoon. His best known laboratory works are in development of new approaches to climatology, such as airstream analysis and quantitative, objective methods of reconstructing past climates. He has also developed computer models of climate: the past history of the monsoon in Rajasthan, model simulation of Pleistocene ice-volume and Pleistocene climatic history. He recently published a model simulation of the West African Intertropical Convergence position and rainfall for the past 20-40 millennia, and has now extended that work on high-resolution climate modeling to specific archaeological sites and in montane regions. He is also working on three books.


Though born in Michigan in 1920, he regards Wisconsin as his home state, his profession as teaching, and his field as interdisciplinary earth science with a strong humanistic component.

Additional notes of interest

• 30th PhD in Meteorology in the history of American education.
  
  
• Most cited climatologist in the world according to British Institute of Geographers article, 5th most cited physical geographer and 11th in list of all geographers.
  
  
• Over 230 publications, 5 books
  
  
• Dr. Reid Bryson's volcanic eruptions and aerosol optical depth data has been added to the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology in Boulder, Colorado. The data is available at
  
  ftp://ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/­climate_forcing/bryson1988.
  
  The suggested citation for the data is:
  
  Bryson, R.A., 2002, Bryson 1988 Volcanic Eruptions and Aerosol Optical Depth Data. IGBP PAGES/World Data Center for Paleoclimatology Data Contribution Series #2002-022. NOAA/NGDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder, CO, USA.

For more information on Reid Bryson's current research in the field of Archaeoclimatology please click here.

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Anyway, who the hell is this guy? He is nothing. Not even worth mentionning. I am sure Arkady would have no problem showing his vita and proving how much more he knows about climatology. Go ahead, my friend.

before you diatribe:

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From 2003, where he is referred to as the father of Scientific Climentology. You'll also note it says he was one of the founding members of the largest and most prestigious Meteorlogical University Departments in the nation.

JP

Sorry to ruin your premise.

that "father" tag is pretty rich, even for them.

as the flat earther above me here points out, (though I've yet to validate it all) he does have some credentials, but so what? I wonder how many on the other side, as the author here makes a limited case for, have better.

Just more mud in the water, which will soon settle to the bottom I'm sure.

This is just a step up from their last effort, which was "it's ALL the suns fault!" of I recall correctly

and it took me at least 2 minutes to find that on google.

JP

Don't fault dave. Them folks in arkansas still think the Inter-net is that whats inside of your swim trunks.

Maybe that's why he's the father of "it", because no one else even knows what it is...

And you must be Isaac Einstein - the man who has the genius of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein? Correct?

Anyway, guys like keep telling us that all the best scientists support the global warming theory - and, therefore, you need not to know the actual arguments in support of it. Of course, this position is more difficult to defend once actual famous scientists go on record saying they do not believe the grlobal warming theory. What else is left for you - except personal insults? It's not like you can surprise us with good education or anything like that, correct?

prestigous Meteorlogical Departments in the nation. What a hack...

JP

By the by, what is Algore's degree in?

I am "Considered by many" to be the smartest, most handsomest person on Earth.

Good. Now engage your brain.

I'm not claiming the guy's a myth. That's what is known as a "straw man" attack. You felt too intimidated by my actual argument to try to refute it, so instead you invented a new, more-easily-refuted, argument, attributed it to me, and then struck it down.

My real argument (should you find your testicles and wish to address it) is that his "father of climatology" title is a recently-coined one, bestowed by one of his students two months ago and then propagated dutifully by the conservative noise machine. Prior to Bryson's anti-Gore rant, nobody ever referred to him as the father of climatology, and, in fact, that title is far more commonly bestowed on Landsberg and Von Humboldt, among others.

Here, maybe I can put it more simply for you:

What if I said, "Stanley Kutler is known as the father of modern history" or "the father of history"? Assuming you have some sort of education, you'd rightly point out that this is silly. Herodutus is pretty much universally considered the father of history. Several truly legendary historians have been given the title of the father of modern history, prominently, including Thucydides, Guicciardini, and de Commines. Now, if I turn around and counter your critique by giving you a layout of Stanley Kutler's accomplishments, as emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, as if that were some sort of counter-argument, won't I look like some sort of imbecile who doesn't know how to read?

And you must be Isaac Einstein - the man who has the genius of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein? Correct?

>>>>>>.and all your BS won't change that. It's just that in your world the feet attached to those shoulders apparently are planted on a plane, and in mine, a very large sphere.

Anyway, guys like keep telling us that all the best scientists support the global warming theory - and, therefore, you need not to know the actual arguments in support of it. Of course, this position is more difficult to defend once actual famous scientists go on record saying they do not believe the grlobal warming theory. What else is left for you - except personal insults? It's not like you can surprise us with good education or anything like that, correct?

>>>>>>>I've­ been studying and debating this issue for years flat earther, and all your BS won't change that either. The only knowledge you've demonstrated so far is the ability to C&P a stinking resume.

Wow, I'm really impressed with your talents.

I haven't looked at your new "star" and his work, to make any "educated" determinations as to what merit it does or doesn't have. His lone "opinion" is hardly a GW ender in any case, except to the flat earth crowd.

now run along

the grandfather of climatology?

1941: Dr. Helmut Landsberg, "the Father of Climatology," writes the first edition of his elementary textbook entitled, "Physical Climatology." Two women are listed as observer and forecaster in the Weather Bureau.

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Good job.

If you'll reread what I wrote, you'll see that not only did I do research, but I specifically mentioned some of the sources I used. If English isn't your first language, I can try translating what I wrote into something you can follow more easily.

As I mentioned, he hadn't had the title "in print," prior to May 2007. That was according to a full search of the Nexis news database. I also tried Google books, Google forums, Google news, and Amazon's "search inside." Prior to his Gore comments, he was never referred to as the father of climatology in any of those sources, as I said. Of course, given the huge number of Google hits for the guy that have come up since he swiped at Gore (34,100), I wasn't going to wade through all of them to see if any had a reference datable to before 2007. I sampled a few of them, and they all referred directly or indirectly to the May 2007 piece.

I missed the School of Mines page. I appreciate you bringing it to my attention. Assuming it hasn't been altered since 2003, then it at least back-dates his claim on that title by a couple years. But if that's the only other use of the title, it's the exception which proves the rule. It's not a book or a news article, it's just a web page of relatively recent vintage.