See also: Howard

Luke Howard (November 28th 1772 - March 21st 1864), British Pharmacist of its state, became by its broad interests for the Science, a Meteorologist of reputation. Its durable contribution to Science is a system of nomenclature for the clouds, which he proposed in a presentation in 1802 with the Askesian Society. It contributed to the birth of the Météorologie.

Howard is called " the godfather of the nuages". It named the three principal categories of clouds - cumulus, Stratus, and Cirrus, as well as the series of intermediate and composed modifications, such as the Cirrostratus and the Stratocumulus, in order to adapt the transitions occurring between the forms. Howard was not the first to test a classification of the clouds: Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829) had already proposed a list of descriptive limits in French, but the success of the system of Howard was due to its use in Latin universal, as well as its emphase on the mutability of the clouds. By applying the principles of classification of natural history of Carl von Linné to the phenomena of as short duration as clouds, Howard sometimes happened at an elegant solution at the problem to name the transitory forms in nature. In addition to its work which made school on the clouds, it also contributed in many articles on other weather subjects, although with less success. Howard was also a pioneer in the studies of the urban climate, publishing The Climate off London in 1818 -20.

Howard was elected " fellow" , i.e. member of the Royal Society in 1821. It was Quaker, converted later with the Assemblées Brothers. It was born and lived with London, although it spent the years 1824 to 1852 in the Yorkshire, with Ackworth. His/her Rachel daughter founded there a school, which also contains a tomb stone of Plymouth Brethren. There is a " Blue plates " of English heritage at the house of Howard in which he died, at the age of 91ans, located at 7 Bruce Grove, Tottenham.

His/her son is the botanist John Eliot Howard (1807-1883), specialist in the Quinquina.

Luke Howard is one of the main characters of the novel of Stephan Audeguy, “the theory of the clouds”.

Sources