early theories on the cause of thunder and lightning
early theories on the cause of thunder and lightning
复制标题
关于雷电成因的早期理论
DOI：
10.1175/1520-0477-46.12.785
复制
发表时间：
1965
影响因子：
8
通讯作者：
H. H. Frisinger
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
H. H. Frisinger
自古希腊文明时代以来，很少有大气现象像雷电那样引起科学家的兴趣。直到18世纪人们才认识到它们与电密切相关。在那个世纪之前，许多关于雷电成因的理论都与这一现象的真实本质相去甚远。杰出的18世纪数学家伦纳德·欧拉（Leonard Euler）表达了18、19世纪科学家对这些早期理论的普遍看法，他说：“事实上，在电的知识之前，在这一学科上取得的每一项进展都是一堆荒谬的东西，几乎没有经过计算来传达关于任何雷电现象的指导。”不管荒谬与否，这些理论都是由当时的著名科学家提出的，构成了早期气象推测的重要组成部分。最早为人所知的雷电理论是希腊哲学家阿那克西曼德（公元前611年-公元前611年）提出的。公元前547年)。根据阿那克西曼德的说法，空气的运动引起了雷声。也就是说，雷声是风吹在云上的声音。对于晴天为什么打雷的问题，他回答说，即使在没有云的情况下，大气也经常被空气的爆发所震动和撕裂。闪电是由于空气的剧烈震动点燃了空气中的火焰。阿那克西曼德的学生，毕达哥拉斯的朋友，阿那克西米斯（公元前585年-公元前585年）。（公元前528年）分享了阿那克西曼德的雷电理论。著名的雅典教师和自然哲学家阿那克萨哥拉（公元前500年-公元前500年）提出了一种不同的理论。公元前427年)。阿那克萨哥拉认为，大气层的上层是由一种炽热的物质组成的，他称之为“以太”。造成雷电的并不是空气的吹拂，而是上层的以太下降到下层的大气中。当这些以太掉落的时候，一些被云层抓住，在大气中燃烧，发出炽热的光，这就是闪电。由于云层中含有水分，火立刻熄灭了，发出一声巨大的噼啪声，这就是雷声。因此，阿那克萨哥拉斯相信闪电之后必定会打雷。
Since the time of the ancient Greek civilization, few at mospheric phenomena have aroused the interest of men of science so much as thunder and lightning. The fact that they are closely associated with electricity was not realized until the eighteenth century. Prior to that cen tury, the many proposed theories on the cause of thunder and lightning were far afield from the true nature of this phenomenon. The eminent eighteenth century mathematician, Leonard Euler, expressed the general, opinion of eighteenth and nineteenth century scientists toward these early theories when he stated:" In truth, every thing advanced on the subject, previous to the knowledge of electricity, was a mass of absurdity, and little calculated to convey instruction respecting any of the phenomena of thunder." Absurd or not, these the ories were proposed by noted scientists of their time, and constituted a significant part of early meteorological speculation.The first theory of thunder and lightning for which the author is known, was the one proposed by the Greek philosopher Anaximander (ca. 611 BC-ca. 547 BC). According to Anaximander, the movement of air caused thunder. That is, the peals of thunder were the sounds of the blows of air on a cloud. To the question of why it thunders in a clear sky, he answered that even in the absence of clouds the atmosphere is often shaken and rent by the bursting forth of air. Lightning was due to the fire in the air being ignited by the great agitation of the air. A student of Anaximander and friend of Pythagoras, Anaximemes (ca. 585 BC-ca. 528 BC) shared Anaximander's theory of thunder and lightning. A different theory was presented by the noted Athe nian teacher and natural philosopher Anaxagoras (ca. 500 BC-ca. 427 BC). Anaxagoras held that the upper region of the atmosphere is composed of a flaming-hot substance, which he called" aether." It was not the blows of air which caused the thunder and lightning, but the upper aether descending into the lower atmos phere. When this aether fell, some of it got caught in the clouds and burned in the atmosphere with a fiery glow which was the lightning. As the clouds contained moisture, this fire was instantly extinguished, causing a loud, sputtering noise which was the thunder. Thus, Anaxagoras believed that thunder necessarily followed lightning.