Thunder and Early Scientific Theory Essay - 1336 Words

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†¦show more content†¦They both believed that air smashing against the clouds caused thunder and, as the air struggled its way through the clouds, it kindled a flame which was lightning. Anaxogoras (ca 499-427 BC), however, believed that thunder resulted when fire flashing through clouds (lightning) was quenched by the water in the cloud. Democritus (ca 460-370 BC), on the other hand, suggested that thunder and lightning were due to the unequal mixing of particles within clouds which caused violent motions, the resulting sound of which was thunder. Aristotle (384-322 BC), in his series of essays entitled Meteorologica (written around 334 BC), wrote that thunder occurs when the dry exhalation that gets trapped when the air is in the process of colliding is forcibly ejected as the clouds condense and in its course strikes the surrounding clouds, and the noise caused by the impact is what we call thunder...similarly the windy exhalations in the clouds produces thunder when it strikes a dense cloud formation. Different kinds of sound are produced because of the lack of uniformity in the clouds and because hollows occur where their density is not continuous. He also wrote that, in general, the ejected winds burns with a fine and gentle fire and it is then what we call lightning, which occurs when the falling wind appears toShow MoreRelatedStealing God s Thunder Benjamin Franklin s Lighting Rod And The Invention Of America979 Words   |  4 PagesProfessor John Greg Thompson American History 1 11/30/16 The book Stealing God’s Thunder Benjamin Franklin’s Lighting Rod and the invention of America. By, Philip Dray renowned author, writer, and historian. Philip is known for his comprehensiveness of World history pertaining to racial, scientific, labor and social matters. Dray navigates the reader in an up-close and personal look into the life of Benjamin Franklin, as a youth well into his senior years until death. 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