Editing Luke Howard (section)

===Howard's ''On the modification of clouds''===
In his late twenties, Luke Howard wrote the ''Essay on the Modification of Clouds'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=On The Modification Of Clouds |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/library-and-archive/archive-hidden-treasures/on-the-modification-of-clouds-1803 |access-date=2024-05-15 |website=Met Office |language=en}}</ref> which was published in 1803.{{sfn|Thornes|1999|p=189}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Howard |first=Luke |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/essay-on-the-modifications-of-clouds/3EE7DE12FB7D639C7E4658ECBE46A4F3 |title=Essay on the Modifications of Clouds |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-03768-6 |series=Cambridge Library Collection - Earth Science |location=Cambridge |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139096966}}</ref> Howard's system was similar to the recently popularized [[Linnaean classification]] system developed by taxonomist [[Carl von Linne]].<ref name=Pedgley>{{cite journal |last1=Pedgley |first1=D.E. |title=Luke Howard and his clouds |journal=Weather |date=February 2003 |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=51–55|doi=10.1256/wea.157.02 |bibcode=2003Wthr...58...51P |s2cid=119944734 }}</ref> Howard named the three principal categories of clouds – [[cumulus cloud|cumulus]], [[stratus cloud|stratus]], and [[Cirrus cloud|cirrus]], as well as a series of intermediate and compound modifications, such as [[cirrostratus]] and [[cirrocumulus]], in order to accommodate the transitions occurring between the forms. Howard's classification system applied the recently popularized [[Linnaean taxonomy|Linnean]] principles of natural history classification. By applying these principles to phenomena as short-lived as clouds, Howard arrived at an elegant solution to the problem of naming transitional forms in nature.

In his 1803 ''Essay'', Howard included detailed cloud drawings to supplement the written descriptions of his classifications. The drawings of clouds were Howard's own, taken from the rigorous notes and watercolor sketches in Howard's sketchbook. However, the landscapes were done by painter Edward Kennion, as Howard had no formal artistic training. The engravings done by Thomas Milton for the publishing of Howard's essay slightly altered the depictions of the clouds.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jardine|first1=Boris|title=Made real: artifice and accuracy in nineteenth-century scientific illustration|journal=Science Museum Group Journal|date=Autumn 2014|volume=2|issue=2|doi=10.15180/140208|doi-access=free}}</ref>
[[File:Cumulostratus Etching- Luke Howard.png|thumb|A depiction of a cumulostratus cloud, included in Howard's 'On the modification of clouds']]

Howard also emphasized the importance of clouds in meteorology:

<blockquote>"Clouds are subject to certain distinct modifications, produced by the general causes which affect all the variations of the atmosphere; they are commonly as good visible indicators of the operation of these causes, as is the countenance of the state of a person's mind or body".{{sfn|Thornes|1999|p=36}}</blockquote>

Howard strongly believed that "cloud formation and destruction were visible signs of atmospheric processes and were based on the laws of physics".<ref name=Pedgley/> Howard referred to cloud formation as "nubification", a term that was never popularized. Howard had the same elementary knowledge of cloud physics as many other researchers at the time, including his close friend and chemist [[John Dalton]]. Some of this knowledge was generally correct, like Howard and Dalton's belief that clouds were formations of water particles, that the slow speed of the particles' descension was due to air resistance, and that they evaporated right below the [[cloud base]]. Howard, however, held some incorrect beliefs about cloud physics. Primarily Howard gave electricity too large a role in the formation of clouds. The knowledge Howard had about cloud physics partially formed his motives for creating a classification system.<ref name=Pedgley/>