Air Apparently

I've just started the second chapter of the book "Air Apparent", and I'd have to say that this book is very interesting. From the view point of someone who has been or is in the field of meteorology this book is pretty cool. I've always wanted to know how long observations have been taken around the world. I was surprised to find out that barometers and temperature gauges were available in 1783. The storm track map that Frank H. Bigelow put out in1893 was definitely ahead of its time. The ability to map these storms using only weather observations and physical geography is amazing. Today we use satellite feeds, manned and unmanned ASOS reporting stations, doppler radars, and many high tech tools to forecast and track weather fronts. Back then all they had was word of mouth or word of telegraph to give any kind of early warning of a major event taking place.