Experiments with dishpans and computers: Modelling the atmosphere, 1940s–1960s

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Caterina Schürch
• Subject Area: History of Science ; Theoretical Philosophy
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 572804327

Following the Second World War, two research projects focusing on modelling atmospheric phenomena were initiated. One of these was the renowned "Meteorology Project" at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where a method of computer-based numerical weather forecasting was developed. The other project involved simulating atmospheric flows using molten paraffin in rotating bowls at the University of Chicago's Hydrodynamics Laboratories. While historians and philosophers of science have studied computer-based modelling of the atmosphere in detail, we know very little about the laboratory approach. We know even less about how the two approaches were related — for instance, whether they competed or were used to refine and validate each other — despite there being obvious institutional and personal connections, as well as traces of interesting epistemic and methodological links. The current project aims to help fill this gap, with a view to provide a more balanced and nuanced account of this period in atmospheric modelling at the dawn of modern climate science. The project aims to (i) characterise the two approaches to experimenting with models and how they have developed over time, to (ii) clarify the relationship between the two modelling approaches, and to (iii) trace how the interdisciplinary projects modelling the atmosphere emerged. Achieving these objectives will further improve our understanding of how computer modelling emerged as a research method — a method that has radically changed the form and content of knowledge, as well as the social and cultural dynamics of research in many different fields of science. It will also help us to better understand how modelling practices have (or have not) facilitated collaboration across disciplinary boundaries. The objectives will be achieved by examining five models developed between the mid-1940s and the mid-1960s, and by reconstructing the associated research activities in detail. To this end, we will adopt the analytical framework developed by the applicant in a previous study on the interdisciplinary modelling of physiological mechanisms in the 1920s and 1930s. This approach highlights the interplay between the epistemological-methodological, and social-institutional dimensions of scientific practice. The project’s findings will be relevant for the historiography of meteorology, climate sciences, and computer modelling; for the philosophical analysis of modelling as a scientific method; and for our understanding of how interdisciplinary research shapes the intellectual and social landscape of science. In effect, it will also inspire reflection on how contemporary science communities navigate the challenges of interdisciplinary modelling research.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants