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Weather Pirate
Wed Jan 26, 2005
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton, and this is the Weather Notebook. Early discoveries in
meteorology were made by men from various professions: philosophers and clerics,
pharmacists and statesmen, astronomers and bureaucrats. William Dampier was a
pirate.
Dampier was also a British explorer, sea captain, highly regarded mapmaker and
navigator, but between 1675 and 1678, he sailed with buccaneers along Central
America's Spanish Main.
During his many voyages, Dampier kept detailed journals of his experiences. He made
astute observations of weather conditions, particularly hurricanes and typhoons, then
little known to Europeans.
In 1680, an Atlantic hurricane caught Dampier's ship. Losing control of the helm, he
was forced to cast his fate to the hurricane winds. The storm buffeted the ship for
hours, but when it had passed, Dampier checked their position and found his ship only
a mile from where they had started. He concluded that hurricane winds blew in a
gigantic circle. He called the storms, "vast whirlwinds."
In his popular book, "New Voyage Round the World," Dampier detailed the first account
of a typhoon — which he called a "tuffoon," the first known European use of that word.
His log entry for July 4,1687 described the China Sea encounter, clearly noting the
calm conditions in the storm's central eye, and the wind direction shifts as the storm
moved past.
One of Dampier's associates also gained notoriety. Crewmate Alexander Selkirk had,
by his own wish, been marooned on remote Juan Fernandez Island. Dampier
eventually rescued Selkirk in 1709 and Selkirk's adventure was later fictionalized by
Daniel Defoe, in the novel "Robinson Crusoe."
Thanks to our contributing writer, meteorologist Keith Heidorn. Our show is supported
by the National Science Foundation and Subaru of America.
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