Look! Up in the Sky! It’s a Bird, it’s a Plane, it’s a Cloud! Unless you’re a meteorologist, mountaineer or sailor, you may give clouds just a passing glance (after all, you’re following your weather app). But what an aesthetic and scientific drama they offer us daily, for free! This summer featured a bounty of the pillowy kind, backed by bright blue skies.
In a single lecture by returning science-explainer Howard Wright, you’ll learn:
- Eight cloud shapes and what each signifies;
- Three ways atmospheric energy is transferred (radiation, conduction, convection);
- Three concepts you never understood (dew point, relative humidity, condensation nuclei);
- Two pressures: high and low, and how they create wind;
- The “why” of cloud colors: white and gray, red-orange-yellow.
- To paraphrase Joni Mitchell’s song: you’ll look at clouds from (more than) both sides after this lively lecture.
Howard Wright recently retired after 45 years at Renbrook School, where he filled many roles including science department head, dean of students, and master calendar coordinator. He taught middle school Earth Science, focusing on the geologic history of Connecticut (Renbrook is located on Avon Mountain in West Hartford, the result of lava flows 180 million years ago). He twice received the Doug and Jane Cramphin Excellence in Education Award. He served on the Board of the Friends of Dinosaur State Park for 25 years, where he arranged a monthly lecture series with notable geologists, paleontologists, and paleobotanists from Wesleyan, Yale, Columbia, Western New England College, and UCONN. He is Connecticut’s preeminent Abraham Lincoln presenter and has portrayed the 16th president for 20 years.
Tuesday, Oct. 6 | 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | McLean (off-campus, Simsbury) | $20
OR
Wednesday, Oct. 14 | 1 p.m.–2:30 p.m. | KF Room/Harrison Libraries | $20
Brought to you by the Presidents' College, where we connect the curious through lifelong learning.
For other stimulating Presidents' College offerings, see our printable PDF.
Faculty and staff are eligible to take one Presidents' College lecture for free every semester, or to receive a one-session discount ($20) for a longer course. Contact us at pcollege@hartford.edu or 860.768.4495.
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