Ep139 - Meteorological Research by Jesuit Priests in the Philippines (1860s–1940s)

<p>In this episode, we talk with Dr. Kerby Alvarez, a historian at the Department of History, University of the Philippines Diliman, about his study tracing the history of Philippine meteorology. Long before PAGASA existed, the Observatorio Meteorológico de Manila (OMM) — founded by Jesuit priests in 1865 — and its successor, the Philippine Weather Bureau (PWB) spent nearly a century turning typhoons into a subject of serious scientific study.</p><p>Drawing on archives in the Philippines, the US, and Spain, Dr. Alvarez shows how these institutions published hundreds of reports, built a regional network with weather observatories across Asia, and even got caught in a diplomatic dispute with Hong Kong&#39;s observatory in 1899. As a historian, he traces not just what these scientists discovered, but how their writing, data-keeping, and international collaborations were shaped by the political currents of Spanish and American colonial rule in the Philippines.</p><p>⌛Chapters</p><p>00:01:51 Intro and welcoming Dr. Kerby Alvarez</p><p>00:03:15 Getting to know Dr. Alvarez as a historian</p><p>00:14:55 Filipino holidays and historical memory</p><p>00:22:24 The paper: a history of Philippine meteorological science</p><p>00:26:42 Building the Manila Observatory and Philippine Weather Bureau</p><p>00:48:11 The Manila–Hong Kong observatory feud </p><p>00:50:34 Funding historical research, other disasters studied, and advice for aspiring historians</p><p>01:02:07 Closing</p><p>📚Reference: Alvarez KC. 2025. <a href="https://meteohistory.org/ojs/index.php/hom/article/view/105" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Scientific textualizations of tropical cyclones in the Philippines: the scientific activities of the Observatorio Meteorológico de Manila (OMM) and Philippine Weather Bureau (PWB), 1860s–1940s</a>. Hist Meteorol. 12:1–26.</p><p>🤝Behind The Science Podcast is in partnership with the UP Resilience Institute</p>