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Abstract:Historical explorations of tropical heat in a colonial context have largely focussed on two interconnected spheres: colonial perceptions of place and body, and the implications of heat on different bodies as found in medical thought and practice. This article moves the discussion towards a history of colonial scientific thought about heat as component of weather and of escalating nature-induced hazards, studied in the observatory or meteorological department. It considers how heat features in nascent meso-scale atmospheric knowledge, in meteorological theory, and as a by-product of urbanisation and land-use change. In so doing, it conceptualises the scientific understanding of heat as essentially responsive, embodied within science as a result of the way heat was prioritised within a local context and in the contemporary understanding of human-induced climatic change. The article bridges disciplinary boundaries between the history of science and environmental history, shedding light on an underexplored aspect of the Straits Settlements’ past: the scientific history of urban heat.

Pat's story was a testament to the beauty of growing food as an expression of love and generosity - her garden was at the heart of her home and family life. For the next 75 years, Pat continued to garden, even after Russell passed away. The pick of the crop each month wins a six-month subscription to ABC Gardening Australia magazine (current subscriptions will be extended). [Extracted from the article]

The late nineteenth to early twentieth century saw a small but dedicated rise in experimental rainmaking. The possibility that humanity might one day be able to control the weather – especially to alleviate drought – was very attractive to governments and private investors. The late nineteenth century was an era of scientific optimism and a number of rainmaking experiments across the world had brought the potential for weather control out of the realms of discourse and literature and further into tangible near-future science. There has been a small but thorough historiographical literature on this subject, focusing largely on American, British, and Australian efforts. This article seeks to build on this by exploring the little-known history of rainmaking in Hong Kong before 1930, centering on a case study of a particular experiment intended to alleviate the disastrous drought of 1928–9. As was the case elsewhere, Hong Kong’s rainmaking efforts raised as much skepticism as they did support, with the government, scientists, and the general public in two minds about whether making rain was even possible. As such, this article aims to interrogate the concepts of the sociotechnical imaginary and the history of failure, while also contributing to the wider story of meteorological knowledge-making.