<特集：モデル> 洗い桶からコンピュータへ : 大気大循環モデルによるシミュレーションの誕生

Abstract

In 1956, American meteorologist Norman Phillips published an article entitled "The General Circulation of the Atmosphere: A Numerical Experiment, " which is considered a landmark in the history of meteorology as well as in that of computer simulation. In this paper, we present Phillips's numerical experiment as a natural development of a dishpan experiment―a laboratory experiment with rotating fluid. Both kinds of experiments are 'model experiments, ' and we can regard their models as a tool for understanding general circulation. In the history of meteorology, computer simulation emerged as a kind of experiment.