Charles Fitzhugh Talman

Born in Detroit in 1874, Charles Fitzhugh Talman became an American meteorologist, writer, and librarian whose career was closely tied to the U.S. Weather Bureau. He is remembered not only for his scientific knowledge, but also for his gift for explaining weather in a way general readers could enjoy.

Talman spent many years developing the Weather Bureau’s library and bibliography work, and later generations at NOAA credited him as a foundational figure in the growth of that collection. Contemporary tributes described him as a leading meteorological librarian and bibliographer, as well as an energetic popularizer of weather science.

He was also a remarkably prolific author. Sources from the period and later NOAA records note that he wrote thousands of articles and produced books including Meteorology: The Science of the Atmosphere, later republished as Our Weather, along with A Book About the Weather. He died in Washington, D.C., in 1936, leaving a legacy that blended science, public education, and library stewardship.