Famous People with Name Ferrel

William Ferrel            Origin/Culture/Country: American

William Ferrel: an American meteorologist, developed theories which explained the mid-latitude atmospheric circulation cell in detail, and it is after him that the Ferrel cell is named. He was born in southern Pennsylvania. His family moved to what would become West Virginia in 1829. His formal elementary schooling was limited and he taught himself using science books well enough to become a school teacher. Despite financial difficulties, he was able to graduate from Bethany College's first graduating class in 1844. He would continue teaching in Missouri and Tennessee until 1858. At that point, he took up a full-time position on the staff of The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1882, Ferrel joined the U.S. Army Signal Service (which would become the Weather Bureau in 1891). He retired in 1887. He died in West Virginia in 1891.