Born on March 7, 1811, Increase Lapham was Wisconsin's first scientist, a true inter-disciplinarian with weather and climate interests, and one of our foremost citizens. He wrote the first book published in Wisconsin, made the first accurate maps of the state, investigated Wisconsin's effigy mounds, native trees and grasses, climatic patterns and geology, and helped found many of the schools, colleges and other cultural institutions that still enrich the state today.
With Lapham's help, the National Weather Bureau, the forerunner of today's National Weather Service, was established in 1870.
Read more at: http://www.wisconhistory.org/topics/lapham/