While at New College, Dalton joined the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. Membership granted Dalton access to laboratory facilities. For one of his first research projects, Dalton pursued his avid interest in meteorology. He started keeping daily logs of the weather, paying special attention to details such as wind velocity and barometric pressure—a habit Dalton would continue all of his life. His research findings on atmospheric pressure were published in his first book, Meteorological Findings, the year he arrived in Manchester.