86
G. J. BELL
Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce and most of them also contained an interesting essay on some scientific aspect of typhoons. His essays and papers were written in a personal, committed style which illustrated the emotional attachment he had to his theories. He frequently recorded occasions on which his prognostications or theories were proved to be correct to the dismay of other meteorologists who, allegedly, disagreed with them. This, of course, not only made lively reading but helped to build up his reputation amongst mariners and others upon whom he was dependent for support. Perhaps understandably, he seldom recorded occasions when his predictions were unsuccessful. In one of his later papers (1952) he extols the value of his ionospheric method of predicting the movement of tropical cyclones (1946, 1950) claiming that it succeeded where other methods and forecasters failed and he wrote 'We would beg the gentlemen of those Far East weather services to forgive us if anything in our statements should sound disagreeable to them. All wrong forecasts were copied ourselves from listening to their broadcasting stations'.
PRACTICAL METEOROLOGY
Fr Gherzi was very practical and belonged to the fast disappearing breed of meteorologists who are adept in all divisions of the profession. He would make an observation, broadcast it in impeccable Morse code, then receive weather reports in Morse from other stations while simultaneously decoding and plotting them on a weather chart in both red and blue ink. He would then analyse the chart and issue weather forecasts and warnings. If necessary, he would repair or adjust the radio receiver or transmitter. He maintained a close liaison with mariners and aviators and frequently visited masters on their ships to collect their weather logs and discuss their experiences. This information he would use----often naming the master and his vessel----in his researches and in his climatological publications. He was thus observer, plotter, radio operator, radio technician, communications specialist, forecaster, port meteorological officer, climatologist, research meteorologist and undisputable PRO in the Observatory of which he became Director in 1930.
The early aviators who were opening up routes in the Far East used to consult Fr Gherzi and in their memoirs they usually acknowledged the help he gave them and, sometimes, they went further and
86
G. J. BELL
Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce and most of them also contained an interesting essay on some scientific aspect of typhoons. His essays and papers were written in a personal, committed style which illustrated the emotional attachment he had to his theories. He frequently recorded occasions on which his prognostications or theories were proved to be correct to the dismay of other meteoro- logists who, allegedly, disagreed with them. This, of course, not only made lively reading but helped to build up his reputation amongst mariners and others upon whom he was dependent for support. Perhaps understandably, he seldom recorded occasions when his predictions were unsuccessful. In one of his later papers (1952) he extols the value of his ionospheric method of predicting the movement of tropical cyclones (1946, 1950) claiming that it suc- ceeded where other methods and forecasters failed and he wrote 'We would beg the gentlemen of those Far East weather services to forgive us if anything in our statements should sound disagreeable to them. All wrong forecasts were copied ourselves from listening to their broadcasting stations'.
PRACTICAL METEOROLOGY
Fr Gherzi was very practical and belonged to the fast disap- pearing breed of meteorologists who are adept in all divisions of the profession. He would make an observation, broadcast it in impec- cable Morse code, then receive weather reports in Morse from other stations while simultaneously decoding and plotting them on a weather chart in both red and blue ink. He would then analyse the chart and issue weather forecasts and warnings. If necessary, he would repair or adjust the radio receiver or transmitter. He main- tained a close liaison with mariners and aviators and frequently visited masters on their ships to collect their weather logs and dis- cuss their experiences. This information he would use----often naming the master and his vessel-in his researches and in his climatological publications. He was thus observer, plotter, radio operator, radio technician, communications specialist, forecaster, port meteorological officer, climatologist, research meteorologist and undisputable PRO in the Observatory of which he became Director in 1930.
The early aviators who were opening up routes in the Far East used to consult Fr Gherzi and in their memoirs they usually acknow- ledged the help he gave them and, sometimes, they went further and
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