90
G. J. BELL
Influential contacts in London and Washington—usually naval officers whom he had first met as young men and who had subsequently attained high rank—would be called upon to ensure that the gifts were promptly regularised and confirmed. By these means he succeeded in getting radars, radios and associated equipment for all three Observatories—Zikawei, Hong Kong and Macau. It is remarkable that although cut off from the mainstream of meteorological research during World War II, yet he taught himself to understand and service new and complex radar sets.
In 1954, at the age of 68, Fr Gherzi moved to the United States of America, staying briefly in Saint-Louis and New Orleans before moving in 1955 to the Observatory of Geophysics in the College Jean-de-Brébeuf, Montreal. He occupied the post of Director of Research in the Observatory and maintained his interest in the measurement of solar radiation, ionospheric soundings and atmospheric electricity. Although no longer engaged in routine weather forecasting he still went out of his way to communicate with ships' officers and in his last letter to me, in 1969, he enclosed a photograph of himself on the bridge of the Leonardo da Vinci (See plate 51 to this Journal).
Fr Gherzi contributed an article to Weather on the 'Derivation of the word "Typhoon"' (1953) and he would be delighted to notice that 13 years after his long letter to the Editor on 'Unrealistic Weather Maps over Continents' (1954) the same point should again be made in a paper in Weather (Walker 1967). Fr Gherzi received international recognition for his work in so far as he was honoured by membership of the Pontifical Academy of Science and the Academies of Science in both Lisbon and New York and, of course, he was made welcome in observatories in the Far East and North America. However, nothing gave him more pleasure than to be in contact with, and of help to, mariners and aviators whom he served so well and so long.
90
G. J. BELL
Influential contacts in London and Washington-usually naval officers whom he bad first met as young men and who had sub- sequently attained high rank-would be called upon to ensure that the gifts were promptly regularised and confirmed. By these means he succeeded in getting radars, radios and associated equipment for all three Observatories-Zikawei, Hong Kong and Macau. It is remarkable that although cut off from the mainstream of meteoro- logical research during World War II, yet he taught himself to understand and service new and complex radar sets.
In 1954, at the age of 68, Fr Gherzi moved to the United States of America, staying briefly in Saint-Louis and New Orleans before moving in 1955 to the Observatory of Geophysics in the College Jean-de-Brebeuf, Montreal. He occupied the post of Director of Research in the Observatory and maintained his interest in the measurement of solar radiation, ionospheric soundings and atmos. pheric electricity. Although no longer engaged in routine weather forecasting he still went out of his way to communicate with ships' officers and in his last letter to me, in 1969, he enclosed a photo- graph of himself on the bridge of the Leonardo da Vinci (See plate 51 to this Journal).
Fr Gherzi contributed an article to Weather on the 'Derivation of the word "Typhoon” * (1953) and he would be delighted to notice that 13 years after his long letter to the Editor on 'Unrealistic Weather Maps over Continents' (1954) the same point should again be made in a paper in Weather (Walker 1967). Fr Gherzi received international recognition for his work in so far as he was honoured by membership of the Pontificial Academy of Science and the Academies of Science in both Lisbon and New York and, of course, he was made welcome in observatories in the Far East and North America. However, nothing gave him more pleasure than to be in contact with, and of help to, mariners and aviators whom he served so well and so long.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.