Douglas Haig McIntosh

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FRMS OBE (1917–1993) was a 20th-century Scottish meteorologist. He was affectionately known as “Mac”.

Life

McIntoch was born in

Leven, Fife Leven (Pictish language, Pictish; ) is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the coast of the Firth of Forth at the mouth of the River Leven, Fife, River Leven, north-east of the town of Kirkcaldy and ...

on 9 September 1917, and, in what was perhaps a patriotic fever during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, named after

Douglas Haig Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary F ...

, Lord Haig, the commanding officer of the British Army. He studied Science at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

graduating with an MA BSc in 1938, and then joining the staff of the Meteorology Department at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. Interrupted by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he became a meteorological forecaster for RAF Coastal Command in Scotland before being posted to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

as Senior Meteorological Officer. In 1944 he became Deputy Chief Meteorological Officer for

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, with the notional rank of

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

. After the war he was based in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

from 1947 to 1950. He returned to the Edinburgh Meteorological Office in 1950. In 1953 he joined the

Eskdalemuir Observatory The Eskdalemuir Observatory is a UK national environmental observatory located near Eskdalemuir, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Along with Lerwick and Hartland, Eskdalemuir is one of three permanent geomagnetic observatories in the United King ...

for two years, returning to Edinburgh in 1955 as Head of the Meteorological Department of the

. In 1955 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were

C. T. R. Wilson Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (14 February 1869 – 15 November 1959) was a Scottish meteorologist and particle physicist who shared the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics with Arthur Compton for his invention of the cloud chamber. Education and earl ...

, James Paton,

Mervyn A. Ellison Mervyn Archdall Ellison (5 May 1909 – 12 September 1963) was an Irish astronomer. He was recognized as a world authority on solar physics and the effect of solar flares on the Earth. Life He was born at Fethard-on-Sea in County Wexford, ...

, and Sir

Ernest Wedderburn Sir Ernest MacLagan Wedderburn (3 February 1884 – 3 June 1958) was a Scottish lawyer, and a significant figure both in the civic life of Edinburgh and in the legal establishment. He held the posts of Professor of Conveyancing in the Univers ...

. The

awarded him an honorary doctorate (DSc) in 1960. He retired in 1982 and died in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 3 March 1993. His body was cremated.

Publications

*''Essentials of Meteorology'' (1972)

Family

In 1941 he married Constance Murray.

References

1917 births 1993 deaths People from Leven, Fife Alumni of the University of St Andrews Academics of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish meteorologists Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire {{Scotland-scientist-stub