Eric Thomas Eady (5 September 1915 – 26 March 1966) was a British

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

researcher and author of the Eady Model of

baroclinic instability In fluid dynamics, the baroclinity (often called baroclinicity) of a stratified fluid is a measure of how misaligned the gradient of pressure is from the gradient of density in a fluid. In meteorology, a baroclinic flow is one in which the dens ...

, modelling baroclinic generation of weather systems.

Biography

Eady was born in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

and attended Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College. He earned a scholarship to

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

, where he received a BSc in mathematics in 1935. In 1937 he became a

weather forecaster A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...

in the UK Meteorological Office. In 1946, he resigned from the office to start a PhD in mathematics at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

. His 1948 thesis was titled ''The theory of development in dynamical meteorology'', which was an early work on

atmospheric instability Atmospheric instability is a condition where the Earth's atmosphere is considered to be unstable and as a result local weather is highly variable through distance and time. Atmospheric instability encourages vertical motion, which is directly cor ...

and the development of weather systems. Eady widened his interests to include

oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of to ...

in his later career. In his later years, he became depressed by his career and isolated himself from his social circle. In 1966, he died at

Royal Surrey County Hospital The Royal Surrey County Hospital (RSCH) is a 520-bed district general hospital, located on the fringe of Guildford, run by the Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Royal Surrey has received excellent recognition by the Care Qualit ...

, age 50, after an overdose of sleeping pills.

References

1915 births 1966 suicides 1966 deaths People from Ealing People educated at Ealing County Grammar School for Boys Alumni of Imperial College London Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Scientists from London British meteorologists Drug-related suicides in England {{UK-scientist-stub