Ernest Gold (meteorologist)
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Ernest Gold (24 July 1881 – 30 January 1976) was a British
meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...
and Lieutenant-Colonel.


Family and education

Ernest Gold was born at
Berkswell Berkswell ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, county of West Midlands, England. Historically in Warwickshire, Berkswell is situated in the rural east of the borough, approximately west of the western ...
, near
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
,
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
, in 1881. His parents were John Gold, a tenant farmer, and Ellen Gold Peckett. He was educated at Coleshill Grammar School and Mason University College (which became the
University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...
). Gold then attended
St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...
. He was awarded First Class Honours in the Cambridge Natural Sciences Tripos in 1903, graduating as Third Wrangler.


Early career

In June 1906, Gold was employed for a year at the
Meteorological Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...
as Superintendent of Instruments. From 1907 to 1910 he was appointed the Schuster Reader in Dynamical Meteorology at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. During this time he focused his research on radioactive equilibrium in the stratosphere and produced the first scientific explanation for
isothermal An isothermal process is a type of thermodynamic process in which the temperature ''T'' of a system remains constant: Δ''T'' = 0. This typically occurs when a system is in contact with an outside thermal reservoir, and a change in the sys ...
conditions. In 1910 he returned to work at the Meteorological Office as Superintendent of Statistics (
climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...
).


World War I

Gold set up the first operational military meteorological service in France, known as The Meteorological Field Service or Meteor Royal Engineers, for the
British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...
in the summer of 1915 during
World War I 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 ...
. Gold provided critical
weather forecasting Weather forecasting or weather prediction is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather info ...
information and research for the war effort, such as monitoring changes in rainfall and the impact on ground conditions to support strategic decisions. He also proved that for accurate
artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
fire against the enemy wind conditions needed to be taken into consideration. This demonstrated the vital role of meteorologists to the military hierarchy and by the end of the war Gold's staff team had expanded from three to 120 personnel. Gold was mentioned in dispatches from the Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...
and
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
, and rose from his temporary commission to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He also oversaw the initial development of international aviation services.


Post war career

After World War I, Gold was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1918. Gold became Assistant Director of the Meteorological Office. In 1920 he was elected president of the International Meteorological Organization (IMO, now the
World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...
)'s Commission for Synoptic Weather Information, dealing with questions of synoptic meteorology."ERNEST GOLD, CB, DSO, FRS".
The Met Office grows up: In war and peace. Occasional papers on meteorological history, No. 8.
' . March 2009. The
Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is an organization that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Members can be lay enthusiasts. It publishes vari ...
’s History of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography Special Interest Group. p. 6-7.
He worked in this position for 28 years. He was elected President of the
Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is an organization that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Members can be lay enthusiasts. It publishes vari ...
for 1934–35. Gold retired in 1947.


Personal life and death

Gold married Catherine Lockerbie Harlow on 4 July 1907. They had met through the Cambridge Nonconformist Union and had one daughter. He enjoyed playing golf, playing bridge and gardening. He died at
Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...
, London, in 1976 at the age of 94.


Honours and awards

*1912 Awarded first prize for his dissertation on international balloon and kite ascents in an essay competition organized by the German Meteorological Institution *1918 Elected
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
*1918 OBE *1926
Symons Gold Medal The Symons Gold Medal is awarded biennially by the Royal Meteorological Society for distinguished work in the field of meteorological science. It was established in 1901 in memory of George James Symons, a notable British meteorologist. Recipient ...
*1942 CB *1958 International Meteorological Organization Prize of the
World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...
. Gold is also credited as the original proposal for the term " thermal wind."


References


External links


Photograph
of Gold by
Walter Stoneman Walter Ernest Stoneman (6 April 1876 – 14 May 1958) was an English portrait photographer who is known for taking photographs for the National Portrait Gallery, London, National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in London. Career as a photographe ...
at the
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...
* Writing by Gold at archive.org: ** E. Gold: ''The Isothermal Layer of the Atmosphere and Atmospheric Radiation'' (16 February 1909) ** ''The Relation between Wind Velocity at 1000 Metres Altitude and the Surface Pressure Distribution'' (1908) ** ''The Velocity of the Negative Ions in Flames'' (1907) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Ernest 1881 births 1976 deaths Royal Engineers officers People from Coventry Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Society Officers of the Order of the British Empire Presidents of the Royal Meteorological Society Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Birmingham English meteorologists British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from the West Midlands (county)