George Simpson (meteorologist)
Encyclopedia
Sir George Clarke Simpson KCB
CBE
FRS (1878–1965) was a British meteorologist
, born in Derby
, England
.
England
, the son of Arthur Simpson, a proprietor of a department store in East Street, and Alice Lambton Clarke. He died 1 January 1965.
, Owens College, Manchester
and the University of Göttingen.
and inspected many of the meteorological stations in India
and Burma. In 1910, he was the meteorologist for Robert Falcon Scott
's Antarctic Terra Nova Expedition
and constructed one of the continent's first weather stations, conducting balloon experiments to test the atmosphere and determine how altitude affects temperature. Simpson recorded the temperature and wind observations at the base camp at Cape Evans
. He also held command of this station for several months when Scott and his party left for the journey to the South Pole
in November 1911.
Returning from Antarctica after Robert Scott’s death in August 1912, Simpson went back to Simla to re-join the ‘Indian Meteorogical Services’ which had its head office in Kolkata and its branch office in Simla. Whilst in Simla, Sir George Simpson lived at Khud Cottage, today also known as Madan Kunj. It was here at Khud Cottage that Simpson compiled the notes he had made on the Antarctic exploration.
Currently this cottage belongs to Rajeev Madan, and it has been in his family since 1939. Khud Cottage was also the erstwhile residence of the Governor of Burma, during World War II when Burma was occupied by Japan.
When the First World War broke out in 1914, many officers of the Indian Meteorologist Department were drafted for military service. From March to May 1916, Simpson had to perform army service as the meteorological adviser to the British Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia, which now forms part of southern Iraq. Later, he was called upon to serve as Assistant Secretary to the Board of Munitions and had to leave Simla again.
In 1920 he was appointed Director of the Meteorological Office
, London. He went on to be its longest serving Director, retiring in 1938. During his tenure as Director, he was engaged in research work in the fields of atmospheric electricity, ionization, radioactivity and solar radiation. He investigated the causes of lightning
and in 1926 established the Simpson wind force scale, a modification of the Beaufort wind force scale
which is the current standard scale used worldwide; still called the Beaufort wind force scale.
Simpson was knighted in 1935.
When the Second World War began in 1939, Dr Simpson, recalled from retirement into active service, was asked to take charge of the Kew Observatory
. There he continued his research work on the electrical structure of thunderstorms until 1947.
Simpson was awarded honorary doctoral degrees by the universities of Manchester
, Sydney
and Aberdeen
.
Dr Simpson died in 1965 at the age of 87.
; Arthur Simpson (British scientist specialized in the study of plants and sea animals); Oliver Simpson; and Jean Simpson.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
FRS (1878–1965) was a British meteorologist
Meteorology
Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...
, born in Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Biography
George Clarke Simpson was born 2 September 1878 in DerbyDerby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of Arthur Simpson, a proprietor of a department store in East Street, and Alice Lambton Clarke. He died 1 January 1965.
Education
Simpson was educated at Derby SchoolDerby School
Derby School was a school in Derby in the English Midlands from 1160 to 1989. It had an almost continuous history of education of over eight centuries. For most of that time it was a grammar school for boys. The school became co-educational and comprehensive in 1974 and was closed in 1989...
, Owens College, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and the University of Göttingen.
Career
In 1902 he visited Lapland to investigate atmospheric electricity. In 1905 he became the first person to lecture in meteorology at a British university when he was appointed lecturer at Manchester University. In 1906, he joined the Indian Meteorological Service as an Imperial Meteorologist at their headquarters in SimlaShimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
and inspected many of the meteorological stations in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Burma. In 1910, he was the meteorologist for Robert Falcon Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
's Antarctic Terra Nova Expedition
Terra Nova Expedition
The Terra Nova Expedition , officially the British Antarctic Expedition 1910, was led by Robert Falcon Scott with the objective of being the first to reach the geographical South Pole. Scott and four companions attained the pole on 17 January 1912, to find that a Norwegian team led by Roald...
and constructed one of the continent's first weather stations, conducting balloon experiments to test the atmosphere and determine how altitude affects temperature. Simpson recorded the temperature and wind observations at the base camp at Cape Evans
Cape Evans
Cape Evans is a rocky cape on the west side of Ross Island, forming the north side of the entrance to Erebus Bay.The cape was discovered by the Discovery expedition under Robert Falcon Scott, who named it the Skuary. Scott's second expedition, the British Antarctic Expedition , built its...
. He also held command of this station for several months when Scott and his party left for the journey to the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
in November 1911.
Returning from Antarctica after Robert Scott’s death in August 1912, Simpson went back to Simla to re-join the ‘Indian Meteorogical Services’ which had its head office in Kolkata and its branch office in Simla. Whilst in Simla, Sir George Simpson lived at Khud Cottage, today also known as Madan Kunj. It was here at Khud Cottage that Simpson compiled the notes he had made on the Antarctic exploration.
Currently this cottage belongs to Rajeev Madan, and it has been in his family since 1939. Khud Cottage was also the erstwhile residence of the Governor of Burma, during World War II when Burma was occupied by Japan.
When the First World War broke out in 1914, many officers of the Indian Meteorologist Department were drafted for military service. From March to May 1916, Simpson had to perform army service as the meteorological adviser to the British Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia, which now forms part of southern Iraq. Later, he was called upon to serve as Assistant Secretary to the Board of Munitions and had to leave Simla again.
In 1920 he was appointed Director of the Meteorological Office
Met Office
The Met Office , is the United Kingdom's national weather service, and a trading fund of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
, London. He went on to be its longest serving Director, retiring in 1938. During his tenure as Director, he was engaged in research work in the fields of atmospheric electricity, ionization, radioactivity and solar radiation. He investigated the causes of lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
and in 1926 established the Simpson wind force scale, a modification of the Beaufort wind force scale
Beaufort scale
The Beaufort Scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort Wind Force Scale.-History:...
which is the current standard scale used worldwide; still called the Beaufort wind force scale.
Simpson was knighted in 1935.
When the Second World War began in 1939, Dr Simpson, recalled from retirement into active service, was asked to take charge of the Kew Observatory
Kew Observatory
Kew Observatory was an astronomical and terrestrial magnetic observatoryfounded by King George III , located within the Old Deer Park of the former Richmond Palace in Richmond, Surrey, now within Greater London. The former royal manor of Kew lies to the immediate north...
. There he continued his research work on the electrical structure of thunderstorms until 1947.
Simpson was awarded honorary doctoral degrees by the universities of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
, Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
and Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
.
Dr Simpson died in 1965 at the age of 87.
Family
Simpson married Dorothy Jane Stephen, daughter of Cecil Stephen, on 23 September 1914. They had four children: Scott Simpson (1915-1981), Professor of Geology at Exeter UniversityUniversity of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a public university in South West England. It belongs to the 1994 Group, an association of 19 of the United Kingdom's smaller research-intensive universities....
; Arthur Simpson (British scientist specialized in the study of plants and sea animals); Oliver Simpson; and Jean Simpson.
Honours
- Hon DScDSC-in academia:* D.Sc., Doctor of Science* Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine* Dalton State College, Georgia* Daytona State College, Florida* Deep Springs College, California* Dixie State College of Utah...
(Manchester & Sydney) - Hon LLDLegum DoctorLegum Doctor is a doctorate-level academic degree in law, or an honorary doctorate, depending on the jurisdiction. The double L in the abbreviation refers to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both Canon Law and Civil Law, the double L indicating the plural, Doctor of both...
(Aberdeen) - Fellow of the Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, 1915 - Commander of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, 1919 - Companion of the Order of the BathOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, 1926 - Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, 1935
- President of the British Meteorological Society, 1940-1942
- The British Antarctic Survey's Ice and Climate Building in Halley Bay, Antarctica (75° 35'S, 26° 40'W), is known as The Simpson Platform, in memory of Sir George Clarke Simpson.