Wouldn’t it be great if journalists in the United States would grill our politicians and bureacrats like this! This interview reminded me of a Monty Python skit on steroids. Despite the pathetic John Hirst in this video, Great Britain has contributed mightily to the world of meterology and travel.
English clockmaker John Harrison (1693-1776) invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought and critically-needed key piece in solving the problem of accurately establishing the East-West position, or longitude, of a ship at sea, thus revolutionizing and making long distance sea travel more safe, according to Wikipedia. Read the fascinating book about this by Dava Sobel, link below.
Vice-Admiral Robert Fitzroy of the Royal Navy(1805 – 1865) the captain of the HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin’s famous voyage, was a pioneering meteorologist who made accurate weather forecasting a reality, according to Wikipedia. Wikipedia isn’t always reliable, but I think we’re safe here.
I found the viedo above, thanks to a commenter on the meteorology blog “Watts Up With That?” which you can find in my blogroll.
Also, a site I recently discovered about journalism is “Big Journalism.” I’ve added it to my blogroll. Check it out.
Catherine Sherman 