Mavis Hinds
Born1929
DiedJune 2009
EducationUniversity College London
OccupationMeteorologist

Mavis Kathleen Hinds (1929–2009) was an English meteorologist who, together with Fred Bushby,[1] pioneered the use of computers to carry out meteorological calculations in the UK. She studied Mathematics at University College London (UCL) and on graduating joined the UK Meteorological (Met) Office in 1951, attending their Initial Forecasting Course that year. She went on to work with Bushby in using the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO), an early computer developed by J. Lyons & Co of Cadby Hall, London, becoming an expert in writing, running and correcting computer programs for weather forecasting. She was seen at that time as one of the first prominent female meteorologists and also the first to play a leading role in the development of Numerical Weather Prediction, not only in the UK but also worldwide.[2]

Early life and education

Hinds passed her Higher School Certificate in pure mathematics, applied mathematics and physics. This was an ideal combination of subjects for the study of meteorology in which she was already developing an interest. On the strength of her examination results, Mavis was awarded a scholarship and a place to read Mathematics at University College London (UCL).

Research and career

From 1951 Hinds worked at the UK Met Office as part of their Forecast Research Division, which had been set up in 1949 in Dunstable, England. Hinds, as part of the Division, was instrumental in the development of Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). The earliest days of NWP in the late 1940s relied on hand calculation but as electronic computing machines began to be developed in the US (ENIAC) and the UK (EDSAC and LEO I), NWP grew in reliability and prevalence.[3] In 1954 at a meeting of the Royal Meteorological Society, Bushby and Hinds presented the first computer-based baroclinic forecast in Europe. Since 1951, they had been making use of the computing power of the first Lyons Electronic Office (LEO), the world's first business computer, developed by J. Lyons & Co caterers of Cadby Hall, London.

Because in the early 1950s the UK Met Office had no in-house computing facilities, calculating power had to be obtained from part-time use of LEO I and also the Ferranti Mark 1 Star at the University of Manchester. Use of these very early computers involved working unsociable hours when the machines were not being used by others.[4][5] Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Hinds worked with Fred Bushby and others on a series of published papers that detailed the developments made.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

In 1981, Hind reflected on the impact of computing on weather prediction that started for her with work done using the LEO I[16] and in 1994 contributed a chapter about the history of UK Met Office computerisation to Peter Bird's book on the development of the LEO computers[4]

Hinds later worked in management roles before her retirement in 1989.[2]

References

  1. ^ Walker, J. M. (2011). History of the Meteorological Office. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139187916. OCLC 782877010.
  2. ^ a b Creber, Geoffrey (October 2009). "Obituary: Mavis Hinds". Weather. 64 (10): 283. doi:10.1002/wea.502.
  3. ^ Persson, Anders (2005). "Early operational Numerical Weather Prediction outside the USA: an historical introduction Part III: Endurance and mathematics – British NWP, 1948–1965". Meteorological Applications. 12: 381–413. doi:10.1017/S1350482705001933.
  4. ^ a b Bird, Peter J. (Peter John) (1994). LEO : the first business computer. Wokingham: Hasler. ISBN 0952165104. OCLC 29754272.
  5. ^ Golding, Brian; Mylne, Kenneth; Clark, Peter (2004). "The history and future of numerical weather prediction in the Met Office". Weather. 59 (11): 299–306. Bibcode:2004Wthr...59..299G. doi:10.1256/wea.113.04.
  6. ^ Bushby & Hinds (1953). "Computation of the field of atmospheric development by an electronic computer". Meteorol. Res. Papers. 765.
  7. ^ Bushby & Hinds (1953). "Computated 500mb tendency in a baroclinic atmosphere using an electronic computer". Meteorol. Res. Papers. 790.
  8. ^ Bushby & Hinds (1953). "Computation of the field of the 1000–500 mb thickness tendency, the 1000 mb height tendency and the horizontal field of vertical motion, using an electronic computer". Meteorol. Res. Papers. 794.
  9. ^ Bushby & Hinds (1953). "The electronic computation of two series of 500 mb, 1000 mb and 500–1000 mb thickness forecast harts by application of the SawyerBushby 2 parameter baroclinc model". Meteorol. Res. Papers. 841.
  10. ^ Bushby & Hinds (1953). "Electronic computation of the field of atmospheric development". Meteorological Magazine. 82: 330–334.
  11. ^ Bushby & Hinds (1954). "Computation of tendencies and vertical motion with a two-parameter model of the atmosphere". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. 80 (343): 16–25. Bibcode:1954QJRMS..80...16B. doi:10.1002/qj.49708034304.
  12. ^ Bushby & Hinds (1954). "The computation of forecast charts by application of the Sawyer-Bushby two-parameter model". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. 80 (344): 165–173. Bibcode:1954QJRMS..80..165B. doi:10.1002/qj.49708034403.
  13. ^ Bushby & Hinds (1954). "A preliminary report on ten computed sets of forecasts based on the Sawyer and Bushby two-parameter atmospheric model". Meteorol. Res. Papers. 863.
  14. ^ Bushby & Hinds (1955). "Further computation of the 24-h pressure changes based on a two-parameter model". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. 81: 396–402. doi:10.1002/qj.49708134908.
  15. ^ Knighting & Hinds (1960). "A report on some experiments in numerical prediction using a stream function". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society. 86 (370): 504–511. Bibcode:1960QJRMS..86..504K. doi:10.1002/qj.49708637007.
  16. ^ Hinds, Mavis (1981). "Computer story". Meteorological Magazine. 110: 64–81.

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