G. Terence MeadenUniversity of Oxford | OX · Department of Continuing Education
G. Terence Meaden
MA (Oxon), MSc (Oxon), D.Phil (Oxon)
About
190
Publications
5,789
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Citations since 2017
Introduction
Dr. G. Terence Meaden, MA (Physics, Oxon), MSc (Archaeology, Oxon), DPhil (Physics, Oxon), FRMetSoc
Professor of Physics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada (retired)
Founder (1974) and Head of TORRO, the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation. Editor of The Journal of Meteorology, 1975-2002.
Consultant to the Nuclear Power New Build Industry (retired).
Lecturer in European Prehistory, international summer school ISSEP annually in Sardinia from 2007 to 2013.
Skills and Expertise
Additional affiliations
Position
- Lecturer at the International Summer School on European Prehistory
Position
- ISSEP
Position
- Sardinia
Education
October 1954 - September 1963
Publications
Publications (190)
Kurt Mendelssohn moves with Franz Simon to form a new cryogenics research group in Breslau. Other members of the group were Nicholas Kurti, Heinz London and Rostislav Khaichev. Kurt Mendelssohn is asked by Frederick Lindemann of the University of Oxford University to visit Oxford and set up a helium liquefier. Kurt Mendelssohn becomes the first per...
The years 1933–1939 were some of Kurt Mendelssohn’s most productive scientifically. He developed a research group, investigated numerous aspects of superconductivity and did ground breaking research on superfluid helium film flow. He started to establish himself in Oxford by starting a family and buying a house. Many of Mendelssohn’s traits includi...
Kurt Mendelssohn studied physics at the University of Berlin, graduating with his Ph.D. in 1930. He was there during the revolution in modern physics involving quantum mechanics and relativity and came in contact with many of the founders of these fields. Mendelssohn’s own thesis research involved measurements of the specific heat of liquid hydroge...
Kurt Mendelssohn was a researcher in cryogenic engineering for more than 50 years during which he wrote nearly 200 scientific papers and supervised 50 Ph.D. students. This chapter reviews his research activities and through the examples of a number of students, his training of students. Research addressed includes superfluid He films and properties...
This chapter discusses Kurt Mendelssohn’s books. He wrote a total of 7 books on a variety of subjects. In addition to In China Now (discussed in Chapter 8) and The Riddle of the Pyramids (discussed in Chapter 10). He wrote What is Atomic Energy, Cryophysics, The Quest for Absolute Zero (still one of the best histories of cryogenics), The World of W...
Kurt Mendelssohn played a very important role in creating the infrastructure that still connects cryogenic engineering research around the world. This chapter describes his role in founding the journal Cryogenics, the International Cryogenic Engineering Conference and the International Cryogenic Monograph Series. It also discusses his interest in t...
Kurt Mendelssohn was born into a family with a historic intellectual tradition. His parents encouraged his interests in science and the wider world. Mendelssohn’s early schooling demonstrated an aptitude for science and drawing. His intellectual development was aided by the stimulating world of Berlin at the beginning of the twentieth century.
With the coming of the Second World War, all cryogenics research at Oxford stopped and the staff moved onto war work. Simon and Kurti played important roles in the development of the atomic bomb while Mendelssohn moved to the field of medical physics. Here he developed a machine for providing ether anesthesia in field hospitals by non-specialist st...
One of the most unlikely topics for a physicist and cryogenic engineer to be interested in is the reason behind the Egyptian pyramids. Yet Kurt Mendelssohn became very curious about this subject and was able to apply his scientific skills to propose fascinating, and in some cases compelling, theories on the construction of and reason for the pyrami...
Kurt Mendelssohn loved to travel. He was particularly interested in the culture and science in developing countries such as China and India and was very supportive of scientists in these countries. He was one of the first scientists to visit the Soviet Union after the Second World War and was also an early visitor to the People’s Republic of China....
This short but revealing biography tells the story of Kurt Mendelssohn FRS, one of the founding figures in the field of cryogenics, from his beginnings in Berlin through his move to Oxford in the 1930s, and his groundbreaking work in low temperature and solid state physics. He set up the first helium liquefier in the United Kingdom, and did fundame...
The paper examines how specific megaliths at Stonehenge and Avebury were positioned relative to others and to particular sunrises such as to produce watchable effects arising from solar movement and resulting lithic shadows. At Stonehenge and environs numerous research expeditions (exceeding 120 that started in 1981) combined with accurate compass...
A new survey of Drombeg Stone Circle and accurate analysis of shadow effects beginning at particular sunrises of the calendar year has led to a breakthrough in the understanding of lithic symbolism and the intentions behind the construction of this and other Irish monuments including Knowth and Newgrange that also have astronomical alignments. At D...
Standing stones and megalithic monuments are impressive remains from a remote prehistoric world that for the British Isles began some 6000 years ago and led to a cultural flowering that peaked in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age with the rise of fine megalithic monuments like Newgrange, Knowth, Drombeg, Maeshowe, Avebury and Stonehenge. Near...
At Drombeg Stone Circle in County Cork, Ireland, two petroglyphs of prehistoric date are highly significant. One is an ithyphallic image with testicles that is 200 mm long. It is carved high on a tall narrow straight-sided megalith at the portal entrance. The other pecked carving is an open vulva 280 mm long by 160 mm wide on the flat upper surface...
Memories of Prof Terence Meaden's low-temperature physics research colleagues of the 1950s and 1960s at the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford University are recalled. His own work on the search for superconductivity in the radioactive actinide metals is referenced. This includes the building of a liquid helium-3 cryostat to reach 0.4 Kelvin.
Memories of Prof Terence Meaden's low-temperature physics research colleagues of the 1950s and 1960s at the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford University are recalled. His own work on the search for superconductivity in the radioactive actinide metals is referenced. This includes the building of a liquid helium-3 cryostat to reach 0.4 Kelvin.
At sunrise on the morning of the summer solstice the feminine artwork (a pecked vulva) on the recumbent stone at Drombeg begins the day in the phallic shadow of the earthfast male-type portal Stone 1. This is the calendrical fertility secret of the stones, which may have been interpreted as the Union between Sun and Earth—that is to say, a Sacred M...
The pecked carvings on the 2-metre long recumbent stone, the natural geological image on Portal Stone 1, and the likely pecked ithyphallic image on the adjacent Portal Stone 17 are described.
In this volume of which this is the second chapter it is demonstrated that specific megaliths at Drombeg Stone Circle in Ireland were selected for size and shape and intelligently positioned such that the rising sun would cast light on them, allowing their shadows to fall upon particular placed stones. The relevant stones varied with season and dir...
The primary result of this project was the finding that Drombeg Stone Circle (which serves as an archetype for many other stone circles) was intelligently planned such that in the minutes after sunrise male-symbolic stones each cast a shadow upon one of two female-symbolic stones for 8 dates of the year that were of traditional importance to farmin...
Annually every year on 5 November (and also on 5 February) as the sun rises at Drombeg Stone Circle, the lozenge-shaped female Stone 14 is in shadowed union with the male-character, tall and narrow Stone 2, and remains so for about five minutes, after which the lozenge Stone 14 is increasingly illuminated. 5 November and 5 February are the true cro...
Since the year 1974 when the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) was founded, TORRO's scientific research has embraced all aspects of severe weather in the United Kingdom and Ireland. This includes tornadoes, other whirlwinds, hailstorms, thunderstorms, lightning, extreme rainfalls, snowfalls and ball lightning. The results have led to...
As well as documenting present-day tornadoes and other whirlwinds, it has always been an aim of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) to create an archive that recognises and includes as many historical events as possible. At the time of writing (2014), about 700 British and Irish tornadoes dating from the 19th century and earlier hav...
Tornadoes, waterspouts, funnel clouds, and other whirlwinds are summarised for the United Kingdom for 2013, and the data compared with those for the preceding five years. Tornado totals have been very stable in recent years but waterspouts and funnel clouds have fluctuated in number, both being relatively low in 2013; on the other hand, fine spells...
139 known tornadoes are listed for Great Britain and Ireland for the years 1951-1960 together with their strengths, path lengths, and widths. One additional tornado is listed for the years AD 1054-1800, and 13 for the years 1876-1900.
The cyclonic weather of October 2013 continued for the first 10 days of November, but pressure was often high during the remainder of the month, especially in the south. Seven tornadoes and two funnel clouds have been documented for this month; there were, however, a number of borderline cases which might or might not have been tornadoes. December...
161 known tornadoes are listed for Great Britain and Ireland for the years 1931-1950 together with their strengths, path lengths, and widths. 12 additional tornadoes are listed for the years 1851-1875 and 13 for the years 1876-1900.
165 known tornadoes are listed for Great Britain and Ireland for the years 1901-1930 together with their strengths, path lengths, and widths. 21 additional tornadoes are listed for the years 1851-1875 and one for the years 1876-1900.
Tornadoes, waterspouts, funnel clouds, and other whirlwinds are summarised for the United Kingdom for 2012, and the data compared with those for the preceding five years. 2012's totals were very similar to those in 2011 for tornadoes, waterspouts, and land devils, but there were far more funnel cloud reports.
157 known tornadoes are listed for Great Britain and Ireland for the years 1876-1900 together with their strengths, path lengths, and widths. 13 additional tornadoes are listed for the years 1801-1850 and 17 for the years 1851-1875.
168 known tornadoes are listed for Great Britain and Ireland for the years 1851-1875 together with their strengths, path lengths, and widths. Eight additional tornadoes are listed for the years 1801-1850.
186 known tornadoes are listed for Great Britain and Ireland for the years 1801-1850 together with their strengths, path lengths, and widths.
146 known tornadoes are listed for Great Britain and Ireland for the years AD 1054-1800 together with their strengths, path lengths and widths.
Using information from Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico Books 4 and 5, a discussion is held about the weather in and near the Straits of Dover for the three weeks from 25th August to 17th September in the year 55 BC. The analysis made it possible to construct weather charts for the particular date of 30th August 55 BC. This is the earliest date in...
Using information from Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico Books 4 and 5, a discussion is held about the weather in and near the Straits of Dover for the three weeks from 25 August to 17 September in the year 55 BC. The analysis made it possible to construct weather charts for the particular date of 30 August 55 BC. This is the earliest date in the wo...
Westerly weath'er types prevailed for most of January 2012, although pressure was often high In the south; easterlies set in at the end of the month. There was one acceptable report of a tornado (and several unverifiable ones), one funnel cloud, and one waterspout. February and March were both very anticyclonic months, cold in the first half of Feb...
The first three weeks of May 2012 were mostly cool and unsettled but high pressure produced a fine warm spell towards the end of the month. There were three tornadoes, five funnel cloud sightings, and three land devils; there was also a waterspout in the Irish Republic.
Tornadoes, waterspouts, funnel clouds, and other whirlwinds are summarised for the United Kingdom for 2011, and the data compared with those for the preceding five years. 2011's totals were similar to those for 2010 for tornadoes and waterspouts, but there were more funnel clouds and fewer land devils.
Westerly types prevailed for the first half of June 2004, with pressure often high in the south, but the second half was much more unsettled. There were six tornadoes (four definite), including one that began as a waterspout, three other waterspouts, and 10 reports of funnel clouds - most of these events occurring in the last 10 days of the month;...
Tomadoes, waterspouts, funnel clouds, and other whirlwinds are summarised for the United Kingdom for 2010, and the data compared with those for the preceding five years. 2010's totals were rather low for Tomadoes and funnel clouds, but relatively high for waterspouts and land devils.
Tornadoes, waterspouts, funnel clouds, and other whirlwinds are summarised for the United Kingdom for 2009, and the data compared with those for the preceding five years. After the very low total in 2008, 2009's figures were not far from the long-term average (but still lower than in any of the four years preceding 2008).
January 2004 was an unsettled westerly month, apart from a northerly spell near the end: there were three known tornadoes (two definite), plus another in the Irish Republic, two waterspouts, and three reports of funnel clouds. Unsettled weather continued for the first week of February, but much of the rest of the month was anticyclonic: the only wh...
Tornadoes, waterspouts, funnel clouds, and other whirlwinds are summarised for the United Kingdom for 2008, and the data compared with those for the preceding four years. The numbers for 2008 are low compared with these other recent years, especially for tornadoes, although not so very different from the annual totals in some earlier decades.
In 1986, the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) developed and published an eleven point Hailstorm Intensity Scale and this has been used to characterise more than 2500 hailstorms known to have occurred in Britain and Ireland since the first documented hailstorm event of 1141 AD; this scale has recently (2005) been revised with addition...
Hail numerical and physical parameters are examined for an assessment of frequency, spatial and temporal distribution and intensity of hailfalls in Central Macedonia periphery, Northern Greece. Data from weather stations of the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS) indicated a mean yearly point frequency varying between 1 and 2 hail days...
Birmingham, whose population of one million makes it Britain's second largest city, has a high rate of reported tornado activity. Altogether, 15 significant tornado events are known to have occurred over a central area of 150 km2 in this Midlands city on 12 different days in the 60 years from 1946 to 2005. The numbers come from reviewing tornado si...
Part 1 of this paper (see February 2009 IJMet) aimed to bring together all available data on heavy one-day rainfalls in Great Britain (Including the crown dependencies of the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) and Northern Ireland to produce a record of maximum daily rainfall totals for each day of the year. Pat 2 of this paper, presented here, also...
Part 1 of this paper, presented here, aims to bring together all available data on heavy one-day rainfalls in Great Britain (Including the crown dependencies of the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) and Northern Ireland to produce a record of maximum daily rainfall totals for each day of the year. Part 2 of this paper (see March 2009 IJMet) also hig...
Tornadoes, waterspouts, funnel clouds, and other whirlwinds are summarised for the United Kingdom for 2007, and the data compared with those for 2004, 2005, and 2006. The numbers are high, especially those for funnel clouds (159), which are the highest annual figures on record. Total number of tornado-related events (including well-reported funnel...
Tornadoes, waterspouts, funnel clouds and other whirlwinds are summarised for 2006, and the data compared with 2004 and 2005. The numbers are again very high. Total number of tornado-related events for the UK reached 157 in 2006, as compared with 156 in 2004 and 189 in 2005. The year's major event happened on 7th December 2006 when a tornado tracke...
It can be hard to imagine how two centuries ago erudite men were so beguiled by the teachings of the Old Testament, and fearful of the preachers who clung to ageing doctrines, that few dared publicly challenge the orthodoxy. The mythologies of Genesis were not recognized for what they were—the fabrications of storytellers: God created Man and Woman...
2005 is the bicentenary of the Beaufort Scale and its wind-speed codes: the marine version in 1805 and the land version later. In the 1920s when anemometers had come into general use, the Beaufort Scale was quantified by a formula based on experiment. In the early 1970s two tornado wind-speed scales were proposed: (1) an International T-Scale based...
This paper provides a background to the many tornado events that have affected Birmingham in the last 75 years. Firstly, the UK has a very high frequency of tornadoes and waterspouts. Many damage property; some cause injury or death. In the last two years, for which full data are available (2004 and 2005), there were two killer tornadoes in Britain...
Tornadoes, waterspouts, funnel clouds and other whirlwinds are considered for 2005, and the data are compared with those for the previous year. The high numbers for 2004 were eclipsed by even higher figures for 2005. The total number of tornado-related events for the UK reached 189 in 2005, while the number for all reported whirlwinds was 208. The...
The strong naturally-formed vortices in the atmosphere known as tornadoes are of great research importance for the risk they pose to life and property. They are made visible by the condensation of water vapor in the outer sheath of spinning funnels that develop at the time of severe storms, usually over land but occasionally over expanses of water,...
Whirlwinds can be divided into two main classes: the greater and the lesser whirlwinds. The former are represented by tornadoes, waterspouts, and funnel clouds. The latter are the momentum-driven eddy whirlwinds and the thermal-column wind devils and fire devils.
This research deals with the incidence of tornadoes and waterspouts along the coasts of Hampshire and Sussex. In particular, the areas north and east of the Isle of Wight are studied and some cases analysed. The severity of the property damage indicates tornado tracks up to 900 m wide (as at Selsey on 7 January 1998) and suggests tornado intensitie...
This paper identifies the synoptic situations, and combinations of those situations, together with other influences such as topography and minor fronts (e.g. sea breeze and coastal fronts), that produce tornadoes in the United Kingdom (UK). This marks an important step towards improving the forecasting of tornadoes in the UK and the issuing of torn...
A total of 150 tornadoes was reported in the United Kingdom in 1981, by far the highest annual total on record. The number was boosted by the occurrence of the country's two largest known outbreaks, on 20 October (29 tornadoes) and 23 November (104 tornadoes). There were also 11 waterspouts and eight funnel clouds.
The appearance of a lambda shaped peak in the temperature coefficient of the thermal resistivity of europium at its magnetic critical point provides the first experimental evidence for the critical divergence of this transport property in a metallic element. In discussing the results, comparison is made with critical divergences observed for the ma...
The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) was formed in the UK in 1974 in order to determine realistic spatial, temporal and intensity distributions of tornadoes in the UK and, eventually, throughout Europe. Currently, TORRO's databases contain nearly 2000 tornadoes and over 550 waterspouts for the UK alone. In 1972, TORRO's founder, Tere...
This report summarises the tornado damage to properties at Bognor Regis on the West Sussex coast that occured between 5.10 and 5.15 p.m. clocktime (1610-1615 UTC) on 28 October 2000. The damage trail through the town was 3 km long and chiefly 70 to 80 metres wide. The tornado strength probably reached T4 on the International Tornado Scale, setting...
A total of 18 tornadoes was recorded in the United Kingdom in 1980, which is below the long-term average. Only two of these tornadoes exceeded force T2. In addition there were six reports of waterspouts and 13 of funnel clouds.
Projects
Project (1)
Much is being learnt about the spirituality and beliefs of the faraway cultures of Neolithic Britain and Ireland by analysing and decoding the symbolism of the shapes and positioning of the stones intelligently planned into the monuments that the people designed and built. It includes studying and photographing the shadows cast between standing stones at sunrise. Current work, with 180 colour photographs, is summarised in the volume "Stonehenge, Avebury and Drombeg Stone Circles Deciphered" (Lambert Academic Publishing, August 2016).
