Alexander Ebenezer McLean Geddes OBE FRSE (8 February 1885-26 December1970) was a Scottish

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...

and

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. He was generally known as Sandy Geddes and nicknamed Siccer Sandy (mean Sandy).

Life

He was born in

Fordyce, Aberdeenshire Fordyce is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that is slightly inland from the point where the Burn of Fordyce meets the sea between Cullen and Portsoy. It has existed since at least the 13th century. In 1990, Charles McKean wrote that Fordyce ...

on 8 February 1885 and educated at Fordyce Academy. He then attended the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

graduating with a MA in 1906. In 1908 he became an assistant lecturer at the university teaching natural philosophy (Physics). He received a doctorate (DSc) in 1913. In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he joined the Royal Flying Corps as a meteorologist at the rank of Lieutenant. He was transferred to the Royal Engineers and served in France and Belgium. He rose to the rank of Captain and was three times mentioned in dispatches. He was awarded a military OBE after the war. In 1919 he returned to the University of Aberdeen as a lecturer. In 1930 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Archibald Goldie, Sir

Ernest Wedderburn Sir Ernest MacLagan Wedderburn (3 February 1884 – 3 June 1958) was a Scottish lawyer, and a significant figure both in the civic life of Edinburgh and in the legal establishment. He held the posts of Professor of Conveyancing in the Universi ...

Arthur Crichton Mitchell Alexander Crichton Mitchell FRSE (1 July 1864 – 15 April 1952), named in some sources as Arthur Crichton Mitchell, was a Scottish physicist with a special interest in geomagnetics who worked for many years in India as a professor and head of a ...

, and

Ralph Allan Sampson Ralph Allan (or Allen) Sampson FRS FRSE LLD (25 June 1866 – 7 November 1939) was a British astronomer. Life Sampson was born in Schull, County Cork in Ireland, then part of the UK. He was the fourth of five children to James Sampson, a Corn ...

. In 1946 became a Reader. He retired in 1955, and in the same year the university granted him an honorary doctorate (LLD). He died on 26 December 1970.

Publications

*''Meteorology: An Introductory Treatise'' (1921)

References

1885 births 1970 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British meteorologists Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Aberdeen People educated at Fordyce Academy Scottish non-fiction writers {{Scotland-scientist-stub