Alexander George McAdie (August 4, 1863 – November 1, 1943) was an American

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 ...

. While in college he joined the ''Army Signal Service'', the predecessor of the U.S. Weather Bureau. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1885. From 1903 until 1913 he ran the U.S. Weather Bureau in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. He was also the vice president of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

, starting in 1904, and continuing until 1913. In 1913 he became Professor of

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

at Harvard, and remained there until 1931. During the same period he also served as the director of the ''

Blue Hill Observatory The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory in Milton, Massachusetts is the foremost structure associated with the history of weather observations in the United States. Located atop Great Blue Hill about 10 miles south of Boston, Massachusetts, it is ...

''. Among his accomplishments was the invention of a device to prevent frost from harming fruit. He was a pioneer in the use of kites to study conditions at high altitudes. In 1885 at Blue Hill,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, he modernized the experiments of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

by attaching a voltmeter to a kite and measuring the voltage difference between the ground and several hundred feet up. He also made studies of the atmospheric effects of smoke, the connection between the

aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

and electricity in the atmosphere, and the dangers posed by lightning. He is the author of a

cloud atlas A cloud atlas is a pictorial key (or an atlas) to the nomenclature of clouds. Early cloud atlases were an important element in the training of meteorologists and in weather forecasting, and the author of a 1923 atlas stated that "increasing use ...

. He is also known for testifying about the potential effects of electrocution (based on his experience with lightning) in 1899 at the first trial to decide if the

electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

was

cruel and unusual punishment Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase in common law describing punishment that is considered unacceptable due to the suffering, pain, or humiliation it inflicts on the person subjected to the sanction. The precise definition varies by jurisd ...

. His testimony was used against the use of the electric chair for the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. In addition to his work with the weather bureau, McAdi
wrote a detailed account
of the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...

an
compiled a catalog
of earthquakes on the Pacific coast. He was married to Mary Randolph Brown McAdie. Delegates to the Fourth Conference International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research at Mount Wilson Observatory

Delegates to the Fourth Conference International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research at Mount Wilson Observatory

Awards and honors

Mount McAdie Mount McAdie is a summit on the crest of the Sierra Nevada, and is located south of Mount Whitney. It has three summits, with the north peak being the highest. The summit ridge marks the boundary between Sequoia National Park and the John Muir ...

in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

range was named after him. * The crater McAdie on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

is named after him. * The Fleet Weather Center building in Norfolk, VA is named after him.

References

* ''McClure's Magazine'', March, 1896, Vol. VI., No. 4.

External links

* *
NOAA History

1863 births 1943 deaths Sierra Club directors Harvard University alumni American meteorologists Activists from California Atmospheric sounding {{climate-bio-stub