GOOD-OLD-DAYS POLICY

"Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it."--So said Mark Twain before the Hurricane of 1938 had forced men to do a lot about it--Picking up the wreckage. Harvard, alas, while clearing the debris in short order, has failed to realize its duty of training students in meteorology, the science of weather. True, the University does list five half-courses in this subject for undergraduates, but each one is given by Professor--, assisted by Mr.--, omitted 1938-1939, and for an indefinite period thereafter.

This is unfortunate. Harvard should not underestimate the importance of meteorology in business, science, and everyday life. In aviation, where the factor of safety plays such a large part, the greatest variable is the weather; and until technical instruments are radically improved, men and planes will surely come to grief. The weather is a basic factor in the creation of what is euphemistically known as the national dividend. It can harass a farmer, make or break his harvest; it can ruin an otherwise good haul of fishermen, or wash out incredibly expensive roadways. All this destruction could be mitigated with more research and less of the present guesswork.

The truth is that science knows little about the cause of these phenomena which are continually affecting our lives. Up to a few years ago meteorologists carried on weather forecasts mainly from what the present weather maps show--that is, horizontal, cyclical movements. But it is becoming increasingly evident that vertical currents while harder to locate, are equally important.

The fact that M.I.T. is offering several good technical and mathematical courses in this subject is far from being a spur to Harvard's Department of Geography. On the one hand, fears that a meteorological course would only be a poor second to the courses at Tech., and, on the other hand, the knowledge that no one could teach an elementary course in the subject as well as the late Professor Ward of Harvard, have persuaded members of the Department to omit five vital courses. Certainly Professor Brooks is more than competent to give an introductory course, and failing him, there are others such as Dr. Lange of the Blue Hill Observatory. With a little encouragement the Department can perhaps throw away its good-old-days-we're-liked-now policy, pull itself together, and offer courses in a valuable branch of science.