本帖最後由 mca 於 2011-2-2 17:46 編輯
之前我搜集了一些相關資料,
-----------------------------
文獻 WILLIAM DOBERCK – DOUBLE STAR ASTRONOMER
http://www.alanchuhk.com/Doberck-DoubleStarAstronomer.pdf
第 4.1 和 4.2 段寫出籌建香港天文台的三個理由:
1. Within the first thirty years of the setting up of the Colony of Hong Kong its commercial importance grew significantly, and this attracted increasing numbers of vessels to the port. Consequently, there was soon a need for a reliable time service, and the demand for a time-ball justified the setting up of an observatory.
2. The depredations wrought on the Colony by unannounced typhoons, and the extent to which the effects of these could be ameliorated—as evidenced by the warnings heeded in the Bay of Bengal and, after 1880, by warnings issued from the observatory in Manila—were yet another justification for such a proposal.
3. Finally, the Royal Society in London was keen to monitor geophysical phenomena, and particularly geomagnetic variations, on a global scale and by establishing an observatory in Hong Kong a major gap in the coverage would be plugged.
從第一點我們可以理解為什麼 「香港天文台」 長期隸屬經濟局 (2007年重組後改叫商務及經濟發展局)。「香港天文台」最早期的工作只有授時 (time-service)、氣象觀測 (meteorological observations) 和地磁監察 (geomagnetic monitoring),天氣預報要到 1892 年 (開台後 9 年) 才開始。
初期香港天文台只有一支 2.75 吋口徑的中星儀 (transit instrument) 和一支 5.9 吋赤道儀折射鏡 (即是原文的 Figure 6),後者本來在 Bedford Observatory,只是轉借給香港天文台,赤道設置在天文台的小圓頂室內,1914 年赤道儀運返英國,圓頂室則在 1933 年拆掉。
---------------------
維基百科網頁 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Observatory
列出 Hong Kong Observatory 的歷任台長:
Former Director List
William Doberck,Ph.D.,1883-1907
Frederick George Figg,1907-1912
Thomas Folkes Claxton,F.R.A.S.,1912-1932
Charles William Jeffries,F.R.A.S.,1932-1941
Benjamin Davis Evans,F.R.A.S., F.R.Met.S.,1941-1946
Graham Scudamore Percival Heywood,M.A., F.R.Met.S.,1946-1956
Ian Edward Meni Watts,Ph.D., F.R.Met.S.,1956-1965
Gordon John Bell,O.B.E., M.A., F.R.Met.S.,1965-1981
John Edgar Peacock,O.B.E., B.Sc.(Hons.),1981-1984
Sham Pak,Patrick,I.S.O., B.Sc.(Hons.), F.R.Met.S.,1984-1995
Lau Chi-kwan,B.Sc.(SYD.), DIP.N.A.A.C.(SYD.),1995-1996
Lam Hung-kwan,Ph.D., F.R.Met.S,1996-2003
Lam Chiu-ying,C Met., 2003-2009
從 1883 – 1946 年,五個台長都是 F. R. A. S. (Fellows of Royal Astronomical Society) 或相當職銜,此後至今的八個台長都不是天文學家而是 F. R. Met. S. (Fellows of the Royal Meteorological Society) 或相當的氣象學家,從這點去看,戰後的香港天文台已轉向氣象服務了,它雖然稱為「天文台」,但其地位及工作性質更接近其他地方的氣象台,例如國內外稱的氣象台、氣象廳、氣象局。
--------------------------------------
這是一段網上電台廣播的五分鐘錄音:
什麼是天文? 什麼是氣象?
http://www.openradiohk.com/episode.php?gid=1&epino=1 |