ICHM Members in the News
New Publication on Inigo Jones, Australian Folk Forecaster
Inigo Jones: The Weather Prophet , by Tim Sherratt. Metarch Papers No. 16, Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology, 2007, 60pp, illustrated.
Australians have sought escape from the cruel whims of climate through dreams of certainty and control. In the first half of the twentieth century, many laboured to find some sort of pattern or regularity in the weather - the elusive "timetable of nature" - that would allow droughts to be predicted with accuracy.
Amongst the ranks of these hopeful "weather prophets," Inigo Jones stood alone. Issuing forecasts weeks, months, even years ahead, Jones won a large and devoted following, particularly amongst graziers in New South Wales and Queensland. Orthodox meteorologists, however, were less convinced of his abilities.
In 1939, the federal government succumbed to many years of public pressure, and ordered a scientific review of Jones's methods. This publication traces some of the events, influences and relationships that culminated in the 1939 review.
For some Inigo Jones was a neglected visionary, to others nothing more than a crank. While he is now generally cast as an amusing sidelight in the development of Australian meteorology, he is still remembered by many as a great Queensland scientist, and his forecasts continue to attract attention - particularly in times of drought.
As Australians grapple still with the unpredictability of their climate, with the difficulties of seasonal forecasting, it seems worthwhile to reconsider the life and work of a man who was once believed to hold the answer to our uncertainties.