Gerald R. North. Source: Texas A&M University.
The Rise of Climate Science: A Memoir By Gerald R. North, Texas A&M University Press, 2020.
https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781623498672/the-rise-of-climate-science/
前陣子朋友推薦這本書：The Rise of Climate Sciences: A Memoir by Gerald North，是大氣科學家Gerald North (1938-) 的個人回憶錄。Gerald North是Texas A&M大氣科學系的名譽教授，他原本是物理系教授，研究理論物理10多年，於1970年代決定轉去研究氣候。這剛好適逢氣候模式和衛星開始發展，他也做出了傑出的貢獻，包括Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs)，Energy Balance Models (EBMs)，還有古氣候研究 (paleoclimate)。他還提出了NASA衛星計畫TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission)，是NASA最成功的衛星計畫之一。
Gerald North的氣候研究職涯，可說是第一手見證了氣候科學從萌芽到成熟階段，這本回憶錄十分珍貴。我只看完這本書的Introduction，聽了他2018年在NASA Goddard的演講 (Gerald R. North Maniac Lecture, September 26, 2018)，就對他十分欽佩，所以來寫個筆記。這一篇主要寫他為何決定從理論物理轉到氣候研究，等我看完這本書，應該會再多寫幾篇筆記。
Gerald North的生平 (部分)
1938，出生於Sweetwater, Tennessee
1957-1961，Co-Op Student, then junior physicist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
1960，B. S. in Physics and Math (minor in Chemistry), University of Tennessee
1966，Ph.D. in Physics (minor in Math), University of Wisconsin-Madison
1966-1968，Post-Doc in Physics, University of Pennsylvania
1968-1978，Professor, Department of Physics, University of Missouri-St. Louis
1974-1975，Senior Visiting Scientist, NCAR ASP (Advanced Study Program)
1978-1986，Physical Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
1986-2016，Distinguished Professor of Meteorology and of Oceanography, Texas A&M University
1995-2003，Head, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University
2016-present?，Research Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University
獎項 (部分)
1975，Outstanding Publication Award, National Center for Atmospheric Research
1983，Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for NASA
2003-2009，Holder of the Harold J. Haynes Endowed Chair in Geosciences, Texas A&M University
2008，Jule G. Charney Medal, the American Meteorological Society
社群服務 (部分)
1989-1996，Member, Executive Committee, Board on Atmospheric Science and Climate. National Research Council
2001-2007，Member, Board of Trustees, Universities Space Research Association
1999-2002，Member, Board of Trustees, National Institute for Global Environmental Change, Chairman, 2001-2
2005-2010，Editor in Chief, Reviews of Geophysics
2006，Chairman, NRC/NAS Committee on Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2000 years
2010-2014，Editor in Chief, Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences, Elsevier
2011-2013，Chairman, NRC Organizing Committee on Solar Variability and Climate Change
從理論物理轉到氣候研究
Gerald North在高中和大學就展現他對數學的才能和興趣，他大學時唸University of Tennessee，每隔一個quarter就去Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) 當Co-Op Student (註：Co-Op是Cooperattive Education的簡稱，意思是工作和學期交替： "'Co-op' usually refers to a multi-work term agreement with one employer; traditionally with at least three work terms alternated with school terms". Source: Virginia Tech)。他一開始在ORNL的化學實驗室，但他很不會做化學實驗，所以ORNL幫他轉到物理的熱核部門 (Thermonuclear Division)，這也開啟他對物理的興趣，他大學雙主修數學和物理，副修化學，在四年完成學業。
他大學畢業後，決定繼續攻讀物理，進入University of Wisconsin-Madison就讀物理博士班。物理課程很困難，但他的表現很好，他的博士論文做Meson Field Theory，畢業後去University of Pennsylvania做博士後研究。當時美國正在打越戰，物理系畢業的工作機會很少，他好不容易在University of Missouri-St. Louis的物理系找到教職 (1968年)，並在1978年升為正教授。
在University of Missouri-St. Louis物理系任教期間，雖然他喜歡教學，但覺得這樣的職涯天花板很低 ("While I loved teaching, I was beginning to be uncomfortable with the low upper limits of such a career; p4")。他想在物理領域做出一番成就，但他不覺得自己能在眾多天才和競爭激烈的物理領域勝出 ("I yearned for a career in which my contribution would be influential"; "I had been exceptional in graduate school, so-so as a postdoc, OK as a teacher, but a bit short when cut loose into the adult competition"; "I was...also not sufficiently smart or indefatigable"; "I was hanging on by my fingernails in the overcrowded and supercompetitive atmosphere in my field."; p4)。
他當時有在看一些大氣科學的文獻，還參加過幾次大氣科學的研討會。後來他申請到NCAR ASP Senior Scientist Fellowship，在1974-75年的sabbatical期間到NCAR訪問。訪問期間他看到當時NCAR科學家Stephen Schneider和Robert Dickinson正在寫的氣候模式回顧文章 (Schneider and Dickinson 1974, Reviews of Geophysics)，讓他第一次接觸到氣候模式。他還看到Peter Chylek和James Coakley正在寫的Budyko-type energy balance model文章 (應該是這篇：Chylek and Coakley 1975, JAS)，開啟他對energy balance model的興趣，而且那篇paper提到一些氣候科學裡的開放問題，而他想要去回答這些問題。還很巧合的是，當時華盛頓大學的教授Mike Wallace也在sabbatical期間去NCAR訪問，Wallace當時正在寫一本氣象學教科書，客群是主修物理和化學的學生。Wallace有把教科書的一些章節給他看，請他給些建議，這也讓他對氣象學有更多認識。除此之外，在訪問期間，他還認識了許多氣象大師，如Phil Thompson, Chuck Leith, Warren Washington, Francis Bretherton等人。
在NCAR訪問期間，Gerald North基於Budykyo和Sellers的工作，發展了一個簡單氣候能量平衡模式 (energy balance models)，並發表了兩篇papers (North 1975: Analytical solution to a simple climate model with diffusive heat transport, JAS; North 1975: Theory of energy-balance climate models, JAS)。這兩篇papers還贏得當年的NCAR Publication Award ($500)，打響了他在氣候研究領域的名聲，讓他決定繼續踏入氣候研究領域 ("...this fresh start and early taste of success was a very stimulating event for me. I was new in a new field"; p9)。
Gerald North會毅然決定從物理轉到氣候研究，還有一個理由是他覺得在一個成熟的領域 (理論物理)，即使是一流的科學家也可能只做出次要的貢獻。但是在一個新興領域 (氣候科學)，即使是二流的科學家，也可能做出非常重要的貢獻 (“The famous theoretical physicist P. A. M. Dirac said that in the early days of quantum mechanics, even a second-rate physicist could make a difference, years later as the field developed and plateaued into a later phase, even a first-rate physicist could make only a second-rate contribution (Farmelo 2011)”; p5)
Gerald North發表這兩篇JAS papers已經是37歲。他說一個中年科學家 (在職涯和年紀上) 跳到一個全新領域不是件尋常的事情 ("I was evolving from being a middling theoretical physicist to an atmospheric scientist during a one-year sabbatical leave from my tenured position...that is unnatural for middle-aged scientists coming from neighboring disciplines to pick up"; p3)。不過，他是個嚴肅的初心者，其他人也有注意到 ("I think he [Bernhardt Haurwitz] had discovered that I was a serious beginner in what turned out to be a nascent field of climate."; p8)
1978年，Gerald North離開工作十年的University of Missouri-St. Louis物理系，加入NASA Goddard Space Flight Center。他1986年離開Goddard，到Texas A&M大氣系當教授，並在1995-2003擔任系主任。他的研究職涯故事留待之後介紹。
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參考資料
The Rise of Climate Science: A Memoir By Gerald R. North, Texas A&M University Press, 2020.
https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781623498672/the-rise-of-climate-science/
Gerald R. North - Texas A&M
https://atmo.tamu.edu/people/profiles/emeritus-faculty/northgerald.html
Gerald R. North Maniac Lecture, September 26, 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUy5aAmCRR8
Gerald North - wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_North