新科主任John Mason在Met Office辦公室的第一天 (1965年10月1日)。Credit: Royal Meteorological Society
John Mason在他辦公室拍的照片，背景是窗外的積雨雲。Source: Mason (2010)
1965年，英國Imperial College的雲物理教授John Mason (1979年受封為爵士, Sir) 離開待了17年的地方，來到英國氣象局Met Office當主任 (Director-General)，當年他只有42歲。在他任職期間 (1965-83年)，大氣模式和衛星開始發展，他帶領Met Office抓住這些機會，把Met Office從一個傳統氣象作業單位，變成世界一流的氣象研究和作業單位，非常的了不起。
這篇文章筆記一下John Mason選擇去Met Office的動機，以及他上任前對Met Office的願景。在任職期間，他推動許多重要改革，一步步實現當時的願景，非常令人佩服，他在Met Office的工作留待之後介紹。在來到Met Office之前，他曾在二戰期間擔任英國皇家空軍的雷達人員，戰後到Imperial College開始雲物理研究，有興趣的話可以參考我之前寫的文章：英國氣象模式發展：Part 1 - Sir John Mason。
＊John Mason決定去Met Office的理由
1960年代初期的Met Office，是個傳統、保守、官僚文化很重的氣象作業單位。當時數值天氣預報開始發展，不少國家如美國和瑞典都已經把數值天氣預報加入例行作業，但是Met Office還是用傳統的人工天氣預報。雖然Met Office內部有自己的研究部門，也有非常傑出的人才如動力氣象學家John Sawyer FRS (FRS是皇家學會會員，Fellow of the Royal Society的縮寫)，紊流專家Frank Pasquill (1977年被授與FRS)等，但基本上Met Office跟學術界的互動不多。或者說，學術界普遍看輕Met Office，因為他們覺得天氣預報不是很重要的工作，而且Met Office太官僚 ("...many of his [John Mason] academic colleagues regarded weather forecasting as a rather inferior occupation and the Met Office as being overly bureaucratic."; Browning 2016)。
在這樣的氛圍下，學術有成的大學教授John Mason決定去Met Office當主任，無疑跌破許多人的眼鏡。在1994年的John Mason的訪談中，主持人Hessam Taba，同時也是Mason的多年好友，就說當他聽到Mason要去Met Office當主任，他簡直不敢相信，到底發生了什麼事。Mason開玩笑說連他自己或許也跟Taba一樣驚訝。
"Hessam Taba: 'Now we come to the second phase of your career when you became Director-General of the Meteorological Office. When I heard, I could not believe that a university professor would leave academic life to take up a civil service position. How did it come about?"
John Mason: 'I was probably as surprised as you were.'" (Taba 1997)
Mason說他會考慮去Met Office，主要原因是當時電腦、衛星等新科技快速發展，會對氣象學造成革命性的改變。然而，必要的基礎研究在大學環境下很難進行，需要有Met Office的資源才有可能進行。他想在這個氣象學革命扮演重要角色，所以他決定去參選Met Office的主任。
"...there would be a revolution in meteorology brought about by satellites, computers and new technology. The necessary dynamical research could not be done in a university environment, however. What was needed were the resources of the Met. Office. I wanted to have a major part in that and that was really what decided me." (Taba 1997)
部分原因是當年(1965) Mason獲選為皇家學會會員 (FRS)。在這樣的好消息激勵下，Mason決定去參選Met Office主任，即使他只有42歲，而且完全沒有在政府部門工作或是擔任過高階管理職的經驗。
最後，Mason獲選為Met Office主任，出線原因可能是他對Met Office的偉大願景以及計畫。某個遴選委員說Mason會撼動整個Met Office，但這正是Met Office需要的 (‘he’ll shake ’em up a bit … but this is just what the Met Office needs’ (Royal Meteorological Society 1985; taken from Browning 2016)。
＊John Mason上任前對Met Office的願景
在John Mason上任前，英國皇家氣象學會(Royal Meteorological Society)的Weather期刊編輯邀請他寫一篇短文分享對Met Office的想法和願景 (Mason 1965)。一份兩頁的文件，明確指出氣象學和Met Office的現況和挑戰，以及他的願景，非常值得一讀。我自己把他的願景歸納成三點，加上一個小小總結。
1. 年輕的氣象學正在起飛
Mason相信從科學上和作業上來說，氣象學有令人興奮的未來 (“I believe that meteorology has an exciting future, both as a science and a profession.”; Mason 1965)。
在科學上，新的科技像電腦、資料處理、畫圖分析等技術的引入，氣象學以及地球科學的研究會有很多重要的突破。而且，這些突破主要會是因為新的想法，而不是像其他熱門的物理領域，想有所突破通常需要有更大規模的投資。對英國這樣沒有龐大資源的國家來說，是個很好的時機來擴展氣象學和地球科學的研究，同時，氣象學的發展突破對經濟也會有重大影響。
"Looking at the broader picture of physical research, the time seems ripe for a big expansion of interest and effort in the geophysical sciences, with meteorology and oceanography in the forefront. As research in the more fashionable fields of physics becomes ever more competitive and expensive, I think that countries like Britain should, and will, turn more to the intellectually difficult, but relatively untilled borderline fields, where progress is likely to come more from new ideas than vast expenditure. Here meteorology is well placed as a subject of considerable economic importance, offering a scientific challenge that we can well afford." (Mason 1965)
在作業上，新科技的引入可以讓預報員們減輕負擔，有更多時間去思考，去消化和吸收資料，來做出更完善的天氣預報。新工具像雷達的引入，可以讓大眾能接收到更多的天氣資訊，比方說未來幾小時天氣會如何演變。這些新科技和新工具會讓大眾要求Met Office提供更多服務，更好的來呈現產品，與此同時，也是Met Office提升自己形象的好機會。他說他對目前Met Office在民眾的形象不是很滿意。
"Although we may foresee no dramatic improvements in weather forecasting, with the opening of Regional Weather Centres and the intelligent use of radar, it should be possible to keep the public better informed on the actual weather and its likely changes over the next few hours. This will make extra demands on the service, so I hope very much that the introduction of automatic techniques for data processing, computing, chart-plotting, etr., will ease the load on the hard-pressed forecaster and give him a little more time to digest and interpret the data. Certainly we must be ready to incorporate new advances in technology and meteorological research into operational practice, but always with the aim of improving the service and raising the status of weather forecasting. Presentation of the final product is also very important, and conscious that the public image of the Office is projected mainly by television and radio, I confess to being rather unhappy with the present arrangements." (Mason 1965)
2. Met Office的任務和責任
Mason認為雖然氣象學有樂觀的科學和作業前景，但英國需要Met Office把樂觀的前景化為現實，因為Met Office不只是主要的氣象作業單位，同時也是氣象領域唯一的雇主。他認為Met Office必須兼顧研究和作業兩方面。
"Of the large national weather services it is perhaps unique in being almost the only employer of meteorologists in the country; it not only provides the meteorological services, civil and military, but is also the main research agency. The health of both the science and the profession thus rests squarely upon its shoulders, and we must look to the Office, not only for our bread and butter, but for things of the spirit." (Mason 1965)
在研究方面，跟過去十幾二十年相比，Met Office已經有很穩固的研究能量，特別感謝前任主任Sir Graham Sutton的努力。未來應該要讓Met Office有更大的研究自由和彈性，才能成為真正一流的研究中心。Met Office可以有廣泛的氣象研究興趣，但Mason認為與其把研究資源散在各處，不如集中火在幾個少數的研究課題，然後做到最好。同時，Met Office的研究需要跟大學有更密切的合作。
"Due to the magnificent work of my predecessors, especially Sir Graham Sutton, the Office is a vastly different place from what it was twenty, or even ten years ago. It is a highly professional, efficient and stable organization, well staffed, equipped and housed. With its foundations secure, it can now afford to acquire something of the freedom, flexibility and self-confidence that make for an outstanding centre of research." (Mason 1965)
"Although the research interests of a national weather service can never be narrow, I think there is much to be said for doing a few things extremely well rather than spreading the available effort thinly over the whole field. My preference would therefore be for a few strong research groups doing work of world class on major problems. In this connexion I look forward to working very closely with the Universities and thereby make maximum use of our man-power and facilities." (Mason 1965)
在作業方面，Mason知道Met Office是作業單位，必須提供一流的氣象服務，才能獲得民眾和經費的支持。此外，Met Office也必須預期未來可能的需求和服務，並做好準備。
"I am very conscious that the first duty of the Meteorological Officeis to provide a first-class public service. Its value to the community and its proper financial support will be judged largely by the quality and range of its services. These have expanded greatly in recent years, but we should always be ready to stimulate and anticipate new interest and demand." (Mason 1965)
3. 沒有年輕人，就沒有未來
Met Office的研究和作業任務，沒有好的人材來實行，就註定不會成功。Mason認為吸引優秀的，年輕的數理人才到Met Office工作，是最重要的任務。他認為，一個科學領域最大的罪過不是沒有突破，而是吸引不到優秀的人才加入前面的拓荒者們。打個比方，一個領域要是教授比博士生多的話，這領域很難說是健康。
"But much will depend upon the recruitment of sufficient high-class physicists and mathematicians into these fields. I doubt whether meteorology has ever attracted its fair share of top-class talent but, even so, when one compares the journals of today with those of twenty years ago, the record is truly impressive. The most serious indictment of our profession is not lack of scientific success, but its failure, almost everywhere, to recruit enough young men of high quality to replace the war-time generation that has carried the subject for twenty years but is now approaching middle age...I regard recruitment as by far the most important of our problems; a subject that probably has more professors than able Ph.D. students can hardly be healthy!" (Mason 1965)
＊ 總結
John Mason在面試Met Office主任時，他說想把Met Office變成世界第一的氣象作業單位，這種野望也是當時英國整體的目標 ("He told the board that he wanted to build up the Met Office to be the best meteorological service in the world. This degree of ambition was apparently welcomed, for this was the 1960s - an era of scientific and technological optimism spurred on by Prime Minister Harold (later Lord) Wilson (FRS 1969)."; Browning 2016)。
更具體一點，Mason希望Met Office是氣象研究和作業的領先者，能提供可靠和廣泛的氣象服務，並且能回應不同使用者如軍事、航空、一般民眾的要求 ("The plan was designed to place the Met Office in the forefront of meteorological research and practice; to provide forecasts of greater reliability and range; to cope with increasing demands for services from defense, civil aviation, weather-sensitive industries, the media and the general public; and to fulfill our international obligations under the WWW (World Weather Watch)." (Mason 2010)
John Mason覺得雖然Met Office有很強的研究能量，但官僚文化讓他們不能盡情施展，他還覺得作業部門缺乏對自己的信心。Met Office需要鼓勵和領導，才能發揮出潛在的力量。"The Met. Office had a solid core and research had been built up under Sir Graham Sutton but it was rather bureaucratic. ...I felt the staff on the operational side were lacking in confidence. They needed encouragement and leadership." (Taba 1997)
＊預告：John Mason在Met Office推動的重要成就
John Mason在1965年十月上任Met Office，他做的第一個重大決定，是一個月後Met Office要將數值天氣預報用於實際作業。當時Met Office的數值天氣預報還是研究用途，所以有很多資深人員反對，他們覺得還需要6-12個月的時間才能把數值天氣預報用於實際作業。但Mason並不妥協，他說現在Met Office的數值天氣預報就像是不知何時會上場的彩排，必須定下正式上場日期，所有人才會動起來，才會加速數值天氣預報的進展
“‘if we go operational then we shall have to perform at concert pitch as opposed to a rehearsal and everyone will tighten up and the whole timescale will collapse (Royal Meteorological Society 1985)’”; (Browning 2016)
這是場豪賭，而Mason賭成功了。1965年11月2日，Met Office開了成立以來第一個記者會，正式向大眾宣布Met Office把數值天氣預報引進實際作業。這有兩個很重大的象徵意義：一是開啟Met Offoce數值天氣預報的作業和研究，奠定日後Met Office在大氣模式非凡成就的基礎。二是透過記者會，開始建立Met Office在民眾心中的專業形象。
除了數值天氣預報以外，Mason任內推動兩個新雷達計畫，主要研究雷達對降水預報的潛力 (Dee Weather Radar Project & National Weather Radar Network); 為Met Office爭取到研究用飛機，並設立衛星氣象組來研究使用當時開始發展的衛星資料; 開始氣候模式的發展和研究; 說服英國政府在Met Office所在的Bracknell建立世界天氣守視計畫(World Weather Watch)所需的區域資料傳輸中心 (Regional Telecommunications Hub)，這也促成1970年代成立的ECMWF選擇落腳Bracknell。
Mason的年輕人招募計畫也進行順利。Mason說他剛到Met Office的時候，前一年(~1964)只有兩位年輕人加入，但在他退休那年 (~1983)，有861位數理年輕人想加入Met Office。某一年，申請Met Office職位的人比英國政府所有其他科學職位的申請人數加起來還要多。 (Taba 1997)
John Mason在Met Office推動的工作和成就，留待下篇介紹。
References
Browning, K. A., 2016: Sir (Basil) John Mason CB. 18 August 1923 — 6 January 2015. Biogr. Mem. Fellows R. Soc., 62, 359–380, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.2015.0028.
Mason, B. J., 1965: SOME THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE. Weather, 20, 273–274, https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1477-8696.1965.tb02204.x.
Mason, B. J., 2010: The Meteorological Office (1965-83): Reflections by Sir John Mason CB DSc FRS.
Taba, H. 1997: The "Bulletin" interviews between 1989 and 1997, World Meteorological Organization