Practical Physics

4 March 1854 – 23 March 1945

Sir William Napier Shaw (born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England) was a British meteorologist whose introduction of the millibar, a unit of measurement of air pressure, and the tephigram, a graphical representation of the first law of thermodynamics as applied to Earth’s atmosphere, contributed to the development of modern meteorology. Shaw taught physics at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, from 1877-1906. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1891 and in 1900 became secretary of the Meteorological Council, the governing body of the Meteorological Office. He instigated the reorganization of this office and served as director from 1905-20. He was knighted in 1915. From 1…