Arthur Thomas Doodson

Arthur Thomas Doodson (31 March 1890 – 10 January 1968) was a British mathematician and oceanographer, who worked on tidal analysis at Liverpool Observatory and Tidal Institute from 1919 to 1960.

Profoundly deaf, he could not become a teacher and started as meter tester before he obtained his M.Sc.degree at the University of Liverpool, advised by Joseph Proudman. He briefly worked under Karl Pearson first in statistics, then in ballistics calculating shell trajectories until the end of WWI. Joining the newly founded Tidal Institute in Liverpool in 1919 he produced tide tables, and was involved in designing tide-predicting machines. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. During WWII he calculated the best combination of full moon and ideal tidal conditions for D-Day on 6 June 1944. He was involved in work for the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics.

Early life and education

Arthur Thomas Doodson was born in 1890 at Boothstown, Salford, Lancashire the son of Methodist parents cotton-mill manager Thomas Doodson and Eleanor Pendlebury of Radcliffe, Lancashire. when he obtained his D.Sc. This was the first development of the tide-generating force to be carried out in harmonic form: Doodson distinguished 388 tidal frequencies. Doodson's analysis of 1921 was based on the then-latest lunar theory of Ernest William Brown. In 1923, he produced a first tide table with predictions for 1924, which was used in Liverpool port. He also started to calculate the direction of cotidal lines and created charts. In 1924, he studied the effects of wind and atmospheric pressure on tides. Portugal and Japan ordered a machine in 1923, Brazil in 1927, made by Kelvin, Bottomley & Baird. Only in 1929 the Tidal Institute bought a 1906 A Légé &Co for itself.

As the Allies prepared the invasion of Nazi-occupied France, they wanted to land at first light when it was low tide, so hidden obstacles could be seen. Doodson was enlisted to work out the tidal patterns using his mechanised calculators. His calculations revealed that 5–7 June 1944 would provide the best combination of full moon and ideal tidal conditions and D-Day duly took place on 6 June 1944. By 1943, the staff at Liverpool Tidal Institute had been reduced from 15 to Doodson and six young women. They also did "nighttime fire watch on the roof in tin helmets and trench coats and carrying buckets of water in case an incendiary bomb hit the observatory".

1945–1960 In 1945 Doodson became the Director of the Observatory until his retirement in 1960. His work became increasingly international. Starting in 1948 he became involved in work for International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. In 1954, he was made Chairman of the Finance committee. Doodson died at Birkenhead on 10 January 1968 and was buried at Flaybrick Hill Cemetery.

Further biographical information is available from the National Oceanography Centre, whose Liverpool facility was formerly the Liverpool Observatory and Tidal Institute, part of the UK Natural Environment Research Council, of which Doodson became director.

Awards and achievements In 1912 he won the Ronald Hudson Prize for Geometry. His nomination reads