It took me some eighteen months to complete the thesis, with the majority of the time spent digging through old files and chasing down other esoteric bits of information, some of which turned up quite unexpectedly in out of the way places. As is usual in these cases, my thesis which forms the basis of this Metarch Paper would not have been completed without the assistance of many people from the Bureau of Meteorology, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Division of Atmospheric Research and the University of Melbourne. In particular, my thanks for their assistance and forebearance go to:

• the following Bureau personnel—Director of Meteorology John Zillman; Deputy Director (Research and Systems) Doug Gauntlett; staff of the Head Office Library and Judy Long, in particular, for her many searches through dusty shelves for interesting items; Mick Williams, Joe Dzikonski and the rest of the crew from Head Office Registry for arranging the archives material; and the many other Bureau staff who contributed in some way towards the completion of this document—plus ex-Bureau staff Bill Gibbs, Don Handcock, Allan Cornish, Max Cassidy, Bob Crowder and Keith Henderson;


• Brian Tucker and staff from the CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Research, and the staff at CSIRO Archives, Canberra, for unearthing some of their ancient papers;


• John Robbins of the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation, Canberra, special thanks for digging out the file on the Kyeema disaster;


• Dr Mark Richmond, the University of Melbourne, Archives, for his assistance with the Loewe papers, and Dr Helen Verran and Prof Rod Home from the History and Philosophy of Science Department, the University of Melbourne, without whose help this project would never have begun, and who kept me pointed in the right direction throughout the entire process; and finally


• my spouse, Juliet, without whose support I would not have undertaken and completed my degree.

Bureau of Meteorology