IN THE EYE OF THE STORM
The autobiography of Sir John Houghton
With Gill Tavner
Lion Hudson. 303 pages. £9.99
ISBN 978 0 745 955 841
No-one has contributed more to climate science than Sir John Houghton. This book is his ‘scientific story’ (p. 9). It is an intriguing mix of personal anecdote, scientific explanation and persuasive argument.
Born to parents with Strict Baptist roots, Sir John was brought up in Rhyl in a Brethren assembly. He went up to Oxford in 1948 and threw himself into a scientific career. His team developed instruments to measure the atmosphere that were sent into orbit by NASA on Nimbus 4, 5, 6 and 7. Moving into senior management, he first merged the Rutherford and Appleton labs, then headed up the Met Office.
However, his most important contribution has been at an international level. It is too easy to ignore the evidence of climate change in the absence of any authoritative voice to explain it. The IPCC was set up in 1988 to gather the world’s climate scientists to provide that explanation. And it was Sir John who chaired the key group that assessed the evidence.
This was a mostly thankless task, not unlike that of a gospel minister: telling the truth, as persuasively as can be, to a world that refuses to l i s t e n . Unsurprisingly, he has attracted considerable opprobrium. So perhaps what is most remarkable is Sir John's c o n t i n u i n g optimism that, despite all the evidence to the contrary of the last 30 years, we will cease our reckless pollution.
This book is a good read for anyone considering a scientific career and is an impeccable introduction to the facts and the struggles of climate science. In it, the author’s faith and science go together: ‘to be concerned with either is to be concerned with a quest for truth’ (p.264). It is in his commitment to the truth – with all its messy and troublesome consequences – that Sir John’s faith shines through most clearly. We need more such autobiographies that show the impact of Christian convictions on a secular career.
