I was just informed by Mike Unsworth that Prof. John Monteith passed away on Friday in Edinburgh
His achievements in environmental physics and micrometeorology over more than fifty years were vastly influential in establishing the foundations of many of the measurement and analysis techniques that are employed today. Sadly, his last few years were marred by an Alzheimers-type decline, but his work provides a lasting legacy of a remarkable man.
He influenced many of us through his pioneering textbook on the Principles of Environmental Physics and his pioneering measurements of water vapor and CO2 exchange between crops and the atmosphere, in addition to his fame and influence through deriving the so-called Penman Monteith equation.
For those interested in reading the highlights of Prof Monteith’s career I refer you to a paper by Gaylon Campbell
Campbell, G.S., 2000. Monteith symposium: topics in environmental physics. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 104, 1-4.