Gilbert Thomas Walker in India: A Historical Overview

Abstract

This chapter focuses on an important but neglected period of Walker’s scientific career, the two decades that he spent in India laying the foundation for the meteorological work that he is renowned for, while devoting much of his time to institution building activities that raised the stature of the India Meteorological Department.

From studying the flight of boomerangs to understanding the fluctuations in world weather, Gilbert Thomas Walker's scientific career changed dramatically during the twenty years that he spent in India as the Director-General of Observatories. In this chapter, I try to put Walker's career in historical context to better appreciate his work and the intellectual and political background which made this work possible.

To understand why Walker did what he did is challenging because he did not leave behind much material in terms of letters or journals which could have helped in understanding his thinking and motivation. The only archive of material belonging to Walker that exists are letters written to him in response to his own letters, and I try to use these letters and some secondary material to draw a portrait of Walker's life and activities during his time in India