"With a remarkable life spanning more than a century, 1921 to 2023, and a scientific career embracing seven decades, Richard Goody successfully bridged experimental observations with theory that fostered unprecedented advances in our understanding of the Earth's troposphere-stratosphere coupling, of the structure and function of the atmospheres of Venus and Mars, and of the intricacies of the quantum mechanics of molecular spectra."
"Remarkably, a number of Goody's intellectual dimensions were present in his first experimental endeavor immediately following the Second World War. As a graduate student at the University of Cambridge, Goody designed and built an infrared spectrometer to obtain measurements of water vapor in the Earth's stratosphere. The spectrometer operated from a wooden bomber, the Mosquito, capable of altitudes approaching 40,000 ft. and powered by two 3,000 hp engines."
Richard Goody lived 1921–2023 and sustained a scientific career spanning seven decades. He integrated experimental observations with theoretical insight to advance understanding of troposphere–stratosphere coupling and the atmospheres of Venus and Mars. He made significant contributions to quantum molecular spectroscopy through high-resolution spectral analysis and work on nonequilibrium thermodynamics, informing the scientific context for climate change. He led strategic academic developments at Harvard, helping create the Center for Earth and Planetary Physics, which evolved into the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the area of Environmental Science and Engineering. Early work included building an airborne infrared spectrometer to measure stratospheric water vapor.
Read at Harvard Gazette
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