Shaw, (William) Napier (1854–1945)

English meteorologist who introduced the millibar as the meteorological unit of atmospheric pressure (in 1909, but not used internationally until 1929). He also invented the tephigram, a thermodynamic diagram widely used in meteorology, in about 1915. He was knighted in 1915.

Shaw was born in Birmingham and studied at Cambridge, where he worked at the Cavendish Laboratory for experimental physics 1877–1900. He was director of the Meteorological Office 1905–20, and professor of meteorology at the Royal College of Science (part of London University) 1920–24.

Shaw pioneered the study of the upper atmosphere by using instruments carried by kites and high-altitude balloons. His work on pressure fronts formed the basis of a great deal of later work in the field.

His books include Life History of Surface Air Currents 1906 and The Air and its Ways 1923 (both with his colleague R Lempfert) and (with J S Owens) The Smoke Problem of Great Cities 1925, an early work on atmospheric pollution.