Quote of the day
With me poetry has been not a purpose, but a passion; and the passions should be held in reverence: they must not — they cannot at will be excited, with an eye to the paltry compensations, or the more paltry commendations, of mankind.
Basil John Mason

Born: August 18, 1923
Died: January 6, 2015 (aged 91)
Bio: Sir John Mason is an expert on cloud physics and former Director of the UK Meteorological Office. His work includes the Mason Equation, giving the growth or evaporation of small water droplets.
Known for:
- The physics of clouds (1957)
- Clouds, rain, and rainmaking (1962)
- The Surface Waters Acidification Programme (1990)