Michael Edgeworth McIntyre has applied his fundamental theoretical research in geophysical fluid dynamics to the Earth's atmosphere and oceans and the Sun's interior. His contributions to the theory of stratified rotating fluid flow and the associated waves and instabilities have led to a unified view of the interaction of waves and mean flows. The theory has been used to illuminate a number of diverse phenomena, including Langmuir circulations, nonlinear baroclinic instabilities, jet streams, stratospheric sudden warmings, and the 27-month 'quasi-biennial' cycle in the equatorial stratosphere.
He has also worked on the magnetohydrodynamics of the solar tachocline, on musical acoustics, and on the connections between music, science, mathematics, and 'lucidity principles'. Recently, he has tried to synthesise a fresh view of the climate problem, summarized in his book 'Science, Music, and Mathematics: The Deepest Connections (Second Edition, 2023) published by World Scientific.
Michael's work is widely regarded as seminal to our understanding of stratospheric dynamics and tracer transport, and has been recognised by the award of the Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal, the highest honour of the American Meteorological Society, the Julius Bartels Medal of the European Geophysical Society, and the Symons Gold Medal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
Professional position
- Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Dynamics, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge
Subject groups
- Astronomy and physics
Solar physics
- Earth and environmental sciences
Atmospheric physics and meteorology
