Thematic Web Site

The nobel prize winning physicist, Murray Gell-Mann wrote the following passage in his recent book "The Quark and the Jaguar" (1995):

"All of us are exposed to huge amounts of material, consisting of data, ideas, and conclusions -- much of it wrong or misuderstood or just plain confused. There is a crying need for more intelligent commentary and review."

This remark is particularly revelent to the world wide web which contains a vast amount of volatile information. However, much of this information is neither grouped together intelligently nor interpreted in any particular way. There are many pages containing climate information but it often tends to be scattered all over the place. Another problem is that many large institutions feel the need to have aesthetically pleasing web sites yet these sites often contain very little useable information.

Therefore in August 1997, I started my first "thematic web site" concerned with the prediction of the Asian summer monsoon. It seemed like a good way to tidy up both my bookmarks and my office at the same time and it allows me to keep track of the monsoon at one easy click of a mouse button. At the same time, I also started a site on the North Atlantic Oscillation, another of my research interests. Both sites have been much appreciated by both scientific researchers and the general public.

I hope too that YOU will enjoy looking at these thematic sites and also find them useful. If so, I will feel rewarded that they have helped to make some sense out of the ever increasing amount of information.

I would like to hear from you so please don't hesistate to send me an e-mail or write to me if you have any comments or suggestions.