JOSE ALGUE, S.J. (1856-1930)

33 textual records

Born in Manresa (Barcelona), Spain, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1871. From 1878 to 1885 he was a teacher of physics, chemistry and mathematics in the Jesuit high-school in Zaragoza. In 1889 Algue accompanied Faura in his visit to the observatory of the Collegio Romano. The same year he began his preparation for his work in Manila Observatory and became Director in 1887. The same year he published in Spanish his works in typhoons in the Philippines (published in English in 1904), where he presented a complete description of these storms, their nature and paths. He also developed an instrument for detection of cyclones named, "barociclonometer", based on Faura's ideas, which was widely used by mariners in the Pacific. In 1899, after the occupation of the Philippines by the United States, Algué explained the situation of the observatory to the American authorities and, in 1901, he was appointed Director of the new Philippine Weather Bureau, organized by the United States Government which recognized the scientific work of the Manila Observatory. During his directorship the Weather Bureau developed into a large and complex organization with 248 secondary meteorological stations. In 1924 he traveled to Rome and afterwards, owing to health problems, retired from the observatory in Spain. He was member of the Royal Meteorological Society of London and of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

(Source: Udias, Agustin. (2003). Searching the heavens and the earth: the history of Jesuit Observatories. Dordrecht : Kluwer Academic Press)

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