Born in Catania, Eredia graduated in physics in 1901 (joining the team of the Astrophysics Observatory of Catania as an assistant even before graduation) and soon after he was appointed permanent assistant at the Institute of Physics. In 1904 he moved, as an assistant, to the geodynamic observatory of Rocca di Papa, having already published since 1898 more than a dozen short works, half of which is at the Academy Gioenia of Catania and the Academy deli Zelanti of Acireale. In these writings Eredia defined the fundamental interest of his life: climatology.
In 1905 Eredia was appointed director of the climatology section of the Central Bureau of Meteorology and Geodynamics. In the course of a few years, he elaborated for the first time in a systematic way the Italian climatology.
From July 1913 to December 1919, Eredia focused on forecasting writing many white papers in assistance to Aeronautics, the main user of meteorology forecasts. In 1925 he joined the personnel of the Ministry of the Aeronautics assisting in key missions executed between 1926 and 1933, including the polar expedition Amundsen-Ellensworth, and later the three national oceanic expeditions in 1937, 1938 and 1939. During the missions he collected climatological information to select routes, operating in remote locations and on board ships and aircraft. One particular work, published as a supplement of the Riv. Maritime Meteorology and aerology Oceans (The South Atlantic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, I-II, Rome 1932-1935) was is perhaps the most comprehensive article written on the subject appeared in Italy.
Eredia was always involved in both research and teaching – in 1917, under his supervision, the student Enrico Fermi built a water barometer. He held courses of meteorology at the University of Rome, the School of malariology in various schools for officers of the then Royal Air Force, and in 1934 he became the chair of meteorology and oceanography at the College of Naval Naples. In 1938 he became professor of aerology Institute of Aeronautical Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering in Rome, where he stayed until his death.
Eredia participated in the creation of the Hydrographic Service of the Ministry of Public Works -of which he became a consultant in 1921- and contributed to the organization of the Meteorological Service of tourism, and the meteorological activities of agronomists and forestry. He also studied with particular commitment climatological problems associated with the fight against tuberculosis and led campaigns of measurements to choose the best location for sanatorium.
In 1937 he founded the magazine Rivista di meteorologia aeronautical, leading its publication until his death in Rome in 1948.
Read More
- FilippoEredia.com, http://www.filippoeredia.it/Biografia/vita.html
- Treccani, http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/filippo-eredia_(Dizionario_Biografico)/
- Wikipedia, https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filippo_Eredia
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