James Glaisher (1808-1903), English meteorologist, born in London and largely self-educated, he became assistant to the Director of the Cambridge University Observatory. In 1835 he joined the Greenwich Observatory, becoming the Superintendent of the Magnetic and Meteorological Department in 1840. His research produced standard tables for the calculation of dewpoints of the air. He established about 40 observing stations equipped with barometrical, hygrometrical and temperature instrumentation from which he published reports for 54 years. He was a founder member of the Meteorological Society and was elected to the Royal Society in 1849. He is famous for his research into temperatures, dewpoints and winds at altitude, for which he made 29 ascents between 1862 and 1866, reaching a maximum height of 39, 000 feet. He was assisted by Henry Coxwell, the English aeronaut.