John Latham is a research scientist who has been awarded several medals by the Royal Meteorological Society, and was for 8 years President of the International Commision on Atmospheric Electricity. Born near Liverpool, he held a chair of physics at the University of Manchester (UMIST) until 1988, before moving partially to the US, where he is presently a Senior Research Fellow at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Colorado. He is also an acclaimed and award winning writer. His plays and stories have been broadcast on Radio 4, and his collections of poetry include Unpacking Mr Jones, From the Other Side of the Street, All Clear and The Unbearable Weight of Mercury (all published by Peterloo Poets).