Reflections on the Conception, Birth, and Childhood of Numerical Weather Prediction

In recognition of the contributions of Norman Phillips and Joseph Smagorinsky to the field of numerical weather prediction (NWP), a symposium was held in 2003; this account is an amplification of a talk presented there. Ideas anticipating the advent of NWP, the first technically successful numerical weather forcast, and the subsequent progression of NWP to a mature discipline are described, with special emphasis on the work of Phillips and Smagorinsky and their mentor Jule Charney.