Edward Golding’s Iinfluence on Wind Power Trevor J. Price School of Technology, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd, CF37 1DL Email <tprice@glam.ac.uk> WIND ENGINEERING VOLUME 29, NO. 6, 2005 PP 513–530 513 ABSTRACT From it’s beginnings in the late 1800s, wind power engineering had developed in a seemingly haphazard way as early wind engineers worked on national wind power programmes. However, international co-operation of allies in engineering programmes during World War Two, e.g. for aircraft design, later became a precedent for co-operation in wind engineering. This paper details Edward Golding’s impact on the development of wind power, in the UK and internationally, during the 1940s through to the 1960s. His book, ‘The generation of electricity by wind power’ (1955) and his subsequent leadership within a coordinated international development programme for wind power were seminal. Golding’s work in wind power is set within his experience in the electricity supply industry. 1. INTRODUCTION To those involved in the development of wind power during the 1970s and ‘80s, Edward William Golding was widely known for his seminal book ‘The generation of electricity by wind power’, first published by E. & F. N. Spon, London, in 1955 [Golding 1955, and see Golding 1976]. Especially in Britain, this book became affectionately known as the ‘Bible’ of wind energy, as it presented both the fundamentals of wind power engineering and state-of-the-art wind power research; indeed much of the book is still relevant. Golding’s work was therefore invaluable and gave much needed help to subsequent wind-related development, not just in Britain, but internationally. But who was the man behind these efforts, pushing the boundaries of wind-related understanding, and what motivated him? Why and how did this wind engineering guru develop his knowledge? This paper describes global wind power developments in the mid twentieth century and Golding’s influence upon them. 2. EDWARD GOLDING’S CONTRIBUTION: A CHRONOLOGY Little is known about Edward Golding’s early years, apart from that he was born circa 1900 in Manchester 1 . He later graduated from the then Manchester Technical College 2 with a BSc in Electrical Engineering, and became a lecturer at Nottingham University. It was from there that he wrote his first book on the subject of electrical measurement and instrumentation [Golding, 1942]. Later Golding joined the Electrical Research Association (ERA), see section 5, 1 The author has made extensive searches for personal data from Golding’s close colleagues at the ERA, from search engines, from his publishers and from the Ceremonial Secretariat of the British Government Cabinet Office (Golding was awarded the OBE); little personal information was found. 2 Later developing and integrating within the University of Manchester.