Madam, - I have for many years admired, indeed envied, the wisdom and learning of Brendan McWilliams in both the literary and meteorological fields so it is with some trepidation that I take issue with some of the assertions in his article on the Coriolis effect (Weather Eye, May 21st).
I recall from my long-ago schooldays that the Coriolis effect causes fluids flowing across the Earth's surface to be deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, in direct contradiction of what Mr McWilliams asserts in his article.
This effect formed the basis of what I remember learning as "Ferrel's Law" and "Buys Ballot's Law".
The correct deflections as actually defined by Gaspard de Coriolis conform to logic, given the spherical shape of Earth, and adequately explain the movements of air around areas of both high pressure and low pressure. - Yours, etc,
PETER R. SCALES, Blackrock, Co Dublin.