Sir

The assertion by Rolf Müller and eminent others (Nature 389, 712; 1997) that the term ‘ozone hole’ was “coined in the mid-1980s” is in error by at least 50 years.

In his presidential address to the Royal Meteorological Society in 1934 Sydney Chapman (Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 60, 127-142; 1934) radically proposed the creation of ozone holes so that astronomers could perform better ultraviolet observations.

Chapman even documented a formal definition: “By ‘making a hole in the ozone layer’ I mean the removal of all, or most of, the ozone from the column of air resting on some chosen area.”

Further, he suggested the possibility of inserting gas or fine powder into the stratosphere from aircraft, rockets and balloons and made the notable prediction that a catalytic “deozoniser” would be needed.

No doubt he would have taken great interest in the recent letter from M. N. Ross et al. (Nature 390, 62; 1997), “Observation of stratospheric ozone depletion in rocket exhaust plumes”, and recommended that ultraviolet astronomers should set up camp near a major rocket launching site.