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This chapter examines the Hong Kong Observatory director August William Doberck's conflict with the Jesuit fathers leading to the construction of other observatories in Asia. These Jesuit fathers include Marc Dechevrens of the Shanghai Observatory and Federico Faura of the Manila Observatory. This chapter also discusses the possible problems for meteorologists in Asia caused by the wars in the last decade of the nineteenth century.

This chapter examines the problems of the Hong Kong Observatory during its early years. Though there was a huge potential for the appreciation of the meteorological study of the observatory's founding director August William Doberck, this potential was not realized. This chapter suggests that this may be because of Doberck's lack of total commitment to the subject and his adversarial attitude to the other players on the field. The chapter discusses his conflict with Father Marc Dechevrens, director of the Shanghai Observatory.

This chapter examines the situation at the Hong Kong Observatory and its achievements in typhoon studies during the first fifteen years of its existence. It discusses director August William Doberck's conflict with his assistant astronomer John Isaac Plummer. It also highlights the publication of the second edition of Doberck's Law of Storms in 1890, which was still without the imprint of the observatory. It discusses and analyzes the accomplishments of Doberck in relation to the historical framework in which the observatory was made.

This chapter examines nineteenth-century meteorological observatories in relation to the history of the Hong Kong Observatory. It discusses early systematic observations of the weather prior to 1860, the recording of meteorological phenomena in China and the role of observatories as the main source of information on meteorology. It describes the earliest meteorological institutions in China including the Russian Observatory in Peking and some of the established observatories in the China Coast during the nineteenth century.

This chapter examines a new age for the Hong Kong Observatory with the appointment of Frederic George Figg as its director on January 30, 1907. Figg made efforts to improve the issuing of storm warnings and to increase the flow of information into the observatory. He also introduced a new Urgent Signal for situations when the wind could increase to full typhoon force at any moment. In addition, Figg also managed to iron out the observatory's conflict with the Shanghai and Manila Observatories.

This chapter examines the dissatisfaction that was made manifest with the Hong Kong Observatory in 1887, particularly in matters related to meteorology. The criticisms were centered on director August William Doberck's antagonism to the Manila Observatory and his over-excessive focus on astronomy and terrestrial magnetism matters. And in keeping with this charge, Doberck made no effort to make weather forecasts, except for the warning of approaching storms.

This chapter examines the history of the selection of the founding director of the Hong Kong Observatory. It suggests that the history of the role of the founding director of the new observatory is as much an integral part of the story of its establishment as the history of the role of the political machinations that attended its planning, and the infrastructural developments necessary for its realization. The chapter provides information on the professional background of August William Doberck, the founding director the observatory who served as the institution's leader for twenty-four years.