(meteorobs) Origin of ZHR?

[Malcolm J. Currie]

Indeed it is an excellent question.  Like Julian I consulted Sidgwick
first on Saturday because it has many references to original papers.
No surprise to find Oepik being one of the names.

Bernard Lovell's "Meteor Astronomy" (1954) doesn't use it, well it's not
in the index and browsing I couldn't see the term used.  Earlier works
like Olivier's "Meteors" (1925) have a noticeable absence of activity
curves.

Until the 1950s the concentration was on plotting and radiants, and it
really wasn't until the 1960s that rate analysis and ZHR came into
popular use.  In the UK I think that was down to Keith Hindley changing
the direction of the BAA Meteor Section.

I've yet to check through the Czechoslovakian papers and BAA Journals of
that era to find the first mention of the term...

Whoever invented it deserves some credit in books and observing
handbooks.

Malcolm Currie