Early He later became the assistant of the priest and
astrophysicist Monsignor
Georges Lemaître, a professor who specialized in the origin of the
Big Bang Theory of the
expanding universe. In 1938, after this stage, he moved to
The United States of America to do research on
cosmic rays at the
Harvard Observatory and
MIT. During one of his visits to
Hollywood, he met
Paulette Goddard, the actress of
Modern Times along with
Charlie Chaplin, who informed him of the beginning of the war in Europe.
World War II Odon Godart decided to return to Europe on a fishing boat. Later, he enlisted in the
Canadian Army and, finally, he went to England to work for the meteorological service of the
British Army, taking soundings of the
North Sea. In 1943 he participated in the bombing raids over Germany where he was seriously injured. During his three months in the hospital, he improved his meteorological studies. He drafted the manuscript of
On the Introduction and Use of Isobaric Coordinates, How to coordinate Meteorology and its Isobaric Consequences. The idea was not well received by his superior R. C. Sutcliffe, but its value was finally recognized. The arrangements for the Normandy landing were on track, but a date had yet to be chosen. General
Eisenhower requested that the weather be predicted two weeks in advance, a task which was virtually impossible to do in those days by the three meteorology groups,
Royal Navy,
Met Office and
USAAF working independently with James Stagg, Chief weather forecaster to assist Eisenhower on the planning of
Operation Overlord. Originally
D-day was going to be on June 5, 1944, but due to inclement weather, it was suggested to change to the next day. At 4:30, in the morning of June 4, the forecast provided by the three meteorologist groups contributed significantly to Eisenhower's decision to move the mission on June 6. Odon Godart died in his hometown, Farciennes, Wallonia, on April 18, 1996. == Astronomy ==