Claim: The deaf doctor and a British oceanographer, Arthur Thomas Doodson, had devised a practical system for specifying the different harmonic components of the tide-generating potential in the Doodson Numbers; he also became involved in the design of tide-predicting machines, of which a widely used example was the "Doodson-Légé TPM."
Evidence: Dr. Arthur Thomas Doodson (31 March 1890 – 10 January 1968) was a British oceanographer. He was profoundly deaf and found it difficult to get a job but started with Ferranti in Manchester as a meter tester. Doodson devised a practical system for specifying the different harmonic components of the tide-generating potential, see below for the Doodson Numbers. Doodson also became involved in the design of tide-predicting machines, of which a widely used example was the "Doodson-Légé TPM". In order to specify the different harmonic components of the tide-generating potential, Arthur Thomas Doodson devised a practical system which is still in use, involving what are called the "Doodson numbers" based on the six "Doodson arguments" or Doodson variables.