James Arthur Pollock, FRS, (17 November 1865 – 24 May 1922) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

-born

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate ca ...

, active in Australia. Born in

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County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns ar ...

, Ireland and educated in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, in 1885 Pollock moved to Australia followed with by his family. In 1886, he was appointed second astronomical assistant to the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

government astronomer,

Henry Chamberlain Russell Henry Chamberlain Russell (17 March 1836 – 22 February 1907) was an Australian astronomer and meteorologist. Early life Russell was born at West Maitland, New South Wales, the fourth son of the Hon. Bourn Russell and his wife Jane, ''n� ...

. In 1889 Pollock became professor of physics at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

. He studied atmospheric ions and

vacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or " void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often di ...

technology amongst other areas. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Pollock enlisted in the Engineering Corps and served with

Edgeworth David Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David (28 January 1858 – 28 August 1934) was a Welsh Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunte ...

. Pollock designed apparatus for use in tunnelling. This enabled destruction of German fortifications on the

Messines Messines may refer to: * Mesen (in French: Messines), a village in Belgium ** Battle of Messines (disambiguation), World War I battles * Messines, Quebec, a municipality in Canada * Messines, a village in Portugal * Messines, Queensland, a sett ...

and Wytschaete ridges in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. He finished the war with the rank of major. Pollock died in Sydney, he had no children. He was buried in

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, 1878) and P. Beddie (cemetery office, 1915 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, James Arthur 1865 births 1922 deaths Australian physicists Fellows of the Royal Society British emigrants to Australia