William Johnson Sollas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
William Johnson Sollas
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| Born | 30 May 1849 |
| Died | 20 October 1936 (aged 87) |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
| Known for | invention of the diffusion column |
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| Awards | Bigsby Medal (1893) Wollaston Medal (1907) Royal Medal (1914) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | geology and anthropology |
| Institutions | University College, Bristol Trinity College Dublin University of Oxford |
Professor William Johnson Sollas (born May 30, 1849 – died October 20, 1936) was an important British scientist. He was a geologist and an anthropologist. Geologists study the Earth's rocks and history. Anthropologists study human societies and cultures.
Sollas went to several schools, including St. John's College, Cambridge. There, he earned top honors in geology. He taught at University College, Bristol and Trinity College Dublin. Later, he became a professor at the University of Oxford.
People called Sollas "one of the last true geological polymaths." This means he knew a lot about many different areas of geology. He studied sponges, brachiopods (sea creatures), and rocks. He wrote 180 scientific papers and three books. He also invented a special tool to study fossils. At Oxford, he made the geology department much bigger. He hired new teachers and improved the labs.
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Early Life and Schooling
William Johnson Sollas was born in Birmingham on May 30, 1849. His father, William Henry Sollas, owned ships. His mother was Emma Wheatley.
He went to the City of London School. There, he first became interested in chemistry. In 1865, he moved to the Royal College of Chemistry. He worked with a famous scientist, Edward Frankland.
In 1867, Sollas won a scholarship. This allowed him to study at the Royal School of Mines. He learned from great scientists like Thomas Henry Huxley. Sollas later said Huxley taught him a lot.
After this, he went to St. John's College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, his teacher, Thomas George Bonney, convinced him to study geology. Sollas switched subjects and did very well. He earned top honors in geology in 1873.
His Career in Universities
After finishing college, Sollas taught for six years. He gave lectures on geology and biology. In 1879, he became a lecturer at University College, Bristol. He taught geology and zoology there. By 1880, he was made a professor.
In 1883, Sollas moved to Trinity College Dublin. He became the Professor of Geology there. He stayed in Dublin until 1897. Then, he was offered a job at the University of Oxford. He accepted and became the Professor of Geology there.
At Oxford, Sollas did a lot to improve the geology department. He hired new teachers and assistants. He even had his own daughters help him with research for free. While teaching, he also did research in many different areas. He was known for knowing a lot about many scientific topics.
Studying Coral Reefs
In 1896, Professor Sollas led an important trip. It was called the Funafuti Coral Reef Boring Expedition. This trip was to Funafuti, an island in the Pacific Ocean. Today, Funafuti is part of Tuvalu.
The goal was to study how coral reefs form. Scientists wanted to see if shallow water creatures could be found deep inside the coral. This research followed the ideas of Charles Darwin. Darwin had studied coral reefs in the Pacific too.
The expedition tried to drill deep into the atoll (a ring-shaped coral island). They hoped this would answer questions about coral formation. However, their drilling machine had problems. They could only drill a little over 100 feet (about 31 meters).
Even though the drilling had issues, Sollas wrote about the expedition. He also published a book called The Legendary History of Funafuti.
Important Research Work
Sollas did research in many different fields. He published over 180 papers and three books. Besides geology and zoology, he became an expert in anthropology.
His first research interest was the Cambridge Greensand. This is a type of rock formation. He wrote nine papers about it, focusing on the sponges found there. For this work, he received the Wollaston Medal in 1878.
From 1878 to 1889, he focused on sponges and fossils. He wrote many papers about new species. He also wrote an article about phylum (a major group in biology) for an encyclopedia. His work on sponges led him to study their structure. He also looked at the makeup of chalk.
At Bristol, he studied palaeontology (the study of fossils). He described a new type of plesiosaurus (an ancient marine reptile). He also wrote about the geology of Bristol.
After moving to Dublin, he studied foraminifera (tiny sea creatures) and brachiopods. Then, he started working on rocks. He studied the granite of Leinster in Ireland. He did a detailed chemical analysis of the rock. He even invented a tool called the diffusion column to help him.
In 1905, he published a book of essays called The Age of the Earth. In 1911, he wrote an anthropology book. It was called Ancient Hunters and their Modern Representatives.
Sollas invented the serial sectioning device. This tool helped scientists study the inside of fossils. It worked by carefully removing thin layers of the fossil. Then, scientists could draw or photograph each layer. This method was destructive, but it showed hidden internal structures. It helped study ancient animals like ichthyosaurs.
Awards and Recognition
Sollas received many honors for his work. In 1889, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very respected group of scientists. He was awarded the Royal Medal in 1914.
He was also involved with the Geological Society of London. He was vice president from 1900 to 1902. From 1908 to 1910, he served as president. The Geological Society gave him the Bigsby Medal in 1893. They also gave him the Wollaston Medal in 1907.
His Family Life
William Sollas married Helen Coryn in 1874. They had two daughters. Both of their daughters became scientists.
His older daughter, Hertha, earned a PhD. She translated many works into German. His younger daughter, Igerna Sollas, was also a geologist and zoologist. She was one of the first women to get a geology degree from Cambridge. She often worked with her father on fossil research.
Helen died in 1911. In 1914, Sollas married Amabel Nevill Jeffreys. She passed away in 1928. He did not marry again.
Sollas kept working until he died in Oxford on October 20, 1936.
