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Biographical entry Sutherland, William (1859 - 1911)

Born
24 August 1859
Glasgow, Scotland
Died
5 October 1911
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Physicist and Physical chemist

Summary

William Sutherland was a writer for The Age in Melbourne and a private researcher who investigated the viscosity of gases and liquids, molecular attraction, valency, ionization, ionic velocities, atomic sizes and an electronic theory of matter.

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Details

Born Glasgow, Scotland, 4 August 1859. Died Melbourne, 5 October 1911. Educated University of Melbourne (BA 1979, MA 1883) and University College London (BSc 1881). Private coaching; examiner, University of Melbourne; acting lecturer in natural philosophy, University of Melbourne 1888, acting professor 1899; regular contributor to the Melbourne Age from 1901, especially on scientific topics. Undertook theoretical investigations, chiefly in the field of molecular dynamics; the results were published as 78 scientific papers, mostly in major international journals. His model, the Sutherland model, assumed that the particles of which matter is composed exert an attractive force on each other (now known as the 'Sutherland potential') in addition to gravity. He also studied the dependence of the viscosity of a gas on its temperature, developing a formula which included a constant for any particular gas that is now called Sutherland's Constant.

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

  • William Sutherland - Records, 1877 - 1910, MS 23; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • William Sutherland - Records, 1901 - 1911, MS 2967; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

  • William Sutherland - Records, 1903 - 1909, Box 819; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Osborne, W. A., William Sutherland: a Biography, Lothian, Melbourne, 1920. Details

Book Sections

  • Home, R. W., 'Sutherland, William (1859-1911), Theoretical Physicist and Physical Chemist', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 12, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1990, pp. 141-152. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120159b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

  • Bolton, H. C.; Coller, B.A.W., 'Two Letters of William Sutherland to T. Brailsford Robertson: Ideas on the Electrical Conductivity of Proteins', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 9, no. 4, 1993, pp. 357-368. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9930940357.htm. Details
  • Bolton, H. C.; Rae, Ian D., 'A Response to Intellectual Isolation: the Correspondence of W. A. Osborne and William Sutherland, 1905-1911', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 10, no. 4, 1995, pp. 323-335. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9951040323.htm. Details
  • Home, R.W., 'Speculating About Atoms in Early 20th Century Melbourne: William Sutherland and the "Sutherland-Einstein" Diffusion Relation', Australian Physics, vol. 42, no. 2, 2005, pp. 53-60. Details
  • Home, R.W., 'William Sutherland and the "Sutherland-Einstein" Diffusion Relation: Theoretical Physics in a Colonial Setting', Historia Scientiarum, vol. 15, 2005, pp. 125-138. Details
  • Spurling, T.H., 'William Sutherland - Australia's First Physical Chemist', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, vol. 41, no. 12, 1974, pp. 313-314. Details
  • Sutherland, W., 'The law of attraction amongst the molecules of a gas', Philosophical Magazine - full title: The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 1886, pp. 81-95. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Mechanical integration of the product of two functions', Philosophical Magazine, 1885, pp. 175-178. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Mechanical integration of the product of two functions', Philosophical Magazine, 1886, pp. 141-143. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'The Law of Attraction Amongst the Molecules of a Gas', Philosophical Magazine (S5), vol. 22, 1886, pp. 81-95. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'On the Law of Molecular Force', Philosophical Magazine (S5), vol. 24, 1887, pp. 113-134, 168-187. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Eucalyptus Oil', The Chemist and Druggist of Australasia, vol. 2, 1887, pp. 21-23, 46-48, 77-78. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Molecular Refraction', Report of the First Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, vol. 1, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, Sydney, 1888, pp. 42-45. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'On the Law of Molecular Force', Report of the First Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, vol. 1, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, Sydney, 1888, pp. 39-42. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'On the Recalculation of Certain Specific Heats at High Temperatures, and the Specific Heat of Water', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 26, 1888, pp. 298-305. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'On the Law of Molecular Force', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 27, 1889, pp. 305-321. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Molecular Refraction', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 27, 1889, pp. 141-155. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'A New Periodic Property of the Elements', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 30, 1890, pp. 318-323. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Further Investigations on the Laws of Molecular Force', Report of the Second Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, vol. 2, Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, Sydney, 1890, pp. 368-371. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'A Kinetic Theory of Solids, with an Experimental Introduction', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 32, 1891, pp. 31-43, 215-225, 524-553. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Some Corrections to a Paper on the Laws of Molecular Force', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 36, 1893, pp. 150-151. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'The Viscosity of Gases and Molecular Force', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 36, 1893, pp. 507-531. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'The Laws of Molecular Force', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 35, 1893, pp. 211-295. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'The Attraction of Unlike Molecules. I. The Diffusion of Gases', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 38, 1894, pp. 1-19. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'The Attraction of Unlike Molecules. II. The Surface Tension of Mixed Liquids', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 38, 1894, pp. 188-197. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Molecular Force and the Surface Tension of Solutions', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 40, 1895, pp. 477-494. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Bemerkungen uber die Thermodynamische Theorie der Kapillaritat von van der Waals', Zeitschrift fur Physikalische Chemie, vol. 17, 1895, pp. 536-538. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'The Viscosity of Mixed Gases', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 40, 1895, pp. 421-431. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Further Studies on Molecular Force', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 39, 1895, pp. 1-46. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'The Fundamental Atomic Laws of Thermochemistry', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 40, 1895, pp. 1-56. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'High Tensions in Moving Liquids', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 42, 1896, pp. 111-115. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Thermal transpiration and radiometer motion', Philosophical Magazine, 1896, pp. 373-391, 52-55. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Boyle's Law at Very Low Pressures', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 43, 1897, pp. 11-19. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'The Spontaneous Change of Oxygen into Ozone and a Remarkable Type of Dissociation', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 43, 1897, pp. 201-214. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Two new pressure-gauges for the highest vacua', Philosophical Magazine, 1897, pp. 83-99. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'The Causes of Osmotic Pressure and of the Simplicity of the Laws of Dilute Solutions', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 44, 1897, pp. 493-498. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Latent Heat of Evaporation of Zinc and Cadmium', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 46, 1898, pp. 345-346. Details
  • Sutherland, William, 'Cathode, Lenard, and Rontgen Rays', Philosophical Magazine (S.5), vol. 47, 1899, pp. 269-284. Details

Online Resources

McCarthy, G.J.

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 18 October 2006