Biographical entry Law, Phillip Garth (1912 - 2010)

Summary

Phillip Law was Director, Antarctic Division, Department of External Affairs and Leader of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions 1949-1966. He founded the Mawson, Davis and Casey bases in Antarctica.

Details

Born Tallangatta, Victoria, 21 April 1912. Educated University of Melbourne (MSc). CBE 1961, AO 1975, AC 1995. Lecturer in physics, University of Melbourne 1943-48, leader Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions 1949-66, Director, Antarctic Division, Department of External Affairs 1949-66, Vice-president, Victoria Institute of Colleges 1966-77. Victorian Committee, Duke of Edinburgh Award 1964-81, Chairman, Australian National Committee for Antarctic Research 1966-80, President, Royal Society of Victoria 1967-69, President, Victorian Institute of Marine Sciences 1977-80. Clive Lord Memorial Medal, Royal Society of Tasmania 1958, Founder's Gold Medal, Royal Geographical Society of London 1960, John Lewis Gold Medal, Royal Geographical Society of Australia 1962, Foundation Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering 1975, Fellow, Australian Academy of Science 1978, James Cook Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales 1988, Gold Medal, Australian Geographic Society 1988. Assistant Secretary and later Acting Secretary, Optical Munitions Panel. Foundation Fellow, Royal Society of Victoria 1995. Clunies Ross National Award for Lifetime Contribution to Science and Technology, 2001.

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Phillip Garth Law - Records, 1966 - 1977, MS 123; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, University of Melbourne

• Audio of interview with P.G. Law, 4 September 1985, P001333; Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, University of Melbourne. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Phillip Garth Law - Records, 1940 - 1980, MS 9458; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Phillip Garth Law - Records, 1975, TRC 351; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Phillip Garth Law - Records, 1940 - 1990; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

Books

• Law, Phillip, Australia and the Antarctic. John Murtagh Macrossan Memorial Lecture, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1962. Details
• Law, Phillip, Antarctic Odyssey, Heinemann Australia, Melbourne, 1983. Details
• Law, Phillip, The Antarctic Voyage of HMAS Wyatt Earp, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1995, 152 pp. Details
• Ralston, Kathleen, A Man for Antarctica: the Early Life of Phillip Law, Hyland House, South Melbourne, 1993, 236 pp. Details
• Ralston, Kathleen, Phillip Law: the Antarctic Exploration years, 1954-66, AusInfo, Department of Finance and Administration, Canberra, 1998, 278 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Anderson, Fay, 'Phillip Garth Law: Explorer and Scientist', Australasian Science, vol. 19, no. 2, 1998, p. 56. Details
• Flesch, Juliet and McPhee, Peter, '150 Years, 150 Stories: Phillip Garth Law', Uni News, vol. 12, no. 11, 2003, p. 4. Details
• Law, Philip, 'The Mawson Story - Part 2: Hungry and Alone in the Antarctic', Royal Historical Society of Victoria Journal, vol. 57, no. 2, 1986, pp. 13-18. Details
• Law, Philip, 'The Mawson Story - No 1: 'a Powerful, Stubborn and Gentle Man'', Royal Historical Society of Victoria Journal, vol. 57, no. 1, 1986, pp. 3-13. Details

Online Resources

• 'Law, Phillip Garth - Ms 123', in Listing of Adolph Basser Library holdings, Australian Academy of Science, 1994, http://www.science.org.au/basser/manuscript-collection/ms123.html. Details
• 'Law, Phillip Garth', in The Giant's Eye: the Optical Munitions Exhibition, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/people/law.htm. Details
• 'Primary description of person CP 186; Phillip Garth Law', in RecordSearch, National Archives of Australia, 2000, http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/SearchOld.asp?Number=CP+186. Details
• Morgan, Helen, McCarthy, Gavan; Manhal, Oscar, Phillip Garth Law Guide to Records, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, August 1999, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/guides/lawp/LAWP.htm. Details
• National Library of Australia, 'Law, P G', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-572148. Details
• Swan, John, Interview with Dr Phillip Law, Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 28 October 1999, http://www.science.org.au/scientists/interviews/l/pl.html. Details

See also

• Science and the making of Victoria, with Royal Society of Victoria, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/smv/scripts/smv-dynindex.php3?EID=P001333. Details
• Bolton, H. C., 'Optical Instruments in Australia in the 1939-45 War: successes and lost opportunities', Australian Physicist, 1990, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/bolton2.htm. Details
• Caro, D. E.; Martin, R. L., 'Leslie Harold Martin 1900-1983', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 7, no. 1, 1987, pp. 97-107. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9870710097.htm. Details
• Crompton, R. W., 'Leonard George Holden Huxley 1902-198', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 8, no. 4, 1991, pp. 249-264. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9910840249.htm. Details
• Flesch, Juliet and McPhee, Peter, 150 years, 150 stories: brief biographies of one hundred and fifty remarkable people associated with the University of Melbourne, Department of History, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 2003, 168 pp. Details
• Walsh, A. and Willis, J. B., 'Albert Lloyd George Rees 1916-1989', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 9, no. 1, 1992, pp. 31-47. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9920910031.htm. Details