Person

Michell, Anthony George Maldon (George) (1870 - 1959)

FRS

Born
21 June 1870
Islington, London, England
Died
17 February 1959
Camberwell, Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Engineer and Inventor

Summary

George Michell was a consulting engineer based in Melbourne. He worked with several Victorian and Tasmanian engineering companies, being involved variously on irrigation works in northern Victoria and hydro-electric installation for the Mount Lyell Company. In 1919, for the Victorian Government, he investigated the possibilities for hydro-electric power in the Kiewa Valley. By his early thirties Michell had already created three new inventions - a regenerative pump, a cross-flow turbine2, and a water meter. He also invented the crankless engine, and established the Crankless Engines (Australia) Pty. Ltd. company in Melbourne, but despite being workable and efficient the engine failed to find a market. Michell's major (and highly successful) invention was the Michell Thrust Bearing, a tilting-pad device which made possible much of the modern development of steam and water turbines and of propeller drives for large fast ships. Michell's most important publication was "Lubrication: its principles and practice" (1950) which deals with the mathematics of fluid flow, lubrication of surfaces, and the practical application of lubrication theory to the design of machinery. He registered 13 patents.

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Details

Chronology

1895
Education - BEng, University of Melbourne
1899
Education - MEng, University of Melbourne
1921 -
Career position - Foundation Councillor (Engineering), Australian National Research Council
1934
Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)
1937
Award - Kernot Memorial Medal, for distinguished engineering achievement in Australia. Faculty of Engineering, University of Melbourne
1943
Award - James Watt International Gold Medal, Institution of Mechanical Engineers
1959
Life event - Buried, Boroondara Cemetery, Victoria

Related Awards

Related Corporate Bodies

Related People

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

  • Anthony George Maldon Michell - Records, 1959 - 1964, MS 044; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

Books

  • Michell, J. H.; and Michell, A. G. M., Collected mathematical works of J. H. and A. G. M. Michell: edited by F. W. Niedenfuhr and J. R. M.Radok (Groningen, Netherlands: P. Noordhoff, 1964), 338 pp. Details
  • Phillip, Stephen, What came out of the box: a biography of A. G. M. Michell (Milton Keynes, U.K.: Tellwell Talent, 2020), 506 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Anning, John A., 'The "Michell" Crankless engine - why was it not a commercial success?' in The piston engine revolution: a conference at the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, 14-17 April 2011, Starr, Fred; Marshall, Ed; and Lawton, Bryan, eds (London: Newcomen Society, 2012), pp. 248-72. Details
  • Walker, Sydney, 'Michell, Anthony George Maldon (1870-1959), Engineer and Inventor' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds, vol. 10 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986), pp. 492-494. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100480b.htm. Details

Conference Papers

Journal Articles

  • Cherry, T. M., 'Anthony George Maldon Michell 1870-1959', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 8 (1962), 91-103. Details
  • Davie, R. S., 'The A.G.M. Michell Award', Transactions of The Institution of Engineers, Australia: Mechanical Engineering, ME4 (November 1979) (1979), 63. Details
  • Dowson, Duncan, 'Men of tribology 18: Anthony George Maldon Michell', Journal of lubrication technology, 102 (1) (1980), 1-7. Details
  • Francis, A. J., 'Mr A. G. M. Michell, F.R.S. [Obituary]', Nature, 183 (4677) (1959), 1714-5, https://doi.org/10.1038/1831714a0. Details
  • Institution of Engineers Australia, 'Twenty-third Annual Report [1942]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 15 (1943), 35-51. 'James Watt International Medal - 1943 Award to A G M Michell', p.38. Details
  • Institution of Engineers Australia, '93rd Council Meeting [30th November 1942, Sydney]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 15 (1943), 17-18. James Watt International Medal presentation to be held in London on the 22nd January 1943. Details
  • Michell, A. G. M., 'John Henry Michell 1863 - 1941', Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, 3 (9) (1941). Details
  • Michell, A. G. M., 'The lubrication of plane surfaces', Transactions of The Institution of Engineers, Australia: Mechanical Engineering, ME13 (1 and 2) (1988), 49-62. Details
  • Phillip, Stephen, 'Anthony George Maldon Michell, F.R.S.: inventor of the famous tilting pad thrust bearing', Engineering heritage Australia magazine, 3 (6) (2020), 18-23, https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2020-10/EHA_Magazine_Vol3_No6_September_2020.pdf. Details
  • Phillip, Stephen, 'A. G. M. Michell: inventor of the thrust bearing', Victorian historical journal, 92 (1) (2021), 185-200. Details

Resources

See also

  • Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_m.html. Details
  • Engineers Australia ed., Anything is possible: 100 Australian engineering leaders (Barton, A.C.T.: Institution of Engineers Australia, 2019), 136 pp. 'A Man of Brilliance - Anthony Michell' p.46. Details
  • Engineers Australia ed., Wonders never cease: 100 Australian engineering achievements (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 236 pp. pp.30,198-199. Details

Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 24 January 2024

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