John Henry Michell

John Henry Michell, FRS[1] (26 October 1863 – 3 February 1940) was an Australian mathematician and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Melbourne.

Michell then went to the University of Cambridge, obtained a major scholarship at Trinity College, and was bracketed senior wrangler with three others in the first part of the mathematical tripos in 1887.

It was recognized that these were important contributions to the knowledge of hydrodynamics and elasticity, and in June 1902 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), London.

In 1923 he became a professor of mathematics and, obtaining some increase in staff, established practice classes and tutorials, thus considerably improving the efficiency of his department.

His assistance was freely given to his engineering friends in clearing up their problems, and he did a good deal of physical experimentation including the devising and construction of several new forms of gyroscopes.

The value of his paper on "The wave resistance of a ship", published in 1898, was not realized until some 30 years later when both English and German designers began to recognize its importance.