Leo Wenzel Pollak (September 23, 1888 in Prague – November 24, 1964 in Dublin) was a geophysicist, meteorologist and pioneer in scientific data processing.
[5] From 1906 to 1910 he studied physics and geophysics at the German University in Prague and in 1910 received his doctorate under Rudolf Spitaler[6][7] with the thesis "The duration and intensity of sunshine on the Douneuberge near Mileschau".
When Pollak sent a circular in August 1911 to look for astronomers who had observed the light deflection effect predicted by Einstein in the gravitational field, Erwin Freundlich accepted the challenge.
"[13] In 1934 Pollak and F. Kaiser published a paper showing how punch card machines could be used to perform scientific calculations.
[6] He spent a lot of time and energy using mechanical calculators and tables to assist in Fourier analysis.