Edgeworth David
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Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE F.R.S. (January 28 1858 - August 28 1934) was an Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. He was born in St. Fagans, Wales, and migrated to Australia in 1882 to work as an assistant geological surveyor, and was responsible for the classification of the important South Maitland coalfields. He became a professor of geology at Sydney University in 1891, where he stayed until 1924. He is best known for his work on the second British Antarctic expedition led by Ernest Shackleton in 1907. During this expedition, he led the first successful ascent of Mount Erebus, the only active volcano in Antarctica. He was selected to lead the first team to locate the Magnetic South Pole. The team consisted of himself, Douglas Mawson and Alistair Mackay. Shortly after the trek began he gave overall leadership to Mawson. David was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1900, and made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1920. He died in Sydney.
The Edgeworth David Medal is named in his honour. It is awarded by the Royal Society of New South Wales for distinguished contributions by a young scientist under the age of thirty-five for work done mainly in Australia or its territories.
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