Life
1857-1933; engineer, geologist, and physicist; b. Church of Ireland Rectory in Holywood House, Bracknagh, Co. Offaly [var. Rathmines, Dublin], ed.
TCD, 1876; grad. 1882 (Eng.);
elected Fellow of the Royal Dublin Society in 1892; professor of Geology and Mineralogy at TCD, 1897-1933;
invented meldometer, a hydrostatic balance, etc.; reduced aluminium
from topaz; propounded generally accepted cohesion theory of rising sap [in collaboration with
H[enry] H[oratio] Dixon (1893); with Walter Stevenson of Dr. Steevens’ Hospital, Dublin, developed new methods of radiotherapy and pioneered the “Dublin method” using hollow needle for deep-seated radiotherapy; estab. Irish Radium Institute (RDS);
winner of RDS Boyle Medal, 1911, and Murchison Medal (Geological Soc. of London), 1923; travelled to America to defend his colour photography patent against Kodak; studied radioactivity in geology and arrived at accurate estimate of the age of the earth at
80-90 million years (later revised to 100 million years); issued Radioactivity and Geology (1909), and Surface History of the Earth (1925); responsible for building TCD
science schools;
d. 8 Dec. 1933 Joly Memorial Lecture inaug. by Sir Ernest Rutherford, 1935. ODNB
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Commentary
Brian Inglis, Downstart (London: Chatto &
Windus 1990): [on his father Claude’s education]: ‘in Trinity
College, Dublin [...] he had been fortunate enough to study under the
remarkable John Joly, a Fellow of the Royal Society. Joly still secures
an entry in Chambers’ Biographical Dictionary for inventing the photometer,
making the first precise calculation of the age of the earth, pioneering
colour photography and initiating the technique of radiotheraphy. He was
also an inspired teacher [...]’
Ita Marguet, ‘The name Joly: Celebration and dedication’ in Irish Emigrant: ‘[...] A staunch unionist, in his younger days he defended Trinity College during the Easter Rising in Dublin (24 April-1 May 1916), a pivotal event in Ireland’s historical struggle for independence. He is said to have ventured forth from the defences of Trinity College in search of fresh intelligence and cigarettes for his comrades to where he returned safely. Aged 76, he died in Dublin on 8 December 1933. [... &c.’; posted & accessed 13 Aug. 2007, online.]
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References
Encyc. Britannica gives birth-place as
Holywood, King’s County [Laois], Ireland.
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