263:
286:
probable that the great industrial effort now being made by
Germany is, under certain conditions, responsible for a fair proportion of the suspended impurity in the air over this country". Unlike the deposit gauge, Owens' jet dust counter was largely neglected – and, with it, the idea of long-distance pollution as an international problem. According to pollution scientist Gary Fuller, Owens was years ahead of his time: "If Owens' device had been perfected, we might have taken early steps to control UK coal burning to prevent Scandinavia's
259:
pollution historian
Stephen Mosley, Owens keenly understood the need for systematic measurements of pollution: "On the importance of monitoring, John S. Owens insisted that sound data gathered on smoke was 'often the first step' toward pollution control, as it exerted a 'profound psychological effect upon a city when it has been shown that the air which its inhabitants have to breathe and live in is abnormally dirty."
302:
described him as "a most useful and public-spirited man of science. For nearly thirty years Dr. Owens has been the moving spirit in the investigation of atmospheric pollution on its quantitative side. He devised the instruments in use, and co-ordinated, tabulated and prepared for publication all the
225:
claimed thousands of lives, they warned of air pollution's growing menace: "The concentrated impurity in the air of some of our modern cities is so great that it has become a menace to public health as well as a serious source of financial loss to the community". The book's striking frontispiece was
285:
Owens' jet dust counter was one of the first instruments to demonstrate that air pollution could travel over long distances. In his description of the invention, he speculated that the particles he observed in
England might have been "derived from the smoke of Continental fires... it appears highly
233:
the same year, he was even more emphatic: "The evil of atmospheric pollution has crept on us almost unawares, with the increase in the use of raw coal. The gradual growth of population and collection of people into monstrous cities have gone on until now the number of fires concentrated in small
278:. Two of Owens' inventions were patented in Britain as "An Instrument for Measuring the Density of Smoke from Factory and other Chimneys" (1911) and "Apparatus for Measuring the Amount of Suspended Impurity in the Air" (1914); Owens held around 30 other British patents for devices as varied as
258:
falling from the sky in collection bottles, allowing it to be weighed and compared with deposits taken elsewhere. Deposit gauges were deployed in 27 locations by 1917, rising to 1066 locations in 1966, so creating the first large-scale pollution monitoring network in the UK. According to air
214:, who was chairman of the same committee and first director of the Met Office, described Owens as the "moving spirit" behind the initiative, noting that as both an engineer and a doctor, he "possessed an extraordinary qualification for dealing with the subject of atmospheric pollution".
322:, scientist Gary Fuller argued that Owens was a crucial figure "who more than any other person would define the transformation of air pollution science from the haphazard investigations of Victorian gentlemen into a systematic national surveillance program..."
249:
Owens is notable for the advances he made in quantifying and comparing air pollution: he personally invented several new measuring instruments, and the
Committee for the Investigation of Atmospheric Pollution, which he steered, developed the standard
314:
in 1942 in recognition of his air pollution work. The same year, Sir George Clark of the Royal
Geographical Society also paid tribute to Owens and "his pioneer work in the study of atmospheric pollution and smoke-abatement".
613:... John Switzer Owens, who more than any other person would define the transformation of air pollution science from the haphazard investigations of Victorian gentlemen into a systematic national surveillance program...
238:
148:. He invented some of the first scientific instruments for collecting and measuring air pollution and helped to establish the first large-scale pollution monitoring network in the United Kingdom.
200:). This led to his appointment, in 1917, as the first secretary of the Committee for the Investigation of Atmospheric Pollution, a voluntary group of scientists, using facilities provided by
164:, where he took B.A., M.D., and B.Ch. degrees. In his late twenties, he gave up medicine and developed an interest in environmental engineering, which he studied at
226:
a photograph of a man weighed down with a huge sack on his back titled "The soot fall in a minute within the county of London and a
Londoner on the same scale".
274:
and, in 1921, another, known as the jet dust counter, that accelerated air samples toward glass slides so the composition of pollution could be studied under a
1359:
1344:
1329:
1319:
1152:
1324:
196:
Owens' interest in air pollution developed as a member of the Coal Smoke
Abatement Society (later known as the National Society for Clean Air, now
1349:
1354:
986:
915:
862:
759:
637:
606:
1339:
1334:
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crisis of the 1970s and 1980s, and action to avoid the air pollution that still covers western Europe each spring and summer."
262:
270:
Owens later developed other, more sophisticated (and more automated) pollution measuring devices, including one based on a
307:
685:
Important investigations have been carried out by Dr J.S.Owens, who has devised a number of new methods of observation.
1002:
869:
A sub-committee consisting of J.G.Clark and Bailie Smith was responsible for the design of the standard deposit gauge.
197:
165:
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85:
161:
67:
230:
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1229:
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data on which the progressive changes in the amount of pollution in the atmosphere are evaluated."
177:
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The jet dust counter – one of numerous air pollution measuring instruments that Owens invented.
982:
911:
858:
755:
633:
602:
311:
222:
98:
644:... J.S.Owens, who did so much to set up the early monitoring network in the British Isles...
1291:
Dr J.S. Owens... did pioneer work in the study of atmospheric pollution and smoke-abatement.
1237:
1189:
1126:
952:
715:
704:"'A Network of Trust': Measuring and Monitoring Air Pollution in British Cities, 1912– 1960"
537:
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372:
299:
1080:
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areas is so great that the air over our cities is like the inside of a huge chimney."
1303:
882:
788:
719:
662:
Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy. Section A: Mathematical and Physical Sciences
392:
251:
80:
1203:
1030:"An Instrument for Measuring the Density of Smoke from Factory and other Chimneys"
1029:
1055:
749:
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486:
333:
211:
157:
121:
44:
275:
207:
202:
541:
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1241:
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468:
443:
376:
185:
126:
855:
The Big Smoke: A History of Air
Pollution in London Since Medieval Times
832:
816:
727:
703:
673:
657:
630:
The Big Smoke: A History of Air
Pollution in London Since Medieval Times
427:
411:
1279:
1263:
1194:
1177:
1056:"Apparatus for Measuring the Amount of Suspended Impurity in the Air"
979:
The Rising Global Threat of Air Pollution – and How We Can Fight Back
908:
The Rising Global Threat of Air Pollution – and How We Can Fight Back
599:
The Rising Global Threat of Air Pollution – and How We Can Fight Back
477:
271:
173:
1153:"Pollutionwatch: how lessons from 1920s were forgotten for 50 years"
261:
817:"Modern Atmospheric Conditions: With Special Reference to London"
412:"Modern Atmospheric Conditions: With Special Reference to London"
282:, bomb throwers, sheet pilers, and various forms of sea defence.
255:
444:"Condensation of Water from the Air upon Hygroscopic Crystals"
298:
On Owens' death, in 1941, an obituary in the science journal
237:
In 1927, Owens became Superintendent of Observations at the
144:(28 July 1871 – 6 December 1941) was an Irish physician and
172:
and sea defences, and developed new forms of durable beach
1007:
Harvard Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments
1264:"Address at the Annual General Meeting of the Society"
754:. London: Charles Griffin & Company. p. 120.
485:
Owens, John Switzer; Mchaffy, Robert Pentland (1932).
206:, that eventually became an advisory committee to the
1222:
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
114:
94:
73:
63:
51:
30:
23:
887:. London: Constable & Company. pp. 78–83
239:Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
160:, County Wexford, and trained to be a doctor at
530:Journal of the Institution of Civil Engineers
332:Owens, John Switzer; Case, Gerald O. (1909).
217:In 1925, Shaw and Owens co-authored the book
8:
1218:"Proceedings at the Meetings of the Society"
491:. Manchester: National Society for Clean Air
810:
808:
782:
780:
778:
488:Smoke and Fumes Nuisance from Road Vehicles
1274:(1). The Royal Geographical Society: 1–4.
881:Shaw, Napier; Owens, John Switzer (1925).
787:Shaw, Napier; Owens, John Switzer (1925).
751:Coast Erosion and Protection – Engineering
658:"Atmospheric Dust and Condensation Nuclei"
601:. London: Melville House. pp. 23–35.
391:Shaw, Napier; Owens, John Switzer (1925).
20:
16:Irish physician and environmental engineer
1193:
592:
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588:
520:
518:
516:
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632:. London: Routledge. pp. 132, 149.
241:and occupied that role until his death.
510:
981:. London: Melville House. p. 29.
910:. London: Melville House. p. 24.
335:Coast Erosion and Foreshore Protection
815:Owens, John Switzer (27 March 1925).
410:Owens, John Switzer (27 March 1925).
7:
1003:"Owens dust counter pump and slides"
821:Journal of the Royal Society of Arts
416:Journal of the Royal Society of Arts
1360:Medical doctors from County Wexford
1345:Air pollution in the United Kingdom
254:. This funnel-like device captured
168:. Later, he became an authority on
1330:20th-century Irish medical doctors
1320:Environmental health practitioners
857:. London: Routledge. p. 149.
221:. Almost three decades before the
14:
884:The Smoke Problem of Great Cities
793:. London: Constable & Company
790:The Smoke Problem of Great Cities
397:. London: Constable & Company
394:The Smoke Problem of Great Cities
219:The Smoke Problem of Great Cities
1325:Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
720:10.3197/096734009X12474738131074
1262:Clerk, Sir George (July 1942).
1151:Fuller, Gary (13 August 2020).
1107:"Suspended Impurity in the Air"
1081:"inventor:(John Switzer Owens)"
933:"Suspended Impurity in the Air"
702:Mosley, Stephen (August 2009).
353:"Suspended Impurity in the Air"
563:"Obituary: John Switzer Owens"
526:"Obituary: John Switzer Owens"
1:
1350:Engineers from County Wexford
229:In a paper Owens read to the
1355:20th-century Irish engineers
1228:(293): 76–83. January 1942.
1105:Owens, John Switzer (1922).
931:Owens, John Switzer (1922).
853:Brimblecombe, Peter (1987).
442:Owens, John Switzer (1926).
351:Owens, John Switzer (1922).
308:Royal Meteorological Society
1178:"Obituary: Dr. J. S. Owens"
338:. London: St. Bride's Press
198:Environmental Protection UK
1376:
656:Boylan, R.K. (1924–1927).
748:Matthews, Ernest (1918).
166:Durham College of Science
135:
107:
86:Environmental engineering
1268:The Geographical Journal
542:10.1680/ijoti.1942.13795
1340:People from Enniscorthy
1335:Irish environmentalists
708:Environment and History
184:in Britain, Spain, and
1242:10.1002/qj.49706829310
1131:10.1098/rspa.1922.0023
957:10.1098/rspa.1922.0023
469:10.1098/rspa.1926.0044
377:10.1098/rspa.1922.0023
267:
180:. He also worked as a
162:Trinity College Dublin
146:environmental engineer
102:1942
68:Trinity College Dublin
1111:Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A
977:Fuller, Gary (2019).
937:Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A
906:Fuller, Gary (2019).
597:Fuller, Gary (2019).
448:Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A
357:Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A
326:Selected publications
265:
245:Measuring instruments
231:Royal Society of Arts
192:Work on air pollution
1009:. Harvard University
320:The Invisible Killer
1234:1942QJRMS..68...76.
1123:1922RSPSA.101...18O
949:1922RSPSA.101...18O
626:Brimblecombe, Peter
567:The Mining Magazine
460:1926RSPSA.110..738O
369:1922RSPSA.101...18O
178:reinforced concrete
1188:(133): 133. 1942.
310:awarded Owens its
268:
156:Owens was born in
142:John Switzer Owens
25:John Switzer Owens
827:(3775): 434–457.
422:(3775): 434–457.
318:In his 2018 book
312:Symons Gold Medal
223:Great London Smog
139:
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109:Scientific career
99:Symons Gold Medal
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536:(5): 114. 1942.
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294:Death and legacy
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280:concrete mixers
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212:Sir Napier Shaw
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182:mining engineer
170:coastal erosion
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64:Alma mater
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55:6 December 1941
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1085:Google Patents
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1034:Google Patents
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943:(708): 18–37.
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1160:. Retrieved
1157:The Guardian
1156:
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1134:. Retrieved
1114:
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1063:. Retrieved
1059:
1054:Owens, J.S.
1049:
1037:. Retrieved
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1028:Owens, J.S.
1023:
1011:. Retrieved
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57:(1941-12-06)
41:28 July 1871
18:
1315:1941 deaths
1310:1871 births
1117:(708): 32.
838:13 February
733:13 February
433:13 February
158:Enniscorthy
122:Engineering
45:Enniscorthy
1304:Categories
1285:19 January
1247:17 January
1162:17 January
1136:18 January
1090:17 January
1065:17 January
1039:17 January
1013:18 January
962:18 January
891:17 January
797:17 January
767:17 January
679:18 January
577:17 January
573:: 24. 1942
547:17 January
505:References
495:17 January
401:17 January
382:18 January
342:17 January
276:microscope
208:Met Office
203:The Lancet
152:Early life
37:1871-07-28
668:: 18–70.
288:acid rain
176:based on
1204:28593674
833:41357699
728:20723733
674:20490670
628:(1987).
428:41357699
186:Portugal
127:Medicine
1280:1789228
1230:Bibcode
1119:Bibcode
945:Bibcode
456:Bibcode
365:Bibcode
174:groynes
1278:
1202:
1182:Nature
985:
914:
861:
831:
758:
726:
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636:
605:
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300:Nature
272:siphon
115:Fields
95:Awards
1276:JSTOR
1200:S2CID
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