Pollock, Martin Rivers, 1914-1999 (professor of biology, University of Edinburgh)
Biography
Martin Rivers Pollock was born on 10 December 1914, the son of Hamilton Rivers Pollock and Eveline Morton Pollock. He attended Winchester College before gaining a place at Trinity College Cambridge in 1933 (Senior Scholarship 1936). At Cambridge he studied Medicine (pre-clinical), moving to University College Hospital Medical School, London to complete his medical training in 1937-1939. He qualified M.B., B.Chir. in 1940.
Pollock held hospital appointments at University College Hospital and Brompton Chest Hospital 1939-1941 before joining the Emergency Public Health Laboratory Service as a Bacteriologist in 1941. In 1943 he was seconded to a Medical Research Council unit to work on infective hepatitis. In 1945 Pollock was formally taken onto the staff of the Medical Research Council. He worked at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), Mill Hill, London, initially under Sir Paul Fildes before being appointed Head of the Division of Bacterial Physiology in 1949. He remained at the NIMR to 1965, spending two periods (1948 and 1952-1953) studying in the laboratory of Jacques Monod at the Institut Pasteur, Paris. Pollock had for some years being considering the possibility of establishing a unit for teaching and research in molecular biology, which would bring together bacterial genetics and biochemistry, and a number of possible locations had been evaluated. M.M. Swann, the Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Edinburgh, persuaded Pollock to move north and in 1965 Pollock was appointed Professor of Biology at Edinburgh. Shortly afterwards, his colleague William Hayes moved from the MRC Unit for Bacterial Genetics at Hammersmith Hospital London. Together they established at Edinburgh the Department of Molecular Biology, the first such teaching department in the world. Pollock took early retirement in 1976, moving to Dorset. He took no further active part in scientific research but maintained his growing interest in the relationship between science and art, organising a major conference on the subject in 1981. He died in December 1999. Pollock's thirty years of scientific research from the end of the Second World War, both at the NIMR and Edinburgh University, focused on enzyme induction in bacteria. He studied the mechanism by which beta-lactamase enzymes (particularly penicillinase) are involved in the development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. For his contributions in this area Pollock was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1962. In the 1970s Pollock became interested in developments in biotechnology and artificial intelligence, encouraging interdepartmental cooperation in these areas.
Found in 484 Collections and/or Records:
Manuscript notes and figures, no date
Contents of Pollock's folder so inscribed: typescript and manuscript drafts; manuscript notes etc.
Manuscript notes and figures, no date
Contents of Pollock's folder so inscribed: typescript and manuscript drafts; manuscript notes etc.
Manuscript notes etc, for Griffith Lecture, c. 1970
The material consists of manuscript notes etc, by Martin Rivers Pollock for the Griffith Lecture, c. 1970.
Manuscript notes etc, for Griffith Lecture, c. 1970
The material consists of manuscript notes etc, by Martin Rivers Pollock for the Griffith Lecture, c. 1970.
Manuscript notes headed 'Burnet', c. 1960s
The material at D.1-D.14 appears to have originally been kept in ring binders. It is a continuous sequence of notes on experiments 1941-1945.
Manuscript notes, mostly on 'Molecular Evolution of the Origin of Life', 1973
The material consits of manuscript notes by Pollock, mostly on 'Molecular Evolution of the Origin of Life' by Sidney Fox, 1973.
Manuscript notes 'Some quotes relevant to theme of conference', 1981
Marked proof copy, 1978
The material consists of a marked proof copy of Martin Rivers Pollock's chapter 'An exciting but exasperating personality', published in ed. A. Lwoff and A. Ullmann, Origins of Molecular Biology: a tribute to Jacques Monod, New York: Academic Press, 1978.
Marked proof copy, 1981
The material consists of Marked proof copy of article 'Common denominators in Art and Science' by Martin Rivers Pollock with T. Barrett, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, vol. 6 (1981), 214-220.
Martin Rivers Pollock's 1973 entry for 'Who's Who in Education', 1973
The material consists of Martin Rivers Pollock's 1973 entry for 'Who's Who in Education'.
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- Correspondence 188
- Lectures and Lecturing 109
- Biology 27
- Penicillin 23
- Freedom of speech 10
- Antibiotics 8
- Biological weapons 7
- Human rights 7
- Santiago (Chile) 6
- Radio Broadcasting 4
- Administration 3
- Chile 3
- Conferences 3
- Genetics 3
- Molecular biology 3
- Students 3
- Study, Courses of 3
- Television broadcasting 3
- Trade Unions 3
- Appointment to Office 2
- Brazil 2
- Cambridge (England) 2
- Censorship 2
- Chemistry 2
- Corporate Minutes 2
- DNA 2
- Degree Courses 2
- Degrees, Academic 2
- England -- Newcastle Upon Tyne 2
- Exhibitions 2
- Glasgow (Scotland) 2
- Italy 2
- Maryland United States of America 2
- New York City (New York, United States) 2
- Obituaries 2
- Peace movements 2
- Research Grants 2
- Science, Study and Teaching 2
- Applications for Positions 1
- Belgium -- Brussels 1
- Bibliography 1
- Biochemistry 1
- Biography 1
- Bristol (England) 1
- Copenhagen (Denmark) 1
- Documentary films 1
- Drug resistance in microorganisms 1
- Enzymes 1
- Evolution (Biology) 1
- Greece 1
- Hungary 1
- Japan 1
- Lectures 1
- Leeds (England) 1
- Medicine | History | 1
- Medicine | Research | 1
- Membership 1
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- New York City, United States of America 1
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- Paris, France 1
- Pittsburgh Pennsylvania (United States) 1
- Poland 1
- Scholarly Publishing 1
- Scotland -- Inverness-shire -- Loch Ness 1
- Sheffield (England) 1
- Soviet Union 1
- Swann, Michael Swann, Baron, 1920-1990 -- Correspondence 1
- Sweden 1
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- Vaccines 1 + ∧ less