Frank Cotton

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Frank Cotton

| image = Frank Cotton.png

| caption = Professor Frank Stanley Cotton c1950

| birth_name = Frank Stanley Cotton

| birth_date = 30 April 1890

| birth_place = Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia

| death_date = 23 August 1955

| death_place = Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia

| citizenship = Australian

| spouse = Catherine Drummond Smith

}}

Frank Stanley Cotton (30 April 1890 – 23 August 1955) was an Australian lecturer in physiology, specialising in the study of the effects of physical strain on the human body.

Early life

Cotton was born on 30 April 1890 at Camperdown, Sydney, New South Wales. His father was the Australian politician Francis Cotton (1857–1942) who was a strong proponent of Georgism and played a key role in the rise of the Labour movement.{{cite journal

| first=Bruce

| last=Scates

| title ='Millenium or Pandemonium?': Radicalism in the Labour Movement, Sydney, 1889–1899

| publisher =Liverpool University Press

| journal=Labour History

| issue=50

| year=1986

| url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27508784

| pages=72–94 | doi=10.2307/27508784

| jstor=27508784

| url-access=subscription

}} He was the younger brother of Shackleton expeditioner and geology professor, Leo Arthur Cotton (1883–1963). Pioneer art photographer Olive Cotton was his niece.Nairn (2011) He attended Sydney Boys High School from 1904 to 1908.{{cite web|url=http://www.shsobu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/professors.pdf|title=Professors|website=Shsobu.org.au|accessdate=2 December 2017|archive-date=23 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323090429/http://www.shsobu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Professors.pdf|url-status=dead}} In 1917, Cotton married Catherine Drummond Smith, a geology demonstrator who taught at the University of Sydney.{{cite book|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cotton-frank-stanley-6326|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography|first=Bede|last=Nairn|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|accessdate=14 August 2017|via=Australian Dictionary of Biography}}Burek, C and Higgs, B eds. 2007 The role of women in the history of geology, Geological Society of London

Inventions

;Anti-Gravity Suit

In 1940, whilst at the University of Sydney, Professor Cotton invented the "Cotton aerodynamic anti-G flying suit" (G-suit), which prevented pilots from blacking out when making high speed turns or pulling out of a dive. This was used extensively by pilots in the Allied air forces during World War II.{{cite web|url=http://www.physiol.usyd.edu.au/info/brhistory.html|title=Department of Physiology, University of Sydney|website=Physiol.usyd.edu.au|accessdate=14 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819021947/http://www.physiol.usyd.edu.au/info/brhistory.html|archive-date=19 August 2006|url-status=dead}}

;Ergometer

Cotton was also responsible for the ergometer, a machine to test the athletic potential of sportsmen and women. Cotton claimed through this machine to have discovered the swimmers Jon Henricks and Judy-Joy Davies. The Australian swimming coach, Forbes Carlile, began his career as an assistant to Cotton.

Later life

On 23 August 1955, Cotton died at Hornsby, New South Wales.

References

Nairn, Bede, 'Cotton, Frank Stanley (1890–1955)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University{{cite book|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cotton-frank-stanley-6326/text9815|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography|first=Bede|last=Nairn|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|accessdate=2 December 2017|via=Australian Dictionary of Biography}}

Notes

Category:1890 births

Category:1955 deaths

Category:Australian sports scientists

Category:Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees

Category:People educated at Sydney Boys High School

Category:Australian lecturers