geologist noted for his monumental study of the geology of Australia.

David served as assistant geologist for the government survey of New South Wales from 1882 until 1891, when he became professor of geology at the University of Sydney. A leader in the investigation of evidence on major glaciations of Australia in Upper Paleozoic time (from 225,000,000 to 345,000,000 years ago), he also constructed the first geological map of the Sydney-Newcastle Basin and studied the formation of atolls. He was the leader of the 1897 expedition to the Ellice Islands, served as scientific officer of the Shackleton Antarctic Expedition from 1907 to 1909, and led the party that first reached the southern magnetic pole on Jan. 16, 1909. He wrote Geological Notes of the British Antarctic Expedition (1909) and The Geology of Australia (1932). He was knighted in 1920.