Allen Goodrich Shenstone, (July 27, 1893 – February 16, 1980) was a
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
. He earned
bachelor's
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ( ...
,
master's
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
, and
Ph.D. degrees from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
, as well as a
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
from the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. After a brief stint as a junior faculty member at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
, he returned to Princeton, where he was a professor in the Department of Physics 1925–62. He chaired the department 1949–60. He worked primarily in the field of
atomic spectroscopy
In physics, atomic spectroscopy is the study of the electromagnetic radiation absorbed and emitted by atoms. Since unique elements have unique emission spectra, atomic spectroscopy is applied for determination of elemental compositions. It can ...
. He was awarded the
Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...
for his service in the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
in
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and made an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
for his work as a scientific officer in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Family
Shenstone was born in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
July 27, 1893, the last of six children of Eliza Hara and Joseph Newton Shenstone. Joseph Shenstone was a senior executive of the Massey-Harris Company,
a large manufacturer of agricultural equipment that later became
Massey Ferguson
Massey Ferguson is an agricultural machinery manufacturer, established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of Ireland. It was based in Coventry then moved to Beauvais in 2003 when ...
. All six siblings attended university, which was unusual at the time.
[
Shenstone married Molly Chadwick in 1923. They had three children, but only one survived to adulthood. This child, the Canadian diplomat Michael Shenstone, produced three grandchildren.] Molly died in 1967, and Allen was remarried two years later to Tiffin Harper.
Education and World War I
Shenstone attended Huron Street Public School and Harbord Collegiate Institute in Toronto.[ In 1910 he enrolled at ]Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
in the United States, where he was the only Canadian of the 400 entering students. As an undergraduate he was a member of Cap and Gown Club
Cap and Gown Club, founded in 1891, is an eating club at Princeton University, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Colloquially known as "Cap", the club is one of the "Big Four" eating clubs at Princeton (the others are The Ivy Club, Unive ...
and a close friend of Allen Dulles
Allen Welsh Dulles ( ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was an American lawyer who was the first civilian director of central intelligence (DCI), and its longest serving director. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the ea ...
. He played on the ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
team with Hobey Baker
Hobart Amory Hare "Hobey" Baker (January 15, 1892 – December 21, 1918) was an American amateur athlete of the early twentieth century. Considered the first American star in ice hockey by the Hockey Hall of Fame, he was also an accomplished Am ...
. He graduated magna cum laude in 1914 and then spent two terms
Term may refer to:
Language
*Terminology, context-specific nouns or compound words
**Technical term (or ''term of art''), used by specialists in a field
***Scientific terminology, used by scientists
*Term (argumentation), part of an argument in d ...
at the Cavendish Laboratory
The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the School of Physical Sciences. The laboratory was opened in 1874 on the New Museums Site as a laboratory for experimental physics and is named ...
of the University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
working on experiments under J. J. Thomson
Sir Joseph John Thomson (18 December 1856 – 30 August 1940) was an English physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1906 "in recognition of the great merits of his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of ...
and C. T. R. Wilson.[
Shenstone left Cambridge in 1915 to serve in the ]Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
in World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. He was commissioned in March 1915 and within months was commanding a company of 400 men building trenches
A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches res ...
. He saw action at Passchendaele and the Hindenburg Line
The Hindenburg Line (, Siegfried Position) was a German Defense line, defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in France during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to ...
, was promoted to captain in September 1917,[ and received the ]Military Cross
The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...
. He served briefly with the British Army of the Rhine
British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...
and returned to Canada in August 1919.[
In fall 1919, he returned to Princeton, where he and Henry DeWolf Smyth were the only graduate students in physics. Shenstone struggled initially with returning to research after five years at war but was nonetheless awarded a prestigious fellowship.][ Princeton awarded him a ]Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
degree in 1920.[ From January to August 1921, he was back at the Cavendish Laboratory. This time he worked under ]Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who was a pioneering researcher in both Atomic physics, atomic and nuclear physics. He has been described as "the father of nu ...
on experiments related to radioactivity
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...
and earned a second Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
from Cambridge. He completed his Ph.D. at Princeton the following year, writing his dissertation on an experiment that attempted to show a connection between the Hall effect
The Hall effect is the production of a voltage, potential difference (the Hall voltage) across an electrical conductor that is wikt:transverse, transverse to an electric current in the conductor and to an applied magnetic field wikt:perpendicul ...
and photoemission
The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons from a material caused by electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet light. Electrons emitted in this manner are called photoelectrons. The phenomenon is studied in condensed matter physic ...
.[
]
Academic career
Shenstone became a junior faculty member at the University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
in 1922. Here he developed an interest in atomic spectroscopy
In physics, atomic spectroscopy is the study of the electromagnetic radiation absorbed and emitted by atoms. Since unique elements have unique emission spectra, atomic spectroscopy is applied for determination of elemental compositions. It can ...
and performed his first experiments in the field. In 1925 he became an assistant professor at Princeton, where he spent the rest of his academic career. At Princeton he secured new research equipment and performed important experiments, establishing himself as a leader in optical spectroscopy
Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Spectros ...
. His work on the spectrum of copper
Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
was particularly noteworthy. He was named the Class of 1909 Professor of Physics in 1938.[
Shenstone returned to military service in ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, again using his scientific background. In November 1940 he moved to Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, where he served as Special Assistant to the President of the Canadian National Research Council. In this role he was a scientific liaison between Canada and the (still officially neutral) United States. In April 1942 he moved to London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, where he remained until the conclusion of the war working with other scientists on war-related projects. He was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
in June 1943.[
Returning to Princeton in 1945, Shenstone resumed his duties at the Department of Physics. He continued his research in spectroscopy, publishing on doubly ionized species. In 1946 he became a founding member of the National Research Council's committee on line spectra of the elements; he chaired the committee 1961–65. In 1949 he succeeded Smyth as chairman of the physics department, a position he held until 1960. In 1931 he was elected a Fellow of the ]American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...
. In 1950 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
. He retired from Princeton in 1962 but remained active, continuing his experiments until 1976 and publishing as late as 1977.[ In 1971 the ]Optical Society
Optica, founded as the Optical Society of America (later the Optical Society), is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals, organizes conferences and exhibitions, and ca ...
awarded him the William F. Meggers Award for his work in spectroscopy. He died February 16, 1980, in Princeton.[
]
References
External links
Biographical note
in ''Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society'' at JSTOR
JSTOR ( ; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources founded in 1994. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary source ...
(subscription required)
Photos
of Shenstone from the American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics (AIP) promotes science and the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies. Its corpora ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shenstone, Allen
1893 births
1980 deaths
Canadian physicists
Princeton University alumni
Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey players
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Academic staff of the University of Toronto
Princeton University faculty
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Fellows of the Royal Society
Canadian recipients of the Military Cross
Canadian Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Royal Engineers officers
Canadian military personnel of World War I
Canadian expatriates in the United States