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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2015-09-16, Page 19Wednesday, September 16, 2015 • News Record 19 Sir John Cunningham McLennan: The acknowledged leader of science in Canada Sir John Cun- n\/Then inghamm McLen- nan died on October 9,1925, Lord Ernest Rutherford, the "father of nuclear physics" wrote in The limes of London that "an epic story" could be told of McLennan's rise obscu- rity to the peak of worldly fame and acclaim. Indeed, McLen- nan's rise to fame is a remarka- ble success story. John Cunningham McLen- nan was bom in Ingersoll, Ontario on April 14,1867. He was the second of seven chil- dren bom to Scottish immi- grants David and Barbara McLennan. In 1870, David moved his family to Exeter where he owned and operated a grist mill. The family moved to Blyth about 1876when David became a grain dealer managing his business out of Hensall on the London, Huron and Bruce Railway. John McLennan began his schooling in Blyth under the tutelage of Robert Henderson, who was described as "an excellent teacher'.' The McLennans moved to Clinton in 1880 so that John and an older sister could attend Clinton Collegiate. H. H. Lang- ton in Sir John Cunningham McLennan: AMemoir said that the Clinton Collegiate "had a well -served reputation, and the candidates which it sent up yearly for the Junior Matricula- tion Examination at the Uni- versity of Toronto usuallytooka high place in the class lists:' Even after the McLennan's moved to Stratford in Decem- ber 1882, John stayed in Clin- ton until June 1883 to receive his Junior Matriculation (grade 12). His father, David, continued to run his grain dealership from Hensall but a collapse in grain prices spelled financial hard- ship for the family. John McLennan's hopes of attend- ing university were dashed. For the next five years John McLen- nan taught in one room school houses in Perth County to save money enough money to attend university. McLennan graduated from University of Toronto with first class honours in physics in 1892. He became an assistant demonstrator in physics at Toronto's badly under equipped laboratory. Yet, his brilliance stood out and, in 1896, his studies in electro- magnetism brought him to great universities of Great Brit- ain, France and Germany. In 1898-99, he worked with Ernest Rutherford at the Cambridge University's Cavendish Huron History Dave Yates Laboratory. In 1900, McLennan earned the University of Toronto's first doctorate in physics. In 1903, McLennan's was elected a Fel- low of the Royal Society of Can- ada for his studies in radioac- tivity. One biographer, Robert Craig Brown, saidthatMcLen- nanwas never "shy about his achievements" and as his fame spread he pressed the univer- sityfor a modem research lab- oratory. Known as the McLen- nan Laboratory, McLennan was appointed the head of the new physics lab when it opened in 1906. In 1910, the Carnegie Foundation praised only two university physics labs, Columbia's and Toronto's as of a "superior character" In 1910, McLennan married Elsie Ramsay, the daughter of a wealthy Scottish Toronto mer- chant family. In 1914, McLen- nan was offered a "very attrac- tive" and "flattering" offer to chair the physics department at Birmingham University in Eng- land. The University of Toronto called his potential loss a "catastrophe" and prepared to match the offer but war inter- vened and McLennan's ener- gies were diverted elsewhere. When the Great War broke out, the McLennans were in Scotland visiting his wife's fam- ily estate. Too old for military service, McLennanwhole- heartedly devoted his scientific skills to the war effort In 1915, he was appointed a director of Britain's Board of Inventions and Research. In 1917, he became a leading physicist in anti-submarine research for the admiralty According to Lord Rutherford, McLennan's warworkwas "dear -sighted, swift in decision, and energetic in action" "Surrounded by a group of young Canadians' McLennan's 'work of outstand- ing importance was done in combating the submarine menace' The importance of his work was recognized when he became a Fellow of the Royal Society in England in 1915. King George V awarded him the Order of the British Empire in 1917 for his scientific contributions in the Empire's defence. After the war, McLennan was offered the physics chair of several leading British universi- ties. However, in January 1919, Prime Minister Sir Robert Bor- den told McLennan "we can't do without you in Canada" and he resumed his duties with a greatly enhanced salary at the University of Toronto. Back in Canada, McLennan turned his attention to indus- trial scientific research. He advocated the formation of a central institution consisting of govemment, business and sci- entific leaders to fund and direct research. The idea passed the House of Commons in 1928 and is now known as the National Research Council of Canada His biographer, H.H. Lang- ton, calls the period from 1920 to 1932, the most productive in McLennan's life. He published dozens of papers co-authored with graduate research stu- dents (some former students claim that he took more credit than he deserved). Honours and awards continued to flow his way. Several universities conferred honorary doctorates on him. He was awarded the Flavelle Medal (1926) for his studies in radiation; he was president of the Royal Society of Canada (1925-26); and in 1927, he was the Royal Society's Gold medal winner In 1930, the University of Toronto appointed McLennan the dean of graduate studies. L 1 1 1 1 _ Under his direction and unu- sual for the era, McLennan encouraged female students to pursue graduate studies in sci- ence. However it was a position that he did not relish because it placed him in the realm of university politics and away from the research lab. CONTINUED > PAGE 20 OFFICE 519-565-5100 6B Main St. N. 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