Mildred Allen
Encyclopedia
Mildred Allen was an American
physicist
.
to MIT professor C. Frank Allen and Caroline Hadley Allen. She had one younger sister, Margaret Allen Anderson.
Allen graduated from Vassar College
in 1916 with Phi Beta Kappa honors. She completed her doctoral studies in physics in 1922 at Clark University
with Arthur Gordon Webster
, with thesis research done at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
.
, Wellesley and Oberlin College
s and undertook post-doctoral work at the University of Chicago
and at Yale University
. She began working with William Francis Gray Swann
at Yale and continued work under his direction with the Bartol Research Foundation between 1927 and 1930. She also did research at Harvard University
before becoming a professor at Mount Holyoke, where she taught until her retirement in 1959.
For nearly 20 years, starting in the early 1960s, Allen collaborated with Erwin Saxl
, an industrial physicist living in Harvard, Massachusetts, on experiments with a torsion pendulum. Allen and Saxl reported anomalous changes in the period of a torsion pendulum during a solar eclipse
in 1970 and hypothesized that “gravitational theory needs to be modified”. Their measurements, and similar anomalies
earlier observed by Allais
using a paraconical pendulum, have not been accepted by the physics community as in need of unconventional explanation, and subsequent experiments have not succeeded in reproducing the results.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
.
Early life and education
Mildred Allen was born in Sharon, MassachusettsSharon, Massachusetts
Sharon is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,612 at the 2010 census. Sharon is part of Greater Boston, about 17 miles southwest of downtown Boston....
to MIT professor C. Frank Allen and Caroline Hadley Allen. She had one younger sister, Margaret Allen Anderson.
Allen graduated from Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
in 1916 with Phi Beta Kappa honors. She completed her doctoral studies in physics in 1922 at Clark University
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts.Founded in 1887, it is the oldest educational institution founded as an all-graduate university. Clark now also educates undergraduates...
with Arthur Gordon Webster
Arthur Gordon Webster
Arthur Gordon Webster was the founder of the American Physical Society.Arthur Gordon Webster was born on 28 November, 1863 at Brookline, Massachusetts to William Edward Webster and Mary Shannon Davis...
, with thesis research done at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
.
Career
During the 1920s and early 1930s, Allen taught at Mount HolyokeMount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
, Wellesley and Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
s and undertook post-doctoral work at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. She began working with William Francis Gray Swann
William Francis Gray Swann
William Francis Gray Swann was an Anglo-American physicist. He was educated at Brighton Technical College and the Royal College of Science from which he obtained a B.Sc. in 1905. He worked as an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Sheffield, while simultaneously pursuing a doctorate at...
at Yale and continued work under his direction with the Bartol Research Foundation between 1927 and 1930. She also did research at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
before becoming a professor at Mount Holyoke, where she taught until her retirement in 1959.
For nearly 20 years, starting in the early 1960s, Allen collaborated with Erwin Saxl
Erwin Saxl
Erwin Joseph Saxl was a physicist and inventor. He was born in Vienna in 1904 and received his Ph.D. there in 1927. In the late 1920s he emigrated to the United States. In 1935 he founded the Saxl Instrument Company, which designed and manufactured tension meters for use in the textile...
, an industrial physicist living in Harvard, Massachusetts, on experiments with a torsion pendulum. Allen and Saxl reported anomalous changes in the period of a torsion pendulum during a solar eclipse
Solar eclipse
As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun as viewed from a location on Earth. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. At least...
in 1970 and hypothesized that “gravitational theory needs to be modified”. Their measurements, and similar anomalies
Allais effect
The Allais effect is a claimed anomalous precession of the plane of oscillation of a pendulum during a solar eclipse. It has been speculated to be unexplained by standard physical models of gravitation, but recent mainstream physics publications tend rather to posit conventional explanations for...
earlier observed by Allais
Maurice Allais
Maurice Félix Charles Allais was a French economist, and was the 1988 winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics "for his pioneering contributions to the theory of markets and efficient utilization of resources."...
using a paraconical pendulum, have not been accepted by the physics community as in need of unconventional explanation, and subsequent experiments have not succeeded in reproducing the results.
External links
- Mildred Allen Papers at Mount Holyoke College
- Mildred Allen photo dated 1959, Mount Holyoke Digital Collections Online
- Oral History interview transcript with Mildred Allen 18 June 1979, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives