Mildred Allen (physicist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mildred Allen
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| Born | March 25, 1894 |
| Died | November 4, 1990 (aged 96) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | Vassar College, Clark University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Mount Holyoke College |
| Thesis | On thermal emission and evaporation from water (1922) |
| Doctoral advisor | Arthur Gordon Webster |
Mildred Allen (born March 25, 1894 – died November 4, 1990) was an important American physicist. She spent many years teaching and doing research, especially at Mount Holyoke College.
About Mildred Allen
Her Early Life and Schooling
Mildred Allen was born on March 25, 1894, in Sharon, Massachusetts. Her father, C. Frank Allen, was a professor at MIT. Her mother was Caroline Hadley Allen. Mildred also had a younger sister named Margaret.
Mildred Allen went to Vassar College and graduated in 1916 with high honors. She then continued her studies in physics. In 1922, she earned her PhD in physics from Clark University. Her research for her PhD was also done at MIT.
Her Career as a Physicist
During the 1920s and early 1930s, Mildred Allen taught at several colleges. These included Mount Holyoke College, Wellesley College, and Oberlin College. She also did advanced research after her PhD at the University of Chicago and Yale University.
From 1927 to 1930, she worked with a scientist named William Francis Gray Swann. They did research at the Bartol Research Foundation. She also did research at Harvard University. Later, she became a professor at Mount Holyoke College, where she taught until she retired in 1959.
Starting in the early 1960s, Mildred Allen worked with Erwin Saxl. He was an industrial physicist. They did experiments using a special tool called a torsion pendulum. This pendulum is a device that swings back and forth.
In 1970, Allen and Saxl reported something unusual. They noticed strange changes in their pendulum during a solar eclipse. They thought this might mean that our understanding of gravity needed to be changed. Other scientists, like Maurice Allais, had also seen similar strange effects. However, most scientists have not agreed that these findings mean gravity needs to be changed. Later experiments have not been able to show the same results.
See also
In Spanish: Mildred Allen para niños
