Biography
Robert S. Shankland was an undergraduate at the Case School for Applied Sciences from 1925–1929 and received his master's degree in 1933. He completed his Ph.D. degree in 1935 for work on photon scattering with Arthur Compton at the University of Chicago. His other research included work on the ionosphere and standard frequency regulations from 1929–1930 with the US National Bureau of Standards, and worked in England on sonar for submarine warfare early in World War II.
Shankland's report on the Albert Michelson's Irvine Ranch experiments was published in 1933. In the British journal Nature, Shankland gave the historical background of how Einstein formulates the first two principles, in 1905, of the special theory of relativity from the Michelson-Morley experiment. Shankland believed that the accepted direct explanation for the Michelson-Morley experiment is provided by the special theory of relativity given by Einstein in 1905. Shankland recorded that Michelson's Santa Ana trip was to look at the science of the aether. Physicists consider the results of Dayton C. Miller's tests on Mount Wilson more accurate than Michelson's.
After completing graduate studies he joined the faculty at Case School for Applied Sciences. In 1941 he succeeded Dayton C. Miller as the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics at Case, a position he held until his retirement in 1976. Shankland worked on neutrino experiments with Argonne National Laboratory from 1953–1969, and had other interests including the history of relativity and architectural acoustics. He collaborated with George Szell, the director of the Cleveland Orchestra, to improve the acoustics of Severance Hall, making it easier for musicians to hear each other on the stage.
Shankland's father, Frank North Shankland, was the author of "Modern Romances" and several books on birds and animals. In 1929 Shankland married Hilda Catherine Kinneson. They had five children: Ruth Ellen, Dorothy Margaret, Lois Virginia, Ava Gertrude, and Sherwood Jean, and 14 grandchildren. Hilda died in 1970 and he married Eleanor Newlin. Shankland was a passionate outdoorsman and a knowledgeable collector of iron animal traps and Native American artifacts.
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