Library Catalog

Maestro of Science : Omond McKillop Solandt and Government Science in War and Hostile Peace, 1939-1956 /

Ridler, Jason S.

Maestro of Science : Omond McKillop Solandt and Government Science in War and Hostile Peace, 1939-1956 / Jason S. Ridler. - 1 online resource (384 p.) : 23 b&w illustrations, 2 b&w tables

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Idyllic Childhood: The Early Years of Omond McKillop Solandt, 1909–1927 -- 3 Protégé: Omond Solandt and Charles Best in Toronto and Leningrad, 1927–1935 -- 4 Commencement: Solandt, Cambridge, and the Ontario Polio Epidemic, 1936–1939 -- 5 First Taste of War: Solandt and the South West London Blood Depot, 1940 -- 6 Tank Doctor: Omond Solandt, Director of the Physiological Research Laboratory, Lulworth, 1940–1942 -- 7 Managing Science: Omond Solandt and the British Army Operational Research Group, 1943–1945 -- 8 Atomic Battlefield: Solandt and the British Mission to Japan, November 1945 -- 9 The Only Man for the Job: Omond Solandt and the Origins of the Defence Research Board, 1943–1946 -- 10 A Doctor among Soldiers: Solandt, Canada’s First Scientific Chief of Staff, 1946–1956 -- 11 A Decade of Leadership: Omond Solandt, Chairman of the Defence Research Board, 1946–1956 -- 12 Rockets, Germs, and UFOs: Solandt, the Establishments, and Public Perceptions of the DRB, 1946–1956 -- 13 Canada’s Defence Research Diplomat: Solandt and the DRB’s International Connections, 1946–1956 -- 14 Atomic Realist: Omond Solandt and Nuclear Weapons, 1945–1955 -- 15 Conclusion -- Appendices -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

One of the brightest Canadian scientists of his generation, Omond McKillop Solandt was a physiologist by training, an engineer by disposition, and a manager by necessity. A protégé of insulin’s co-discoverer, Charles Best, Solandt worked as a scientist for the British government during the Second World War, including as a pioneer of operational research and a manager of scientific establishments. Ending the war as a colonel, he served on the British Mission to Japan, where he studied the effects of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, before returning to Canada to become chairman of the newly created Defence Research Board. There he spearheaded Canada’s attempt to create a new and innovative government science infrastructure that served the needs of the Canadian military at the dawn of the nuclear age and worked alongside allies in Britain and the United States.In Maestro of Science, Jason S. Ridler draws on interviews with Solandt and his colleagues and declassified records from Canada and the United Kingdom to paint a vivid picture of the influence and achievements of a Canadian leader in Cold War military research.


Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.


In English.

9781442647473 9781442668294

10.3138/9781442668294 doi


Military research--Canada.
Science and state--Canada.
Scientists--Canada--Biography.
HISTORY / General.

354.710081