Carlyle S. Beals
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Carlyle Smith Beals, Template:Post-nominals FRS<ref name="frs">Template:Cite journal</ref> (June 29, 1899 – July 2, 1979) was a Canadian astronomer.
Early life and educationEdit
Carlyle Smith Beals was born in Canso, Nova Scotia to Rev. Francis H. P. Beals and his wife, Annie Florence Nightingale Smith Beals, on June 29, 1899.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> He is the brother of artist and educator Helen D. Beals.<ref name="BealsofDistinction">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Beals received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Acadia University in 1919, specializing in physics and mathematics.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="frs" /> Although he wished to continue his studies, he was forced to postpone those plans due to poor health. He taught at a small country school in Nova Scotia during the winter of 1920.<ref name=":1" />
He began his Ph.D. studies in physics at Yale University in 1921, but was forced to return home in the winter of 1921 when his health failed again. He resumed his graduate studies in 1922 at University of Toronto and received a master's degree in Physics in 1923.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="frs" /> His master's thesis work on triboluminescence spectra, the frequencies of light generated by breaking chemical bonds, was done under the supervision of John Cunningham McLennan, one of the leading physicists in Canada at the time.<ref name="frs" />
Beals spent one year as the Science Master at the High School of Quebec in Quebec City, before enrolling in a graduate programme in physics in 1924 at the Royal College of Science at Imperial College London.<ref name=":0" /> Working under Alfred Fowler, he studied the Zeeman effect and the spectra of palladium, copper, and ionized silver. During this time Beals became acquainted with observational astronomy by using the small observatory in the Royal College of Science building. He received a Ph.D. in 1926.<ref name="frs" />
CareerEdit
After obtaining his PhD, Beals returned to Acadia University as an assistant professor of physics, but left one year later for an Assistant Astronomer position at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO), Victoria, British Columbia.<ref name="frs" /><ref name=":1" /> Beals worked at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory from 1927 until 1946, becoming Assistant Director of the DAO in 1940.<ref name=":1" />
At the DAO, he studied emission lines in the spectra of hot stars and gas clouds in the interstellar medium. His work established a reliable temperature scale for hotter stars, based on their spectra.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He showed that the broad emission lines seen in Wolf-Rayet and P Cygni-type stars were due to strong stellar winds.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Beals was the first astronomer to quantitatively measure the ratio of sodium and calcium absorption lines in the interstellar medium (the gas between stars) and the ratio of the two lines in the sodium D doublet.<ref name="frs" /> He also found that rather than being uniform, the interstellar medium was clumpy and moved with different velocities.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":1" />
During his time at the DAO, he developed several astronomical instruments to analyse astronomical spectra, including a self-recording micro-photometer and a high efficiency grating spectrograph.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":1" />
During World War II, Beals spent two-year researching defenses against chemical weapons and designed gas masks.<ref name="frs" />
In 1946, he left the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in British Columbia and began work at the Dominion Observatory in Ottawa, Ontario. He was appointed Dominion Astronomer one year later, and began to rebuild the observatory's scientific programme, which had suffered due to budget cuts during the great depression and a lack of staff during World War II.<ref name=":1" /> He also oversaw the establishment of the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, near Penticton, British Columbia.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
While in Ottawa, he became interested in the geophysical activities of the observatory. He began a study of meteorite impact craters in the Canadian shield, searching for circular features in aerial photographs and organising drill core studies of the most promising targets.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":1" />
He retired in 1964, but continued his work on impact craters and published several works during his retirement.
Awards and recognitionEdit
Beals was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1933. He was president of Academy of Science of the Royal Society of Canada from 1949-1950, and received the Henry Marshall Tory Medal from the Society in 1957 for outstanding achievement in scientific research.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="frs" />
He served as president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada from 1951-1952.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also served as president of the American Astronomical Society from 1962-1964, the only Canadian to hold the position.<ref name="frs" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In March 1951, Beals was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.<ref name="frs" /> In 1966, he was awarded the inaugural Meteoritical Society Leonard Medal for his work on identifying Canadian impact craters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="frs" /> In 1969, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.<ref>Template:OCC</ref>
Beals received honorary degrees from Acadia University, the University of New Brunswick, Queen's University and the University of Pittsburgh.<ref name="frs" />
The Carlyle S. Beals Award was established by the Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA) in 1981.<ref>Profile, rasc.ca. Accessed February 18, 2024.</ref>
The asteroid 3314 Beals and the crater Beals on the Moon are both named for Beals.
Personal lifeEdit
In 1931, Beals married Miriam White Bancroft, a professional musician and piano teacher.<ref name="frs" /> She was the daughter of Joseph Bancroft, a longtime Liberal member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. The couple adopted a daughter, Janitza.<ref name="frs" /><ref name=":1" />
Beals died on July 2, 1979, aged 80.Template:Cn
Selected publicationsEdit
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ArchivesEdit
There is a Carlyle Beals fonds at Library and Archives Canada.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Archival reference number is R15735.