Day One: 1921 Toronto AAAS

Another 1921-2021 Centennial in the History of Canadian Science and Technology.

First posted Monday, December 27, 2021 / Yom shishi, 23 Tevet, 5782.

By David Orenstein

This is the second blog post in a six-part series commemorating the centennial of the 1921 Toronto meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Tuesday, December 27, 1921:

Morning

Many delegates were likely pulling into Union Station on overnight trains, whether from Ottawa, Montréal, New York or Chicago,

Afternoon

Chicago astronomer “Dr. F.R. Moulton… showed some very fine motion pictures on scientific subjects….”

The resuscitation of Section M Engineering, “resulted in a programme of considerable length and much diversity”, with good attendance and sustained interest.

Tuesday afternoon, Sir Clifford Sifton opened Section M with “Some Views on the Development of the Natural Resources of Canada”, dealing with fuel problems and hydro power, and conditions in rural districts. The session concluded with MIT’s Paul Heyman on “Optical Determination of Stress in Engineering Structures”, and then Charles Mannebeck (U. Louvain): “Return Current along Submarine Cables”.

Evening

In the University’s Convocation Hall, on the Association’s opening Tuesday evening, December 27, the retiring AAAS President Leland Ossian Howard of the United States Department of Agriculture, delivered a double-barreled address, part alluding to History of Science, “On Some Presidential Addresses”, that is by American and British Association Presidents, and part to Economic Entomology, “The War Against the Insects” – i.e. Combatting the Six-Legged Peril.

Links

Science Monthly, AAAS First General Meeting.

https://ia803204.us.archive.org/6/items/jstor-6440/6440.pdf

1921 Toronto AAAS Centennial Blog Posts:

Introducing the 1921-2021 Centennials, January 6, 2021.

https://cstha-ahstc.ca/2021/01/01/1921-2021-centennials-in-the-history-of-canadian-science-and-technology/

Jennie A. Kinnear, October 8, 2021.

https://cstha-ahstc.ca/2021/10/08/jennie-a-kinnear-of-port-colborne/

Happy 131^st Birthday Jenny, December 12, 2021.

https://cstha-ahstc.ca/2021/12/10/happy-131st-birthday-jennie/

Fields and Friends as Architecture, December 17, 2021.

https://cstha-ahstc.ca/2021/12/17/fields-and-friends-as-architecture/