Tolansky, S. (Samuel), 1907-1973

Born Samuel Turlausky in 1907, Tolansky was educated at Rutherford College, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1919-1925, and Armstrong College, Durham University, 1925-1928, gaining a Diploma in the Theory and Practice of Teaching at the latter in 1928-1929. From 1929 to 1931, he was a Fellow of King's College, Newcastle upon Tyne, and in 1931 he gained the Earl Grey Fellowship which enabled him to travel to Berlin. In 1932 Tolansky was granted the 1851 Exhibition Senior Studentship at Imperial College, London, and studied with Professor Alfred Fowler for the next two years. He was successively appointed Assistant Lecturer, 1934-1937, Lecturer, 1937-1945, Senior Lecturer, 1945-1946, and Reader, 1946-1947, in Physics at Manchester University, whre he undertook research on nuclear spins and multiple beam inteferometry. In 1948 Tolansky became Professor of Physics at Royal Holloway College, University of London, a post he held until his death in 1973. He won various prizes, including the C.V. Boys Prize for contributions to optics awarded by the London Physical Society in 1948, and was a member of numerous committees and societies, such as the NASA Lunar Project, the Scientific Advisory Committee, the National Gallery, the Royal Scientific Association, the Royal Astronomical Society, the Royal Society, the Royal Scientific Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Royal Microscopical Society.

From the guide to the Tolansky, Samuel, 1926-1973, (Senate House Library, University of London)