Alan G. Chynoweth

Biography: Alan G. Chynoweth

As Alan G. Chynoweth was wont to put it, his life was the hybrid product of two ancient traditions, "the Celts involvement with mining, metals and engineering," which came down to him on his father's side, "and the Vikings seafaring adventurousness" which passed through his mother's blood. To hear it told as such, it seems like unencumbered destiny that one day he would make his home in a foreign land working for one of the world's most advanced scientific labs of its day. But as is so often the case, life is full of twists and turns and it is only in retrospect that destiny comes to displace uncertainty and decision.

For Chynoweth, the real story begins in 1927 in southern England, a few miles from the English Channel. Although his mother's intrepidness and his father's bent towards science most certainly influenced the young man's career path, the events of the age too would weigh in on his development. Nowdays we commonly recognize the role war plays in fostering technological development, but what we often don't see is the ways that it can inspire a young generation to dedicate themselves to inventing the future. Chynoweth, however, saw in the war taking place in the skies above him the sublime power of modern machines: "Perhaos the greatest stimulation was World War II. For six years one was exposed to a steady stream of news about developments of military technology." Of course, the kicker was The Bomb, Held technological descrition of war based in the bomb

London u King's colllege

word comes of the transistor

1950 w betty sails for canada national research council, ottowa working on crystal conductivity

gives paper at American Physical Society