McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Herschel Edward Reilley Fonds
Fonds
15 cm of textual records.
Herschel Reilley was born in Ontario, and received his B.A. (1913) and M.A. (1914) from McGill. However, he had already begun teaching at McGill in 1911 as an Assistant Demonstrator in physics; he later became Lecturer (1916), Assistant Professor (1918), Associate Professor (1927) and Professor (1944). Reilley's main research interests were in thermal conductivity and acoustics, and under the aegis of the National Research Council he conducted experiments in fire retardation, as well, he did surveys of urban and industrial noise. He was very active in public affairs, serving on the School Board (1925-1944), as a governor of the Montreal General Hospital and as Chairman of the Noise Abatement League. Reilley passed away in 1945.
Fonds relates almost entirely to Reilley’s career as a university teacher and research scientist. Teaching materials consist of lecture notes and examination questions for his courses on heat, light and sound, as well as materials for a popular course on the general principles of science. Papers illustrating his research interests are grouped around two topics, fire and noise. Tables, notes, photographs, reports and correspondence concern his experiments in using gypsum and gyprock as flame-proof building materials (1930-1932). Notebooks record his survey of noise levels on Bleury and St. Catherine Streets (1930-1938), and notes and correspondence document his research on the acoustics of public buildings (1929-1936). A hospital administration course designed by Gerhart Hertman, but based on Reilley's work, concentrates on the twin problems of insulation and acoustics (1939). There are also files of printed background material on noise pollution.
Material in English.