Archibald S Shanks was born in Gourock, Scotland, in September 1870 . He began his career as an analytical chemist and then gained the appointment as chemist at the Glengarnock Iron and Steel works in Ayrshire, Scotland. Shanks was also a keen naturalist and geologist in his spare time. In 1894 he joined the Andersonian Naturalists Society, and then the Natural History Society of Glasgow in 1904. When Shanks worked in Ayshire he became well aquainted with John Smith, the famous botanist and geologist, and joined the Geological Society of Glasgow in about 1897, and was made an honorary member prior to his death in May 1951 . In 1913 Shanks received the Carnegie Hero Award for saving a woman from drowning in the river Clyde.
From the guide to the Papers of Archibald S Shanks, 1870-1951, chemist and geologist, 1859-1912, (Glasgow University Archives Service)
