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Lee A. DuBridge papers, 1932-1986

Title: Lee A. DuBridge papers, 1932-1986

The Papers of Lee A. DuBridge span the years 1932 to 1986 and containcorrespondence, documents, reports, speeches, and memorabilia which reflect his tenure as chairman ofthe department of physics, University of Rochester; head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology'sRadiation Laboratory; president of the California Institute of Technology; and his active participation inscores of professional, governmental and civic organizations.

ArchivalResource: 102 linear feet

http://www.oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt8w1014rz View

Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008. Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1967 April 5.

Title: Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1967 April 5.

Early interest in science; training in physics and graduate work at Johns Hopkins University, courses, books, seminars, informal atmosphere, 1927-1933; summer work in spectroscopy laboratory at National Bureau of Standards, 1929; interest in elementary particles, attractions of nuclear physics, 1933; postdoctoral work with Gregory Breit on pair theory, New York University, 1933-1934; potential well model and its application to experimental results, 1933-1935; studies at Niels Bohr's Institute, Copenhagen 1934-1935; discussions in Copenhagen on electrodynamics; role of experimental results in formulation of Bohr's concept of compound nucleus, 1935; reasons for initial skeptical reaction to compound nucleus model; significance of Bethe-Bacher-Livingston review articles in Reviews of Modern Physics, 1936-1937; development of compound nucleus ideas after 1935; use of compound nucleus and Breit-Wigner formula as guide for experiment; development of collective model; reaction to Hideki Yukawa's 1935 meson theory and subsequent new cosmic ray particles, late 1930s; establishment of cosmic ray laboratory at Princeton University 1945; work considered personally satisfying; scattering matrix and other work at University of North Carolina, 1935-1938; close relationship of physics and mathematics departments at Princeton, 1938- ; collaboration with Bohr on theory of fission, Princeton 1939; relation of fission physics to other. Aspects of nuclear physics; plans of physicists for postwar work. Also prominently mentioned are: Joseph Sweetman Ames, Robert Fox Bacher, Hans Albrecht Bethe, Max Delbrück, Paul Ehrenfest, Gray, Werner Heisenberg, Karl Ferdinand Herzfeld, Hendrik Anthony Kramers, Maria Göeppert Mayer, Mernihan, Plesset, Tarrant, J. Arthur Thompson, John Toll, Merle Antony Tuve, John Hasbrouck Van Vleck, Eugene Paul Wigner, E.J. Williams, Hideki Yukawa; Carnegie Institution of Washington. Dept. of Terrestrial Magnetism, and Institute for Theoretical Physics (Copenhagen).

ArchivalResource: Transcript, 40 p.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/79151795 View

Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008. Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1988 May 4 to November 28.

Title: Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1988 May 4 to November 28.

First part of interview focusses on Wheeler's work and relationship with Niels Bohr at the Copenhagen Institute in the 1930s; discovery of the meson, Delbrück effect, and resonance capture of neutrons; how the Institute worked; character of James Franck; Margrethe Bohr; origins of the compound nucleus model; Wheeler's first encounter with Bohr; pair theory; gravitational theory; Wheeler's philosophy of physics; Bohr's philosophy, the "open world." Second session deals mainly with science policy and science advising in the United States and Europe after World War II. Vice-president of International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), 1951-1954; chairman of U.S. NATO subcommittee (Henry Jackson); work for establishment of the NATO Science Council; U.S. delegate to the NATO Parliamentarians, Paris 1957. Discussion of his concern about scientific manpower; postwar Europe (Holland, France) leads to awareness of need for a national defense research laboratory in U.S. (discussed here at great length using correspondence, reports and memos); "Project 137" summer study (Los Alamos) (Marvin Goldberger, Kenneth Watson, Keith Brueckner); JASON. Discussions of pre-World War II Europe, war work at Metallurgical Laboratory, University of Chicago with Eugene Wigner (DuPont); scientific work on acceleration of cosmic rays (Enrico Fermi; elementary particle physics) leads to Directorship of Cosmic Ray Laboratory at Princeton. University; work on general relativity; the Crunch, Geometrodynamics; the hydrogen bomb project; the J. Robert Oppenheimer affair. Much of the discussion is based on correspondence. The origins of JASON are discussed in session three; "Project 137;" importance and place of defense work in science; contacts between JASON members and policy-makers; impact of JASON on physics and national security policy; criticism during Vietnam War; Wheeler's affiliation with the Batelle Memorial Institute; establishment of the Joint Committee on the History of Theoretical Physics in the 20th Century (Thomas Kuhn). Also mentioned at length are: Hermann Bondi, Gregory Breit, Nicholas Christofilos, P.A.M. Dirac, Freeman Dyson, Otto Frisch, James Killian, Hilde Levi, Kenneth Mansfield, Oscar Morgenstern, Philip Morris, Donald Price, Ernest Rutherford, Marvin Stern, Edward Teller, Charles H. Townes, Oswald Veblen, and Herbert York.

ArchivalResource: Preliminary transcript.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/81714457 View

Records, 1898-1977.

Title: Records, 1898-1977.

Correspondence, reports, proposals, field notes, leases, memos, personnel records, requests for information and other records of the Carnegie Institution of Washington relating to funding for genetics research and administration of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Included are records of the Bursar's Office, the library, the Eugenics Record Office, the Genetics Research Unit, conferences, and correspondence of several hundred scientists who worked at the Lab, including Charles B. Davenport, Reginald G. Harris, Max Delbruck, Milislav Demerec, Albert F. Blakeslee, Eric Ponder, Hugo Fricke, Morris Steggerda, G.L. Streeter, W.M. Gilbert, and Paul A. Scherer.

ArchivalResource: 18 cubic ft.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/155559835 View

Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers, 1910-1994 (bulk 1922-1991)

Title: Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers 1910-1994 (bulk 1922-1991)

Linus Pauling (1901-1994), a 1923 OSU graduate and the only recipient of two unshared Nobel Prizes, (Chemistry, 1954; Peace, 1962) undertook a wide range of studies during his seventy-year career as a scientist, humanitarian and peace activist. The collection, comprised of over five hundred thousand items, contains all of Pauling's personal and scientific papers, research materials, correspondence, photographs, awards, and memorabilia. Not only does the Pauling archive reflect Linus Pauling's long and varied scientific career, the presence of Ava Helen Pauling's (1903-1981) papers also indicates their mutual devotion to world peace and to each other.

ArchivalResource: 4437 linear feet; 1800 boxes

http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv42415 View

Dodd, Martha. Papers, 1898-1990 (bulk 1950-1990).

Title: Papers, 1898-1990 (bulk 1950-1990).

Correspondence, writings, research materials, memoirs, genealogical materials, newspaper clippings, and other papers, relating to Dodd's experiences (1933-1937) in Berlin with her father, William Edward Dodd, American ambassador to Germany; her exile (1957-1990) with her husband, Alfred Stern, in Cuba and Czechoslovakia following their indictment for participation in Soviet espionage; and her writings on topics including the civil rights movement in the U.S., the Cold War, the Cuban revolution, and the conflict in Vietnam. Writings consist chiefly of newspaper and magazine articles written in Chinese, Czech, German, Russian, and Spanish; drafts of her books, including Through embassy eyes (1939) and Ambassador Dodd's diary (1941); and drafts of screenplays by Dodd, Ring Lardner, and others. Also includes Stern's papers relating chiefly to the Institute for Psychoanalysis, Chicago, Ill., his work as chairman of the Illinois State Housing Board, and his study of public housing in Cuba and Eastern Europe; love letters (1933-1938) in German to Dodd from Boris Winogradov, an official at the Soviet embassy in Berlin; letters (1934-1936) from Mildred Harnack-Fish, an American executed in 1943 with her German husband for treason against Germany; and Dodd's eyewitness account of Soviet forces in Prague (1968). Correspondents include Max Delbrück, W.E.B. Du Bois, Lion Feuchtwanger, Donald Klopfer, Corliss Lamont, Albert Maltz, Dexter Masters, H.L. Mencken, Arthur Miller, Otto Preminger, Letitia Ratner, George B. Roberts, Paul and Eslanda Goode Robeson, William L. Shirer, Carleton Smith, Gale Sondergaard, José Venturelli, and Thomas Wolfe.

ArchivalResource: 7.2 linear ft.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31816489 View

Anderson, Th. F. (Thomas Foxen), 1911-1991. Papers, 1928-1989.

Title: Papers, 1928-1989.

Series I (7.5 linear ft.) contains the incoming and outgoing manuscript and typescript letters, carbons, telegrams, and postcards generated during Anderson's career. The bulk of this series covers the 1950s to the 1960s. Correspondents include biophysicists, biochemists, geneticists, students, and publishers. Among the topics covered in this series are: biological electron microscopy; research on bacterial viruses; conferences; the publishing of journal articles; and participation in professional societies. There is correspondence about Anderson's affiliations with the Biophysical Society, Electron Microscope Society of America, International Committee on Nomenclature of Viruses, International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics, and the Philadelphia Electron Microscope Society. There is also correspondence concerning his work at The Institute for Cancer Research, the Institute for Medical Research, RCA Laboratories, and the University of Pennsylvania. Correspondents in Series I include E.S. Anderson, Arthur S. Brill, Dennis T. Brown, Britton Chance, Francis Crick, Max Delbruck, M. Demerec, Helen Gay, Ian Read Gibbons, Cecil E. Hall, William Hayes, Michael Heidelberger, Alfred D. Hershey, Vance Israel, Francois Jacob, Eduard Kellenberger, Andrzej W. Kozinski, Raymond Latarjet, Joshua Lederberg, Marilyn R. Loeb, Salvador E. Luria, Andre Lwoff, C.W. Metz, Beatrice Mintz, Jacques Monod, Stuart Mudd, Jonathan T. Ou, Linus Pauling, A. Glenn Richards, Jr., Lee D. Simon, Joseph E. Smadel, Tracy M. Sonneborn, W.M. Stanley, Donald H. Walker, Jr., Elie Wollman, Peter Wulff, Ralph W.G. Wyckoff, and Don M. Yost. Series II (3.75 linear ft.) contains Anderson's bibliography and curriculum vitae; some biographical material about Anderson; newspaper clippings; material about conferences; calendars/daybooks for almost every year from 1941 to 1989 that contain Anderson's brief notes; letters written by colleagues and publishers asking for Anderson's permission to publish electron micrographs taken by him; a guest register used in 1942 and in 1949 at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts; and meeting minutes, agenda, and reports for the Biophysical Society. Series III (1.75 linear ft.) contains applications, reports, correspondence, and expenditure statements for various agencies that granted Anderson research money for his laboratories at the University of Pennsylvania's Johnson Foundation and at The Institute for Cancer Research. The United States Office of Naval Research accounts for a large portion of the material. Other granting agencies include the National Cancer Institute, the National Science Foundation, and the United States Atomic Energy Commission. There are two folders of material about the National Research Council's RCA Fellowship that Anderson received in 1940. Also in this series are reviews of other people's grant applications that Anderson wrote for various agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the United States Atomic Energy Commission. Series IV (6.5 linear ft.) contains Anderson's typewritten and handwritten outlines, preparatory notes, research, graphs and figures, drafts, and some galley proofs for articles. There are some notes for lectures, as well as several reviews of books. Some of the works are co-authored with colleagues and students. This series includes several early papers from the 1930s; the earliest is an article in German, "Ein Neues Drehprismenverfahren zur Photographischen Ermittlung der Dispersion. II. Mitteilung uber Refraktion und Dispersion von Kristallen," from 1935. There are also several historical treatments of electron microscopy, including "The First Years of the Electron Microscope in the United States, 1940-52," "Reflections on Phage Genetics," and Anderson's biographical memoir of Jack Schultz ("Jack Schultz, May 7, 1904 - April 29, 1971"). Series V (1.5 linear ft.) contains articles, notes, reports, and abstracts written by colleagues and students of Anderson. Some authors are represented by two or more manuscripts, including Helen Gay, Hartmut Hoffmann-Berling, Francois Jacob, Andrzej W. Kozinski, Bruce R. Levin, Peter C. Nowell, Jonathan T. Ou, Lee D. Simon, Donald H. Walker, Jr., and Nobuto Yamamoto. Most of the works are scientific in nature, although there are two historical articles by Lily E. Kay. Series VI (2.75 linear ft.) contains loose notes and notebooks that include notes from experiments (e.g., "Growth Requirements of T2, T4A, T6"); notes taken by Anderson at Cold Spring Harbor and at other symposia; and course notes from Anderson's days at California Institute of Technology (e.g., "Atomic Physics"). Series VII (19 linear ft.) contains prints and negatives of electron micrographs that Anderson took of viruses and drosophila, among other specimens. Some of the micrographs were used for articles, while others are unpublished. The prints are of varying sizes, including many that are oversized. There are a large number of unidentified micrographs. There are also a few photographs of Anderson and his colleagues.

ArchivalResource: 43 linear ft.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/122347545 View

Cohen, Seymour S. (Seymour Stanley), 1917-. Papers, 1938-1990.

Title: Papers, 1938-1990.

Series I (11.5 linear ft.) contains correspondence with biochemists, chemists, geneticists, students, and publishers. The bulk of this series covers the 1960s to the 1970s. Among the topics covered in this series are: research on polyamines and nucleic acids; conferences; the publishing of journal articles; and participation in professional societies. There is correspondence concerning Cohen's affiliations with the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Cancer Society, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the National Academy of Sciences, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Upjohn Company. Also in this series is correspondence about Cohen's grants from the Commonwealth Fund and the National Institutes of Health. Correspondents include Thomas F. Anderson, Uriel Bachrach, Otto K. Behrens, Mirko Beljanski, Aaron Bendich, Seymour Benzer, Paul Berg, Ernest Borek, Jean Brachet, Samuel C. Bukantz, Erwin Chargaff, Bernard D. Davis, Max Delbruck, Jack J. Fox, Joseph S. Fruton, David Goldfarb, Alfred D. Hershey, Bernard L. Horecker, Elvin A. Kabat, Dusan Kanazir, Yvonne Khouvine, Arthur Kornberg, Max A. Lauffer, Joshua Lederberg, Marilyn R. Loeb, Jean Lucas-Lenard, Salvador E. Luria, Anna B. Macura, Jacques Monod, Linus Pauling, Frank M. Schabel, Jr., Tracy M. Sonneborn, Soloomon Spiegelman, Wendell M. Stanley, Lawrence L. Weed, Jean Weigle, and Gerard R. Wyatt. Series II (.75 linear ft.) contains clippings, announcements and programs for lectures, some syllabi for courses, grant applications to the National Institutes of Health, meeting minutes for the American Cancer Society, research reports to the Commonwealth Fund, and a small amount of information about Scientists and Engineers for Johnson. Also in this series is Cohen's bibliography and some biographical material on Cohen, including descriptions of his research projects. Series III (.5 linear ft.) contains abstracts, typescripts, and some lectures. Some of the works were done with students (e.g., Hazel Barner Leung) and colleagues (e.g., Thomas F. Anderson). Included among the works is a lecture on Erwin Chargaff's work that Cohen gave when Chargaff was presented with the Carl Neuberg Medal in 1958. Also in this series is a manuscript of comments that Cohen wrote about his published papers while looking over the laboratory notebooks that are now contained in Series IV and V. Series IV (7.0 linear ft.) contains laboratory notebooks, laboratory notes, and some manuscripts. Most of the works were done by students and laboratory assistants in the 1960s. The laboratory notebooks contain graphs, charts, photographs, and some test tubes. Subjects include polyamines, TYMV, bleomycin, ara-A, and adenine. Series V (5.5 linear ft.) contains laboratory notes, graphs, charts, photographs, and a few test tubes. Many of the experiments are from the 1940s and 1950s. The earliest material is "Thromboplastin (Towards Dissertation)" dated 1938-1941. Subjects for the experiments include phosphogluconate, chloroplasts, protoplasts, ara, TAU, RNA polymerase, and polyamines. Series VI (.25 linear ft.) contains photographs of Cohen in his laboratory, at conferences, at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and with Alfred D. Hershey. Also included are photographs of Cohen's students and photographs of experiment results (e.g., of chloroplasts).

ArchivalResource: 25.5 linear ft.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/122523752 View

Lewontin, Richard C., 1929-. Papers, ca. 1963-1980.

Title: Papers, ca. 1963-1980.

This represents a portion of Lewontin's correspondence files (mainly A-L), and included are copies of papers, all of which will be added to in the future. The topics discussed in the letters are numerous, including much on contemporary scientific controversies such as race, Darwin, evolution, intelligence, and biological determinism.

ArchivalResource: ca. 2000 items (4 linear ft.).

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/122578683 View

Olby, Robert C. (Robert Cecil), 1933- . Papers, 1951-1963.

Title: Papers, 1951-1963.

This collection consists of copies of correspondence, documents, etc., collected by Olby for his book, "The Path of the Double Helix" (1974). Included is a copy of a manuscript by Crick and Watson, "The Complementary Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid," prepared while Watson was at the California Institute of Technology.

ArchivalResource: ca. 150 items.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/122589236 View

Luria, S. E. (Salvador Edward), 1912-1991. Papers, 1931-1992.

Title: Papers, 1931-1992.

Series I (15.5 linear ft.) contains correspondence with molecular biologists, geneticists, biochemists, chemists, students, politicians, and some publishers. The bulk of this series covers the 1960s to the 1980s. The major correspondents include Edward A. Adelberg, Thomas F. Anderson, David Baltimore, Ernest Borek, Moam Chomsky, Arthur Chovnick, Royston C. Clowes, Seymour S. Cohen, Melvin Cohn, Francis Crick, Bernard D. Davis, Max Delbruck, Theodosius Dobzhansky, August H. Doermann, Stephen J. Gould, Irwin C. Gunsalus, Harlyn O. Halvorson, Alfred D. Hershey, Francois Jacob, Joshua Lederberg, Andre Lwoff, Barbara McClintock, Boris Magasanik, Matthew S. Meselson, Jacques Monod, Aaron Novick, Linus Pauling, George Streisinger, James D. Watson, Jean Weigle, and Elie Wiesel. There is a substantial amount of correspondence concerning Luria's affiliation with the American Society for Microbiology, the Fondation Royaumont, the International Cell Research Organization, and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Series IIa (3.75 linear ft.) contains reports and meeting minutes (for the American Society for Microbiology and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies); newspaper and magazine clippings; and petitions. Subjects include the Nobel Prize, the Boston Area Faculty Group on Public Issues (BAFGOPI), Central America, Vietnam, civil defense, nuclear power, nuclear arms, and the National Institutes of Health's blacklisting of Luria. Series IIb (.75 linear ft.) contains various items of a personal nature, including condolence letters sent to his wife after Luria's death; letters in Italian from his brother and father in Italy; poems that Luria wrote; financial materials; Luria's naturalization certificate; and World War II letters in Italian from a girlfriend in Italy before he met his wife. Series III (2.75 linear ft.) contains Luria's outlines, research, and drafts for articles, books, and lectures. Also included are published letters to the editors of The Boston Globe and The New York Times. Series IV (11 linear ft.) contains articles, notes, reports, and papers written by colleagues and students of Luria. This series is arranged alphabetically by author and then by title. Included is a copy of James D. Watson's PhD thesis (Luria was one of Watson's advisors) and a copy of a paper that Francis H.C. Crick wrote for the RNA Tie Club. Series V (4.5 linear ft.) contains loose notes and notebooks that are arranged by folder title and include the subjects of bacteria, colicins, microdermatology, phage, salmonella, shigella coli, and viruses. Series VI (4.5 linear ft.) contains lecture notes, exam and quiz questions, problem sets, lists of students registered for the courses, grade books, handouts, instructions for experiments, and reading lists. Course subjects include bacterial viruses, biochemistry, biophysics, freshman seminar, general biology, general microbiology, and microbial physiology. Series VII (5.25 linear ft.) contains prints and negatives. Some of the prints are illustrations from articles and others are prints of Luria himself. Also included in this series are four boxes of lantern slides and one box of 2x2 inch slides, which seem to be visual aids for lectures and illustrations for articles.

ArchivalResource: 47 linear ft.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/122347539 View

Martha Dodd Papers, 1898-1990, (bulk 1950-1990)

Title: Martha Dodd Papers 1898-1990 (bulk 1950-1990)

Author and political exile. Correspondence, writings, research materials, memoirs, genealogical material, newspaper clippings, and other papers relating to Dodd's experiences (1933-1937) in Berlin with her father, William Edward Dodd, American ambassador to Germany; her exile (1957-1990) with her husband, Alfred Kaufman Stern, in Cuba and Czechoslovakia following indictment for participation in Soviet espionage; and her writings on topics including the civil rights movement in the United States, the Cold War, the Cuban revolution, and the conflict in Vietnam.

ArchivalResource: 4,900 items; 14 containers plus 2 oversize; 7.2 linear feet

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms997005 View

Weizsäcker, Carl Friedrich, Freiherr von, 1912-2007. Oral history interview with Carl Friedrich Weizsacker, 1986 January 28.

Title: Oral history interview with Carl Friedrich Weizsacker, 1986 January 28.

The new physics institute, the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Physik (of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft), established in 1935 partly with Rockefeller Foundation money. Weizsäcker joins in 1936; Peter Debye as first director; comparison to other physics institutes (Niels Bohr Institute). Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft's place in German science in comparison with the Universities; interdisciplinary contacts; good German science (i.e., Werner Siemens) important for industry. Foreign support of German science in the 1930s, and the isolation of German science later on. Views on National Socialism in the 1930s; dealings with industrial crisis and unemployment. The Wehrmacht's takeover of Fritz Haber's Institut, and the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellshaft's reaction (Otto Hahn's letter to Max Planck, 1933). Germany's place in international physics prior to the late 1930s. Views on uranium research, and Hahn's speech on fission at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut in 1939. The Heeres-Waffenamts (Weapons Ordnance Department) takeover of the Institut, and subsequent departure of Debye for the United States (Ernst Telschow); the "Uranium Society." The atomic bomb, the building, the builders of it, and the ethics of the atomic bomb (the building of it, the builders, and the ethics involved are discussed at length. Weizsäcker's presidency of the Max Planck Institut für Physik; comments on teaching and other responsibilities of a university. Professor; comments on scientific revolutions and normal science. Discussion of philosophy of science, on becoming and on being a scientist; physics as the fundamental science. Also prominently mentioned are: Ludwig Biermann, Niels Bohr, Bosch, Adolf Butenandt, Max Delbrück, Diebner, Albert Einstein, James Franck, Samuel Goudsmit, Fritz Haber, Otto Hahn, Werner Heisenberg, Adolf Hitler, Max von Laue, Philipp Lenard, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Georg Picht, Max Planck, Schumann, Werner Siemens, Leo Szilard, Edward Teller, and Vögler.

ArchivalResource: Transcript, 60 p.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/84491588 View

Stern, Curt, 1902-1981. Papers, [ca. 1920]-1980.

Title: Papers, [ca. 1920]-1980.

The collection includes extensive correspondence, lectures, autobiographical material, articles and papers, zoological course notes, and photographs. Stern's various areas of scientific interest are documented in the collection, including chromosome theory of heredity, role of gene mutation and chromosome rearrangements in evolution, action and interaction of genes during individual development, and particularly his contribution to the development of human genetics as a discipline.

ArchivalResource: 18,000 items (21 linear ft.).

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/122584163 View

Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002. My life as a physicist, ca. 1971.

Title: My life as a physicist, ca. 1971.

Describes choices made in his education; attends University of Göttingen to study quantum mechanics and how working with Paul Ehrenfest shaped his attitudes towards physics. Recounts working with Eugene Wigner and publishing first paper together; anecdotes about Werner Heisenberg whom he worked with as a post-doc. Attempts at first employment during the 1930s in Europe, becoming an assistant to Erwin Schrödinger, then working in Russia. Receipt of Rockefeller fellowship permits study with Niels Bohr in Copenhagen and Paul Dirac in Cambridge; describes encounters with Max Delbrück and Rudolf Peierls, and assistantship with Wolfgang Pauli. Bohr helps him get a position in Rochester, New York during World War II. In 1943 asked by Robert Oppenheimer to join the work at Los Alamos. He discusses the ethical problems of working on the atomic bomb; why he went; his attitude before and after towards physics in general, and towards its application to weapons in particular. Recounts anecdotes about the testing of atomic weapons, and his return to research. Talks about shifts in research interests from electrodynamics to nuclear physics to high-energy physics; recounts becoming Director of CERN.

ArchivalResource: 26 pp.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/83299863 View

Peierls, Rudolf E. (Rudolf Ernst), 1907-1995. Oral history interview with Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls, 1963 June 17 and 18.

Title: Oral history interview with Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls, 1963 June 17 and 18.

This interview was conducted as part of the Archives for the History of Quantum Physics project, which includes tapes and transcripts of oral history interviews conducted with ca. 100 atomic and quantum physicists. Subjects discuss their family backgrounds, how they became interested in physics, their educations, people who influenced them, their careers including social influences on the conditions of research, and the state of atomic, nuclear, and quantum physics during the period in which they worked. Discussions of scientific matters relate to work that was done between approximately 1900 and 1930, with an emphasis on the discovery and interpretations of quantum mechanics in the 1920s. Also prominently mentioned are: Niels Henrik David Bohr, Bragg, Louis de Broglie, Constantin Carathéodory, Frank Clive Champion, Peter Josef William Debye, Max Delbrück, Enrico Fermi, Otto Halpern, Werner Heisenberg, Friedrich Hund, Lev Davidovich Landau, Ettore Majorana, Walther Nernst, Heinrich Ott, Wolfgang Pauli, Max Planck, Robert Wichard Pohl, Arnold Sommerfeld, Albrecht Unsöld, Hermann Weyl, Wilhelm Wien; Universität Berlin, Universität Leipzig, Universität München, University of Cambridge, and Zeitschrift für Physik.

ArchivalResource: Transcript, 51 pp.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/78076061 View