Oral History interview with Martin Harwit, 1983 April 19, June 20, and June 22.

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Oral History interview with Martin Harwit, 1983 April 19, June 20, and June 22.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/154305602

After surveying Martin Harwit's family background and early education, the interview concentrates on: his graduate education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; his career in physics at Cambridge Unviersity as a NATO Fellow; his time at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) as a National Science Foundation Fellow; and, principally, his work at Cornell as assistant and associate professor of astronomoy, professor, and chairman of the Physics department. While discussing his childhood and education, Harwit addresses the antisemitism he and his family faced in German and in the United States. This interview covers a broad range of his scientific interest: galaxy and star formations; comets; infrared optics, especially relating to detector technology; infrared astronomy; rocketry; history of philosophy in science; use of balloons in observation; and astronomy education. Some affliliations discussed include: John Decker, Herbert Friedman, Thomas Gold, and Fred Hoyle.

Transcript: 135 pages (3 sessions).

American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library

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SNAC Resource ID: 6862512

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Decker, John Alvin, 1900-

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DeVorkin, David H., 1944-....

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Friedman, Herbert, 1916-2000

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Herbert Friedman received his Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University in 1940, and began working at the Naval Research Lab a year later. After two years of using X-ray radiation to detect manufacturing flaws, he was appointed head of the Electron Optics (1943-1958) branch of the Rocketry Division. In 1958 Friedman took over the Space Science Division until his retirement. From the description of Oral History interview with Herbert Friedman, 1983 June 7. (Unknown). WorldCat rec...

Gold, Thomas, Sir, -1686

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Hoyle, Fred, 1915-2001

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Infrared Astronomical Satellite

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Harwit, Martin, 1931-

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Astrophysicist. Martin Harwit served as professor of astronomy at Cornell University and as co-director of the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology Program. In 1987 he was appointed director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. He received a Ph.D. in physics in 1960 from M.I.T. and taught at Cornell since 1962. Harwit's research interests have included observational astronomy, theoretical astrophysics, infrared astronomy, galaxy formation, and the history o...

Naval Research Laboratory (U.S.)

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