Papers of Mount Wilson Observatory Optical Shop, 1911-1966.

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Papers of Mount Wilson Observatory Optical Shop, 1911-1966.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/706505487

The Mount Wilson Observatory Optical Shop Papers comprise 8 boxes of material relating to the operation of the department from 1911 to 1963. This material is divided into four general categories: research and procedural notes, correspondence, inventories and requisition slips, and job lists and employee time sheets. Various scientific manuals, brochures, and unidentified notes have been gathered into a folder of ephemera. Shop notebooks form the bulk of the research material. These notebooks outline various procedures for grinding and polishing mirrors, drilling glass, and configuring lenses. Several notebooks track the construction of the observatory's 100" Hooker telescope as well as the 200" Hale telescope housed at the California Institute of Technology's Palomar Observatory. Declassified research on aerial photography for the National Defense Research Committee is included in several progress reports. The majority of correspondence is between Optical Shop technicians and astronomers both at Mount Wilson and elsewhere around the country. These letters are generally technical in nature with the various interlocutors trying to solve specific optical problems. Several manufacturing firms solicit the Optical Shop personnel about their products. Walter S. Adams and Don O. Hendrix participate in the bulk of the correspondence. Included is Hendrix's signed "Pledge of Secrecy" and commission from the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Inventory notebooks detail the supplies used in the Optical Shop: everything from towels and paper goods to slabs of optical glass and chemical solvents. Lists of lenses, mirrors, and prisms record material in stock and material lent out to other institutions. Requisition slips and shipping invoices illustrate the broad network of suppliers the shop needed for their highly specialized work. A number of notebooks chart the myriad jobs the Optical Shop performed for both the Mount Wilson Observatory and other institutions. These notebooks assign each job a number, outline the work, and list the employees working on it. Separate employee time charts are also included with address and contact information for each. Notable participants include: Walter S. Adams, who succeeded Hale as director of the observatory, Don O. Hendrix, the Shop's chief optician and Ira Sprague Bowen, Bannevar Bush, Robert E. Hopkins, Brian O'Brien, Frank E. Ross, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Mount Wilson Observatory Optical Shop papers. The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

931 items.

Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens

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SNAC Resource ID: 8034548

Related Entities

There are 13 Entities related to this resource.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.)

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The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a research and development center and NASA field center in Pasadena, California. The JPL is owned by NASA and managed by the nearby California Institute of Technology. The laboratory's primary function is the construction and operation of planetary robotic spacecraft, though it also conducts Earth-orbit and astronomy missions. It is also responsible for operating NASA's Deep Space Network. Among the laboratory's major active projects are the Mars Scien...

Bush, Vannevar, 1890-1974

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cv4jx3 (person)

Physicist, engineer, government official, and science administrator. From the description of Vannevar Bush papers, 1901-1974 (bulk 1932-1955). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70980014 Administrator, engineer. From the description of Reminiscences of Vannevar Bush : oral history, 1967. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122569580 Biographical Note ...

Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories

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Office of Scientific Research and Development.

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Ross, Frank E. (Frank Elmore), 1874-1960

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Mount Wilson Observatory Optical Shop.

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Founded in December 1904 by George Ellery Hale and funded by the Carnegie Institution, the Mount Wilson Observatory quickly became one of the 20th century's major astronomical research centers. Located just north of Los Angeles high atop the San Gabriel Mountains, the observatory took full advantage of Southern California's clear nights and uniquely steady air. The observatory's 60" telescope completed in 1908 was the largest then in existence. In 1917, another Mount Wilson telescope, 100" in di...

Mount Wilson Observatory

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Founded in December 1904 by George Ellery Hale and funded by the Carnegie Institution, the Mount Wilson Observatory quickly became one of the 20th century's major astronomical research centers. Located just north of Los Angeles high atop the San Gabriel Mountains, the observatory took full advantage of Southern California's clear nights and uniquely steady air. The observatory's 60" telescope completed in 1908 was the largest then in existence. In 1917, another Mount Wilson telescope, 100" in di...

Adams, Walter S. (Walter Sydney), 1876-1956

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63n23sm (person)

Adams was the astronomer of stellar spectroscopy at Mount Wilson Observatory, 1904-1923, and Director, 1923-1946. From the description of Correspondence, 1881-1939. (American Philosophical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 86165432 Astronomer. From the description of Papers, 1923-1956. [microform]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79843223 Walter Sydney Adams (1876-1956, APS 1915), astronomer, explored the uses of spectroscopy, investigate...

Bowen, Ira Sprague, 1898-1973

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60g3mww (person)

Ira Sprague Bowen (1898-1973), a physicist by training, was the third Director of the Mount Wilson Observatory from 1946-1964. From the description of Papers of Ira Sprague Bowen, 1940-1973. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 122369281 Astrophysicist. California Institute of Technology. From the description of Papers, 1917-1961. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 77663307 Biography ...

Hopkins, Robert E.

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O'Brien, Brian, 1898-1992

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Carnegie Institution of Washington.

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Hendrix, Don

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b025th (person)