Nuclear Physics
Program Records, 1926-1963
(Bulk 1933-1955)
DTM-2004-05
Introduction
Abstract: This
collection contains the records of the Nuclear Physics Program of the
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington,
begun in the 1920s. Noteworthy activities included the construction of Van de
Graaff generators and Cyclotron fixed frequency machines to conduct nuclear
scientific experiments and contracted work up to, during, and after World War
II. The program concluded in the 1970s.
Microfilm Copies: A microfilm copy of two laboratory notebooks filmed by the Smithsonian is in the DTM Microfilm Storage area. The High Voltage books 13 and 24 as well as the original drawing by Odd Dahl (1935) were loaned to the Smithsonian Institution from 1976-1982 for their exhibit: �Atom Smashers: Fifty Years.�
Extent: 9.75 linear
feet; 5 records center cartons, 4
document boxes, 1 flat box, 1 map drawer.
Acquisition: The bulk
of the records were gathered in 1989 and 1994 from the files in the Cyclotron
Building on the Broad Branch Campus of the Carnegie Institution of Washington,
in preparation for the dismantling of the Cyclotron machine in 1994. An
additional group of drawings was located in the Administrative files in 2004
and accessioned into the collection. In 2005, further materials were gathered
from Dr. Brown�s office and the Rock Crushing Room on the Broad Branch Campus,
and were integrated.
Access Restrictions: There
are no access restrictions to this collection.
Copyright: Copyright
is held by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of
Washington. For permission to reproduce or publish please contact the
archivist at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism.
Preferred Citation: Nuclear
Physics Program Records, 1926-1963, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism,
Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.
Processing: This
collection was processed by Ann Mulfort, Library/Archives Intern through the
generous support of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Administrative History
The nuclear physics program of the Department of Terrestrial
Magnetism (DTM) at the Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW) began in the
late 1920s and continued into the mid 1970s. This program was largely driven by
Dr. Merle A. Tuve, who came to DTM in 1925 and became the director of the
department in 1946. The earliest experiments, conducted by Tuve, Gregory Breit,
L. R. Hafstad, and Odd Dahl, were done with the use of Tesla coils, but in the
1930s, the DTM group turned to Van de Graaff generators to provide the higher
voltages necessary for their experiments . Three such accelerators were
constructed in succession. Pioneering studies of proton-proton scattering were
conducted in 1935 using a 2-meter Van de Graaff in the Experiment Building,
leading to an understanding of the strong nuclear force. Investigations of
neutron-proton scattering followed.
The Atomic Physics Observatory was constructed in 1938 to
house one million-volt pressure tank Van de Graaff generators that would
subsequently host an historic event: a demonstration of uranium fission. This
milestone was witnessed on January 28, 1939 by Tuve, Robert C. Meyer, Enrico
Fermi, Richard Roberts, Leon Rosenfeld, Erik Bohr, Niels Bohr, Gregory Breit,
and John Fleming, then DTM�s director, and was reported by Robert Potter in Science
Service, a Scripp�s news service.
In 1940, DTM began construction of a 60� cyclotron, modeled
after the Berkeley cyclotron, to produce isotopes for biomedical research. The
estimated cost of the machine itself, completed by 1944, was $500,000.
During the World War II years, Tuve served on Franklin
Delano Roosevelt�s Uranium Commission, while directing the Proximity Fuze
project from DTM. In the post-war years, research using the Van de Graaffs
resumed under N. P. Heydenburg. Studies of coulomb excitation and the
discovery of deformed nuclei (1952-54) were noteworthy. The installation of a
polarized proton source on the pressure-tank Van de Graaff by Louis Brown in
1962 opened the path to productive experimentation for another decade and a
half. But extending the usefulness of the Atomic Physics Observatory beyond
that would have required expensive modification and instrumentation, and the
decision was made to terminate accelerator work around 1975.
The following is excerpted from Dr. Louis Brown�s chapter on
the cyclotron in the Centennial History of the Carnegie Institution of
Washington, Volume II, The Department of Terrestrial Magnetism.
As the 1950s progressed the value of
the DTM Cyclotron began to diminish. National laboratories began to furnish
isotopes, both stable and radioactive for modest sums, leaving the cyclotron
for those of lifetimes too short to allow shipment�The machine made its last
isotopes in 1957 and was shut down for modifications that were never completed.
Modern spiral-ridge cyclotrons�have made the �classic� cyclotron hopelessly
obsolete. Curiously, the older pressure-tank Van de Graaff continued to be a
useful research instrument until the early 1970s.
DTM�s cyclotron was dismantled in 1994; the cyclotron vault
was completely renovated and currently houses DTM�s ion microprobe laboratory.
Nuclear physics thereby ceased to be a research area of the Department by the
mid 1970s.
Scope and Contents
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in four series.
Series
1. Laboratory Notebooks, n.d., 1926-1963
Series 1,
Subseries 1: Cyclotron Notebooks, 1944-1961
Series 1,
Subseries 2: High Voltage Notebooks, 1926-1927, 1929-1938
Series 1,
Subseries 3: General Notebooks, n.d., 1926-1963
Series
2. Correspondence, n.d., 1931-1959
Series
3. Blueprints and Drawings, n.d., 1931, 1934-1943, 1946, 1948-1949, 1951,
1958, 1961
Series
4. Ephemera, n.d., ca. 1927-1933, 1947-1955
Series 1: Laboratory Notebooks, n.d., 1926-1963
This series contains the experimental laboratory notebooks
of scientists conducting research for the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Many of the notebooks contain documentation of experiments, graphs and loose
notes inserted by the scientists. To facilitate preservation and research, the
loose notes were removed and placed behind the notebooks in the folder. They
are numbered in pencil on the upper right side of image to match the pages from
where they were removed.
Series 1, Subseries 1: Cyclotron Notebooks, 1944-1961
This subseries contains the logs of the cyclotron�s usage,
including the contracting party, the target result, the machine usage time and
remarks. These could have been used for billing purposes. The logbooks are
arranged in numerical and chronological order.
Series 1, Subseries 2: High Voltage Notebooks, 1926-1927,
1929-1938
This subseries contains data on high voltage work. The work
detailed in these notebooks was the first work performed on the high-powered
generators, beginning with the Tesla coils. These notebooks are arranged in
numeric order.
Series 1, Subseries 3: General Notebooks, n.d., 1926-1963
There are many impressive notebooks in this subseries. Some
include the Van Allen work conducted cooperatively with Norman F. Ramsey, who
later received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his work in physics. Also
included is the notebook used by Robert Potter, who was a science journalist,
and conducted research at Carnegie Institution of Washington to inform his
writing. S. J. Buynitzky was a Senior Technician for DTM and his notebook
provides a log of Cyclotron Control Desk activities. A grouping of Buynitzky�s
electrical circuit drawings are found in Series 3. These notebooks are arranged
in alphabetical order by title.
Series 2: Correspondence, n.d., 1931-1959
This series contains correspondence to and from worldwide colleagues, clippings and scientific data that chronicle this program and its personnel. It includes annual supply purchases, Cyclotron specifications and quotation requests, and information from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Throughout these folders, many copies of minor purchase orders were removed from the collection. The second Cyclotron 4 folder includes a seven page �Check list for DTM Cyclotron drawings,� created in 1947, which was used to arrange the drawings found in Series 3. The correspondence in this series is arranged first by the yearly departmental files; then, alphabetically by title of folder.
Series 3: Blueprints and Drawings, n.d., 1931, 1934-1943,
1946, 1948-1949, 1951, 1958, 1961
This series contains over 200 blueprints and drawings related to the construction of the Atomic Physics Observatory and the Cyclotron Building, as well as instrument schematics. They detail the enormity of these projects. A notebook titled "Cyclotron designs and instructions" contains additional cyclotron machine drawings. The cyclotron machine blueprints and drawings were used and housed in the Cyclotron Building while the other drawings were held in the Administrative Building.
A seven page �Check list DTM Cyclotron drawings,� created in 1947, is found in Series 2. The drawings are arranged according to the headings found in this checklist. The checklist uses the "common" name of the drawing which is often different than the formal drawing title. An
annotated copy of the checklist used by the archivist to inventory the drawings is found in the control file. Following the drawings included in the checklist are the Atomic Physics Observatory blueprints, the cyclotron design notebook, the original drawing by Odd Dahl of the proton-proton scattering chamber. The series concludes with other drawings.
Series 4: Ephemera, n.d., ca. 1927-1933, 1947-1955
This series contains a scrapbook presumably created by M.A.
Tuve containing photographs and scientific data relating to the Tesla apparatus
and the Van de Graaff generator. The guest book lists names and institutions of
visitors from around the world. The photographs detail the cyclotron, its
control panel, and the laboratory that housed it.
Folder Listing
|
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Box
|
Folder
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|
Series 1:
Laboratory Notebooks, n.d., 1926-1963
|
|
|
|
Series 1,
Subseries 1: Cyclotron Notebooks, 1944-1961
|
|
|
|
Cyclotron,
1952-1961
|
1
|
1
|
|
Cyclotron
Record, Index, 1944-1953
|
|
2
|
|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 1, 1944-1945
|
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3
|
|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 2, 1945
|
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4
|
|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 3, 1945
|
|
5
|
|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 4, 1945-1946
|
|
6
|
|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 5, 1946
|
|
7
|
|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 6, 1947
|
|
8
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|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 7, 1947-1948
|
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9
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|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 8, 1948
|
|
10
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|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 9, 1948-1949
|
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11
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|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 10, 1949-1950
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12
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|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 11, 1950-1951
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13
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|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 12, 1951
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14
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|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 13, 1951-1952
|
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15
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|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 14, 1952-1953
|
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16
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|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 15, 1953-1954
|
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17
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|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 16, 1955-1956
|
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18
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|
Cyclotron
Record, v. 17, 1957-1961
|
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19
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|
|
|
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|
Series 1,
Subseries 2: High Voltage Notebooks, 1926-1927, 1929-1938
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|
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Tesla Book 1,
1926-1927
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8
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1
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Tesla Book 2,
1927
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2
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|
Tesla Book 3,
1929-1930
|
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3
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|
Tesla Book 4,
1930
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|
4
|
|
Tesla Book 5,
Protons etc., FP-54 � First BK, 1930-1931
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|
5
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|
Tesla Book 6;
High Voltage Laboratory Notes, Calibration of H etc., 1930-1931
|
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6
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|
Tesla Book 7A,
1930-1931
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7
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|
Tesla Book 7B,
Big Tank, 1931-1932
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8
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|
Tesla Book 8
High Voltage, 1932
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9
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BK 9, 1931-1933
|
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10
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BK 10
Miscellaneous experimental data related to high voltage work, 1932-1933
|
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11
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|
BK 11
Electrical Detection of H.V. particles; FP-54 � 2nd Bk; Linear
Amplification Counter LAC #2, 1931-1933
|
|
12
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|
BK 12 High
Voltage (2nd Book), 1933
|
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13
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|
BK 13 Two Meter
Generator Installation, 1933-1934
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2
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1
|
|
BK 13X Blood
Counts, X-ray exposure of personnel, 1930-1933
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8
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14
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|
BK 14 Two Meter
Generator (2nd Book), Con�t from BK 13, 1934
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2
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2
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BK 14-1 One
Meter Generator (Capillary Ion Source Tube Focus), 1933-1935
|
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3
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|
BK 15 Nuclear
Physics Results, 1933-1934
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8
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15
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|
BK 16 Capillary
Ion Source and Focussing, 1934
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2
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4
|
|
BK 17 Wells
Cloud Chamber, 1933-1934
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8
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16
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|
BK 19 Be-no
Negative Protons, Resonance by Protons, 1934-1935
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2
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5
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BK 20
Calibration Data, Con�t from BK 19, 1934-1935
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6
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BK 21 Cloud
Chamber Work, 1935
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7
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|
BK 22, 1935
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8
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17
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|
BK 23 Voltmeter
Porcelains, Herb, etc., 1935-1938
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2
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8
|
|
BK 23 Pressure
Tests, etc./Wave Front Method, 1935-1936
|
|
9
|
|
BK 24 Proton
Scattering, 1934-1935
|
|
10
|
|
BK 25 Proton
Scattering, Con�t., 1936
|
|
11
|
|
BK 27 Neutron
Scattering, etc. [Amaldi], 1936
|
|
12
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|
|
|
|
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Series 1,
Subseries 3: General Notebooks, n.d., 1926-1963
|
|
|
|
1,000,000 Volt
Generator, 1939-1947
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3
|
1
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|
5,000,000 Volt
Generator, 1939-1940
|
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2
|
|
5MV
Generator/4MV Statitron, 1940-1942, 1946
|
|
3
|
|
Alpha Alpha
Scattering, Book I, 1951-1952
|
|
4
|
|
Alpha Alpha
Scattering, Book II, 1952-1953
|
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5
|
|
Alpha
Reactions, Book I [Heydenburg], 1951-1952
|
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6
|
|
Alpha
Reactions, Book I [Trumble], 1953
|
|
7
|
|
Alpha
Reactions, 1953
|
|
8
|
|
Angular
Distribution #1, 1942-1943
|
|
9
|
|
Angular
Distribution #2, 1946-1947
|
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10
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|
Angular
Distribution #3, 1947
|
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11
|
|
[Atomic Physics
Observatory] APO-2, 1939
|
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12
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|
Be7
+ Slow Neutron Scattering, 1938
|
|
13
|
|
Calculated
Nuclear Scattering/Summary and Tables, 1932-1934
|
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14
|
|
Calculations of
Nuclear Scattering, 1931-1933
|
9
|
1
|
|
[Coulomb]
Electric Excitation of Nuclei, I, 1953
|
3
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15
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|
Coulomb
Excitation, II, 1953-1954
|
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16
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|
Coulomb
Excitation, III, 1954
|
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17
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|
Coulomb
Excitation, VI, 1955
|
|
18
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|
Coulomb
Excitation, VII, 1955
|
|
19
|
|
Coulomb
Excitation, VIII, 1955-1956
|
|
20
|
|
FP-54 Counts �
Sources � Foils, 1934
|
|
21
|
|
FP-54 Hopkins
DTM, 1927, 1931
|
|
22
|
|
Geiger-M�ller
Tube-Counters 1930-1932
|
|
23
|
|
Geiger-M�ller Z�hlrohr Book I, 1926, 1929-1930
|
9
|
2
|
|
Lab Orders,
1929-1934
|
|
3
|
|
[Linear
Amplifier Counter] LAC-I 1932-1934
|
4
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1
|
|
Neutron
Scattering, 1937
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9
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4
|
|
NP Scattering
and n-c Scattering, 1947
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4
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2
|
|
Proton-Helium
Scattering, 1940
|
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3
|
|
Proton-Proton
Scattering, 1938-1940
|
|
4
|
|
Proton-Proton
Scattering, I [Heydenburg], 1948-1949
|
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5
|
|
Proton-Proton
Scattering, 2 [Heydenburg], 1949-1950
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4
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6
|
|
Proton
Scattering, 1937
|
|
7
|
|
Proton
Scattering, 1937-1938
|
|
8
|
|
Proton
Scattering, 1938
|
|
9
|
|
Proton
Scattering, #3, 1951-1953
|
|
10
|
|
Proton
Scattering Groups, n.d.
|
|
11
|
|
Proton
Scattering in H2, He + Argon, #2, 1950-1951
|
|
12
|
|
Red Shift
Experiments, 1950-1951, 1963
|
|
13
|
|
Robert Potter
1939-1940
|
|
14
|
|
S. J.
Buynitzky, 1941-1948
|
|
15
|
|
Salant-Ramsey
1939
|
|
16
|
|
Seidenspinner;
Ionization Chamber, 1931-1933
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9
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5
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|
Van Allen, 1940
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4
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17
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|
Van
Allen-Ramsey, 1939-1940
|
|
18
|
|
Voltage
Stabilizer 1937-1938
|
|
19
|
|
Wang C+D
Neutron Scattering, etc, 1938-1939
|
|
20
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Box
|
Folder
|
|
Series 2:
Correspondence, n.d., 1931-1959
|
|
|
|
1946
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5
|
1
|
|
1947
|
|
2
|
|
1948
|
|
3
|
|
1949
|
|
4
|
|
1950
|
|
5
|
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1951
|
|
6
|
|
1952
|
|
7
|
|
1953
|
|
8
|
|
1954
|
|
9
|
|
1955
|
|
10
|
|
1956
|
|
11
|
|
1957
|
|
12
|
|
1958
|
|
13
|
|
1959
|
|
14
|
|
American
Rolling Mill Co., 1939-1940
|
|
15
|
|
Amplifier I
& II, 1931-1939
|
|
16
|
|
Cascade
Branching Revised [Temmer?], 1955-1956, n.d.
|
9
|
6
|
|
Coulomb
Excitation of enriched Xe samples, 1957
|
|
7
|
|
[Coulomb
Excitation studies], 1957, n.d.
|
10
|
1
|
|
Coulomb
Excitation Theory Calculations [Temmer?], 1954, n.d.
|
|
2
|
|
Cyclotron 1,
1939
|
5
|
17
|
|
Cyclotron 2,
1939
|
6
|
1
|
|
Cyclotron 3,
1939-1940
|
|
2
|
|
Cyclotron 4, (1
of 2), 1940-1941
|
|
3
|
|
Cyclotron 4, (2
of 2), 1942-1953
|
|
4
|
|
Cyclotron:
Signal Engineering Relays, 1938-1939
|
|
5
|
|
Expired Isotope
Loans, 1954-1955
|
6
|
6
|
|
Fe 57
[Heydenburg correspondence], 1956
|
10
|
3
|
|
Inelastic
Proton Scattering, June July, 1951, n.d.
|
|
4
|
|
Isotopes on
Order, 1954-1955
|
6
|
7
|
|
Latest Edition,
1938-1939
|
|
8
|
|
Letter Copies
[Heydenburg], 1936-1943, 1948
|
|
9
|
|
Log Plots of
Gamma Ray Distributions, 1954, 1956, n.d.
|
10
|
5
|
|
Miscellaneous �
[Drawings, Calculations], Blueprints & etc., 1935, 1939, n.d.
|
|
6
|
|
Na22
levels, 1958, n.d.
|
|
7
|
|
Report of
radiation cataract survey; Preliminary draft, n.d.
|
|
8
|
|
Revised B &
B values (calculations), ca. 1954, n.d.
|
|
9
|
|
Scattering
experimentsw, 1935-1936, 1938, n.d.
|
|
10
|
|
Specifications
for Cyclotron Laboratory, 1939
|
7
|
1
|
|
Ta & W data
and analysis, 1955-1956, n.d.
|
10
|
11
|
|
[Tuve�s
publications], 1936-1938
|
|
12
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Box
|
Folder
|
|
Series 3:
Blueprints and Drawings, n.d., 1931, 1934-1943, 1946, 1948-1949, 1951, 1958,
1961
|
|
|
|
Cyclotron
Drawings, (1 of 3), C14B-C70, n.d., 1939-1943
|
Map Drawer 7
|
1
|
|
Cyclotron
Drawings, (2 of 3), C71-C118, n.d., 1939-1943
|
|
2
|
|
Cyclotron
Drawings, (3 of 3), C119-C171, n.d., 1939-1943
|
|
3
|
|
S.J.B. Drawing
Index for Electrical Circuits, n.d., 1942-1943, 1948-1949, 1951, 1961
|
|
4
|
|
Archives
Drawings, 1939
|
|
5
|
|
Architects
Drawings, 1939
|
|
6
|
|
Architects
Drawings Revised, 1939
|
|
7
|
|
Electrical
Layout, 1939
|
|
8
|
|
Plumbing and
Heating, 1939
|
|
9
|
|
Not Classified,
1939-1940
|
|
10
|
|
General
Electric Co. Drawings, 1939-1940
|
|
11
|
|
American
Rolling Mill Co. Drawings, 1939
|
|
12
|
|
Westinghouse Electric
and Mfg. Company Drawings, 1941
|
|
13
|
|
A.F. Jorss Iron
Works, Inc., 1942
|
|
14
|
|
Drawings in
Book II, 1940
|
|
15
|
|
Atomic Physics
Observatory: Building Plans, 1936-1938, n.d.
|
|
16
|
|
Atomic Physics
Observatory: Plans for Equipment, 1935-1938, n.d.
|
|
17
|
|
Atomic Physics
Visual Aids, n.d.
|
|
18
|
|
Cyclotron
Designs & Instructions Notebook, n.d.
|
7
|
2
|
|
Original
Drawing of Proton-Proton Scattering Chamber [Dahl], 1935
|
Map Drawer 7
|
19
|
|
Other Drawings,
n.d., 1931, 1934, 1936, 1938-1941, 1946, 1948, 1958
|
|
20
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Series 4: Ephemera, n.d., ca. 1927-1933, 1947-1955
|
|
|
|
Photographs of
cyclotron and laboratory, n.d.
|
6
|
10
|
|
Guest book,
n.d., 1947-1955
|
7
|
|
|
Scrapbook, ca.
1927-1933
|
7
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subject Terms
Topics: Coulomb
excitation
Cyclotrons
Nuclear physics
Protons�Scattering
Tesla coils
Van de Graaff
generator
Corporate
Names: Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Dept. of Terrestrial Magnetism.
Personal Names: Heydenburg,
Norman Paulson, 1908-
Tuve, Merle
Antony, 1901-1982.
Forms: Albums
Blueprints
Correspondence
Laboratory
Notebooks
Photographs
Plans (drawings)
Bibliography
Brown, L., Centennial History
of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Volume II, The Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism. Cambridge University
Press. In press, 2004
Cornell, T. D., Merle Antony Tuve: Pioneer Nuclear
Physicist, Physics Today 41 (no. 1),
1-8, 1988.
Related Collections
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism General Files,
1904-Present. Department of Terrestrial
Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington. See the following folder titles
in this collection:
Nuclear
Proximity
Fuze
Archives for
these folder titles:
