Victor Wouk Papers

The correspondence of Wouk comprises at least one-third of his papers and provides a good window on the life of a research scientist, engineer and entrepreneur, as well as his extraordinarily diverse activities and passions. Although the bulk of these letters, faxes, telegrams and emails is housed in the first section, much correspondence is scattered throughout the entire collection and researchers should peruse the entire finding aid in order to locate all relevant items. The first sub-section of Series I contains only outgoing letters from 1971 to 1989, but since they are arranged chronologically they reveal salient slices of Wouk's life, and particularly the extent to which his daily activities—even during the years in which he was consumed by Petro-Electric Motors—ranged. Most of the mail is directed to engineering firms, automotive manufacturers, electronics companies, government bodies and business associates; but many letters involve Wouk's interests in general science and culture. If researchers find noteworthy letters in the first subsection, then they might wish to consult the second sub-section of the first series which is arranged alphabetically. Here they will find both incoming and outgoing correspondence bundled together with other documents such as photos, memos to file and transcriptions of telephone conversations. Represented within this sub-section is a host of electronics and electric vehicle companies, and numerous corporate bodies such as Israel's Scientific Research Foundation. In addition, extensive correspondence with individuals—Isaac Asimoz and Jim Lehrer, for instance—is also incorporated in this section.

Series 2 documents Wouk's research, entrepreneurship and business ventures. The most prominent part of the section involves Petro-Electric Vehicles, which, with Charles Rosen, was Victor Wouk's bold attempt to engineer and construct a functional and economically viable passenger vehicle. This subsection details the enormity and difficulty of the task given the pre-existing technological resources in the 1970s. As such, it documents initial proposals, EPA contracts, R&D, reports, evaluations and testimonies.

The following sub-series of Series 2 contains documents concerning Wouk's consulting company, Victor Wouk Associates. As a consultant, Wouk has worked with a number of electronics and motor vehicle companies as well as other august bodies, including Curtis instruments, Unique Mobility, Jet Industries and NASA. His work for these companies—usually in the form of substantial reports—comprises over a linear foot of material. Wouk also acted as an expert witness, usually in cases involving litigation in the automobile industry, and his correspondence with lawyers and his court testimonies are included in the section. The final sub-series of the section involves Wouk's quests for numerous patents. Among other things, Wouk sought patents for a hybrid power train, an overvoltage reducer circuit, a device for prolonging the use of incandescent lamps, a chopper-dropper-booster circuit and a sequential firing thyristor. The two boxes of documents include disclosures, examiner's reports, correspondence and assignments.

Wouk is also a prolific writer and a substantial portion of the collection includes his publications, lectures, talks, seminars and innumerable "letters to the editor." The topics of these writings are extremely diverse, but the majority involve his research in automotive engineering. However, Wouk published material from an early stage in his electronics career, and the numerous papers and talks from the 1940s, '50s and '60s tend to revolve around his knowledge of high voltage circuits. Other material in the section remains unpublished. Of particular note is Wheels without Gas: this book-length manuscript provides readers with Wouk's unique slant on the history of electric vehicles and the ensuing triumphs and stumbling blocks in their development. Other material about which he talked and wrote is extremely diverse—Lyme disease, Sputnik, nuclear power and superconductors, for instance. His letters to the editor concern anything and everything.

The fourth series contains material from the countless professional meetings, symposia, organizations and conferences that Wouk attended. Of the four subseries within the series, the first details Wouk's involvement in the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and, in particular, his affairs with the Technical Committee for Electric Road Vehicles (TC/69). The documents include correspondence, pamphlets and reports, as well as ephemera from the EVS (Electric Vehicle Society) conventions. The second sub-section records many of his activities with the Society of Engineers, while the third sub-section details his involvement with the New York Academy of Sciences where, among other positions, he was vice-president of the engineering sciences and a member of the Board of Governors. The final subseries contains material from conferences from around the world.

Series 5 of the Wouk collection contains biographical material, memorabilia and correspondence with his family, including a plethora of letters between he and Herman that span seven decades. Researchers who are interested in the literary world of Herman Wouk will find these documents particularly illuminating. Other material in the section is diverse: there are resumes, photographs, newspaper articles, pilots' logs, autobiographical fragments and ephemera. Each help reveal the multifaceted character of Wouk.