Astrophysics

Abstract AirTalk is the longest-running daily talk show in Southern California, aired for the first time on April, 1985. Starting in 1988, the talk show hosted by Larry Mantle, was devoted to Caltech and JPL on the third Wednesday of every month and had the title “AirTalk: The Caltech Edition”.The first broadcast of "AirTalk: The Caltech Edition" took to the airwaves on January 20, 1988. The program was aired from 6 to 7 PM on KPCC, the National Public Radio affiliate of Pasadena City...

Scope and Contents From the Collection: The collection is divided according to the recording type: audio and video then ordered chronologically. Each recording includes an interview with either Caltech faculty, administrators, staff, students, alumni, JPL scientists or administrators. It also includes features such as Caltech Almanac -a detailed look at some of the many interesting people, places and discoveries in Caltech’s history-, Caltech Calendar -a listing of upcoming public events on campus- and Caltech in the News....

Scope and Contents From the Collection:

This collection provides a thorough record of George Ellery Hale’s activities. A prolific correspondent, Hale kept copies of most of his letters. The collections contains significant material relating to the theoretical and instrumental development of astrophysics, the history of the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories, and the early history of the California Institute of Technology. It also documents Hale’s work with the National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council.

Scope and Contents

Collection contains correspondence, committee minutes, public inquiries regarding astronomical phenomena, etc. relating primarily to the Palomar 200-inch telescope project.

Abstract Ira Sprague Bowen (1898-1973) Astrophysicist; Director, Mt. Wilson Observatory, 1946-1964; Professor of Physics, Caltech 1926-45. Much of his physics research was concerned with studies of spectral lines and spectroscopy; in the 1930s his interests turned more to astronomy and astrophysics and he devised many new instruments and techniques for observational astronomy. Papers include correspondence (ca. 1933-47), notebooks (many from his years at University of Chicago, 1916-21), articles,...

Scope and Contents From the Collection:

This collection provides a thorough record of George Ellery Hale’s activities. A prolific correspondent, Hale kept copies of most of his letters. The collections contains significant material relating to the theoretical and instrumental development of astrophysics, the history of the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories, and the early history of the California Institute of Technology. It also documents Hale’s work with the National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council.

Scope and Contents

Donald D. Clayton, currently professor at Clemson University, was a graduate student at Caltech during 1956-61. He completed his PhD under William A. Fowler on nucleosynthesis in stars. He also spent 1961-63 as a postdoc and 1966-67 as a Research Associate in Physics at Caltech.

The file contains three chapters on his Caltech years from Clayton's unpublished autobiography, "My Atoms, My Earth."

Abstract

Frank B. Estabrook is a Caltech alumus (M.S. 1947, PhD 1950). Estabrook was as physicist at JPL from 1960 to 2006, and Distinguished Visiting Scientist from 2006-2016. He is currently retired. Estabrook's papers consist of project outlines, meeting agendas and minutes, correspondence, and reports related to the Galileo spacecraft and gravitational wave research.

Abstract These papers document the career of William A. Fowler, who served on the physics faculty at California Institute of Technology from 1939 until 1982. Focusing heavily on nuclear physics and astrophysics, the Fowler papers form a rich and important collection for the history of physics, and illustrate the politics and sociology of science in the twentieth century. They also contain substantial material on Caltech's World War II rocket developments, plus documents on Project Vista, a Cold-War...

Scope and Contents From the Collection:

This collection provides a thorough record of George Ellery Hale’s activities. A prolific correspondent, Hale kept copies of most of his letters. The collections contains significant material relating to the theoretical and instrumental development of astrophysics, the history of the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories, and the early history of the California Institute of Technology. It also documents Hale’s work with the National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council.

Abstract These papers document the career of Jesse L. Greenstein, a Harvard educated astronomer who came to the California Institute of Technology in 1948 to run the astronomy program. While at Caltech he did research on stellar composition and high resolution spectra using the Palomar telescope. The papers consist of correspondence, technical material, professional organizational material, class and lecture notes, and subject files. They emphasize Greenstein's research on the discovery of peculiar...