2024-03-29T14:16:05Z
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/cgi/oai2
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:18
2019-10-04T15:23:31Z
7374617475733D756E707562
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/18/
Interview with Linus Pauling
Pauling, Linus
Chemistry
All Records
Interview in 1984 with Linus Pauling, professor of chemistry emeritus. He recalls his instructorship in quantitative analysis at Oregon Agricultural College at age 18. To Caltech for graduate study, 1922. As preparation, Arthur Amos Noyes sent him proof sheets of Noyes's new book, Chemical Principles. Studied X-ray crystallography with Roscoe G. Dickinson. Gave seminar on Debye-Huckel theory of electrolytic solutions for visiting P. J. W. Debye. Recollections of Noyes (then chairman of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering), Dickinson, and Ralph W. G. Wyckoff. Discusses X-ray crystallography and its history. Recollections of Gilbert N. Lewis, Caltech's rivalry with Berkeley. Paper with Richard C. Tolman on residual entropy of crystals; recalls courses with Tolman. Offer of professorship at Harvard in 1929 and MIT c. 1930. Death of Noyes (1936) and Pauling's appointment as chairman of chemistry division (1937). Remarks on Biology Division and advent of Thomas Hunt Morgan (1928). Work on hemoglobin in mid-1930s. Remarks on Karl Landsteiner and immunology. Lectures on "complementariness" as basis of biological specificity; paper with Max Delbruck. Projected book on the molecular basis of biological specificity, to be called The Nature of Life. Recollections of Albert Tyler and George W. Beadle. Comments on relations with Warren Weaver and Rockefeller Foundation. Discusses work on protein structure and discovery of alpha helix. Discusses his reasons for leaving Caltech in 1963 and the attitude of Caltech president Lee DuBridge and John Roberts, then chair of the chemistry division. Recalls his resignation of division chairmanship in 1957; attitude of trustees toward his politics; his efforts to raise money to defend colleague Sidney Weinbaum. Recalls being badgered by Lawrence Spivak on Meet the Press in 1950s. Comments on quantum mechanical theory of resonance and the chemical bond. Comments on Center for Study of Democratic Institutions.
1984-01-01
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/18/1/OH_Pauling_L.pdf
Pauling, Linus (1984) Interview with Linus Pauling. [Oral History] (Unpublished) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Pauling_L <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Pauling_L>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Pauling_L
CaltechOH:OH_Pauling_L
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:24
2019-10-04T15:23:32Z
7374617475733D756E707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D737562:62696F
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/24/
Interview with Henry Borsook
Borsook, Henry
All Records
Chemistry
Biology
Interview in 1978 with biochemist Henry Borsook, who joined Caltech's newly created Biology Division in 1929 and retired from Caltech in 1968, moving his laboratory to U.C. Berkeley. Professor Borsook's major contributions were made in the areas of protein synthesis and nutrition. He recalls Robert A. Millikan's interest in establishing biology at Caltech and the early days of the Biology Division under Thomas Hunt Morgan; Caltech's intellectual life in the 1930s; the establishment of a Health Center at the Institute; his relations with Linus Pauling. In the 1930s, Borsook began applying thermodynamics to the study of biological phenomena, working with bacteria and studying the production of urine and creatine. He discusses his later work on vitamins and his wartime service on the Food and Nutrition Board, including the formation of the Recommended Daily Allowances and the Dept. of Agriculture's opposition to the RDAs in favor of Minimum Daily Requirements. In the 1940s he developed a soybean-based Multipurpose Food (MPF) and in 1946, with restaurateur Clifford Clinton, founded Meals for Millions, a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating world hunger with MPF. Recalls advent of George Beadle as division chairman in 1946 and subsequent changes in the Biology Division. Recalls his postwar work on protein synthesis with isotopes from the Atomic Energy Commission, and his work on hemoglobin and erythropoietin. Discusses his difficulties during the McCarthy era and his work on heart disease.
1981-01-01
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/24/10/OH_Borsook_H.pdf
Borsook, Henry (1981) Interview with Henry Borsook. [Oral History] (Unpublished) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Borsook_H <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Borsook_H>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Borsook_H
CaltechOH:OH_Borsook_H
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:25
2019-10-04T15:23:33Z
7374617475733D756E707562
7375626A656374733D737562:62696F
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/25/
Interview with Herschel K. Mitchell
Mitchell, Herschel
Biology
Chemistry
All Records
Interview in 1997 with Herschel K. Mitchell, professor of biology, emeritus. George W. Beadle brought Mitchell to Caltech with him in 1946 from Stanford as a senior research fellow, along with Norman Horowitz, Mary Houlahan, Adrian Srb, and August Doermann. The group worked on Neurospora. Mitchell recalls teaching the biochemistry course with Henry Borsook; recalls Beadle's style as chairman of the Division of Biology. Recalls his earlier work on pantothenic acid and folic acid as a graduate student with Roger Williams. Comments extensively (in mid-interview and again toward the end) on the dubious work done by Lawrence Burton and Frank Friedman as research fellows in the mid-1950s, their consequent dismissal from Caltech, and their later careers in highly controversial immuno-augmentative cancer therapy. Recalls instituting athletic activities at Caltech for graduate students and refers to many of his successful PhD students--among them Bruce Ames, who invented the Ames test for detecting mutagens and potential carcinogens; Mogens Westergaard, with whom he devised a medium favoring sexual reproduction in Neurospora; and Ernst Hadorn, with whom he worked on Drosophila mutants.
2000-01-01
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/25/1/OH_Mitchell_H.pdf
Mitchell, Herschel (2000) Interview with Herschel K. Mitchell. [Oral History] (Unpublished) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Mitchell_H <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Mitchell_H>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Mitchell_H
CaltechOH:OH_Mitchell_H
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:32
2019-10-04T15:23:34Z
7374617475733D756E707562
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D737562:67656F
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/32/
Interview with Clair C. Patterson
Patterson, Clair
Chemistry
Geology
All Records
In this interview in March 1995, nine months before his death, Clair C. (Pat) Patterson, professor of geochemistry, emeritus, talks about his early interest in physical chemistry; his education at Grinnell College, in Iowa; his stint on the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge; and his subsequent graduate work at the University of Chicago with Harrison Brown, where he measured the isotopic composition and concentration of minute quantities of lead with a mass spectrometer. He received his PhD at Chicago in 1951. After a year there as a postdoc, he came to Caltech with Brown, who established a geochemistry program in the Division of Geology. By 1953, having measured the isotopic composition of primordial lead in iron meteorites, Patterson was able to determine the age of the earth at 4.5 billion years. He then turned to a study of the natural levels of terrestrial lead and discovered that in the modern industrial environment, lead concentrations had greatly increased, from such sources as leaded gasoline and the solder used in food cans--with a corresponding increase in lead levels in human beings. He discusses his investigation of lead levels in seawater, oceanic sediments, and polar ice cores and his calculation of the rise in environmental lead levels beginning with the mining of lead in Greek and Roman times. At the end of the interview, he discusses his current interest in the evolution of different neuronal networks for two kinds of thinking, utilitarian and nonutilitarian--and his belief that this is illustrated by similarities in utilitarian thinking in the Old and New Worlds, while their cultural (nonutilitarian) development was dissimilar.
1997-01-01
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/32/1/OH_Patterson.pdf
Patterson, Clair (1997) Interview with Clair C. Patterson. [Oral History] (Unpublished) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Patterson_C <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Patterson_C>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Patterson_C
CaltechOH:OH_Patterson_C
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:33
2019-10-04T15:23:34Z
7374617475733D756E707562
7375626A656374733D737562:62696F
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/33/
Interview with Robert L. Sinsheimer
Sinsheimer, Robert
Biology
Chemistry
All Records
Interview in 1990 and 1991 with Dr. Robert L. Sinsheimer, who served as chairman of Caltech's Division of Biology for nine years (1968-1977) and later became chancellor of the University of California at Santa Cruz. He recalls his undergraduate education in the new biophysics program at MIT, his war work at MIT's Radiation Laboratory, and his graduate study at MIT in biophysics (PhD 1948). After a postdoc year there, he goes to Iowa State College as associate professor of biophysics; takes six-month leave in 1953 to Caltech, works on phage genetics with Max Delbrück. Joins Caltech faculty as professor of biophysics in 1957 and continues his work on isolating the virus Phi X 174; work with Arthur Kornberg of Stanford on in vitro synthesis of DNA. Receives California Scientist of the Year Award in 1968 and is elected that year to the National Academy of Sciences. He recalls his tenure as chair of the Biology Division, the growth of molecular biology, and his awareness of potential risks involved in the new technology of recombinant DNA. He discusses his concern over low level of public understanding of science; his involvement in the Asilomar Conference of February 1975 and creation of NIH guidelines for recombinant DNA research; and his part in initiating the Human Genome Project. In 1977, Sinsheimer left Caltech to become chancellor of UC Santa Cruz, a post he held until 1987, when he moved to UC Santa Barbara, where he became professor emeritus in 1990 and where this interview takes place.
1992-01-01
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/33/1/OH_Sinsheimer.pdf
Sinsheimer, Robert (1992) Interview with Robert L. Sinsheimer. [Oral History] (Unpublished) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Sinsheimer_R <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Sinsheimer_R>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Sinsheimer_R
CaltechOH:OH_Sinsheimer_R
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:37
2022-10-04T04:00:21Z
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:38
2022-10-04T04:00:21Z
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:41
2022-10-04T04:00:21Z
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:42
2019-10-04T15:23:35Z
7374617475733D756E707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D737562:62696F
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/42/
Interview with Zus Haagen-Smit
Haagen-Smit, Zus (Maria)
All Records
Chemistry
Biology
This interview in 2000 with Zus (Maria) Haagen-Smit, widow of Caltech biologist Arie Jan Haagen-Smit (1900-1977), describes their early education at the University of Utrecht, his work on terpenes with Leopold Ruzicka, and the cooperation between Caltech and Utrecht in studies of plant hormones. In 1936, as war loomed in Europe, Arie Haagen-Smit was invited for a year to Harvard by Kenneth Thimann; in 1937, he was invited by T. H. Morgan to join the faculty of Caltech's Biology Division, where he continued his work on terpenes and plant hormones. Recollections of Dutch group at Caltech: Frits Went, Herman Dolk, Johannes van Overbeek, and Anthonie van Harreveld. Advent of World War II; opening of butadiene plant in Los Angeles, 1943, and consequent smog problems in Los Angeles. She recalls her husband's pioneering work in analysis of smog and measures to reduce it; and his consultancies with L.A. County Air Pollution Control District, Southern California Edison Co., auto industry, and California Air Resources Board. She reads extensively from Arnold Beckman's tribute to him and the history of Los Angeles County's battle to reduce air pollution. Summarizes the awards and honors he received toward the end of his life.
2003-01-01
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/42/1/OH_Haagen-Smit_Z.pdf
Haagen-Smit, Zus (Maria) (2003) Interview with Zus Haagen-Smit. [Oral History] (Unpublished) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Haagen-Smit_Z <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Haagen-Smit_Z>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Haagen-Smit_Z
CaltechOH:OH_Haagen-Smit_Z
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:50
2019-10-04T15:23:36Z
7374617475733D756E707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/50/
Interview with Terry Cole
Cole, Terry
All Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Chemistry
Interview in three sessions, October 1996, with Terry Cole, senior faculty associate in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and senior member of the technical staff of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Cole earned his BS in chemistry from the University of Minnesota in 1954 and his PhD from Caltech in 1958 under Don Yost, on magnetic resonance. The following year he moved to the Ford Scientific Research Laboratory, in Dearborn, Michigan, where he rose to head the departments of chemistry and chemical engineering. In 1980 he joined JPL's Energy & Technology Applications branch; in 1982 he became JPL's chief technologist, and he was instrumental in establishing JPL's Microdevices Laboratory and its Center for Space Microelectronic Technology. Interview includes recollections of Lew Allen's directorship of JPL and a discussion of the origins of the SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship) program.
2001-01-01
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/50/1/OH_Cole_T.pdf
Cole, Terry (2001) Interview with Terry Cole. [Oral History] (Unpublished) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Cole_T <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Cole_T>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Cole_T
CaltechOH:OH_Cole_T
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:78
2019-10-04T15:23:38Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D737562:61646D
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/78/
Interview with Arnold O. Beckman
Beckman, Arnold O.
All Records
Chemistry
Administration
Interview in two sessions, 1978, with Arnold O. Beckman--alumnus, faculty member, and trustee of Caltech and founder of Beckman Instruments (now Beckman Coulter, Inc.)--begins with his recollections of his early interest in chemistry. He attends University High School at Illinois State Normal University. Brief stint in the Marine Corps near end of World War I. After the war, he continues his education at the University of Illinois in Urbana, where he studies with C. S. Marvel, Gerhard Dietrichson, and Richard Chace Tolman. B.S. (chemical engineering) 1922, M.S. (physical chemistry) 1923. Follows Tolman to Caltech; does his graduate work with Roscoe Dickinson. Recollections of Arthur Amos Noyes and the Chemistry Division. Leaves Caltech in 1924 before receiving his PhD, works for Walter Shewhart at Bell Laboratories on West Street in Manhattan. Noyes prompts him to return to his graduate studies; he does so in the fall of 1926; joins Caltech faculty after receiving PhD in 1928. His consultant work and development of the pH meter. Development and production of the Helipot (helical potentiometer) and the quartz (Model DU) spectrophotometer. Establishes National Technical Laboratories while still a member of the Caltech faculty; leaves Caltech in 1939 to become its president (name changed to Beckman Instruments in 1950). Use of Helipots and spectrophotometers in World War II. In 1953, he returns to Caltech as a member of the Board of Trustees (chairman 1964-1974). Comments on Linus Pauling controversy; on changes in American work ethic prompting moving of plants overseas; on admission of women to Caltech. Founds Lincoln Club of Orange County, 1962. His interest in behavioral biology and creation of Caltech's Beckman Laboratories of Behavioral Biology. Recalls his involvement in air-pollution abatement in Los Angeles in the late 1940s and early 1950s and the work of Arie Haagen-Smit.
1981
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/78/1/OH_Beckman_A.pdf
Beckman, Arnold O. (1981) Interview with Arnold O. Beckman. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Beckman_A <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Beckman_A>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Beckman_A
CaltechOH:OH_Beckman_A
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:107
2019-10-04T15:23:43Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:706879
7375626A656374733D737562:67656F
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D737562:617374
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/107/
Interview with James A. Westphal
Westphal, James A.
Physics
Geology
All Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Chemistry
Astronomy
An interview in six sessions in 1998 with James A. Westphal, engineer and instrument designer who became research associate and later professor of planetary science at Caltech (1961-2004); and principal investigator for the Hubble Space Telescope's original Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WFPC 1, 1977-1994). He was born in 1930 in Dubuque, Iowa, to parents of German ancestry and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Little Rock, Arkansas. Receives BS in physics from the University of Tulsa in 1954 and works for seven years in geophysical research for oil companies before coming to Caltech in 1961. He recalls early work in geology division with C. Hewitt Dix, H. Lowenstam and B. Murray; with the latter on chemical differentiation of the lunar surface, his first involvement with planetary science. Works with B. Kamb on Blue Glacier; also with M. Schmidt and J. Gunn in astronomy. Recollections of Caltech colleagues G. Neugebauer, R. Leighton, R. Feynman. Comments on history of 200-inch telescope at Cerro Tololo and Caltech's relationship with Carnegie Observatories. He recalls work in early 1970s with J. Kristian for Palomar Observatory on highly sensitive electronic detectors (silicon vidicon photometer) leading to the evolution of CCDs [charge-coupled devices]. Joins NAS's COMPLEX committee at invitation of chairman G.Wasserburg; involvement with NASA's Galileo mission. Subsequent involvement with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging project; proposal for original wide-field and planetary camera put together with J. Gunn at JPL. He comments on early attitude of HST astronomers toward planetary scientists. Installation and testing of WFPC 1 in telescope; 1990 launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Trouble with HST's solar panels and subsequent repair efforts. Westphal receives MacArthur award, 1991, and succeeds G. Neugebauer as director of Palomar, 1994-1997. With J. Miller of Lick Observatory becomes acting co-director of the new Keck Telescope; comments on instrument building. Earlier work (1983) with former grad student S. Kieffer, of USGS, on dynamics of Old Faithful geyser resumed; builds camera to send to the bottom of the geyser. Comments on R. Leighton's contributions to X-ray and infrared observations and planetary science. Further comments on instrument building.
2002
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/107/1/OHO_Westphal_J.pdf
Westphal, James A. (2002) Interview with James A. Westphal. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Westphal_J <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Westphal_J>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Westphal_J
CaltechOH:OH_Westphal_J
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:108
2019-10-04T15:23:43Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D737562:62696F
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/108/
Interview with William J. Dreyer
Dreyer, William J.
All Records
Chemistry
Biology
An interview in five sessions in 1999 with William J. Dreyer, molecular immunologist and Caltech professor of biology (1963-2004). He begins with a discussion of how some people think visually, himself included--a theme to which he returns repeatedly in the interview. He speaks of his family history: childhood in Michigan and Wisconsin; his Norwegian father and possible inherited family traits including dyslexia and mental imaging. Recalls his education at Reed College in Oregon (BA chemistry, 1952) and graduate study at University of Washington (PhD in biochemistry, 1956); works under H. Neurath at UW. First occurrence of cancer while in graduate school. He goes to National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a National Polio Foundation postdoc, where he works on proteins with C. Anfinsen; becomes research scientist at NIH; assists M. Nirenberg in work on genetic code. Meets and works with G. Streisinger on genetic mapping with phage. Still at NIH begins inventing machinery for automating biochemical analyses.
Recruited to Caltech and accepts appointment in biology division in 1963. Together with J. Claude Bennett writes major papers on genetic coding for protein structure, gene splicing and monoclonal antibodies. Recalls Leroy Hood's arrival at Caltech in 1963 as grad student. Dreyer's consulting work for Spinco division of Beckman Instruments; helps in the design of an automated protein sequencer; his continuing interest in new technologies. Work in 1960s with W. Gray on sequencing protein in a mass spectrometer for JPL; collaborates with Gray and Hood on 1967 Cold Spring Harbor symposium paper on antibody formation. Roger Sperry at Caltech; his influence on Dreyer. Work on the protein rhodopsin. Robert Sinsheimer as biology division chairman. During 1970s and 80s Caltech develops series of more and more sensitive instruments to synthesize and analyze genes and proteins. 1982 recurrence of Dreyer's cancer. Creation of company Applied Biosystems with Hood and M. Hunkapiller; issues arise over patents and royalties. Dreyer's work with Milton Wexler's Hereditary Disease Foundation. Caltech's Beckman Institute; recruitment of Scott Fraser and creation of Biology Imaging Center at Caltech. Study of olfactory receptors; "area code" hypothesis in embryogenesis. Capillary electrophoresis; the Human Genome Project. Recent experiments involving gene deletion and DNA alteration.
2005
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/108/1/OH_Dreyer_W.pdf
Dreyer, William J. (2005) Interview with William J. Dreyer. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Dreyer_W <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Dreyer_W>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Dreyer_W
CaltechOH:OH_Dreyer_W
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:111
2019-10-04T15:23:44Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D737562:62696F
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/111/
Interview with Findlay E. Russell
Russell, Findlay E.
All Records
Chemistry
Biology
An interview in one session in 1994 with Findlay E. Russell, MD, toxicologist, and former Caltech research fellow (1951-1953). He recalls applying for a research fellowship at Caltech under Professor Anthonie Van Harreveld in the biology division during his time as an intern at Los Angeles County General Hospital (now Los Angeles County and USC Medical Center). Comments on decision to undertake research in neurophysiology during clinical training; his early and continuing interest in venomous and poisonous animals and the effect of toxins on the nervous system. Recollects the Caltech Biology Division in the early 1950s; his colleagues Howard Teas and Richard Schweets; Max Delbrück's influence on the students. Efforts by Russell to improve student social life include teaching students ballroom dancing and holding dances with Pasadena City College. His own research on stingray venom eventually supported by Office of Naval Research. In 1953 he moves to the Huntington Institute of Medical Research at the Henry Huntington Hospital in Pasadena. Other reminiscences of life at Caltech and in Pasadena include: R. Feynman's defense of the local burlesque theater, the Burbank (1969); organizing a faculty volleyball team, which includes Nobelist William Shockley; memories of G. Beadle, A. Haagen-Smit, L. Pauling; treating Pauling's dog with vitamin C injections; various pranks. His participation in and enthusiasm for Kent Clark's musical shows on Caltech life. He leaves Huntington for professorship at USC in 1955. Consulting work for United Nations and other governmental agencies takes him all over the world.
1995
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/111/1/OH_Russell_F.pdf
Russell, Findlay E. (1995) Interview with Findlay E. Russell. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Russell_F <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Russell_F>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Russell_F
CaltechOH:OH_Russell_F
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:112
2019-10-04T15:23:44Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D737562:61646D
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/112/
Interview with Ruth J. Hughes
Hughes, Ruth J.
All Records
Chemistry
Administration
Born and educated in Germany, Ruth Hughes emigrated to England in 1939, just prior to the outbreak of World War II. Having been denied access to university training in medicine because she was Jewish, she had decided to study nursing and was hired as a student nurse in Birmingham, England, where she spent the war years. In her three-session interview in 1998-1999, she recalls her decision to leave England for the US (1946) and her chance meeting with Barbara Low, a crystallographer and student at Oxford under Dorothy Hodgkin; and through Low her introduction to Edward Wesley Hughes, a Caltech research associate in chemistry and a crystallographer. Ruth Hughes works in the US as a nurse in New York and Boston; she marries Edward ("Eddie") in England during his sabbatical at Leeds (1951); his interest in car tours and motion picture photography helps in the formation of a social group. Recalls her husband's assignment to represent Linus Pauling at the Royal Society in London, early 1952; her meeting then with Pauling's colleague Robert Corey and his wife. The Hugheses return to Pasadena by way of South Africa and South America. Account of Caltech in the early 1950s: her early involvement with the Women's Club and introduction to Doris DuBridge (wife of Caltech president Lee A. DuBridge); the Hugheses' close connection with the Paulings; Mrs. Pauling (Ava Helen) and her political and social ambitions; social expectations on Caltech wives at that time; her husband's loyalty to Pauling and the various tasks imposed on both of them as a result, especially the entertaining of visitors; the nature of the Pauling circle. Her involvement with Pauling's petition to the UN on a nuclear test ban; her husband's and other's opposition to Pauling's political work. Her interest in meeting and assisting Chinese and Japanese visitors; the Caltech Service League and Chem Wives. Circumstances of the Paulings' departure from Caltech. Current recognition of Caltech widows by Alice Huang.
2002
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/112/1/OHO_Hughes.pdf
Hughes, Ruth J. (2002) Interview with Ruth J. Hughes. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Hughes_R <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Hughes_R>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Hughes_R
CaltechOH:OH_Hughes_R
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:121
2019-10-04T15:23:45Z
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https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/121/
Interview with Hugh P. Taylor
Taylor, Hugh P.
Geology
All Records
Chemistry
An interview in eight sessions in the summer of 2002 with Hugh P. Taylor, Robert P. Sharp Professor of Geology, emeritus, in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences. In this wide-ranging interview, Dr. Taylor recalls his upbringing in Arizona and New Mexico, where his father was an agent for the Santa Fe Railroad; his move to Southern California; and his undergraduate education at Caltech. After receiving his BS at Caltech in geochemistry in 1954 (he was one of the first two geochemistry majors to graduate from the institute), and a master's degree at Harvard, he returned to Caltech for his PhD, working on oxygen-isotope ratios with geochemist Samuel Epstein. He recalls their refinement of the separation technique and his application of Oxygen-18/Oxygen-16 ratios to the study of magmatic intrusions, especially Iceland's Skaergaard intrusion--studies that led to a new understanding of hydrothermal convection and the effects of meteoric groundwater (essentially, rainwater) on basaltic intrusions.
He recalls Caltech's move into geochemistry in the early 1950s under the chairmanship of Robert P. Sharp, the advent of plate tectonics in the mid-1960s, the lunar program at Caltech, and his friendship with astronaut/geologist Harrison "Jack" Schmitt. Further recollections include the accomplishments of Gerald J. Wasserburg's laboratory in analyzing the lunar material; Wasserburg's feud with colleague Leon T. Silver; Silver's reluctance to publish; Taylor's collaboration with Silver on isotopic analysis of the Peninsula Ranges Batholith; Taylor's collecting trip to the Skaergaard intrusion; his work with Robert Coleman of the United States Geological Survey on the Red Sea Rift Zone; his work with Bruno Turi on igneous rocks in Italy; and the discoveries made by several of his outstanding graduate students and postdocs.
The latter part of the interview amounts to a history of Caltech geology, as he describes the evolution of the division from a classical, field-oriented geology department to a first-rank division incorporating geophysics, geochemistry, and planetary sciences. Along the way, Taylor gives his assessment of the various strengths and weaknesses of the division's chairmen: Robert P. Sharp, Clarence Allen, Eugene Shoemaker, Barclay Kamb, Peter Wyllie, Gerald Wasserburg, Peter M. Goldreich, David J. Stevenson, and Edward M. Stolper.
2006-08
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/121/1/Taylor_OHO.pdf
Taylor, Hugh P. (2006) Interview with Hugh P. Taylor. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Taylor_H <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Taylor_H>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Taylor_H
CaltechOH:OH_Taylor_H
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:139
2019-10-04T15:23:49Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
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74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/139/
Interview with Rudolph A. Marcus
Marcus, Rudolph A.
All Records
Chemistry
An interview in three sessions in 1993 with Rudolph A. Marcus, Arthur Amos Noyes Professor of Chemistry at Caltech and Nobel laureate in chemistry, 1992, conducted by Shirley K. Cohen. Marcus recalls growing up in Montreal and Detroit, his undergraduate and graduate student days in chemistry at McGill University (BSc 1943, PhD 1946); Canadian anti-Semitism and quota on Jewish students; recollections of advisor Carl Winkler and other teachers Raymond Boyer, Otto Maass, and Bob McIntosh; fellow students Louis Nirenberg, Lazar Novak, Sam Epstein; research on chemical reaction rates. He then went to the National Research Council of Canada to do postdoctoral work under Edgar Steacie and Basil Darwent. Marcus discusses his interactions with Nathan Rosen and Wayne Bowers; the "Anomalies in Reaction Kinetics" 1951 symposium at the University of Minnesota where he first presented his work on the theory of unimolecular reactions (the RRKM theory); and his quest for a faculty appointment. In 1951 Marcus joined the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn faculty as assistant professor of chemistry. He recalls early experimental work there with gases, high-vacuum equipment, and rates of various chemical and photochemical reactions; his colleagues Herman Mark, Frank Collins, Paul Doty, Ernest Loebl, Herbert Morawetz, Bruno Zimm, and Paul Ewald; and his key paper in 1956 in electron transfer theory. Sabbatical year (1960-1961) spent at Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University; Dick Bernstein's role in Marcus's decision to wind down his experimental program around 1960; professor of chemistry at University of Illinois (1964-1978) and head, division of physical chemistry (1967-1968). Oxford and Munich sabbatical, 1975-1976. Consultant at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Norman Sutin's influence. Faculty years at Caltech (1978-present) and interactions with Harry Gray, Fred Anson, Jackie Barton, Ahmed Zewail, and other colleagues. Concludes the interview with his approach to theoretical research and getting students to focus on experimental phenomena; honors; post-Nobel life; opinions on "hype" and the role of chance in research.
1995
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/139/1/Marcus_OHO.pdf
Marcus, Rudolph A. (1995) Interview with Rudolph A. Marcus. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Marcus_R <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Marcus_R>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Marcus_R
CaltechOH:OH_Marcus_R
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:154
2019-10-04T15:23:51Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/154/
Interview with John D. Baldeschwieler
Baldeschwieler, John D.
All Records
Chemistry
Interview in six sessions in January and February 2001 with John D. Baldeschwieler, J. Stanley Johnson Professor and professor of chemistry, emeritus, in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Dr. Baldeschwieler received his bachelor's in chemical engineering from Cornell in 1956 and his PhD in 1959 from UC Berkeley.
He begins by recalling his childhood and early education in Cranford, N.J. His father, an analytical chemist, emigrated from Switzerland and his mother from Manitoba. He matriculated at Cornell in 1951 and enrolled in ROTC during the Korean War. Recalls summer work at Los Alamos and graduate school at Berkeley 1956-1959; his thesis on infrared spectroscopy, with George Pimentel; interest in instrument building. After six months' active duty at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., joins the Harvard faculty; becomes a consultant for Aberdeen. Early work with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Invited to Stanford as associate professor in 1965, where he works on electron cyclotron resonance, in connection with Varian Associates.
Joins Army Scientific Advisory Panel; works on "people sensors" during the Vietnam War. Appointed to PSAC (President's Science Advisory Committee); discussion of defoliant Agent Orange. Becomes deputy director of the Office of Science and Technology in 1970, during first Nixon administration; takes a leave from Stanford and moves to Washington, D.C. Recalls the debates on biological warfare and on whether or not to build the SST (supersonic transport). Recollections of various figures in the Nixon administration. Resigns from government in December 1972 and goes to work at the National Cancer Institute for six months.
Invited to become chairman of Caltech's Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Arrives in 1973, during Harold Brown's presidency; discusses his close relationship with Brown and his reorganizing of chemistry division, of which he remains chairman until 1978. Meanwhile, consults for Monsanto and Merck and becomes involved in the US-Soviet joint scientific program. Visits the USSR in the early 1970s. Travels with Glenn Seaborg on the first chemistry delegation to China in 1978. Work on binding liposomes to cancer cells in the late '70s; forms company called Vestar to commercialize the technique as a diagnostic tool. Collaboration with the City of Hope. Discussion of patenting and licensing of discoveries made at Caltech and of proposed high-tech corridor for Pasadena.
He concludes the interview by remarking on his children and stepchildren and their work, and he lists the various technology companies he has helped to establish.
2003
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/154/1/Baldeschwieler_OHO.pdf
Baldeschwieler, John D. (2003) Interview with John D. Baldeschwieler. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Baldeschwieler_J <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Baldeschwieler_J>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Baldeschwieler_J
CaltechOH:OH_Baldeschwieler_J
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:159
2019-10-04T15:23:52Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D737562:656E67
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/159/
Interview with Nicholas W. Tschoegl
Tschoegl, Nicholas W.
All Records
Chemistry
Engineering
An interview in five sessions, April-June 2001, with Nicholas W. Tschoegl, professor of chemical engineering, emeritus, in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Dr. Tschoegl, a native of Moravia, recalls his French/Austrian background, World War II service in Hungarian Army, and postwar control of Hungary by the Communists. Leaves Hungary in October 1948, via Austria, arrving in Australia 1949. BSc from New South Wales University of Technology; PhD in rheology with A. E. Alexander, University of New South Wales, 1958. Discusses his work on dough rheology, Bread Research Institute of Australia.
Work with J. D. Ferry, University of Wisconsin, 1961-1963, on polymers. Stanford Research Institute, 1963-1965. Joins Caltech faculty, 1965, as associate professor of materials science in engineering division. Works on solid propellants for rockets, funded by air force. In 1967, becomes professor of chemical engineering in Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Discusses polymers and synthetic rubber. Recalls visiting professorships: Delft; Gutenberg University, Mainz; Imperial College, London; Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolécules, Strasbourg; ETH, Zurich.
Discusses block copolymers and spectral functions; time-dependent properties of polymers; WLF [Williams-Landel-Ferry] equation to block copolymers and other multitransition systems; development of FMT [Fillers-Moonan-Tschoegl] equation. Formation of International Congress and International Committee on Rheology. Recalls Caltech's interaction with Soviet scientists and subsequent estrangement, mid-1980s.
Discusses managing Caltech's Watson lectures; post-retirement visiting professorship at University of Ljubljana, with Igor Emri; Emri's work at Caltech with Wolfgang Knauss; founding of journal Mechanics of Time-Dependent Materials. Discusses his two books: The Phenomenological Theory of Linear Viscoelastic Behavior and Fundamentals of Equilibrium and Steady-State Thermodynamics. Recalls consultancies: with JPL's polymer section, 1960s; Phillips Petroleum, 1968-1983; Firestone Tire & Rubber, 1974-1980; Naval Weapons Center. Comments on colleagues and past Caltech presidents; recalls death of chemical engineer and Caltech vice president William Corcoran. Tschoegl concludes interview by listing his memberships in professional societies and other professional activities.
2003
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/159/1/Tschoegl_OHO.pdf
Tschoegl, Nicholas W. (2003) Interview with Nicholas W. Tschoegl. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Tschoegl_N <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Tschoegl_N>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Tschoegl_N
CaltechOH:OH_Tschoegl_N
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:173
2021-03-25T23:20:53Z
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https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/173/
Interview with John D. Roberts
Roberts, John D.
All Records
Chemistry
Administration
Interview in seven sessions, February-May 1985, with John D. Roberts, Institute Professor of Chemistry (now emeritus) in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.
Family background, early education, Los Angeles; Caltech open houses in early 1930s. Studies chemistry, UCLA (BA 1941). Graduate work Penn State University with F. Whitmore; return to UCLA, war-related research; theoretical organic chemistry with S. Winstein (PhD 1944). 1945, NRC Fellowship, Harvard; R. B. Woodward. Assistant professorship MIT; recollections of A. Cope, A. A. Morton; L. Pauling's theory of molecular resonance; molecular orbital theory of R. S. Mulliken. Research on carbonium ions, carbon cations with R. Mazur; dispute with S. Winstein. Consultant at DuPont, starting 1950.
Guggenheim, Caltech, 1952; joins chemistry faculty 1953. H. Lucas, L. Pauling, other colleagues. Guggenheim to England. J. H. Sturdivant, V. Schomaker, D. Semenow, G. Whitesides. Election (1956) to NAS; heads chemistry section; NAS response to W. Shockley and R. Lewontin affairs. NSF chemistry advisory panel (1957-1962); Mohole Seismological Drilling Project; faculty salaries.
Writes Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1959), Basic Principles of Organic Chemistry (1964); W. A. Benjamin; collaboration with M. B. Caserio on Basic Principles of Organic Chemistry; writes Modern Organic Chemistry.
NMR at Caltech; construction of NMR spectrometer lab; carbon-13 experiments; work of F. Wiegert, K. Kanamori; E. Swift, division chairman; H. McConnell; JDR as division chairman (1963-1968); faculty changes, role of H. Gray; construction of Noyes Laboratories; G. Hammond, acting chairman. Recollections of L. DuBridge and R. Bacher. L. Pauling and anti-nuclear movement. J. Baldeschwieler's chairmanship (1973-1978); presidencies of R. Christy (1977-1978) and M. L. Goldberger (1978-1987).
JDR as provost (1980-1983). Caltech administration 1970s and 1980s; R. Vogt as provost. L. E. Hood, biotechnology at Caltech. Computer scientists I. Sutherland, C. Mead. S. Wolfram, Symbolic Manipulation Program. JDR chairs Athenaeum Board; R. Ireland's role in upgrading Athenaeum. JDR's honors and awards.
1987
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/173/1/Roberts%2C%20J._OHO.pdf
Roberts, John D. (1987) Interview with John D. Roberts. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Roberts_J <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Roberts_J>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Roberts_J
CaltechOH:OH_Roberts_J
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:174
2019-10-04T15:23:54Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D737562:62696F
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/174/
Interview with Richard J. Bing
Bing, Richard J.
All Records
Chemistry
Biology
Interview in two sessions, June 11 and 29, 1998, with Richard J. Bing, MD, Director, Cardiology and Intramural Medicine, Huntington Memorial Hospital, and Visiting Associate in Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Chemistry at Caltech, 1970-2010.
Richard J. Bing was born in Nürnberg, Germany. He relates the story of his family and their origins, his early love of music, and his medical education in Frankfurt, Vienna, and Munich in the 1930s during the rise of the Third Reich. A period of study in Denmark at the Carlsberg Biological Institute enables him to meet Alexis Carrel and Charles Lindbergh; he forms lasting relationships with both. After a first trip to New York to Rockefeller Institute to learn Carrel's surgical techniques, he returns to New York and permanently to the US [1937]. His diverse medical career takes him from New York (Rockefeller, Columbia, New York University) to Johns Hopkins, then Alabama, then Washington University in St. Louis, followed by Wayne State University--all of which he recalls in sequence. During this time he demonstrates catheterization of the heart and works on cardiac metabolism. He resigns from Wayne State to take a position at the Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, California, in 1969.
In California, Bing relates, he developed interest in microcirculation and collaborated with Caltech scientist Harold Wayland; collaborations with Michael Hoffmann, Sunney Chan; friendships with Max Delbrück, John Allman. Research support from JPL; relations with director William Pickering; other research funding. There follows discussion of his second career as a composer, the importance of music in his life, and the performance of his musical works. The interview concludes with his views on the state of the medical profession.
2001
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/174/1/Bing%2CR._OHO.pdf
Bing, Richard J. (2001) Interview with Richard J. Bing. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Bing_R <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Bing_R>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Bing_R
CaltechOH:OH_Bing_R
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:193
2019-10-04T15:23:56Z
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https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/193/
Interview with Fred C. Anson
Anson, Fred
All Records
Chemistry
An interview in two sessions, February 1997, with Fred C. Anson, Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor of Chemistry, in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Professor Anson received his BS in chemistry in 1954 from Caltech and his PhD from Harvard in 1957. That year, he returned to Caltech as an instructor in the chemistry division, becoming an assistant professor in 1958, an associate professor in 1962, full professor in 1968, and holder of the Gilloon chair in 1995.
In this interview, he recalls his early education in South San Gabriel, his undergraduate years on a Los Angeles Times scholarship, and his graduate years at Harvard. He describes the state of the chemistry division in the late fifties and early sixties and his experiences as executive officer and then chairman of the division (1984-1994). He discusses his role as chairman of the presidential search committee resulting in the selection of Marvin L. (Murph) Goldberger, 1978. Recalls conflict over establishing an army research center (the Arroyo Center) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the early eighties. Comments on his relationship with provost R. E. Vogt during his division chairmanship. He discusses working with the electrochemists Lucien Gierst (Brussels, 1964) and Heinz Gerischer (Berlin, 1984). Recalls establishment of the Beckman Institute. Comments on the growth of Caltech and its divisions and the consequent increased pressure on the faculty and decline in collegiality. Recalls his various awards, including receiving an honorary doctorate from the Sorbonne in 1993.
2011-11
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/193/1/Anson_F._OHO.pdf
Anson, Fred (2011) Interview with Fred C. Anson. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Anson_F <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Anson_F>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Anson_F
CaltechOH:OH_Anson_F
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:205
2019-10-04T15:23:59Z
7374617475733D707562
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https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/205/
Interview with Norman R. Davidson
Davidson, Norman R.
Chemistry
All Records
Biology
An interview in three sessions, August and September 1987, with Norman R. Davidson, Chandler Professor of Chemical Biology, emeritus, in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. He received his BS (1937) and PhD (1941) from the University of Chicago and a BSc from the University of Oxford (1938). He came to Caltech as an instructor in 1946, becoming a full professor in 1957 and Chandler Professor in 1982.
He recalls growing up in Hyde Park, Chicago; his years at the university; his Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. Discusses his wartime work: with Anton Burg at USC; recruitment by Harold Urey for uranium isotope separation at Columbia; stint at University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory on the plutonium project under Glenn Seaborg. Postwar move to RCA Labs, Princeton, working on electron microscopy with James Hillier.
Recalls the chemistry division, Linus Pauling, and Robert A. Millikan, among others, during his early years at Caltech. His interest in organometallic chemistry, gas-phase reaction mechanisms, formation of complex ions in solution. Recalls serving on the Freshman Admissions Committee; designing flash-lamp photodissociation apparatus; work on dissociation by shock tubes with grad student Tucker Carrington. Growing interest in molecular biology; attending 1958 NIH biophysics conference, Boulder, CO; the evolution of chemical biology.
Discusses work of 1968 presidential search committee and Harold Brown’s selection; advocacy of an enriched humanities curriculum; his support for proposed affiliation with Immaculate Heart College. Recalls three of his outstanding postdocs/graduate students: James C. Wang, Phillip A. Sharp, Ronald W. Davis. Offers his views on Linus Pauling in an appendix.
2012
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/205/1/Davidson_OHO.pdf
Davidson, Norman R. (2012) Interview with Norman R. Davidson. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Davidson_N <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Davidson_N>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Davidson_N
CaltechOH:OH_Davidson_N
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:208
2019-10-04T15:23:59Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/208/
Interview with Aron Kuppermann
Kuppermann, Aron
All Records
Chemistry
Interview in five sessions (July-November 2001) with Aron Kuppermann, professor of chemistry, Caltech. Kuppermann, born in São Paulo, Brazil, discusses his family, childhood in New York City and São Paulo, and education. Degree in chemical engineering in 1948 and in civil engineering in 1952 from Escola Politecnica at the University of São Paulo. Joins faculty at Instituto Tecnólogico de Aeronáutica in São José dos Campos. Takes physics classes and first course in quantum mechanics with David Bohm. Marries Roza. Fellowship for study in theoretical chemistry and radiochemistry at the University of Edinburgh (1953), followed by graduate work at University of Notre Dame (with Milton Burton); PhD, 1955. Hired as assistant professor of chemistry at University of Illinois, Urbana; research into measuring triplet states of molecules; unimolecular decomposition processes; use of digital computer ILLIAC 1; calculating electronic properties of molecules (with Martin Karplus). Joins Caltech faculty in physical chemistry, 1963.
At Caltech oversees installation of new molecular beam machine brought from Illinois. Discussion of construction of Arthur Amos Noyes Laboratory for Chemical Physics and the chemistry division faculty from his early years: W. Robinson, H. Gray, J. H. Sturdivant, S. Chan, R. Badger, R. Pitzer, W. Goddard and B. V. McKoy. First classes in undergraduate physical chemistry and graduate course in statistical mechanics. First sabbatical (1968) spent at Weizmann Institute in Israel and FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics in Amsterdam. Upon return, research focused on quantum mechanical theory of chemical reactions. Granted use of big computer at Ambassador College with George Schatz. Experiments in electron scattering and mono-energetic reactions photoelectron spectroscopy. Interest develops in a more theoretical approach to problem solving.
Discusses extensive committee work and civic interests. Discusses involvement in joint American-Brazilian program, started by Carl Djerassi of Stanford, to encourage chemistry research in Brazil (1969-77). Consultant to World Bank loan projects for scientific laboratories in Brazil and, later, China and Mexico. Guest professor at Shandong University (1984). Executive board member of National Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure. Thirty-year involvement with Villa Esperanza, after daughter Sharon was born with Down syndrome. Talks about sociological changes at the institute. Students who are leaders in the field of quantum reaction dynamics: D. Truhlar, G. Schatz, and J. Bowman; plus J. Kaye at NASA. Philosophy about sabbaticals in aiding his scientific activity.
2012
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/208/10/Kuppermann%20OHO.pdf
Kuppermann, Aron (2012) Interview with Aron Kuppermann. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Kuppermann_A <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Kuppermann_A>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Kuppermann_A
CaltechOH:OH_Kuppermann_A
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:211
2019-10-04T15:24:00Z
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7375626A656374733D737562:61646D
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https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/211/
Interview with Lyman G. Bonner
Bonner, Lyman G.
All Records
Chemistry
Administration
An interview in two sessions in April 1989 with Lyman Bonner, who held several important positions in Caltech’s administration from 1965 to 1989. He and his brother James spent the academic year of 1929-1930 as Caltech undergraduates while their father was on sabbatical here from the University of Utah. Both returned to Utah and received BS degrees in chemistry, James in 1931 and Lyman in 1932. Both then returned to Caltech as graduate students: James received a PhD in biology, joining the Caltech faculty in 1936; Lyman received his PhD in chemistry in 1935 (the second of four Bonner brothers to earn Caltech PhDs) and went as a postdoc to Princeton, where he switched to physics. He then worked at Duke University with Hertha Sponer on infrared spectroscopy, joined the faculty, and taught physics there in the wartime V-12 program. He recalls those early academic years and his wartime work on rocket propellants at Allegany Ballistics Laboratory and later at Hercules, Inc., ending as director of development for its Chemical Propulsion Division in Bacchus, Utah.
He returned to Caltech in 1965 as director of foundation relations. Two years later, he became assistant to President Lee A. DuBridge for facilities planning and in 1968 became director of student relations. He describes the careers of his scientist siblings. He recalls the student activism led by undergraduate Joseph Rhodes and the moderate unrest at Caltech during the Vietnam War. Among his duties under President Harold Brown was oversight of the student Health Center; he discusses its history, as well as the admission of women beginning in 1970. In 1977, he became registrar, holding that post until his retirement in 1989.
1989
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/211/1/Bonner%2C_L._OHO.pdf
Bonner, Lyman G. (1989) Interview with Lyman G. Bonner. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Bonner_L <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Bonner_L>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Bonner_L
CaltechOH:OH_Bonner_L
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:213
2019-10-04T15:24:00Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/213/
Interview with Ernest H. Swift
Swift, Ernest H.
All Records
Chemistry
An interview in four sessions, in April and May 1978, with Ernest H. Swift, professor of analytical chemistry, emeritus, in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Dr. Swift received his undergraduate education at Randolph-Macon College and the University of Virginia. He came to Caltech, then Throop College of Technology, as a teaching fellow in 1919 and received his PhD there in 1924. He joined the faculty in 1928, serving as chairman of the chemistry division from 1958 to1963, and became emeritus in 1967.
In this wide-ranging interview, he recalls his upbringing in Virginia, his undergraduate education, and his recruitment to Throop by Arthur Amos Noyes. He discusses Noyes’s influence on the development both of Caltech and its chemistry division and describes the early years of the institute, the establishment of the Kerckhoff Marine Laboratory at Corona del Mar, and the contributions of various colleagues, including Stuart Bates, Roscoe Dickinson, James Ellis, William Lacey, and Earnest Watson. Comments on the admission of women, and on playing tennis at Caltech. He discusses Linus Pauling’s chairmanship of the chemistry division, the reactions to Pauling’s political activities, and Pauling’s eventual departure from Caltech. Recalls John D. Roberts’s division chairmanship and his own stint as chairman. Comments on the presidencies of Robert A. Millikan, Lee A. DuBridge, and Harold Brown. The concluding session deals with his own work, including his work on chemical warfare in the run-up to World War II, and he ends with an overview and recap of the chemistry division’s history.
1980
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/213/1/Swift%2C_Ernest_OHO.pdf
Swift, Ernest H. (1980) Interview with Ernest H. Swift. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Swift_E <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Swift_E>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Swift_E
CaltechOH:OH_Swift_E
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:220
2019-10-04T15:24:01Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D737562:6D617468
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/220/
Interview with Sidney Weinbaum
Weinbaum, Sidney
Chemistry
Mathematics
All Records
An interview in August 1985 with Sidney Weinbaum, Caltech PhD (1933), a mathematician who was a research fellow in Linus Pauling’s laboratory in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in the 1930s and worked from 1946 to 1949 with Pol Duwez at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 1950, Weinbaum was arrested for perjury (regarding his alleged membership in the Communist Party) and for “abetting” Party activities. He was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison. In this interview, he recalls his childhood in the Ukraine; his undergraduate years at Caltech (1922-1924); and his work for Pauling. He recalls various friends in the Caltech community, his interests in chess and music, his political activism. He discusses his war work for Bendix Aviation and Curtiss-Wright Research Laboratory; his return to Pasadena after the war to work for JPL; his interrogation by the FBI; his arrest and trial; the support or lack of it from various friends and Caltech faculty; his life in prison; and his release and subsequent happy life with his second wife, Betty.
1985
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/220/1/Weinbaum%20OHO.pdf
Weinbaum, Sidney (1985) Interview with Sidney Weinbaum. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Weinbaum_S <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Weinbaum_S>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Weinbaum_S
CaltechOH:OH_Weinbaum_S
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:239
2021-04-22T16:26:18Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/239/
Interview with Dana L. Roth
Roth, Dana L.
Chemistry
All Records
An interview in four sessions, January and February 2014, with longtime Caltech chemistry librarian Dana L. Roth.
Roth received his undergraduate education at Pasadena City College and UCLA (BS in chemistry, 1962). In 1965, he received master’s degrees in chemistry from Caltech and in library science from UCLA; that summer, he became Caltech’s chemistry librarian. After consolidation of Caltech’s division libraries in Millikan Library in 1967, he undertook various administrative responsibilities at Millikan over the years, along with his continuing duties as chemistry librarian. Active in the chemistry division of the Special Libraries Association. In 2008, inducted into the SLA Hall of Fame. That year he also received the Thomas W. Schmitt Staff Prize, presented to a Caltech staff member whose contributions “embody the values and spirit that enable the institute to achieve excellence in research and education.” Retired April 2013.
In this interview he discusses his initial education as a chemist, including his graduate education at Caltech, and his switch to library science. He traces the development of library science in general and at Caltech—from the card-catalog days to the growth of the electronic Caltech Library system and the present state of online access and databases.
2016
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/239/1/Roth%2C%20Dana%2C%20OHO%20new.pdf
Roth, Dana L. (2016) Interview with Dana L. Roth. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Roth_D <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Roth_D>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Roth_D
CaltechOH:OH_Roth_D
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:243
2019-10-04T15:24:06Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/243/
Interviews with Harry Barkus Gray
Gray, Harry B.
Chemistry
All Records
Two interviews in seven and six sessions respectively, with Harry Gray, the Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry. The first series of interviews, conducted in 2000-01 with Shirley Cohen, deals with Gray’s life and career up to that time. The second series, conducted in 2016 with Heidi Aspaturian, covers the period 2001–2016, expands on a number of topics discussed in the first interview series, and adds to the account of Gray’s earlier decades. Discussion topics common to the two interviews are cross-referenced in both texts.
2000–01 INTERVIEW
Gray opens this interview series with a description of his family roots and formative years in Kentucky’s tobacco-farming country, including his youthful career with the local newspaper and early interest in chemistry. He then provides an account of his undergraduate studies at Western Kentucky State College (BS 1957), graduate work with F. Basolo and R. Pearson at Northwestern University (PhD 1960), and postdoctoral work with C. Ballhausen at the University of Copenhagen, where he pioneered the development of ligand field theory. As a professor at Columbia University, he continued work at the frontiers of inorganic chemistry, published several books and, through an affiliation with Rockefeller University, was drawn to interdisciplinary research, which led him to accept a faculty position at Caltech in 1966. He talks about his approach to teaching and his research in inorganic chemistry and electron transfer at Caltech, his interactions with numerous Caltech personalities, including A. Beckman, G. Hammond, A. Kuppermann, J. Labinger, R. Marcus, L. Pauling, and J. Roberts, his efforts to revamp the undergraduate curriculum, and his tenure as chair of the chemistry and chemical engineering division. He discusses the vision for and construction of the Beckman Institute, its multidisciplinary programs, and his tenure as the facility’s founding director (1986–2001). The interview concludes with Gray’s assessment of chemistry’s key advances over the previous thirty years and predictions for the future.
2016 INTERVIEW
In this follow-up to his 2000–01 interview, Gray elaborates on his family history and youthful interests, including his early fascination with the chemistry of color, his first patent at age eighteen, and his rapid rise through the ranks of his hometown newspaper in Bowling Green, Kentucky, capped by a front-page interview with a very young Elvis Presley. He describes his experiences growing up in the segregated South and his father’s controversial stance in support of school integration in the 1950s. He talks at length about his years as chairman of Caltech’s chemistry and chemical engineering division (CChE), particularly his experiences recruiting future Nobel laureates R. Grubbs, R. Marcus, and A. Zewail onto the faculty and his interactions with Caltech administrators, trustees, and donors. There is extensive discussion of his somewhat unorthodox but highly successful approach to teaching and mentoring undergraduates, as well as recollections of his involvement with the Caltech theater arts program and student pranks. He discusses his solar and alternative energy research and his work over the last decade with “Gray’s Solar Army,” a worldwide network of students engaged in testing potential catalysts for solar cells. He shares his perspectives on chemistry as “the 21st century science,” details his current research into electron transfer and redox reactions, and comments on his relationship with a succession of Caltech administrators. A look back at his professional awards, including a 1986 White House visit to receive the National Medal of Science, and his thoughts on how chemistry and Caltech have evolved in the last fifty years round out this interview. This interview is partially restricted. Per agreement between Professor Gray and the Caltech Archives, dated April 2017, portions of the manuscript are closed for ten years. Closed portions are clearly marked in the transcript.
2017
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/243/1/Gray_OHO.pdf
Gray, Harry B. (2017) Interviews with Harry Barkus Gray. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Gray_H <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Gray_H>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Gray_H
CaltechOH:OH_Gray_H
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:247
2019-10-04T15:24:07Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:706879
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/247/
Interview with Ahmed Zewail
Zewail, Ahmed
Chemistry
All Records
Physics
Interview in seven sessions (June-November 2015) with Ahmed Zewail, Linus Pauling Professor of Chemistry and professor of physics, and 1999 Nobel laureate in chemistry. Zewail talks at length about growing up on the banks of the Nile in Desouk, Egypt, describing family and cultural influences, and the interplay of education, politics, and faith during his youth and adolescence. He recalls his early “passion” for knowledge and fascination with science, and the moderate, “intellectually rich” Islam of his day. He talks about his studies at the University of Alexandria (BSc ’67, MSc ’69), the stimulating intellectual and socially tolerant environment there, his designation as a “special” (outstanding) student majoring in chemistry, and his determination to pursue a doctorate in the United States. He recalls his adjustment to life in America, both at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his PhD in 1974 with R. Hochstrasser, and as a postdoc at UC Berkeley, where molecular dynamics research with C. Harris set the stage for his future forays into laser-based femtoscience. He recalls turning down numerous academic jobs, including one proffered by S. Hussein in Iraq, to accept a faculty position at Caltech in 1976. He traces the decade of work that led in 1987 to the first direct observations of the making and breaking of chemical bonds, including collaborative work with R. Bernstein and the crucial role of Caltech institutional support. He recalls traveling to Saudi Arabia and Israel to receive the King Faisal and Wolf Prizes respectively and the circumstances surrounding the announcement of the Nobel Prize in 1999 and its aftermath. Zewail talks about the Nobel’s impact on his personal and professional life, including his involvement in public policy, global educational initiatives, and commitment to advancing science education in Egypt, and discusses his post-Nobel 4D electron microscopy research and the establishment of Caltech’s Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology. He recalls discussions with then-Egyptian president H. Mubarak that ultimately led to the founding of Zewail City and touches briefly on his involvement in the 2011 Egyptian Spring. He offers his thoughts on personalities who influenced his life and career, including the iconic Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum and numerous members of the Caltech community. The oral history concludes with a retrospective on his 40 years at Caltech.
Occasional references in this oral history to a memoir or autobiography refer to Voyage through Time: Walks of Life to the Nobel Prize, by Ahmed Zewail, American University in Cairo Press, 2002.
2017
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/247/1/Zewail%20OHOl%20%286.5.2017%29.pdf
Zewail, Ahmed (2017) Interview with Ahmed Zewail. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Zewail_A <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Zewail_A>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Zewail_A
CaltechOH:OH_Zewail_A
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:253
2019-10-04T15:24:08Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/253/
Interview with Richard E. Marsh
Marsh, Marsh R. E.
Chemistry
All Records
An interview on November 7, 1997, with crystallographer Richard E. Marsh, senior research associate, emeritus, in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Dr. Marsh received his BS in chemistry from Caltech in 1943 and his PhD from UCLA in 1950. He came to Caltech that year as a research fellow, to work under Linus Pauling. He continued in crystallographic research at Caltech for the remainder of his career.
In this interview he discusses his father’s stint as a speechwriter for Franklin D. Roosevelt; the family’s move to Redlands, California; his undergraduate years at Caltech; and his subsequent naval service (1943-1946). He recalls his year of postwar graduate work at Tulane, where he studied crystallography with Rose C. L. Mooney, and his transfer to UCLA for his PhD with James McCullough. Recollections of postdoc with Linus Pauling, working with David Shoemaker, Edward W. Hughes, Jerry Donohue, Verner Schomaker, Robert B. Corey. Pauling and Corey’s paper on possible DNA structure; “overblown” competition with James Watson and Francis Crick. His work with Corey on small-molecule biological crystallography. Lavish government funding of sciences after the war. Pauling’s profligate hiring. Remarks on his work, which continued in his emeritus status. Remarks on undergraduate life at Caltech in the early forties: Officer “Fig” Newton; intramural tackle football.
2002
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/253/1/Marsh%20OHO.pdf
Marsh, Marsh R. E. (2002) Interview with Richard E. Marsh. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Marsh_R <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Marsh_R>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Marsh_R
CaltechOH:OH_Marsh_R
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:259
2019-10-04T15:24:09Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/259/
Interview with Verner F. H. Schomaker
Schomaker, Verner F. H.
Chemistry
An interview in four sessions in February 1993 with the physical chemist Verner F. H. Schomaker, professor emeritus at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Schomaker received his BS (1934) and MS (1935) from the University of Nebraska and his PhD (1938) from Caltech. He remained at Caltech, in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, as a George Ellery Hale Fellow (1938-40), senior research fellow (1940-45), assistant professor (1945-46), associate professor (1946-50), and professor (1950-58), before leaving to join Union Carbide’s research division. In 1965, he moved to the University of Washington, where he chaired the Department of Chemistry for five years. He died in Pasadena, on March 30, 1997.
In this interview, he describes the Caltech milieu in the 1930s; his graduate work with Donald Yost; and the operation of the chemistry division under Linus Pauling (1937-1957). Discusses his own work in electron diffraction and collaboration with such colleagues as Jürg Waser, William Lipscomb, David Shoemaker, Roy Glauber, Kenneth Trueblood, and Richard Marsh; his work for Union Carbide; and his eventual move to the University of Washington. Comments on Pauling’s career at Caltech, his deep insight, his wide-ranging interests, his political activism, and his eventual departure from Caltech.
1998
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/259/7/SchomakerOHO.pdf
Schomaker, Verner F. H. (1998) Interview with Verner F. H. Schomaker. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Schomaker_V <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Schomaker_V>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Schomaker_V
CaltechOH:OH_Schomaker_V
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:286
2019-10-04T15:24:16Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/286/
Interview with Joseph B. Koepfli
Koepfli, Joseph B.
Chemistry
All Records
An interview in four sessions, October and November 1983, with Joseph B. Koepfli, research associate in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (1932-1971). Dr. Koepfli received a BA and MA from Stanford and a D.Phil. from Oxford (1928).
In this wide-ranging interview he talks about his scientific work on isoquinoline alkaloids, plant physiology, and antimalarial drugs; his time at Oxford in the Dyson-Perrins laboratories; his arrival at and subsequent impressions of Caltech; and his extensive career as a scientific consultant to the U. S. government in various capacities.
Along the way, he recalls many Caltech and other scientific colleagues, particularly Linus Pauling and Pauling’s political troubles. He details his work as science advisor to the State Department in the early1950s and the opposition he encountered from ideologues of the McCarthy era. Later he chaired a NATO task force on science and technology; he ended his public career in the 1960s, as a member of UNESCO’s National Commission. He concludes the interview with comments on the establishment of the Koepfli Fund for Caltech and the importance of providing a broad education in the humanities for young scientists.
1985
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/286/1/Koepfli%2C%20OHO_Final.pdf
Koepfli, Joseph B. (1985) Interview with Joseph B. Koepfli. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Koepfli_J <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Koepfli_J>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Koepfli_J
CaltechOH:OH_Koepfli_J
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:296
2021-08-06T21:42:26Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/296/
Interview with Edward W. Hughes
Hughes, Edward W.
Chemistry
All Records
An interview in November 1979, with Edward W. Hughes, senior research associate in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. BS, Cornell, 1924; PhD, 1935. 1938, becomes research fellow at Caltech, working with Linus Pauling; teaches war-training courses. Postwar work for Shell Development Company; returns to Caltech as research associate in 1946.
He recalls the early days of crystallography in the U.S.; his good fortune to work with Sir Lawrence Bragg while still at Cornell; later work at Caltech with Pauling; defense of alpha helix before the Royal Society. Leeds lectureship. Discusses Pauling’s part in the eventual discovery of DNA structure; Pauling’s sponsorship of 1957 U.N. petition against nuclear testing. Recalls arrival of women as graduate students at Caltech. He concludes with remarks on his current writing, on his wife’s secretarial work for Pauling and as head of Chem Wives; and his participation on the chemistry division’s safety committee.
1984
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/296/1/Hughes%2C%20Edward_OHO.pdf
Hughes, Edward W. (1984) Interview with Edward W. Hughes. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Hughes_E <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Hughes_E>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Hughes_E
CaltechOH:OH_Hughes_E
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:303
2021-08-23T19:22:08Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:63616C746563685F776F6D656E735F636C7562
7375626A656374733D737562:6368656D
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/303/
Interview with Elizabeth Allen Swift
Allen Swift, Elizabeth
Caltech Women's Club
Chemistry
All Records
An interview in January and February 1978 with Elizabeth Allen Swift, wife of Ernest H. Swift, instructor of analytical chemistry, 1920-1926, receiving his PhD from Caltech in 1924; professor of analytical chemistry, 1928-1967 and chair of the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Division, 1958-1963.
2021
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/303/1/Swift%2C%20Elizabeth%20Allen_OHO%20%28final%29.pdf
Allen Swift, Elizabeth (2021) Interview with Elizabeth Allen Swift. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Swift_E_CWC <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Swift_E_CWC>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Swift_E_CWC
CaltechOH:OH_Swift_E_CWC