2024-03-28T12:33:25Z
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/cgi/oai2
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:22
2019-10-04T15:23:32Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D737562:62696F
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/22/
Interview with Norman H. Horowitz
Horowitz, Norman
All Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Biology
Interview, 1984, with Norman Horowitz, professor of biology emeritus and former chairman of the Biology Division (1977-1980), who arrived at Caltech as a graduate student in 1936. Recollections of Thomas Hunt Morgan; embryologist Albert Tyler, with whom he did his PhD; Caltech's marine biological station at Corona del Mar. Comments on Biology Division in the late 1930s: Calvin Bridges on Drosophila salivary chromosomes; Frits Went and James Bonner in plant physiology; Henry Borsook on thermodynamics of biological compounds. Importance of genetics at Caltech. NRC fellowship, 1939, at Stanford and meeting George W. Beadle; recollections of Beadle, and Beadle's 1941 talk at Caltech on his and Edward Tatum's work on Neurospora. Horowitz returns to Stanford as postdoc in Beadle and Tatum's lab, compiling evidence for the "one gene, one enzyme" theory. Returns to Caltech in 1946 as senior research fellow with Beadle, who came as division chairman. Instrumental in getting Max Delbrück back to Caltech from Vanderbilt University. Lee DuBridge arrives as Caltech's president in 1946. 1954 work with Boris Ephrussi on Drosophila tyrosinase in Paris. Becomes chief of bioscience section, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1965. Comments on history of Mars observations and ideas about microbial life on Mars at time of first Viking (Mars) launch, 1975. Designs Viking instruments with George Hobby and Jerry Hubbard. Comments on Roy Cameron's search for bacteria in dry valleys of Antarctica and on spacecraft sterilization. Later work with Neurospora, Aspergillus, and Penicillium on water and iron requirements. Comments on Robert Sinsheimer, his predecessor as Biology Division chairman, and on presidencies of DuBridge, Harold Brown, and Marvin L. Goldberger. Comments on current trends in Biology Division, and on the book he is writing about the search for life on Mars, and his conviction that Earth is the only place in the solar system that supports life.
1987-01-01
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/22/1/OH_Horowitz_N.pdf
Horowitz, Norman (1987) Interview with Norman H. Horowitz. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Horowitz_N <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Horowitz_N>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Horowitz_N
CaltechOH:OH_Horowitz_N
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:86
2019-10-04T15:23:39Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:706879
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D737562:617374
7375626A656374733D737562:656E67
7375626A656374733D737562:61646D
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/86/
Interview with William H. Pickering (II)
Pickering, William H.
Physics
All Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Astronomy
Engineering
Administration
This 2003 interview with William H. Pickering, in two sessions, contains his further recollections of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's early involvement with the US Army and missile development, followed by JPL's transformation into a NASA laboratory with a focus on exploration of the solar system. The interview begins with an account of his return to the small town in New Zealand where he grew up, to attend dedication of a memorial to himself and Ernest Rutherford, who attended the same primary school; he is also honored at Christchurch and Auckland. Additional recollections of JPL's collaboration with Wernher von Braun; of the first flight of Sputnik; Caltech's early work in rocketry; development and production of the Corporal missile. Awarded the National Medal of Science in 1975. Trip to Japan in 1994 to receive the Japan Prize. Further discussion of his work establishing an applied research institute in Saudi Arabia in the late 1970s; his later relationship with it. Establishment of Pickering Research, a consulting business, after retiring as director of JPL in 1976; consulting for the Electrical Power Research Institute after Three-Mile Island incident in 1979; contract in 1980s to help mainland China set up computer systems for its satellite program. The interview concludes with an account of his recent involvement in the sawdust-pellet (alternative fuels) business.
2003
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/86/1/OH_Pickering_2.pdf
Pickering, William H. (2003) Interview with William H. Pickering (II). [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Pickering_2 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Pickering_2>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Pickering_2
CaltechOH:OH_Pickering_2
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:87
2019-10-04T15:23:39Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:706879
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D737562:617374
7375626A656374733D737562:656E67
7375626A656374733D737562:61646D
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/87/
Interview with William H. Pickering (I)
Pickering, William H.
Physics
All Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Astronomy
Engineering
Administration
Interview in four sessions in 1978 with William Hayward Pickering, professor emeritus of electrical engineering at Caltech and director (1954-1976) of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, begins with recollections of his upbringing in New Zealand. He enters Caltech as an undergraduate in spring term of 1929: influence of A. A. Noyes; travels in Europe during his junior year. Remains at Caltech as a graduate student in electrical engineering and then joins the faculty. Recollections of life at Caltech during the Depression and the war years, including emphasis on power transmission in its electrical engineering department, under Royal Sorensen, and subsequent expanding into electronics. Recalls his work with H. Victor Neher and R. A. Millikan on balloon-flight studies of cosmic rays; travels with them to India and Mexico. Contrasts leadership of Millikan and Lee A. DuBridge. Comments on barrage of Japanese incendiary balloons during the war. Early history of JPL: Theodore von Karman, H. S. Tsien, Frank J. Malina. Long-range missile development for US Army; JPL's collaboration with Wernher von Braun at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Ala. Advent of Sputnik (1957); competition with Soviet Union. JPL's move into space program with Explorer 1, first US satellite; establishment of NASA (1958); JPL becomes a NASA lab, administered by Caltech. Ranger program (lunar probes); Ranger 6 video failure; success of Ranger 7 (1964). Simultaneous progress of planetary and lunar exploration programs; Mariner 2 (1962 Venus fly-by); Surveyor series (moon); Surveyor as precursor to Apollo program. His reflections on JPL directorship; JPL's relations with Caltech; advantages of being administered by Caltech instead of by NASA as a civil service laboratory. The interview concludes with his comments on his post-retirement work setting up an applied research institute at Saudi Arabia's University of Petroleum and Minerals.
1981
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/87/1/OH_Pickering_1.pdf
Pickering, William H. (1981) Interview with William H. Pickering (I). [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Pickering_1 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Pickering_1>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Pickering_1
CaltechOH:OH_Pickering_1
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:94
2019-10-04T15:23:40Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:706879
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D737562:617374
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/94/
Interview with William A. Fowler
Fowler, William A.
Physics
All Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Astronomy
Interview conducted in eight sessions between May 1983 and May 1984 with Willy Fowler, Nobel laureate and Institute Professor of Physics, emeritus. In a career in nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics that spanned more that sixty years, Fowler was primarily concerned with nucleosynthesis--that is, the creation of the heavy elements by the fusion of the nuclei of lighter elements. In 1957, with Fred Hoyle and Geoffrey and Margaret Burbidge, Fowler coauthored the seminal paper "Synthesis of the Elements in the Stars," now known as B2FH. In it, they showed that all the elements from carbon to uranium could be produced by nuclear processes in stars starting only with the light elements produced in the Big Bang. In the interview, Fowler discusses his early education as a physicist at Ohio State; his work with Charles C. and Tommy Lauritsen at Caltech's Kellogg Radiation Laboratory; the history of nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics at Caltech; and the evolution of nucleosynthesis. There are recollections of many of his mentors and colleagues, including Robert A. Millikan, Hans Bethe, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Lauritsens, Fred Hoyle, the Burbidges, Jesse Greenstein, A. G. W. Cameron, Richard P. Feynman, and H. P. Robertson. A 1986 Supplement contains an interview on Fowler's work for the Naval Bureau of Ordnance and the Manhattan Project during the Second World War.
1986
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/94/1/OH_Fowler_W.pdf
Fowler, William A. (1986) Interview with William A. Fowler. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Fowler_W <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Fowler_W>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Fowler_W
CaltechOH:OH_Fowler_W
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:105
2019-10-04T15:23:43Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D737562:656E67
7375626A656374733D737562:61646D
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/105/
Interview with Victor V. Veysey
Veysey, Victor
All Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Engineering
Administration
Interview in three sessions in 1993 and 1994 with Victor V. Veysey, director of Caltech's Industrial Relations Center and lecturer in business economics, 1977-1983, and Caltech alumnus (BS, 1936). He discusses his growing up in Los Angeles and Brawley (Imperial Valley), California; education at Caltech in civil engineering, then MBA at Harvard. Joins staff of Caltech's newly established Industrial Relations Center (IRC) in 1939. After outbreak of World War II he is assigned to management duties within Caltech's rocket project under leadership of Earnest Watson; involved in retrorocket, High Velocity Aircraft Rocket (HVAR), and barrage rocket programs for the navy. Concerned in later stages of the war with transfer of Caltech wartime personnel to Aerojet Corporation, the navy, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Involvement with Project Camel (atomic bomb housing) as assistant to Trevor Gardner. In postwar period Veysey returns to ranching in Brawley and enters local and state politics; eventually elected to California legislature (1962) and the US Congress (1970). Appointed assistant secretary of the army for civil works by President Ford in 1974. Returns to Caltech as director of the IRC, 1977; recalls IRC colleagues Robert Gray and Arthur Young, their innovative projects. Further comments on living and working in Sacramento and Washington, DC.
1994
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/105/1/OHO_Veysey_V.pdf
Veysey, Victor (1994) Interview with Victor V. Veysey. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Veysey_V <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Veysey_V>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Veysey_V
CaltechOH:OH_Veysey_V
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:117
2019-10-04T15:23:45Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:706879
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D737562:656E67
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/117/
Interview with William B. Bridges
Bridges, William B.
Physics
All Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Engineering
An interview in three sessions, in May and June 2001, and an Addendum, March 2004, with William B. Bridges, Carl F. Braun Professor of Engineering in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science. Dr. Bridges received his undergraduate and graduate education at the University of California at Berkeley (BS in electrical engineering, 1956; MS, 1957; PhD, 1962). At Berkeley in graduate school, he worked with John Whinnery and Charles K. (Ned) Birdsall on microwave vacuum tubes. He recalls that work and comments on its military applications. He then went to Hughes Research Laboratories (now HRL Laboratories LLC), for which he still is a consultant. Recalls gas laser work in the early 1960s at HRL and Bell Laboratories and the development of the argon-ion laser. In 1977 he joined the Caltech faculty with a joint appointment in electrical engineering and applied physics, while continuing to consult at Hughes. At Caltech he began working on laser isotope separation and later on far-infrared lasers. He discusses his various graduate students in electrical engineering; his colleagues John Pierce, Hardy Martel, Robert Cannon, Roy Gould, and Sverre Eng; his part in developing an undergraduate option in electrical engineering and in building up that department; his work as executive officer for electrical engineering (1978-1981). Recalls his visiting professorship at the University of Göteborg, Sweden, summer 1989; technical advisor and board member of Uniphase Corporation, a fiber-optic-communications company (now JDS Uniphase) in the 1980s and 1990s. Comments on the difficulties faced by women in engineering and his establishment of a chapter of the Society of Women Engineers at Caltech. Discusses his involvement with Caltech's Program in Advanced Technologies in partnership with TRW, Aerojet, General Motors, and GTE. Concludes the interview with his recollections of Caltech President Marvin L. (Murph) Goldberger's attempt to set up a study center at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the U.S. Army (the Arroyo Center) and his recollections of Goldberger's successor as president, Thomas E. Everhart, whom Bridges knew from Hughes and Berkeley.
The Addendum to the interview concerns Bridges's marriage to Linda J. McManus.
2004
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/117/1/OH_Bridges_W.pdf
Bridges, William B. (2004) Interview with William B. Bridges. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Bridges_W <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Bridges_W>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Bridges_W
CaltechOH:OH_Bridges_W
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:124
2012-12-26T07:05:05Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:67656F
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D737562:617374
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/124/
Interview with Andrew P. Ingersoll
Ingersoll, Andrew P.
Geology
All Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Astronomy
Interview in two sessions conducted by Sara Lippincott in 2004 with Andrew P. Ingersoll, Earle C. Anthony Professor of Planetary Science at the California Institute of Technology. Discusses parents' social activism in the 1930s. His youth and education at Amherst College (B.A. physics, 1960) and Harvard University (M.A. physics, 1961; PhD 1966); his early interest in atmospheres, oceans and meteorology; working with A. Arons and H. Stommel at Woods Hole on ocean acoustics. Recruited to Caltech in 1966 in planetary science; early atmospheric studies of Venus, Jupiter (Great Red Spot) and Mars; collaborates with G. Munch and G. Neugebauer. Involvement with NASA's Pioneer 11 and Voyager imaging team at JPL; results of Voyager's "Grand Tour" of Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; his theories on winds and turbulence in outer space. The Shoemaker-Levy comet, Hubble Space Telescope observations, and Jupiter's effect on protecting the Earth from comets. Works with the Soviet Venera space program on Venus' atmosphere; visit to the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Galileo and photographing Jupiter's atmosphere; Europa lander to study its subterranean ocean. Discusses recent evidence of water on Mars, terraforming Mars, and colonizing planets. Concludes with administrative work at Caltech: Executive officer for planetary sciences (1987-1994); G. Wasserburg as division head (1987-1988); Caltech committees; Caltech's core curriculum and the need for greater emphasis on research time. Teaching atmospheric dynamics; discussion of global warming; research in oceanography and the precession of the equinoxes.
2006
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/124/1/Ingersoll_OHO.pdf
Ingersoll, Andrew P. (2006) Interview with Andrew P. Ingersoll. [Oral History] ttp://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Ingersoll_A <ttp://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Ingersoll_A>
ttp://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Ingersoll_A
CaltechOH:OH_Ingersoll_A
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:129
2019-10-04T15:23:47Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:706879
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D737562:617374
7375626A656374733D737562:61646D
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/129/
Interview with Robert F. Christy
Christy, Robert F.
Physics
All Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Astronomy
Administration
Robert F. Christy was born in Vancouver in 1916, received his undergraduate education at the University of British Columbia, and took his Ph.D. degree with J. Robert Oppenheimer at Berkeley in 1941. He was an early participant on the Manhattan Project, working with Enrico Fermi at the Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago on the first atomic pile. In 1943 he went to Los Alamos as a member of the Theoretical Division under Hans Bethe, where he devised what came to be known as the Christy bomb, or the Christy gadget--the plutonium implosion device tested at Alamogordo on July 16, 1945.
After the war he returned briefly to the University of Chicago, where he and his wife shared living quarters for a time with Edward Teller and his wife. Caltech was then seeking to build up its theoretical physics faculty, and Oppenheimer, who was teaching there part time, recommended that the institute hire Christy. In 1946 Christy accepted Caltech's offer of an associate professorship. He worked chiefly on the application of theory to cosmic-ray experiments in particle physics, later moving into nuclear physics and astrophysics, including important work in the 1960s on the pulsations of RR Lyrae stars, which are similar to but smaller than the Cepheid variables used as cosmic yardsticks. In 1967 this work earned Christy the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society.
In 1970, Christy became Caltech's provost, a post he held for the next ten years. After Caltech president Harold Brown left to join the Carter Administration as Secretary of Defense in 1977, Christy was also acting president of the institute, until the advent of Marvin L. (Murph) Goldberger a year later. In the mid-1980s he became a member of the National Research Council's Committee on Dosimetry, which investigated the radiation effects of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs.
In the interview Christy recalls his childhood in British Columbia; his undergraduate years at the University of British Columbia; his graduate work with J. Robert Oppenheimer at Berkeley; and his work on the Manhattan Project, first with Enrico Fermi at the Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago and then as a member of the Theoretical Division at Los Alamos. He recounts his wartime work on the critical assembly for the plutonium bomb ("the Christy bomb"); the Alamogordo test, July 16, 1945; the postwar concerns of ALAS (Association of Los Alamos Scientists); his brief return to the University of Chicago and move to Caltech; friendship with and later alienation from Edward Teller; work with Charles and Tommy Lauritsen and William A. Fowler in Caltech's Kellogg Radiation Laboratory; Freeman Dyson's Orion Project; work on the meson and RR Lyrae stars; fellowship at Cambridge University; 1950s Vista Project at Caltech; his opposition to the Strategic Defense Initiative; and his post-retirement work for the National Research Council's Committee on Dosimetry and on inertial-confinement fusion.
1998
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/129/1/OH_Christy_R.pdf
Christy, Robert F. (1998) Interview with Robert F. Christy. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Christy_R <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Christy_R>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Christy_R
CaltechOH:OH_Christy_R
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:149
2019-10-04T15:23:50Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D737562:656E67
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/149/
Interview with Frank J. Malina
Malina, Frank J.
All Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Engineering
Interview in one session with Mary Terrell, December 14, 1978. Frank J. Malina was research fellow (1940-1942) and assistant professor of aeronautics (1942-1946) at the California Institute of Technology. The interview begins with his arrival at Caltech as a graduate student in 1934 to begin a master's degree in mechanical engineering (MS, 1935). He then undertook a second master's in the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory, known as GALCIT and then under the direction of Theodore von Kármán. Writes PhD dissertation ("Characteristics of the rocket motor and flight analyses of the sounding rocket," 1940) on rocket propulsion under Von Kármán, marking the beginning of a long-term relationship with Kármán, who became "a second father." Formation of rocket propulsion research group with William Bollay of Caltech and two men outside Caltech, Jack (John) Parsons and Edward Forman; later involvement of others at Caltech. Early rocket experiments on campus in Guggenheim create hazard, resulting in move to Pasadena's Arroyo Seco; group named "the suicide squad." Early funding provided by Army Air Corps, 1939. Malina recalls open, permissive atmosphere in GALCIT. Support of Robert A. Millikan and Irving P. Krick for rocket development for meteorological research; skepticism of Clark B. Millikan, who later becomes more supportive. Rocket group becomes known as Jet Propulsion Laboratory, GALCIT. Malina comments on relationship of the group, later known as JPL, to Caltech; administrative changes and tensions upon Von Kármán's departure and promotion of Clark Millikan to GALCIT leadership; Malina makes day-to-day decisions at the lab. Establishment in 1942 of Aerojet Engineering Corporation to engage with aerospace industry; resistance of both Caltech and Army Air Corps to this venture. Success of Aerojet; Malina's financial gain.
Christmas, 1946, Malina departs for initial leave of absence to work for UNESCO in Paris; never returns to Caltech. Discusses reasons for change; eventual decision to pursue artistic career; interest in kinetic art. Founding of art journal Leonardo. After launch of Sputnik, founding with Von Kármán of International Academy of Astronautics. Discusses international cooperation in science. Comments on early skepticism about intercontinental missiles and satellites; key paper 1946 with Martin Summerfield on rocket escape from Earth's atmosphere. Failure of Americans to think creatively about space at that time, despite technology at hand; Russian thinking different, leading to 1957 launch of first satellite. Concluding comments on living in Paris, travel, the relationship of art and science.
1980
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/149/1/Malina.pdf
Malina, Frank J. (1980) Interview with Frank J. Malina. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Malina_F <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Malina_F>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Malina_F
CaltechOH:OH_Malina_F
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:163
2019-10-04T15:23:52Z
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https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/163/
Interview with Michael Werner
Werner, Michael
Physics
All Records
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Astronomy
Interview on July 25, 2008, with infrared astronomer Michael Werner, project scientist for the Spitzer Space Telescope. Dr. Werner received his BS from Haverford in 1963 and his PhD from Cornell in 1969 under M. Harwit. As a postdoc with C. H. Townes at UC Berkeley 1969-1972, he performed early infrared studies of the cosmic microwave background with P. L. Richards and J. Mather. Taught physics at Caltech 1972-1979 and worked on the Kuiper Airborne Observatory. Began working on SIRTF [Shuttle Infrared Telescope Facility] in 1977, first at NASA's Ames Research Center and after 1990 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dr. Werner discusses the history of infrared astronomy and the evolution of SIRTF into the Spitzer Space Telescope. He remarks on its discoveries since its August 2003 launch, including the bar at the center of our galaxy, the characteristics of extrasolar planetary atmospheres, and the discovery of numerous large galaxies in the early universe. Recalls his appointment as George Darwin lecturer at the Royal Astronomical Society. Comments on upcoming observatory launches by NASA and the European Space Agency.
2009
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/163/1/OH_Werner.pdf
Werner, Michael (2009) Interview with Michael Werner. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Werner_M <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Werner_M>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Werner_M
CaltechOH:OH_Werner_M
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:203
2019-10-04T15:23:58Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:706879
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/203/
Interview with Lew Allen, Jr.
Allen, Lew Jr.
Physics
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
All Records
An interview in four sessions, in June and July 1991 and March and April 1994, with Lew Allen, Jr., former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1982-1990) during a period that included the launches of Galileo to Jupiter, Magellan to Venus, and IRAS, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, as well as Voyager 2’s Uranus and Neptune flybys.
He recalls matriculation at West Point in 1943, receiving flight training, graduating in 1946. Four years in the Strategic Air Command studying nuclear weapons projects, then graduate school at the University of Illinois; PhD in nuclear physics, 1954. Assigned to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (1954-1957); participates in bomb tests at Bikini, Eniwetok, and Nevada. Assigned to weapons development at Kirtland Air Force Base. Joins Office of Space Technology (1961-1965) in the Directorate of Defense Research and Engineering, under Harold Brown. To Office of Special Projects (again under Brown, now secretary of the air force) in Los Angeles, works on satellites (1965-1973). To CIA as deputy under James Schlesinger; soon appointed director of the National Security Agency. Recalls NSA’s attempts to steer clear of Watergate investigation. Becomes air force chief of staff in 1978. After retiring from the air force in 1982, he becomes director of JPL, retiring in 1990.
In this wide-ranging interview, he discusses his nuclear weapons work, his air force career, his service in Washington, his tenure as JPL director, his chairmanship of a controversial NAS panel on export-control laws, and his assessment of the history and future of the U.S. space program.
2012
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/203/1/Allen%2C_L._OHO.pdf
Allen, Lew Jr. (2012) Interview with Lew Allen, Jr. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Allen_L <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Allen_L>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Allen_L
CaltechOH:OH_Allen_L
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:261
2019-10-04T15:24:10Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
7375626A656374733D737562:706879
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/261/
Interview with Frank B. Estabrook
Estabrook, Frank B.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
All Records
Physics
An interview on February 28, 2007, with Frank B. Estabrook, Distinguished Visiting Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dr. Estabrook received his MS (1947) and his PhD (1950) in spectroscopy at Caltech. He joined JPL in 1960, becoming senior resarch scientist there from 1979 to 2006 and Distinguished Visiting Scientist in 2006. In this interview, he discusses his youthful fascination with general relativity and his later research, with H. D. Wahlquist, J. W. Armstrong, and B. Bertotti, on the development of proposals to detect gravity waves by means of the Doppler tracking of spacecraft. He discusses the involvement of Caltech theoretical physics professor K. S. Thorne in these efforts, and the inclusion of gravity-wave experiments in the Galileo, Mars Observer, Ulysses, and Cassini missions.
2009
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/261/1/Estabrook%20OHO.pdf
Estabrook, Frank B. (2009) Interview with Frank B. Estabrook. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Estabrook_F <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Estabrook_F>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Estabrook_F
CaltechOH:OH_Estabrook_F
oai:oralhistories.library.caltech.edu:281
2019-10-04T15:24:15Z
7374617475733D707562
7375626A656374733D737562:4B65636B2D4F627365727661746F72
7375626A656374733D737562:656E67
7375626A656374733D737562:6A706C
7375626A656374733D6E616D65
74797065733D6F72616C5F686973746F7279
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/281/
Interview with Gerald M. Smith
Smith, Gerald M.
Keck
Engineering
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
All Records
An interview in October 1992 with Gerald M. Smith, project manager for the W. M. Keck Observatory’s two 10-meter telescopes on Mauna Kea until his retirement in 1996.
He recalls his early interest in electrical engineering and his work, after graduating from USC (1963), at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on vidicon cameras for the Ranger, Mariner, Viking, and Voyager missions. In 1976, he is recruited by Robert Kraemer to help build NASA’s 3.1-meter telescope on Mauna Kea. Later becomes deputy project manager for IRAS (Infrared Astronomical Satellite) back at JPL, working under Kane Casani. After its successful launch (1983), he is recruited by Harold Ticho as project manager for the 10-meter telescope the University of California hoped to build on Mauna Kea. He recalls later involvement of Caltech and the Keck Foundation in funding the project.
Discusses telescope’s design; Caltech/UC partnership; leadership of then Caltech provost Rochus E. Vogt and physics division chair Edward C. Stone; his conflicts with project scientist Jerry Nelson. Difficulties with Itek, the manufacturer of the segmented mirrors. Comments on current delays in instrument building.
He concludes the interview with recollections of his family’s stay in Hawaii in 1941, at the time of Pearl Harbor.
1994
Oral History
NonPeerReviewed
application/pdf
en
other
https://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/281/1/Smith%2C%20G.%20OHO%20final.pdf
Smith, Gerald M. (1994) Interview with Gerald M. Smith. [Oral History] https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Smith_G <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Smith_G>
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Smith_G
CaltechOH:OH_Smith_G