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Manuscripts

Paul W. Merrill papers

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    Paul Willard MERRILL

    Manuscripts

    [This material is mostly correspondence between Merrill and the University of Michigan Press about his book Space Chemistry. Joy took care of the final publication details after Merrill's death]

    mssJoy papers

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    Frederick Hanley Seares Papers

    Manuscripts

    The collection consists of the correspondence files and manuscripts, notes, and notebooks of American astronomer Frederick Hanley Seares. While roughly one half of the papers deal with administrative matters of the Mount Wilson Observatory, the remainder cover his scientific work. There are also some manuscripts, notes and notebooks (Boxes 19-21) related to Seares's research activities. Correspondents represented in the collection include: Walter S. Adams, Robert Grant Aitken, Edward Emerson Barnard, William Wallace Campbell, Gustav Fock, Edwin Brant Frost, Henry Gordon Gale, Cecilia Helena Payne Gaposchkin, Walter M. Gilbert, George Ellery Hale, Ejnar Hertzprung, Edwin Powell Hubble, J.C. Kapteyn, Armin Otto Leuschner, C.E. Kenneth Mees, John C. Merriam, Charlotte Emma Moore, John Adelbert Parkhurst, Francis Gladheim Pease, Edward C. Pickering, P.J. van Rhijn, Frank E. Ross, Henry Norris Russell, Harlow Shapley, Joel Stebbins, Otto Struve, and Edwin Bidwell Wilson. Corporate and organizational organizations represented in the collection include: American Association for the Advancement of Science, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Carnegie Institution of Washington, William H. Guild & Company, International Astronomical Union, International Union for Co-operation in Solar Research, Mount Wilson Observatory and the University of Chicago Press.

    mssSeares papers

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    Mount Wilson Observatory Legal Papers

    Manuscripts

    The Mount Wilson Observatory Legal Papers comprise one box of material relating to the founding, construction, and operation of the institution dating from 1903 to 1939. The bulk of the papers are legal documents: deeds, leases, utility contracts, and permits. Two folders contain documents relating to legal actions taken against Mount Wilson and the Carnegie Institution. Also included are three letters from John D. Hooker, a Los Angeles industrialist, philanthropist, and founder of the California Academy of Science, announcing his donation to fund the 100" telescope that would bear his name. Other participants include George Ellery Hale, Walter S. Adams and Francis G. Pease.

    mssMount Wilson legal papers

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    Francis Gladheim Pease Papers

    Manuscripts

    This collection consists of Francis Pease's research papers. It contains correspondence, manuscripts, Pease's notes (including his work notes, many of which contain various drawings and diagrams by him), reprints, photographs, etc. Topics covered in the collection are numerous and include the Mount Wilson Observatory, the Yerkes Observatory, astronomy and astronomers. The majority of it relates to Pease's research on the speed-of-light (highlighting his manuscript with A. A. Michelson), Ether drift, his observations of the Moon, the Sun, Jupiter, star diameters, galaxies, nebulae, as well as his work on interferometers, and the design and construction of telescopes. The first three boxes consist of correspondence between Pease and other individuals; these boxes are arranged alphabetically. In the correspondence files, the name on the folder can mean they are the author or addressee of the letters in that folder (if they are just the recipient of letters, then the word "recipient," is after their name). The correspondence folders, which contain many photocopies, may also have manuscripts in them, as well as photographs. The next series of boxes are arranged by topic and format; these folders include correspondence, notes, manuscripts, reprints, photographs, etc. Manuscripts include drafts of "Measurement of the Velocity of Light in a Partial Vacuum," and "Modern Large Telescope Design." This series also contains Pease's research notes, work notes, and drawings and diagrams (blueprints). Topics include: the speed-of-light, Ether drift, his observations of the Moon, the Sun, Jupiter, Stars, Galaxies, Nebulae, as well as his work on interferometers, and the design and construction of telescopes. Participants in the collection include: Giorgio Abetti, Walter S. Adams, Robert Grant Aitken, Edward E. Barnard, Paul Brockett, Clifford Crump, Arthur L. Day, George Ellery Hale, Albert A. Michelson, Robert A. Millikan, George Moffitt, Frank E. Ross, Henry N. Russell, Harlow Shapley, J. Vaurie, Latimer J. Wilson, F. E. Wright, William Hammond Wright, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Corning Glass Works, Crucible Steel Company of America, National Research Council (U.S.), Scientific American, inc., Southern California Edison Company, and Spencer Lens Company. There are reprints of articles by Thomas C. Chamberlin, Ejnar Hertzsprung, Sir James Hopwood Jeans, and J. C. Kapteyn.

    mssPease papers

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    Alexander Pogo Papers

    Manuscripts

    The collection is composed primarily of correspondence between Dr. Pogo and members of the general public with an interest in astronomical issues and the work of the Mount Wilson Observatory. The Observatory was founded in 1904 by George Ellery Hale and funded by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The Mount Wilson Observatory was also the research home of the well-known astronomer Edwin Hubble. The collection consists of a large number of letters from school-age children with questions about the workings of the universe. Other correspondence includes questions from amateur astronomers as well as a number of queries about the relationship between astronomy and religious issues, particularly biblical prophecies. Other subjects include flying saucers, space travel, expeditions to the moon, observations of the sky, comets, eclipses, and new planets. The collection also includes a number of letters from amateur and professional astronomers from around the world, particularly Europe and Latin America. Generally, the letters were not addressed directly to Dr. Pogo but were forwarded to him from the Observatory's administrative offices for replies.

    mssPogo papers

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    Merrill, Paul W. (Paul Willard), 1887-1961 (Mount Wilson Observatory)

    Manuscripts

    The collection deals primarily with the professional activities of Olin C. Wilson, who was most active from the mid-1930s into the 1980s. Wilson corresponded frequently with astronomers from a variety of universities in the United States and abroad, and the collection is representative of the deeply international and collaborative nature of astronomical and astrophysical research in the second half of the twentieth century. It also contains valuable and insightful material related to the schism between Mount Wilson and CalTech in the 1970s and 1980s, and the near-demise of Mount Wilson during that decade.

    mssWilson papers