Robert S. Arthur Papers
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2018
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Descriptive Summary
Languages:
English
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Robert S. Arthur Papers
Creator:
Arthur, Robert S., 1916-1995
Identifier/Call Number: SMC 0070
Physical Description:
.8 Linear feet
(2 archives boxes and 2 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1938-1987
Abstract: A small collection of papers and images from Robert S. Arthur (1916-1995), a physical oceanographer at the Scripps Institution
of Oceanography.
Scope and Content of Collection
A small collection of papers and images from Robert S. Arthur (1916-1995), a physical oceanographer and professor emeritus
at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The collection contains a small amount of correspondence and photographs, including
prints from the 1951 dedication of the T. Wayland Vaughan Aquarium-Museum, and a snapshot of Harald Sverdrup and Walter Munk
from 1946. The bulk of the material consists of teaching outlines and lecture notes from Oceanography 110 (Introduction to
Physical Oceanography), administrative papers relating to courses and historic enrollment at the SIO, and an assortment of
slides documenting the 1952 Shellback expedition, the coastline of La Jolla, the UC San Diego campus, the ship
E.W. Scripps, and Friday Harbor, Washington.
The collection also includes four World War II-era cloth survival charts. To increase the odds of recovery and rescue of airplane
crash survivors in the Pacific, in 1942 the Army Air Forces initiated a contract with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
to design a series of Pacific area charts illustrating ocean currents and drift patterns. Harold Sverdrup designed an unidentified
number of charts, some of which may have been printed on acetate rayon fabric and distributed to pilots and aircraft personnel.
Charts in this collection were issued by the Naval Air Combat Intelligence, Hydrographic Office (NACI-HO) and Army Air Forces.
Arranged in two series: 1) PAPERS, PHOTOS AND SLIDES, and 2) CLOTH SURVIVAL CHARTS.
Biography
Robert Siple Arthur (1916-1995), emeritus professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, received his bachelor's degree
in mathematics from the University of Redlands in 1938. He began graduate studies in mathematics at UCLA in 1940, but changed
to meteorology as the United States entered World War II. He was commissioned as an aerological officer in the U.S. Naval
Reserve in 1942 and was assigned to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, in 1944 to carry out
research with Harald Sverdrup on ocean waves.
Arthur continued at Scripps after the war as a student and received his doctorate in 1950 in physical oceanography. He was
appointed to the faculty in 1951 and retired in 1979. He was a member of the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological
Society. He served on many of the Scripps administrative committees.
Arthur published numerous research papers on waves, ocean temperature, currents, and tsunamis during his career, but teaching
physical oceanography remained a primary professional interest.
Adapted from "University of California: In Memoriam, 1996."
Preferred Citation
Robert S. Arthur Papers. SMC 70. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 1996
OFF-SITE STORAGE
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Digital Content
Slides, one photograph, and the Pacific cloth survival charts from this collection have been digitized.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Oceanography -- Study and teaching
Ocean currents -- Maps
Nautical charts
Arthur, Robert S., 1916-1995 -- Archives
Scripps Institution of Oceanography -- History
PAPERS, PHOTOS AND SLIDES
Box 1, Folder 1
Wayne V. Burt re: Burt Hall
1987
Box 1, Folder 2
IAPSO Working Group on Symbols, Units and Nomenclature in Physical Oceanography
1975-1979
Box 1, Folder 3
Eric Mills re: George McEwen
1987
Box 1, Folder 4
Edward Little re: boundary and internal waves
1955
Box 1, Folder 5
Reprints signed by SIO faculty authors
1940-1980
Box 1, Folder 6
Oceanography 110 (Intro to Physical Oceanography) - Radiant Energy
1956
Box 1, Folder 7
Oceanography 110 (Intro to Physical Oceanography) - Teaching notes
1961-1964
Box 1, Folder 8
Oceanography 110 (Intro to Physical Oceanography) - Enrollment
1952-1956
Box 1, Folder 9
Oceanography 110 (Intro to Physical Oceanography) - Handouts
1962
General note
Guide to forms and graphs used in processing and presenting common data collected on oceanographic cruises.
Box 1, Folder 10
Oceanography 210 (Physical Oceanography) - Teaching notes
1948-1949
Box 1, Folder 11
Oceanography 210B (Into to Mechanics of Fluids on a Rotating Earth) - Teaching notes
undated
Box 2, Folder 1-2
Course 211 (Ocean Waves) - Teaching notes by Walter Munk
1951
General note
Includes UCLA meteorology notes by Arthur.
Box 2, Folder 3
Lecture outline on Equatorial Undercurrents prepared for W. Nierenberg
1967
Box 2, Folder 4
Beta Spiral notes on Stommel and Schott
undated
Box 2, Folder 5
Ph.D. examination committee memoranda
1950-1953
Box 2, Folder 6
Summary and proposal for students majoring in physical oceanography
1955
Box 2, Folder 7
Student recruitment summary and reports for the SIO
1938-1970
General note
Includes rosters of registered students and degrees pursued. Data was collected for a 1960 report by the Committee on Education
and Recruitment of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography.
Box 2, Folder 8
Caricatures - Walter Munk and Harald Sverdrup
ca. 1940-1946
General note
Color copy of an original drawing of Sverdrup by J. Parilla. Artist of Munk sketch unknown.
Box 2, Folder 9
Photographs
1942-1980
General
Black and white prints: Harald Sverdrup and Walter Munk in academic robes; Arthur and another man (William Van Dorn or Doak
Cox) on a dock in Hawaii; and other portraits. One image from this folder has been digitized.
Harald Sverdrup and Walter Munk in academic robes
1946
Photograph - Walter Munk and Harald Sverdrup
Box 2, Folder 10
Photographs - Dedication of the T. Wayland Vaughan Aquarium-Museum
1951 March 26
Box 2, Folder 11
Color slides - Friday Harbor, Washington
1950
Box 2, Folder 12
Color slides - UC San Diego campus
1955, 1967-1969
General note
Includes images of construction of the Ritter addition at SIO.
Box 2, Folder 13
Color slides - Coastal shots of beach and breakers in La Jolla and Southern California
1945-1950
Box 2, Folder 14
Color slides - R/V
E.W. Scripps at sea
1947
Box 2, Folder 15
Color slides - Shellback Expedition
1952 July-August
Box 2, Folder 16
Grunion "Certificate of Merit"
1948
Box 2, Folder 17
8"x11" color paper reproductions of cloth survival charts
1943-1944
Oversize FB-477, Folder 3
"The Use of Cloth Survival Charts in the Navigation of Rubber Rafts" instructional aid by Air Intelligence Group, Navy Department
(reproduction)
The use of cloth survival charts in the navigation of rubber rafts : 1944-
Oversize MC-022-10
Cloth survival chart, Philippine Series
1944
Cloth survival chart, Philippine Series: 1944-
General
Double-sided fabric chart illustrating currents near Mindanao Island (No. C-43) and North Borneo (No. C-44). Issued by the
Army Air Forces.
Oversize MC-022-10
Cloth survival chart for Penang Island and Bintan Island
1945
Cloth survival chart for Penang Island and Bintan Island: 1945-
General
Numbered C-859 and C-860. Issued by the Army Air Forces.
Oversize FB-477, Folder 3
Cloth survival chart for Central Caroline Island and Marianas Island
ca. 1943
Cloth survival chart for Central Caroline Island and Marianas Island: between 1943 and 1944
General
Numbered S12-2-36 and S12-17. Issued by Naval Air Combat Intelligence, Hydrographic Office (NACI-HO).
Oversize FB-477, Folder 3
Cloth survival chart for Palau Island area and northwest New Guinea, and Western Caroline Island
ca. 1943
Cloth survival chart for Palau Island area and northwest New Guinea, and Western Caroline Island: between 1943 and 1944
General
Numbered S12-2-40 and S12-2-20. Issued by the Naval Air Combat Intelligence, Hydrographic Office (NACI-HO).
