Robert Bigham Brode papers, 1922-1975

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Summary

Title:
Robert Bigham Brode papers
Dates:
1922-1975
Creators:
Brode, Robert B. (Robert Bigham)
Abstract:
The Robert Bigham Brode papers including correspondence, course materials, notebooks, administrative files and artifacts.
Extent:
10 cartons, 1 cardbox, 1 oversize folder (13 linear feet)
Language:
Collection materials are in English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Robert Bigham Brode papers, BANC MSS 98/71 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Background

Scope and content:

The Robert Bigham Brode papers, 1922-1975, contain correspondence, administrative files, notebooks, organizational files, writings, course materials, publications and artifacts that document his career at U.C. Berkeley, his extensive professional commitments and notable research on cosmic rays. Highlights of the collection include extensive files on Brode’s participation in such groups as the American Institute of Physics and their Committee on Physics Faculties in Colleges, the American Association of Physics Teachers and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State. In addition, the photographs chronicle many of Brode’s experiments and the declassified files included provide some insight into his contributions to the war effort in the 1940s.

Biographical / historical:

Among one of the first individuals to be conferred a PhD in Physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1924, Robert Bigham Brode had an illustrious career that included receiving a Rhodes Scholarship, a National Research Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright Fellowship. One of triplets born in 1900 in Walla Walla, WA (Wallace was a chemist and Malcolm was a biologist), he earned his bachelor’s degree from Whitman College, where his father was a biology professor, in 1921. His early research concerned the structural similarities in the external electrons of molecules such as nitrogen and carbon monoxide. Brode taught at U.C. Berkeley from 1927 until 1967, and focused his research primarily on cosmic rays. From 1942-1946, he worked at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University and the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico. At the latter, Brode was in charge of the “fusing group” on the Manhattan Project.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Physics Department, U.C. Berkeley in 1997.
Processing information:

Processed by Mario H. Ramirez

Accruals:

No additions are expected.

Physical location:
Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Mario H. Ramirez
Date Prepared:
© 2013
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid generated by GenX; markup validated by The Bancroft Library using CDL validation tools; Date of source: April 2013

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.

Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Robert Bigham Brode papers, BANC MSS 98/71 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481
bancref-library@berkeley.edu
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