Finding Aid for the Carl D. Anderson Papers 1923-1987
Processed by Paula Hurwitz.
Caltech Archives
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Descriptive Summary
Title: Carl D. Anderson Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1923-1987
Collection number: 10053-MS
Creator: Anderson, Carl D. (Carl David) 1905-1991
Extent:
2.5 linear feet
Repository:
California Institute of Technology. Caltech Archives
Pasadena, California 91125
Abstract: A selection of the course and teaching notes, correspondence, technical files, and photographs of Carl D. Anderson (1905-1991)
form the collection known as the Carl D. Anderson Papers in the Archives of the California Institute of Technology. Working
under Robert A. Millikan at Caltech, Anderson conducted experiments on the penetrating radiation known as cosmic rays with
a magnet cloud chamber, and in 1936 he won the Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery of the positive electron, or positron.
Anderson was professor of physics at Caltech until 1976 and chairman of the Division of Physics, Math and Astronomy from 1962-1970.
Physical location: Archives, California Institute of Technology.
Language of Material:
Languages represented in the collection:
English German
Access
The collection is open for research. Researchers must apply in writing for access.
Publication Rights
Copyright may not have been assigned to the California Institute of Technology Archives. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Caltech Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the California Institute of Technology Archives as the owner of the physical items and, unless explicitly stated otherwise,
is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Carl D. Anderson Papers, 10053-MS, Caltech Archives, California Institute of Technology.
Acquisition Information
Carl D. Anderson donated selected papers to the Caltech Archives in 1987 and 1988.
Biography
Carl David Anderson was born September 3, 1905, in New York City. He was the only child of Swedish immigrants Carl David Anderson
and Emma Adolfina Ajaxson. In 1912 the family moved to Los Angeles, where the elder Anderson managed a small restaurant business.
Carl attended Los Angeles Polytechnic High School, from which he graduated in 1923. The following fall he entered the California
Institute of Technology in Pasadena as a freshman, intending to study electrical engineering. In his sophomore year, during
a course with Ira Bowen, he decided to change his major to physics. After receiving his BS in 1927, he stayed on at Caltech
to do graduate work under Robert A. Millikan. His doctoral thesis, entitled "Space-Distribution of X-Ray Photoelectrons Ejected
from the K and L Atomic Energy-Levels," involved a cloud-chamber study of photoelectrons (electrons exposed to radiation)
scattered from various gases by X rays. He received his PhD in 1930.
Anderson was encouraged by Millikan to stay on at Caltech for a postdoctoral year to conduct experimental research on the
penetrating radiation known as cosmic rays. Anderson designed and constructed an apparatus consisting of a giant electromagnet
wrapped around a cloud chamber. He inserted a lead plate into the middle of the cloud chamber to lessen the particles' energy
and to clarify the direction of their motion (negatively charged particles moved downward). An arc-lighted camera was focused
on the chamber's window to record the vapor trails of electrons or other charged particles passing through. The magnet cloud
chamber was put in operation in October 1931. At this time, scientists had only identified two elementary particles of matter--the
electron and the proton. However, in 1928 Paul Dirac, in what came to be known as Dirac's equations, posited the existence
of another particle, comparable in mass to the negatively charged electron, but with a positive charge, an "anti-electron."
On August 2, 1932, viewing a very clear photograph of an upward-moving particle with mass similar to the electron, Anderson
knew he had discovered the "positive electron," later named the positron. This was the particle predicted by Dirac. In fact,
Dirac's theory predicted that all elementary particles should have their own antiparticles. Thus the term "antimatter" emerged,
and Anderson was hailed as its discoverer. Anderson published his research in
Science magazine on September 9, 1932. At first his results were met with skepticism. Ultimately they were confirmed by experimenters,
initially in 1933 at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England, by Patrick M. S. Blackett and G. P. S. Occhialini.
Anderson's work garnered him the Nobel Prize in 1936, at the age of only 31. A year prior to this date, in 1935, Anderson
and his first graduate student, Seth Neddermeyer, discovered another subatomic particle, which they named the mesotron (later
called the μ-meson or muon). The muon discovery grew out of experimental work on cosmic rays done at high altitude (around
14,000 feet) on Pikes Peak in Colorado. In 1933 Anderson became assistant professor at Caltech. He was named associate professor
in 1937 and professor in 1939.
During World War II Anderson was closely associated with the Caltech rocket research and development effort, led by Charles
C. Lauritsen and funded by the U. S. Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD). Anderson spent his time working
on problems associated with the launching of rockets from airplanes. For his wartime work, he received the Presidential Certificate
of Merit in 1945. In 1946 Anderson married Lorraine Bergman. They had two sons.
In the postwar period Anderson returned to his work on cosmic rays. He and his graduate students continued to take cloud chamber
photographs at high altitudes, now using a B-29 aircraft, and also measuring variations in cosmic-ray effects at selected
latitudes on the Earth's surface. They painstakingly accumulated further evidence of the existence of more subatomic particles,
thus confirming the underlying complexity in the structure of matter and leading the way to a new branch of study, particle
physics.
By the late 1950s, Anderson's kind of cosmic-ray investigation was beginning to be supplanted by work done on huge high-energy
accelerators, both at Caltech and around the world. Anderson became chairman of the Caltech's Division of Physics, Mathematics
and Astronomy in 1962, a position which he held until 1970. He retired from Caltech in 1976 with the title Board of Trustees
Professor of Physics, Emeritus.
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Anderson was the recipient of many awards: the Gold Medal of the American Institute of the
City of New York (1935), the Elliott Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute (1937), the John Erikson Medal of the American
Society of Swedish Engineers (1960), in addition to three honorary doctorates from Colgate University (1937), Temple University
(1949) and Gustavus Adolphus College (1963). He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1936 and to the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1954. Anderson died in San Marino, California, at the age of 85.
Scope and Content
The Carl D. Anderson papers represent only a small piece of Anderson's scientific legacy. The collection is divided into four
series. The first, Course Notes and Teaching Files, 1920s-1940s, includes both notes taken by Anderson during his student
years at Caltech and his own lecture notes. The former group is of interest for the prominent professors who taught at Caltech
in this era, notably J. Robert Oppenheimer (quantum theory), but also Robert A. Millikan (electron theory) and the distinguished
visiting physicist from Munich, Arnold Sommerfeld (problems in wave mechanics). The second series contains files from the
period of Anderson's chairmanship of the Division of Physics, Math and Astronomy (PMA) at Caltech, from 1964-1970, and a few
items past those dates. Series 3 contains a small set of correspondence which includes letters with scientific collaborators
such as Seth Neddermeyer, H. Victor Neher, and Bruno Rossi. Also included here are two substantial files on William Shockley
(Caltech B.S., physics, 1932; later inventor of the transistor and Nobel laureate) from the period of Shockley's notoriety
over his controversial, inherently racist views on population genetics, 1962-1970.
Series 4 is a mix of technical notes, photos, World War II material, and some biographical papers. Of special interest are
the historic cloud-chamber photos taken by Anderson that record the discovery of new subatomic particles. (Most of these photos
have been scanned to the Caltech Archives online database,
PhotoNet .) The World War II material, though of small scope, provides some interesting documentation of the Holy Moses aircraft rocket,
also known as the HVAR 5.0", engineered at Caltech towards the end of the war and first deployed in France following D-Day
(1944). Anderson's war work centered on aircraft rockets and torpedoes; this work is documented in the 1970 interview by A.
B. Christman of the Naval Weapons Center, China Lake, a copy of which is filed here. The assorted photos in this series were
examined and described by Anderson's colleague, Professor Eugene W. Cowan, in a short, recorded interview which is filed following
the photos in series 4.
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1. Course Notes and Teaching Files, 1920s-1940s
- Series 2. Administrative files
- Series 3. Correspondence
- Series 4. Technical files and biographical
Related Material
Scientific apparatus related to Carl D. Anderson, now in the Caltech Archives' collections, includes the cloud chamber with
which his important particle discoveries were made; some of his Geiger counters, including the one used in the muon experiment;
and a fragment of the Holy Moses rocket, returned to Anderson from France where it knocked out a German tank following the
D-Day invasion.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
California Institute of Technology
Cosmic rays
Particles (Nuclear physics)
Physics
World War, 1939-1945 Equipment and supplies
Occupations
Nobel Prize winners
Physicists
Series 1.
Course Notes and Teaching Files, 1920s-1940s
Subseries 1.
Course notes (courses taken by Carl Anderson)
Box 1, Folder 1
Complex variable
1927-1930
Note
Ma 114, taught by Professor Morgan Ward.
Box 1, Folder 2
Complex variable, part 2
1927-1930
Note
Ma 114, taught by Professor Morgan Ward.
Box 1, Folder 3
Electricity and magnetism
1927-1930
Note
Probably Ph 122, taught by Professor Paul Epstein.
Box 1, Folder 4
Electromagnetic waves
1928-1930
Note
Ph 123, taught by Professor Paul Epstein.
Box 1, Folder 5
Electron theory
1927
Note
Ph 114, taught by Professor Robert A. Millikan.
Box 1, Folder 6
Heat radiation and quantum mechanics
1930
Note
Ph 126, taught by Professor Paul Epstein.
Box 1, Folder 7
Math analysis, parts 1 and 2
1927-1930
Note
Ma 119, taught by Professor E. T. Bell.
Box 1, Folder 8
Math analysis, part 3
1927-1930
Note
Ma 119, taught by Professor E. T. Bell.
Box 1, Folder 9
Problems in wave mechanics
1928-1929
Note
Ph 129; note from original file indicates taught by Arnold Sommerfeld (visiting from Munich).
Box 1, Folder 10
Quantum theory, part 2
1930
Note
Ph 134, taught by Professor J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Box 1, Folder 11
Relativity
1927-1929
Note
Probably Ph 136, taught by Professor Richard C. Tolman.
Box 2, Folder 1
Theory of Relativity
undated, 1941
Note
Unclear what course these notes pertain to.
Box 2, Folder 2
Thermodynamics
1927-1930
Note
Ph 111, taught by both Professors Fritz Zwicky and Paul Epstein.
Subseries 2.
Teaching notes (courses taught by Carl Anderson)
Box 2, Folder 3
Modern physics (Ph 3)
1934-1937
Box 2, Folder 4
Modern physics (Ph 3)
1938, undated
Box 2, Folder 5
Modern physics (Ph 3): exams and problems
1928, 1935-1935
Note
Includes exam on special theory of relativity, 1928.
Box 2, Folder 6
Sophomore physics (Ph 3)
undated
Series 2.
Administrative files
Subseries 1.
Chairmanship files, Physics, Math and Astronomy Division
Box 2, Folder 7
Planning, Division of Physics, Math and Astronomy (PMA)
1964-1970
Box 2, Folder 8
Division Chairmen's meetings, Administrative Council meetings
1965-1970
Physical Description: Spiral-bound notebook.
Box 2, Folder 9
Provost, physics faculty meetings, new appointments, executive officer, executive officers' meetings
1967-1970
Physical Description: Spiral-bound notebook.
Box 2, Folder 10
Instruction (teaching assignments)
1966-1970
Physical Description: Spiral-bound notebook.
Box 2, Folder 11
High Energy Physics
1965-1970
Physical Description: Spiral-bound notebook.
Box 2, Folder 12
Kellogg-Sloan (laboratories)
1966-1969
Physical Description: Spiral-bound notebook.
Box 2, Folder 13
Solid state (physics)
1964-1969
Physical Description: Spiral-bound notebook.
Box 3, Folder 1
Nuclear spectroscopy
1965-1967
Physical Description: Spiral-bound notebook.
Box 3, Folder 2
Space physics
1965-1966
Physical Description: Spiral-bound notebook.
Box 3, Folder 3
Astronomy
1965-1967
Physical Description: Spiral-bound notebook.
Box 3, Folder 4
Radio astronomy
1965-1970
Physical Description: Spiral-bound notebook.
Subseries 2.
Miscellaneous memos
Box 3, Folder 5
Memos: Robert Leighton: Divisional Activities on a Per Professor Basis
1971
Box 3, Folder 6
Memos: Robert F. Christy: Research involving Human Subjects; Faculty Growth at Caltech
1972-1973
Box 3, Folder 7
Memo: Jon Mathews: Courses and Teaching in 1973-1974
1973
Box 3, Folder 8
Memo: Robert A. Huttenback: Graduate and undergraduate degree programs in social science
1971
Box 4, Folder 2
Continental Classroom
1959
Box 4, Folder 3
Lauritsen Memorial Lectures
1971-1975
Box 4, Folder 4
Neher, H. Victor
1951-1956
Box 4, Folder 5
Rossi, Bruno
1952-1954, 1980
Box 4, Folder 6
Shockley, William (1)
1962-1970
Box 4, Folder 7
Shockley, William (2)
1962-1970
Box 4, Folder 8
Sigma Xi (1)
1938-1940, 1957-1958
Box 4, Folder 9
Sigma Xi (2)
1938-1940, 1957-1958
Box 4, Folder 11
Thompson, R. W.
1954-1979
Note
Includes 1 letter to E. W. Cowan, 1 letter to R. B. Leighton, and 1 letter from Isao Kita.
Box 4, Folder 12
Wald, Edwin
1956-1957, 1961
Box 4, Folder 14
Correspondence, miscellaneous
1970-1973
Series 4.
Technical files and biographical
Box 5, Folder 1
Student notebook, untitled
1929
Box 5, Folder 2
Summaries and transcripts of articles by Kolhörster, Kolhörster and Bothe, and Skobelzyn
1923, 1927, 1929, 1932, undated
Box 5, Folder 3
Magnetic field calculations
undated (ca. 1930s)
Box 5, Folder 4
Notes for talk, probably on cosmic rays
undated (after 1939)
Physical Description: Two sets of 3 x 5 cards.
Box 5, Folder 5
Notebook, Cosmic Rays, Vol. I
1942 Jun-Aug
Box 5, Folder 6
Notebook, Cosmic Ray Data, B-29 flights
1947 Jul 2
Box 5, Folder 7
Notebook, untitled, with loose papers
1970-1971
Box 5, Folder 8
Reprints by Anderson and others
1934-1971
Note
Includes
Reviews of Modern Physics special issue, Symposium on Cosmic Rays, U. of Chicago, June 1939.
Box 5, Folder 9
Reprint, Anderson and Neddermeyer, "Cosmic Ray Particles of Intermediate Mass,"
Physical Review 54 (1938); with note concerning discovery of muon and photograph
1938, 1987
Physical Description: Photocopy of original article.
Note
Includes cloud chamber photograph and 1987 MS note by Anderson with explanation of photo: a muon passing through a Geiger
counter and stopping in a cloud chamber.
Box 5, Folder 10
Photographs of cosmic-ray research and World War II rocket project (
See also: E. W. Cowan, description of Carl Anderson's photos)
1930s-1940s
Physical Description: Prints and negatives made from original glass slides. Includes Carl Anderson's original captions.
Note
Includes cloud chamber photos of positron, muon (μ-meson), and other particles; cosmic-ray apparatus; expedition to Pikes
Peak, Colorado, summer 1935; and Holy Moses rocket damage to German tank.
Box 5, Folder 11
E. W. Cowan, description of Carl Anderson's photographs (
See also: Photographs of cosmic-ray research and World War II rocket project)
1987 Dec 9
Physical Description: Cassette tape and interview transcript.
Box 5, Folder 12
Project Moses (Holy Moses aircraft rocket)
1944, undated
Note
This rocket also known as HVAR 5.0" (high-velocity aircraft rocket).
Box 5, Folder 13
Interview with Carl Anderson on Caltech aircraft rocket program, World War II, by A. B. Christman, Naval Weapons Center, China
Lake, California
1970 Oct 5
Physical Description: Photocopy of interview transcript.