Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Finding Aid for the Willard F. Libby Papers
1276  
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Restrictions on Access
  • Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
  • Preferred Citation
  • UCLA Catalog Record ID
  • Provenance/Source of Acquisition
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content
  • Related Oral History

  • Title: Willard F. Libby papers
    Collection number: 1276
    Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 143 linear ft. (278 boxes, 4 cartons, 9 oversize boxes.)
    Date (inclusive): ca. 1954-1976
    Abstract: Willard F. Libby (1908-1980) was a professor in the UCLA Department of Chemistry (1959), and director of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at UCLA. In 1960, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the radio-active dating technique known as carbon-14. The collection consists of correspondence, notebooks, research materials, publications, lectures, and memorabilia related to Libby's career as a chemist, and items related to Libby's involvement in the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, tritium experiments, radiocarbon dating, the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary physics, and UCLA.
    Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
    Creator: Libby, Willard F.

    Restrictions on Access

    Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.

    Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

    Property rights to the physical object belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Willard F. Libby Papers (Collection 1276). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

    UCLA Catalog Record ID

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 2220992 

    Provenance/Source of Acquisition

    Gift of Leona M. Libby, 1981-83.

    Biography

    Libby was born December 17, 1908; BS (1931) and Ph.D (1933), UC Berkeley; part of the Manhattan Project, 1941-45; professor, Institute for Nuclear Studies, University of Chicago, 1945-54; commissioner, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1954-59; became a professor, UCLA Department of Chemistry, 1959; director, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at UCLA; received the 1960 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the radio-active dating technique known as carbon-14; died September 8, 1980.

    Scope and Content

    Collection consists of correspondence, notebooks, research materials, publications, lectures, and memorabilia related to the career of chemist Williard F. Libby. Contains items related to Libby's involvement in the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, tritium experiments, radiocarbon dating, the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary physics, and UCLA. Also includes cassette and reel-to-reel tapes, video tapes, and film materials.

    Related Oral History

    The following oral history is available through the UCLA Library Center for Oral History Research:
    • Nobel Laureate [oral history transcript] / Willard F. Libby, interviewee. UCLA Oral History Department interview, 1983. Available at UCLA Library Special Collections.
    • Interview of Willard F. Libby 

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Libby, Willard F.--Archives.
    U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.
    University of California (System). Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics.
    University of California, Los Angeles. Dept. of Chemistry--Faculty--Archival resources.
    Chemists--United States--Archival resources.
    Radiocarbon dating--Research.