Theodore David Holstein Papers, 1940-1990, bulk 1965-1986

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Summary

Creators:
Holstein, Theodore David, 1915-1985
Abstract:
Theodore David Holstein (1915-1986) was a physicist who worked on atomic physics at Westinghouse Research Laboratories (1941-1959), and served on the physics faculty at the University of Pittsburgh (1959-65) and at UCLA where he studied electron and energy transport phenomena in solids. The collection consists of Holstein's manuscripts, lectures, publications, grant applications, subject files, class lecture notes and examination, laboratory notebooks, and committee notes and memoranda. Subject files in the collection pertain to electron transport phenomena in solids.
Extent:
9 cartons (9 linear ft.)
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of manuscripts, lectures, publications, grant applications, subject files, class lecture notes and examination, and committee notes and memoranda of UCLA physics professor Theodore David Holstein. Subject files pertain to electron transport phenomena in solids. Also includes the laboratory notebook Holstein kept at the Westinghouse Research Laboratories (East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), where he concentrated on atomic physics.

Expanded Scope and Content

The papers of Theodore Holstein span the years 1940-1990; the bulk of the material covers the period he spent at UCLA, from 1965-1986.

Much of the collection consists of manuscripts, lectures, publications, grant applications and subject files pertaining to electron transport phenomena in solids, including self-trapping, polaron motion, hopping transport and transport in metals (1940-1988). One highlight of this material is the laboratory notebook Holstein kept at the Westinghouse Research Labs (East Pittsburgh, PA; between 1941 and 1959). Class lecture notes, examinations and problem sets for courses in quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics (1960s-1984) comprise a significant portion of Holstein's papers. His administrative duties in the UCLA Department of Physics during the 1980s are sparsely represented by committee meeting notes and memoranda, inexplicably including newsletters and minutes from meetings for several years following his death. Lacunae include Holstein's own education (aside from an abridgment of his Ph.D. thesis), correspondence other than that involving routine exchanges of papers, and documentation of his personal life (aside from one photograph of his wife).

Biographical / historical:

Holstein was born on September 18, 1915 in New York City; BS, New York University (1935); MS, Columbia University (1936); Ph.D, New York University (1940); worked on atomic physics at Westinghouse Research Laboratories in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1941-59); in mid-1950s began increasing study of solid state physics, publishing papers on the optical and galvanomagnetic properties of metals and the first of his polaron papers; served on physics faculty at the University of Pittsburgh (1959-65), then became professor of physics at UCLA in 1965; from 1960 until his death, he studied electron and energy transport phenomena in solids; he died in 1986.

Biographical Narrative

Theodore Holstein, professor of physics, was born September 18, 1915. He earned a B.S. degree from New York University in 1935, an M.S. at Columbia University in 1936, and his Ph.D. at New York University in 1940. Holstein worked nearly two decades (1941-1959) at Westinghouse Research Laboratories (East Pittsburgh, Pa.), where he concentrated on atomic physics. Beginning in the mid-1950s Holstein increasingly devoted himself to solid-state physics (which had commenced in 1940 with the Holstein-Primakoff paper on the microscopic theory of magnetization, which initiated spin-wave theory), publishing papers on the optical and galvanomagnetic properties of metals and the first of his polaron papers. Holstein served on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh (1959-1965), then became Professor of Physics at UCLA in 1965. Although he continued his research in atomic physics, Holstein's efforts from about 1960 until his death were primarily directed toward electron and energy transport phenomena in solids. He died shortly before his 71st birthday, in 1986.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Beverlee R. Holstein, 1987 1993.
Physical location:
Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

Access and use

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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