Guide to the Martin Packard papers
Franz Kunst
Processing supported by a grant from the Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics.
Stanford University Libraries.
Dept. of Special Collections & University Archives.
February 4, 2013
Copyright © 2014 The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Overview
Call Number: M0760
Creator:
Packard, Martin E.
Creator:
Varian Associates
Title: Martin Packard papers
Dates: 1946-1990
Bulk Dates: 1975-1985
Physical Description:
29 Linear feet (68 boxes: 67 manuscript boxes ; 1 record storage box)
Summary: In the late 1940s and early 50s, physicist Martin Packard made significant contributions to the emerging field of nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR) technology at Stanford University. Packard was later employed by Varian Associates, where he became
head of the analytical instrumentation department, Corporate Vice President, and finally Assistant to Board Chairman Edward
Ginzton. The collection is largely from his time at Varian, consisting of correspondence and memoranda, subject files maintained
as Varian’s reference library, and files related to Varian’s corporate history. Packard’s involvement with the Addiction Research
Foundation is also chronicled in part.
Language(s): The materials are in English.
Language(s): While the bulk of the collection is in English, there is some Chinese, Russian, and German language material.
Physical Location: Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 36-48 hours in advance. For more
information on paging collections, see the department's website: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/spc.html.
Repository:
Dept. of Special Collections & University Archives.
Stanford University Libraries.
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6064
Email: specialcollections@stanford.edu
Phone: (650) 725-1022
URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc
Administrative Information
Provenance
This collection was given by Martin Packard to Stanford University, Special Collections in 1990.
Information about Access
The materials are open for research use. Audio-visual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted
to a digital use copy.
Ownership & Copyright
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94305-6064. Consent
is given on behalf of Special Collections 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, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.
Cite As
[identification of item], Martin Packard papers (M0760). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University
Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Associated Materials
Biographical Note
Martin Everett Packard, born in 1921, received his B.A. in Physics in 1942 from Oregon State University and began working
at Westinghouse Research. In the summer of 1945 (following at stint at UC Berkeley Radiation Lab for the Manhattan Project),
Packard was introduced to Felix Bloch by his supervisor at Westinghouse, Stanford physics alumnus Daniel Alpert. Bloch explained
to Packard his ideas concerning nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), which he termed nuclear induction. The following week Packard
enrolled as a graduate student at Stanford University, working with professors Bloch and William Hansen on Stanford’s first
NMR experiments. As part of this experiment, Packard was the first to detect the nuclear magnetic resonance of protons in
water in January 1946.
Bloch, together with Harvard physicist E. M. Purcell, shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1952 for their development of NMR.
Aware of its commercial potential, inventor and Stanford alum Russell Varian convinced Bloch to patent NMR, which Russ and
his brother Sigurd then licensed. This exclusive license was transferred to Varian Associates when they founded the company
in April 1948. The first commercial NMR spectrometer was built by Varian in 1950.
Meanwhile Packard, after earning a PhD in Physics in 1949, remained at Stanford as an instructor. In 1951, with students James
Arnold and Srinivas Dharmatti, he discovered how NMR could be applied to organic compounds, opening the field of magnetic
resonance analysis in organic chemistry. At the end of the term Packard joined Varian, as had many of Bloch’s former students.
Thanks to the license, Varian led the field in NMR commercialization. Packard, along with James Arnold, James N. Shoolery,
Emery Rogers, Forrest Nelson, and Wes Anderson, worked with NMR at Varian, “building NMR from a theoretical concept to one
of the most widely used tools in analytical chemistry,” as his bio states.
Continuing his research path, Packard published papers, developed with Russell Varian the Proton Free Precession Magnetometer
(widely used in geophysics) and is named in eight patents with the company. In 1971 Martin Packard received the IEEE Morris
E. Leeds Award "for his pioneering research leading to the practical use of nuclear magnetic resonance for the accurate measurement
of magnetic fields, and for his contributions to the spectrometry of complex molecules." Packard retired from Varian in 1989.
Scope and Contents
In the late 1940s and early 50s, physicist Martin Packard made significant contributions to the emerging field of nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR) technology at Stanford University. NMR involves the measure of electromagnetic radiation absorbed
and emitted by nuclei in magnetic fields. NMR is the underlying principle behind MRI and other medical imaging techniques.
It also has important applications in chemistry, biology, and geology. Packard was employed by Varian Associates, who, building
on their success with the klystron, were market leaders in the commercial application of NMR technology. The collection is
from his time at Varian, and therefore should also appeal to those researching that company’s history, or the birth of Silicon
Valley.
While Packard came to Varian with NMR expertise, his role in the company quickly expanded, and the files contained here cover
many aspects of Varian’s business. There are two main series of Varian correspondence and internal memoranda from the 1960s
through the 80s, arranged chronologically. Packard maintained several document files as a sort of reference library, with
each document (correspondence, memoranda, and background articles and papers) numbered and indexed. There are files for Varian’s
dealings with the People’s Republic of China and the USSR, files on health concerns in radio frequency and microwave technologies
(“Biological Effects”), as well as a general subject file arranged alphabetically.
The collection contains a variety of material related to Varian’s corporate history, much of which was assembled for Packard’s
“The Varian Story” lecture delivered at the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry in 1980. Most of these files are
contemporary remembrances in the form of articles, papers, correspondence, and transcripts. However, there is a set of Russell
Varian research notes, papers and patents from the late 1940s and 50s, and photocopies of the Varian newsletter from the late
1940s through the 70s. There is correspondence with Stuart W. Leslie about an unpublished Varian history, essays by W.G. Proctor,
Dorothy Varian, and others, and various photographs, some of which are likely original prints. The last files involve Varian
Fellows’ efforts to reinvigorate the company in the late 1980s. Historical files also include related information concerning
Felix Bloch, NMR, Stanford University, and SLAC. Other Varian files include expense reports, sales brochures for spectroscopes,
chromatographs, and other instruments, and records of the Palo Alto Capital Company (Varian’s Minority Enterprise SBIC).
Packard was a member of two National Academy of Science panels on technology transfer and national security, and there is
correspondence, memoranda, draft reports, and background information from both panels. He was also president of the Addiction
Research Foundation, Avram Goldstein’s research clinic devoted to studying the physiological basis for drug addiction, and
there are organizational files through its dissolution in 1989. Of course Packard’s own speeches, papers and other writings
are also present, most of which can be found in their own series. There are also many notebooks, planners and business cards,
as well as vacuum tubes and other unidentified machine parts.
Access Terms
Addiction Research Foundation (U.S.).
Ginzton, Edward L. (Edward Leonard), 1915-
Goldstein, Avram
Packard, Martin E.
Varian Associates
Nuclear magnetic resonance.
Radiation--Health aspects
Science and industry.
Science--History.
United States--History--Trade relations
1. Varian correspondence
1962-1986
Processing/Project Information
no 1963-1966
Box 49, Folder 6
Correspondence - Photographs
1970
Scope and Content Note
Photographs and correspondence concerning the use of a magnetoscope in an archeological expedition locating Toltec sculpture
in San Lorenzo, Mexico.
Box 50, Folder 2
Correspondence - Barringer Research Ltd.
1973
Box 51, Folder 4
Correspondence [USA]
1982
Box 51, Folder 5
Correspondence [USA]
1983
Box 51, Folder 6
Correspondence [USA]
1984
Box 52, Folder 1
Correspondence [USA]
1985
Box 52, Folder 2
Correspondence [USA]
1986
2. Varian interoffice memoranda
Processing/Project Information
no 1982, 1984
Box 54, Folder 2
Memoranda, Correspondence
1985
Box 54, Folder 3
Memoranda, Correspondence
1986
3. Varian document files
Scope and Content Note
Numbered documents for Varian's reference library, with computer printouts of various indexes (i.e. by author, chronologically,
etc.). There are numbered documents elsewhere in the collection, without indexes.
3.1 Biological Effects
1975-1989
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence, memoranda, and background information (articles, papers, and other publications), in approximately chronological
order. In a letter to a cousin in 1983, Packard wrote “one of my jobs is to keep abreast of any potentially harmful biological
effects of electrical or magnetic fields," and this file reflects that effort.
3.2 PRC [People's Republic of China]
1972-1986
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence, memoranda, and background information (articles, papers, and other publications), in approximately chronological
order. These files chronicle the emergence of normalized trade relations with communist China. Varian activity began around
1972 when Carl Djerassi was involved with hosting a delegation of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and approached
Varian for a tour. In 1977, Varian was in China for a trade fair. By 1986, China was responsible for $10-15 million in sales,
Beijing had a sales office and two service centers, and there were manufacturing licenses for six products.
3.3 USSR
1973-1986
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence, memoranda, and background information (articles, papers, and other publications), in approximately chronological
order. The file begins with correspondence and reports from Edward Ginzton (who was born in Ukraine) from 1973, as well as
Ginzton’s “Some Notes on a Trip to Russia” from 1974. Packard’s first trip was in 1976, and subsequent communication is largely
business, scientific and government trip and meeting coordination, notably with licensing agency Licensintorg, and the US-USSR
Trade & Economic Council. In early 1980 (around 3300-3364), following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, U.S. trade embargos
extended to the suspension of high technology export licenses, and there is a great deal of correspondence concerning this.
The files contain much information about the exchange of scientific knowledge, expertise, and technology with Russia, as well
as articles about industrial espionage and spying. Related information can be found in Packard’s National Academy of Science
panel files under Series 8.
Box 34
A.A. Sokolov, I.M. Ternov. Reliativistskii Elektron (Moscow, 1974). [Inscribed to Packard by Ternov]
1965
Language of Material:
Russian
4. Varian subject files
Scope and Content Note
includes numbered "USA Document" files.
Processing/Project Information
Two original alphabetical series interfiled due to similar content. "Correspondence," "History" and "Varian" were pulled and
placed in their own series, along with other relevant material.
Box 35, Folder 3
Activity Reports
1984-1986
Box 35, Folder 8
Bulow, George (Consultant)
Box 36, Folder 5
CVA Market Research Report
1973
Box 36, Folder 6
Dehmelt, Hans - Correspondence, Reprints, etc.
Box 36, Folder 8
Energy - Transparencies, Related Papers
Box 37, Folder 3
Fluorescent Instrumentation
Box 37, Folder 5
Goldstein, Avram - Reprints [see also Addiction Research Foundation]
Box 37, Folder 5
Good RF Practices Committee
Box 37, Folder 6
Gordon Research Conference
1978-08
Box 38, Folder 3
Hyde, Jim - Correspondence, etc.
Box 39, Folder 3
Ion Cyclotron Resonance (ICR)
Box 40, Folder 1
Laser Induction Ionization
Box 40, Folder 4
Magnetometer Project - VACL
1975-1976
Box 40, Folder 7
Mass Spectroscopy/Gas Chromatography
1969
Box 40, Folder 8
Microfilm
Physical Description:
3 microfilm reel(s)
Box 41, Folder 3
Molecular Computation in Catalytic Copolymer Networks - H.H. Pattee
1968-1971
Box 41, Folder 5
NAS Study [See also Panel on Scientific Communication and National Security]
Box 41, Folder 6
National Bureau of Standards (NBS)
Box 42, Folder 2
NIH Workshops on Technology in Support of Biomedical Research
1981
Box 42, Folder 3
NMR Imaging - Memos, Meetings
Box 42, Folder 4
NMR Imaging - Articles, Preprints, Reprints 1
Box 42, Folder 5
NMR Imaging - Articles, Preprints, Reprints 2
Box 42, Folder 6
NMR Imaging - Talk
1978-08-23
Box 43, Folder 4
NMR Study - Comments on BAH Presentation by MEP
Box 43, Folder 7
Post-Industrial Society
1971-1973
Box 44, Folder 3
Program Exchange, TI - PPX-52 Membership
Box 44, Folder 7
Superconducting
1970-1974
Box 45, Folder 2
Tragedy of the Commons
1968
Box 45, Folder 3
Transferred Products
1969
Box 45, Folder 8
X-Ray Lithography - Synchrotron Radiation
5. Varian history
1959-1990
Scope and Content Note
includes numbered "USA Document" files.
Box 46, Folder 1
Varian History - USA Files 1
Box 46, Folder 2
Varian History - USA Files 2
Box 46, Folder 3
Varian History - USA Files 3
Box 47, Folder 1
Varian History- USA Files [unfiled]
Box 46, Folder 4
Support For Fellows History [1990]
Box 46, Folder 5
Opinion of Fellows [1990]
Box 47, Folder 2
NMR Publication. JTA, WA, JNS, ER, RF
Box 47, Folder 3
Varian Oral History Project [1989]
Box 47, Folder 4
Photographs - Optical Pumping Apparatus
Box 47, Folder 6
Photographs - Varian NMR Reception At Stanford
1983-09
Box 47, Folder 7
Photographs - miscellaneous
Box 47, Folder 8
Photographs - Varian Story material
Box 47, Folder 9
The Varian Story research material - Varian Newsletter photocopies
Box 48, Folder 1
The Varian Story research material
Box 48, Folder 2
The Varian Story [Martin Packard]
1980
Box 48, Folder 3
Talk on Russ and Sig [with research material]
Box 48, Folder 5
Russell Varian Papers - 1950s
Physical Description:
13 folder(s)
Scope and Content Note
Conclusions on X-13 Grid Cooling -- Consideration of Optimum Design of X-Band Amplifier -- Considerations On Klystron Grids
-- Hybrid Velocity Grouped Tubes -- An Idea Utilizing Klystron Type Tubes For Amplification of Signals of Lower Frequency,
Such as TV Signals -- Iron Reduction -- Merit of Metals For Klystron Snozzles -- A Method of Geophysical Prospecting -- Novel
Radar System for Simultaneously Displaying Doppler and Range Information -- Nuclear Induction Excerpts from Notebook 1946-1951
(2 folders) -- Nuclear Induction Apparatus, Draft of Tech Proposals 1948-1951 -- Paramagnetic Resonance Type of FM System,
Patentable Ideas -- Patent Disclosures [most were reviewed in 1964 and contain a note stating "No interest"].
6. Varian miscellaneous business files
Box 54, Folder 4
Organizational Charts
1987-1988
Box 54, Folder 6
Instrument Group Strategic Plan
1981-1985
Box 55, Folder 1
Profit Impact of Marketing Strategy (Marketing Science Institute) (1)
Box 55, Folder 2
Profit Impact of Marketing Strategy (Marketing Science Institute) (2)
Box 55, Folder 3
Meetings With ELG
1982-1989
Scope and Content Note
Edward Ginzton, who was part of the company from its inception, was Varian’s Chairman of the Board following Russell’s death
in 1959. As Assistant to Board Chairman, Packard met with him regularly, and they continued to meet following Ginzton's retirement
in 1984. These agendas, largely concerning Varian business in the USSR and China, are annotated by Packard. There are also
related agendas in the Varian history series.
Box 55, Folder 4
Cassette Files [ROI forecasts on computer printouts]
1972-1974
Box 55, Folder 5
Expense Reports
1967-1979
Box 56, Folder 1
Expense Reports
1980-1989
Box 56, Folder 3
X-Ray Tube Failure Analysis [computer printout]
1980
Box 56, Folder 4
Schedule for Visit of USSR Delegation [computer printout]
1977-03-17
Box 56, Folder 6
Magazine list (MEP to Library)
1978
Box 56, Folder 7
Chinese scientists at Varian
1987
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence and documents related to two Chinese scientists (Lu Guo and Lin Bin Sheng of Dalian) working and studying in
the United States, as well as negotations for a trip to China by Packard.
Box 56, Folder 8
Varian - 25 Years [pamphlet]
Box 56, Folder 9
Your Future With Varian [pamphlet]
7. Palo Alto Capital Company
1967-1975
Scope and Content Note
In the late 1960s, Varian Associates, and Edward Ginzton in particular, had an interest in assisting “members of minorities
to establish and expand successful small business in the mid-Peninsula area,” and founded a Minority Enterprise Small Business
Investment Company (MESBIC) to that end. Varian’s Minority Employment Committee worked with the Stanford-Mid-Peninsula Urban
Coalition in setting up an SBIC that would also coordinate volunteer business consultation and management development, in
addition to providing loans. The Palo Alto Capital Company, founded in October 1969, was the second MESBIC in country. PACC
merged with Opportunity Capital Corporation of San Francisco in 1974, with Martin Packard representing Varian on their Board
of Directors.
Box 65, Folder 2
American Association of MESBICS Annual Conference - Position Papers
1975-10
Box 65, Folder 3
Minority Employment Committee
1967-1969
Box 65, Folder 4
Palo Alto Capital Company
1969-1975
Box 65, Folder 5
Palo Alto Capital Company. Schedule "A," Arcata
8.1. Addiction Research Foundation (ARF)
1974-1989
Scope and Content Note
The Addiction Research Foundation was a nonprofit research clinic devoted to the study of addictive diseases, formed by Avram
Goldstein, a professor of pharmacology at Stanford University School of Medicine who advocated for the recognition of addiction
as a behavioral disorder. Goldstein was one of the discoverers of endorphins, in part because of the work he was able to accomplish
at the Foundation. Goldstein was a consultant to Varian-related company Syva prior to the Addiction Research Foundation, and
Packard was on the ARF Board of Directors from the beginning. Varian also sold the group some analytical instruments. The
Foundation originally offered experimental treatment of heroin addicts, and later studied nicotine addiction and the development
of non-addictive pain-killers. The collection only contains organizational records, and no medical or scientific data is present.
Box 62, Folder 5
Organization and Policies
1974-1977
Box 61, Folder 6
Stanford Affiliation
1976-1986
Box 61, Folder 7
Loan Guaranty Proposal
1979
Box 62, Folder 3
Board of Directors
1985-1987
8.2. Panel on Scientific Communication and National Security (National Academy of Sciences)
1982
Box 66, Folder 5
misc. articles and papers
Box 62, Folder 6
meeting materials [papers, memos, draft documents]
1982-07
8.3. Panel on the Impact of National Security Controls on International Technology Transfer (National Academies of Sciences
and Engineering Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy)
1986
Box 65, Folder 6
4th and 5th Meeting Summaries
1986
Box 65, Folder 7
misc. documents
1985-1986
Box 65, Folder 8
Does the Russian Ethos Affect Technological Information Transfer? (MEP)
Box 67, Folder 2
Analysis of the Effects of U.S. National Security Controls on U.S.-Headquartered Industrial Firms
1986-07-10
8.4. Vega Biotechnologies
1982-1985
Scope and Content Note
Packard was on the Board of Directors for this Arizona-based company which had connections to Varian.
Box 63, Folder 2
Form 10-K and Proxy Statement
Box 57, Folder 1
Varian brochures - Spectrometers, NMR
Box 57, Folder 2
Varian brochures - Chromatographs
Box 57, Folder 3
Instrument Study Brochures (Non-Varian)
10. Articles and papers
1981-1982
Box 63, Folder 8
scientific instrument articles, advertisements [clippings and photocopies]
Box 64, Folder 1
articles, papers, other publications
11. Packard papers, presentations, etc.
Box 60, Folder 1
miscellaneous speeches, papers
Box 60, Folder 2
Instruments as Peripherals
Box 60, Folder 3
Packard/Rempel - Rubidium Vapor Frequency Standards
1961
Box 60, Folder 4
Free Nuclear Precession Magnetomter
1956
Box 60, Folder 6
Good RF and Microwave Practices at Varian
1982-01-18
Box 60, Folder 8
A Study of The Future of NMR At Vartian
1981-10-01
Box 60, Folder 9
Transfer of Technological Information
1982-05-25
Box 63, Folder 6
Deposition. Sinclair Oil Corporation vs. Union Oil Company / Hiroca Corporation vs. Union Oil Company
1969-01-09
Box 63, Folder 5
Deposition. Perkin-Elmer Corporation vs. Varian Associates, Inc.
1985-09-11
Box 63, Folder 7
William Hodge (personal)
1972-1984
12. Notebooks, calendar planners, business cards
Box 57, Folder 4
Planners
1956, 1961, 1962
Box 59, Folder 1
Notebooks, Business Cards
Box 59, Folder 2
Notebooks [travel and business]
1972, 1978-1986
13. Audiovisual material
Physical Description:
[2 videocasettes ; 1 audiocassette ; one photograph]
Box 67, Folder 3
A Valley Changes The World. H.P. Born. Swiss Radio. Fall
1983
Physical Description:
1 audiocassette(s)
BASF LH super I. 120 minute
Box 67, Folder 4
Dr. Bloch. M. Packard
Physical Description:
1 videotape(s) (VHS)
Scotch T-120
Box 67, Folder 5
Varian Associates. Video Marketing Program. Circa
1985
Physical Description:
1 videotape(s) (U-matic)
dub
Box 67, Folder 6
Chemical Show, Beijing. Lu Peichang
1988-10
Physical Description:
1 photoprint(s)
14. Tubes and other machine parts
Physical Description:
6 Item(s)
Scope and Content Note
Vacuum tubes from Varian and Westinghouse (although Packard worked at the latter, these tubes may date from after his time
there), as well as a possible vacuum cavity from Westinghouse and other unidentified tubes or parts.
Box 68
[unidentified]
Technical Details
no markings, approx. 1.5" long. red band, striated glass or plastic. plug on one end. in tiny box labeled "delicate handle
with care"
Box 68
[unidentified]
Technical Details
no markings except "licensed only to extent indicated on carton." 5" long, octal (introduced 1935). all black. partly connected
by springs and screws. nozzle on side. possibly a prototype
Box 68
Westinghouse 1B24
Technical Details
D85223 [stamped]] ; [anchor stamp]. [on envelope: RBC ; LF3895 ; B56A6 ; 1648]
Box 68
Westinghouse WL-1Q22 [vacuum cavity]
Technical Details
US [anchor stamp]. 113,337 [stamped] ; 109039 [engraved] "X-band, fixed frequency vacuum cavity: 9250MHz resonating frequency,
1900 to 2400 unloaded Q. Flanged waveguide connections. Used to stabilize the frequency of the klystron local oscillator in
radar receivers."
Box 68
Varian JAN-1B24A tube [top part, glass]
Technical Details
Co60. 7232
Box 68
Varian JAN-1B24A tube [bottom part, metal]