Finding Aid to the Perry Byerly papers, circa 1936-1975
Finding Aid written by Lara Michels
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
© 2007
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Finding Aid to the Perry Byerly papers, circa 1936-1975
Collection Number: BANC MSS 85/69 c
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
- Finding Aid Written By:
- Lara Michels
- Date Completed:
-
October 2012
© 2012 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Perry Byerly papers
Date (inclusive): circa 1936-1975
Collection Number: BANC MSS 85/69 c
Creators :
Byerly, Perry, 1897-1978
Extent:
Number of containers: 7 cartons, 1 oversize folder
(Linear feet: 8.75)
Repository: The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: Papers of Perry Byerly, a professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of California, Berkeley
and a central figure in the development of the field of seismology in the United States.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
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.
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
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 without permission of the copyright owner.
Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
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. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Perry Byerly papers, BANC MSS 85/69 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Alternate Forms Available
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Byerly, Perry, 1897-1978--Archives
University of California, Berkeley.--Dept. of Geology and Geophysics.
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
Seismologists--California--Berkeley
Seismology
Seismology--Charts, diagrams, etc.
Nuclear power plants--Planning
Nuclear weapons--Nevada--Testing
Project Gnome
Faculty papers
Administrative Information
Accruals
No additions are expected.
Processing Information
Processed by Lara Michels in 2012.
Biographical Information
Perry Byerly, a professor in the department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of California, Berkeley, played a
seminal role in the development of the field of seismology in the United States. Born in Clarinda, Iowa in 1897, Byerly moved
to California with his family in 1905. He obtained his A.B. (1921), M.A. (1922) and Ph.D. (1924) in physics from the University
of California, Berkeley. In 1925, Byerly took charge of of UC Berkeley's seismographic stations, which had been built at Berkeley
and Mount Hamilton in 1887. Byerly remained on the faculty until 1965. His first paper, published in 1924, investigated the
dispersion of seismic wave trains from distant eathquakes. Two years later, he published a seminal paper on the travel times
of P waves from the Montana earthquake of June 28, 1925. Byerly also devoted professional attention to seismological instruments.
He grew the number of seismological stations at UC Berkeley from the original two to sixteen.
Byerly was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and held two Guggenheim fellowships, one of which took him to Cambridge
University, where he established a lifelong friendship with Sir Harold Jeffreys, renowned mathemetician, geophysicist and
astronomer. Byerly was Secretary of the Seismological Society of American from 1931 until 1956. He was a Condon lecturer in
Oregon in 1952. A significant amount of his work as a seismologist involved consultations on geophysics and seismology for
particular government and private sector projects. For the Atomic Energy Commission Byerly studied seismic safety relating
to underground nuclear testing in Nevada and the Aleutians. He also consulted on the siting of nuclear reactors and other
structures.
Scope and Content of Collection
Mostly files from Perry Byerly's consulting work on private and public sector projects relating to the siting of dams, nuclear
power plants, and buildings. Among these consulting files are also materials on Byerly's work with the Atomic Energy Commission
and the United States Air Force during the 1950s and 1960s on the seismic effects of nuclear testing. Also included is correspondence
from 1965 through 1974, assorted publications and reprints, and some miscellaneous notes and papers.
Series 1
Consulting Files,
circa 1955-1972
Physical Description:
Carton 1-5
Carton 1, Folder 1-4
Dam at Mechra Klila (Morocco),
circa 1952-1960
Carton 1, Folder 5
National Reactor Testing System (Idaho),
circa 1971
Carton 1, Folder 6-9
Malibu nuclear power plant site,
circa 1965
Carton 1, Folder 10
Eugene (Oregon),
circa 1971
Carton 1, Folder 11-17, Oversize Folder 1
Pacific Gas and Electric, Humboldt Bay plant,
circa 1951-1973
Carton 1, Folder 18-20, Oversize Folder 1
Rancho Seco,
circa 1966-1971
Carton 1, Folder 21
Vallecitos Atomic Laboratory,
1955-1957
Carton 2, Folder 3
New York, Consolidated Edison,
1970
Carton 2, Folder 4
San Bernadino Conduit,
1970-1971
Carton 2, Folder 5-6, Oversize Folder 1
Baxley, Georgia nuclear power plant site,
1967-1970
Carton 2, Folder 7, Oversize Folder 1
Greenville, Mississippi site,
1968-1971
Carton 2, Folder 8-9
Bougainville, New Guinea,
1965-1970
Carton 2, Folder 10
Palisades, Michigan,
1971
Carton 2, Folder 11-16
Savannah River, Barnwell, South Carolina
1958-1970
Carton 2, Folder 17-19
Formosa (Taiwan),
1968-1971
Carton 2, Folder 20-21, Oversize Folder 1
Russelville, Arkansas,
1969-1970
Carton 2, Folder 22
Rocky Hill, Connecticut
1971
Carton 2, Folder 23-24
Farley, Alabama,
1969-1970
Carton 2, Folder 25
Texas Towers seismographic installation,
1955
Carton 3, Folder 1, Oversize Folder 1
Sierra foothills site,
1964-1966
Carton 3, Folder 2
Hercules Powder Company,
1953-1954
Carton 3, Folder 3-4
San Francisco-Oakland Tunnel (Bay Tube)
1955-1956
Carton 3, Folder 7, Oversize Folder 1
Alabama Powder Company,
1972
Carton 3, Folder 8-10
Texas versus Sun,
1936-1937
Carton 3, Folder 11
Public Health Building site, UC Berkeley,
1952
Carton 3, Folder 13-14
Westinghouse, Hartsville, South Carolina,
1961-1969
Carton 3, Folder 16-18, Oversize Folder 1
Trojan, Washington,
1967-1970
Carton , Folder , Oversize Folder 1
Pilgrim site (Boston),
4-5
Carton 4, Folder 9
General Atomic (San Diego),
1959
Carton 4, Folder 10-11, Oversize Folder 1
Mendocino power plant,
1971
Carton 4, Folder 12
Georgia Power and Light, Burke County,
1971
Carton 4, Folder 14
General Electric,
1964-1965
Carton 4, Folder 15
Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (Berkeley),
1965-1966
Carton 4, Folder 17
Chungju hydroelectric project (Korea),
1968
Carton 4, Folder 18
Midland Nuclear Power Plant (Michigan),
1968-1971
Carton 4, Folder 20
Peach Bottom site
1966-1967
Carton 4, Folder 22, Oversize Folder 1
Mehoopany, Pennsylvania,
1968-1969
Carton 4, Folder 23
United States Air Force,
1955-1966
Carton 5, Folder 1-11
Atomic Energy Commission,
1958-1972
Series 2
Correspondence and Other Papers,
circa 1936-1975
Physical Description:
Carton 6-7
Carton 6, Folder 1-14
Correspondence,
1965-1974
undated
Carton 6, Folder 15
Recommendation letters,
1936-1972
Carton 6, Folder 17
Condon Lectures,
1951-1952
Carton 6, Folder 18
General Conference of Experts, Report to Regents,
1958
Carton 6, Folder 19
Assorted project reports,
1965-1969
Carton 6, Folder 20-23, Carton 7, Folder 1-4
Assorted reprints, publications, and bulletins,
circa 1955-1971
Carton 7, Folder 6
Duration of shaking,
1968-1969
Carton 7, Folder 7
Amchitka, Alabama clippings,
1969
Carton 7, Folder 8
Leonard Murphy,
1968-1971
Carton 7, Folder 9
Earthquake Engineering Research Institute,
1968-1972
Carton 7, Folder 10
Earthquakes of 1812, 1818, and 1822,
undated
Carton 7, Folder 11
Pacific Gas and Electric lawsuit,
circa 1955-1957
Carton 7, Folder 12-14
Notes and miscellany,
circa 1950-1970
