Collection Guide
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Glaser (Donald A.) Papers
10285-MS
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Contributing Institution:
California Institute of Technology Archives and Special Collections
Title: Donald A. Glaser Papers
Creator:
Glaser, Donald Arthur
Identifier/Call Number: 10285-MS
Physical Description:
15.97 linear feet
(41 boxes (Caltech Collection); 17 cartons (UC Berkeley
Collection))
Date (inclusive): 1918-2016
Date (bulk): 1949-2003
Abstract: Donald Arthur Glaser (1926–2013) earned
his PhD in Physics and Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology in 1950 and
won the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the bubble chamber. He then changed
his research focus to molecular biology and went on to co-found Cetus Corporation, the first
biotechnology company. In the 1980s he again switched his focus to neurobiology and the
visual system. The Donald A. Glaser papers consist of research notes and notebooks,
manuscripts and printed papers, correspondence, awards, biographical material, photographs,
audio-visual material, and born-digital files. This finding aid is an intellectual
arrangement of two collections: first portion originally from the University of California Berkeley, Bancroft Library and
the second from the Caltech Archives.
Language of Material:
English .
This collection has been fully digitized and can be accessed at
Donald A. Glaser Papers. For
physical access to the papers, requests must be submitted in writing. The UC Berkeley
portion is stored offsite.
The University of California, Berkeley and Caltech Donald A. Glaser Papers were acquired
separately and the ownership of the collections remain with the two institutions. This
collection guide intellectually combines the two collections. The UC Berkeley portion of the
Donald Glaser Papers are on an indefinite loan to the Caltech Archives.
Caltech Collection: 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 Archives. 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. Berkeley Collection:
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.
[Identification of item], Caltech Collection: Donald A. Glaser papers, 10285-MS, Caltech
Archives, California Institute of Technology. Berkeley collection: Donald Glaser papers,
BANC MSS 2003/260 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Caltech Collection: The Donald A. Glaser papers were generously given to the Caltech
Archives by Lynn Glaser in 2015. Berkeley Collection: The Donald Glaser papers were gifted
to the Bancroft Library by Donald Glaser in 2007.
Donald Arthur Glaser was born on September 21, 1926 in Cleveland, Ohio. He received his
B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from the Case School of Applied Science in 1946, and a PhD
in Physics and Mathematics in 1950 from the California Institute of Technology where Nobel
Laureate Carl Anderson was his advisor. He joined the faculty at the University of Michigan
at Ann Arbor in 1949 where his interest in elementary particles led to the invention of the
bubble chamber in 1953. Glaser moved to UC Berkeley in 1959 and in 1960, at the age of 34,
won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Shortly after he moved to Berkeley, his research shifted to
automated experimentation in molecular and cell biology. He worked in UC Berkeley's Virus
Lab, conducting experiments with bacteria and bacterial viruses called phages and mammalian
cells. He designed automated equipment that made it easier to grow these cells and to study
how they grow, repair themselves, and reproduce. His work in this area led to cofounding one
of the first biotechnology companies and eventually to Cetus Corporation. Glaser shifted his
research interests toward neuroscience and the visual system by 1981 and continued work in
this field into the 2000s. Glaser passed away on February 28, 2013.
The letter B or C in the box identifier indicates ownership by Berkeley or Caltech,
respectively.
The Caltech collection was processed by Kristen Abraham, Bianca Rios, and Mariella Soprano.
Processing began in 2015 and was completed in 2017 at the Caltech Archives, Caltech. The
Berkeley collection was processed by Lara Michels at the Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley in
April 2015.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Physics
Bubble Chambers
Nobel Prize winners
Molecular biology
Neuroscience
Manuscript Collection