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Scope and Contents
Biographical / Historical
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Douglas Dean Osheroff papers
Identifier/Call Number: SC1181
Physical Description:
5 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1969-2003
Summary: Laboratory
notebooks.
Language of Material:
Undetermined .
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
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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/spc/using-collections/permission-publish.
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], Douglas D. Osheroff Papers (SC1181). Dept. of Special Collections
and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Scope and Contents
The materials consist of laboratory notebooks.
Biographical / Historical
Douglas Dean Osheroff (born August 1, 1945) is a physicist known for his work in
experimental condensed matter physics, in particular for his co-discovery of superfluidity
in Helium-3. For his contributions he shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics along with
David Lee and Robert C. Richardson.
Osheroff was born in Aberdeen, Washington. His father, William Osheroff, was the son of
Jewish immigrants who left Russia. His mother, Bessie Anne (Ondov), a nurse, was the
daughter of Slovak immigrants (her own father was a Lutheran minister). Osheroff earned his
Bachelor's degree in 1967 from Caltech, where he attended lectures by Richard Feynman and
did undergraduate research for Gerry Neugebauer.
Osheroff joined the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics at Cornell University as a
graduate student, doing research in low-temperature physics. Together with David Lee, the
head of the laboratory, and Robert C. Richardson, Osheroff used a Pomeranchuk cell to
investigate the behaviour of 3He at temperatures within a few thousandths of a degree of
absolute zero. They discovered unexpected effects in their measurements, which they
eventually explained as phase transitions to a superfluid phase of 3He. Lee, Richardson and
Osheroff were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1996 for this discovery.
Osheroff received a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1973. He then worked at Bell Labs in
Murray Hill, New Jersey for 15 years, continuing to research low-temperature phenomena in
3He. In 1987 he moved to the Departments of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford
University, where he also served as department chair from 1993-96. His research is focused
on phenomena that occur at extremely low temperatures.
Osheroff was selected to serve on the Space Shuttle Columbia investigation panel, serving
much the same role as Richard Feynman did on the Space Shuttle Challenger panel.
He currently serves on the board of advisors of Scientists and Engineers for America, an
organization focused on promoting sound science in American government.
Osheroff is an avid photographer and introduces students at Stanford to medium-format film
photography in a freshman seminar titled "Technical Aspects of Photography." In addition, he
has taught the Stanford introductory physics course on electricity and magnetism on multiple
occasions, most recently in Spring 2008, as well as undergraduate labs on low temperature
physics.
Among his physics outreach activities, Osheroff participated in the science festivals for
middle and high school students, is an official guest of honor at the International Young
Physicists' Tournament 2013.
He married Phyllis Liu-Osheroff in 1970.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Physics -- Experiments.
Physics -- History.
Laboratory notes.
Physics -- Study and teaching.
Physics -- Research.
Particles (Nuclear physics) -- Laboratories.