Seibert Q. Duntley Papers
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2019
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Descriptive Summary
Languages:
English
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Seibert Q. Duntley Papers
Creator:
Duntley, Seibert Q.
Identifier/Call Number: SMC 0058
Physical Description:
5 Linear feet
(5 record cartons)
Date (inclusive): 1930-1977
Abstract: Papers of Seibert Quimby Duntley (1911-1999), a researcher in the field of visibility and optics and long-time director of
the SIO Visibility Laboratory. The collection includes professional correspondence, teaching and lecture notes, a small selection
of research projects, and documentation relating to professional organizations in which Duntley was an active member.
Scope and Content of Collection
Papers of Seibert Quimby Duntley (1911-1999), a researcher in the field of visibility and optics and long-time director of
the SIO Visibility Laboratory. The collection includes professional correspondence, teaching and lecture notes, a small selection
of research projects, and documentation relating to professional organizations in which Duntley was an active member. It also
includes a small amount of biographical material and images, including glass lantern slides.
Arranged in six series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) NOTEBOOKS, 4) TEACHING MATERIALS, 5) LECTURES, RESEARCH
AND WRITINGS, 6) ORGANIZATIONS and 7) PHOTOGRAPHS.
Biography
Seibert Quimby Duntley, known as Quimby to colleagues and family, was born on October 2, 1911 in Bushnell, Illinois. He received
his SB in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1933. During his undergraduate years, Duntley was a
member of the Coast Artillery R.O.T.C. unit at MIT and received a reserve commission of second lieutenant. Duntley earned
his MS degree from the California Institute of Technology in 1935 and his Sc.D. in physics from MIT in 1939. Duntley was a
teaching fellow at MIT in the Department of Physics from 1937-1939, and was promoted to the faculty as an Instructor in Physics
in 1939. His primary academic interest was in the optics of turbid media. During this time he also met Mabel Austin, his wife
of 62 years and the sister of his lifelong professional colleague Roswell Austin.
In 1939, Dr. Duntley and Dr. Arthur Hardy founded the Visibility Laboratory at MIT, which became Duntley's main focus throughout
the 1940s (though, during this time, Duntley also consulted for corporations, and continued his teaching responsibilities
at MIT). In 1952, the Visibility Laboratory moved to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in La Jolla, California.
Duntley continued to serve as director, and began teaching at SIO and the new UC San Diego campus, earning the title of Professor
in 1966. He also served on the SIO Academic Senate, the Staff Council, and several SIO committees. Duntley gave presentations
in the San Diego area as well, such as the Theatre and Arts Foundation of San Diego County's "Meet the Scientist" lecture
series.
Duntley was an active member of professional organizations including the American Institute of Physics (AIP), the International
Commission for Optics (ICO), and Optical Society of America (OSA). He was heavily involved in the OSA during the 1950s and
1960s and participated in several of their committees. In 1961, the OSA awarded the Frederick E. Ives Medal to Duntley for
distinguished work in the field of optics; he was appointed president of the OSA in 1965.
Duntley resigned as director of the Visibility Laboratory in 1975, but he continued to teach and conduct research until his
retirement in 1977. During his long career, he wrote over a hundred papers on the topics of physics, visibility, and optics.
He died in La Jolla on October 22, 1999.
Preferred Citation
Seibert Q. Duntley Papers. SMC 58. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 1987
OFF-SITE STORAGE
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Related Materials
UC San Diego. Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Visibility Laboratory Records, SAC 38. Special Collections & Archives,
UC San Diego.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Optics -- Research
Lantern slides
Duntley, Seibert Q. -- Archives
Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Visibility Laboratory
Optical Society of America
Box 1, Folder 1
Press releases and clippings on MIT Navy research
1948-1949
Box 1, Folder 2
Career documentation
1940-1951
Box 1, Folder 3
OSA Frederic E. Ives Medal documentation
1961
General note
Awarded to Duntley in 1961 for distinguished work in optics.
Box 1, Folder 4
Biographical information
1955-1972
General note
Includes list of publications, employment biographies, and photo of Duntley outside the Navy Electronics Lab in San Diego.
Box 1, Folder 5
Duntley oral history interview with Deborah Day (SIO archivist) - Audiocassette
1981 October 15
General note
Cassette has been digitized, however, sound recording quality was noted as very poor at time of reformatting (2009).
Conditions Governing Access note
Original restricted (digital version available).
CORRESPONDENCE
Scope and Content of Series
Series 2) CORRESPONDENCE: The bulk of this series is incoming correspondence regarding professional questions and projects,
with some outgoing carbon copies written by Duntley. Arranged alphabetically.
Box 1, Folder 6
American Cyanamid Company
1941
Box 1, Folder 7
Bausch & Lomb Optical Co.
1947
Box 1, Folder 8
Brewer, Glenn M.
1974-1976
Box 1, Folder 9
Clewell, Dayton
1938-1945
Box 1, Folder 10
DuPont (E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Company, Inc.)
1935-1941
Box 1, Folder 11
Family correspondence
1939-1947
Box 1, Folder 12
Gasoline Rationing Board
1942
Box 1, Folder 14
Hamilton, James B.
1940-1946
Box 1, Folder 15
Hardy, Arthur C.
1940-1947
Box 1, Folder 16
Inter-Society Color Council
1940-1941
Box 1, Folder 20
Middleton, W.E.K.
1947-1952
General note
Includes Duntley's criticism and excerpts of Middleton's manuscript,
Vision Through the Atmosphere.
Box 1, Folder 21
Miscellaneous correspondence
1935-1952
Box 1, Folder 22
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
1937-1954
General note
Includes Duntley's resignation from MIT in 1954.
Box 1, Folder 23
Office of Science Research and Development
1944-1945
Box 1, Folder 24
Publishing contracts and correspondence
1953-1965
Box 1, Folder 26
Titherington, Richard H.
ca. 1943
Box 1, Folder 27
Turner, Francis
1939-1944
Box 1, Folder 28
Uhlemann Optical Company
1939-1946
Box 1, Folder 29
U.S. War Department
1938-1947
NOTEBOOKS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 3) NOTEBOOKS: Bound notebooks of lecture notes from Duntley's studies at MIT and Caltech, as well as various research
notebooks.
Box 1, Folder 30
Computation notebook - Lever Bros. job
1938
Box 1, Folder 31-35
Research notebooks
1939-1952
Bound MIT lecture notebooks
Box 4, Folder 13
Volume 3 - Optics and photography
ca. 1930-1938
Box 4, Folder 14
Volume 5 - Atomic physics and x-rays
ca. 1930-1938
Box 4, Folder 15
Volume 6 - Theoretical physics
ca. 1930-1938
Box 5, Folder 1
Volume 7 - Electronics, dynamics, and physical optics
ca. 1930-1938
Box 5, Folder 2
Volume 8 - Quantum mechanics
ca. 1930-1938
Box 5, Folder 3
Volume 9 - Electro-dynamics and microscopy
ca. 1930-1938
Box 5, Folder 4
Volume 11 - Illuminating engineering
ca. 1930-1938
TEACHING MATERIALS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 4) TEACHING MATERIALS: Lecture materials and exams written by Duntley for the classes he taught at MIT and SIO. Includes
one folder documenting his administrative role on the SIO Committee on Oceanography from Space.
Box 1, Folder 36
Photographic Laboratory General Regulations and Experiments 1-21
1931
Box 1, Folder 37
Boston Color Group program
1937-1947
Box 1, Folder 38-39
Introduction and problem answers to Electricity and Optics by John Wulff
ca. 1941-1946
General note
The book was used for Duntley's MIT Physics: Electricity course (8.03).
Box 1, Folder 40
MIT Physics Department Committee on Undergraduate Laboratories - Proposed course changes and outlines
1945-1946
MIT - Color Measurement course (8.173)
Box 1, Folder 41
Lecture materials
1931-1947
Box 1, Folder 42
Yellow plastic experiment
1941-1942
Box 1, Folder 43
Taking filter experiment
1940-1941
Box 1, Folder 44
Role of absorption in turbid media
1941
Box 1, Folder 45
Correspondence regarding interest in summer course
1947-1948
General note
Includes photograph of Duntley and his class of June 1947.
Box 1, Folder 46
Union College - Color Measurement course materials
1949-1950
MIT - Physics: Optics course (8.161)
Box 1, Folder 49
Lecture materials
ca. 1937-1950
Box 1, Folder 50
Experiments 1-19
ca. 1937-1950
MIT - Physics: Optics course (8.04)
Box 1, Folder 51
Review questions
1937-1938
Box 1, Folder 52-54
Lecture materials
1943-1949
MIT - Physics: Electricity course (8.03)
Box 2, Folder 18-19
Lecture materials
1941-1952
Box 2, Folder 20
MIT - Physics: Mechanics and Heat (8.01) - Lecture notes
1950-1952
Box 2, Folder 21
SIO - Special Topics in Oceanography (Course 220) - Lecture notes
1955
Box 2, Folder 22
Proposal for optics department at UCSD
1961-1962
Box 2, Folder 23
UCSD - AEP 203 course materials
1967-1968
Box 2, Folder 24
SIO - Committee on Oceanography from Space
1969-1970
Box 2, Folder 25
SIO - Report on research
1970 April 21
Box 2, Folder 26
UCSD - Applied Physics and Information Science (APIS) 203: Optical Systems - Course materials
1968-1975
Box 2, Folder 27
SIO 213: Radiative Transfer in the Sea - Course materials
ca. 1960-1977
Box 2, Folder 28
UCSD - Applied Physics and Information Science (APIS) 243 course materials
1975-1977
LECTURES, RESEARCH AND WRITINGS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 5) LECTURES, RESEARCH AND WRITINGS: Talks and presentations given by Duntley at conferences and other events, as well
as writings and documentation related to his research.
Box 2, Folder 29
Duntley, S.Q. The Optical Properties of Pigmented Films - Thesis
1935-1939
General note
For Duntley's Sc.D. degree in physics completed at MIT.
Box 2, Folder 30
Spectrophotometric studies of human skin - Correspondence
1939-1951
Box 2, Folder 31
Color photography lecture
1941 January 10
Box 2, Folder 32
The Prediction and Control of Colored Fiber Blends, for
American Dyestuff Reporter
1941 December 8
General note
Presented to the Northern New England Section of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists.
Box 2, Folder 33-35
Mohawk Carpet Mills - Correspondence and reports
1939-1947
General note
Includes wool samples and reports 5-6 on The Additive Mixture of Raw Stock Wool.
Box 2, Folder 36
Notes on works by Edward Olson Hulburt
ca. 1944
Box 2, Folder 37-40
General Electric Company
1945-1952
General note
Includes patent applications for Duntley's inventions.
Box 3, Folder 1
License plate photometry project
1948
Box 3, Folder 2
Notes on Duntley's Lectures on physiological optics and visibility calculations
1954
Box 3, Folder 3
Hydrological optics lecture
1955 May 17
Box 3, Folder 4
"Seeing the Earth satellite" - San Diego State College lecture
1956 July 18
Box 3, Folder 5
"Seeing is not believing" - Lecture
1957 November
Box 3, Folder 6
Miscellaneous manuscripts
1955-1958
Box 3, Folder 7
The science of light and color. "Meet the Scientist" lecture series, San Diego
1958 May
General note
Sponsored by the Theatre and Arts Foundation of San Diego County.
Box 3, Folder 8
Human vision. "Meet the Scientist" lecture series, San Diego
1961 March 15
Box 3, Folder 9
Speech drafts and data on underwater photography
1962
Box 3, Folder 10
Light in the Sea - OSA presentation by S. Q. Duntley
1967
General note
Paper on Duntley's studies of light in the ocean.
Box 3, Folder 11
Verification of nigrosine dye and silica gel scattering
1968
Box 3, Folder 12
"Optical methods for detection of water pollution." Speech for Environmental Quality Sensor Workshop (EPA)
1972
Box 3, Folder 13
Maul, George A., S. Q. Duntley and Richard A. Geyer. Ocean Currents, from Shuttle Earth Observations: Role of Man Working
Session Reports
1976 March 15
Box 3, Folder 14
Optical Exploration of the Oceans - Draft for presentation
undated
ORGANIZATIONS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 6) ORGANIZATIONS: Correspondence, reports, and meeting minutes. Arranged chronologically within two subseries: A) International
Commission for Optics (ICO), and B) Optical Society of America (OSA).
International Commission for Optics (ICO)
Box 3, Folder 15
Fourth Congress in Cambridge, Massachusetts - Program and summary of proceedings
1955-1956
Box 3, Folder 16
Fifth Meeting and Conference in Stockholm, Sweden - Correspondence, program, and photos
1958-1959
Box 3, Folder 17
Constitutions and proposed changes
1954-1961
Box 3, Folder 18
London and Paris meetings
1961
Box 3, Folder 19
Multilingual Optical Dictionary
1953-1961
Box 3, Folder 20
Sixth Congress in Munich, Germany - Correspondence and summary of proceedings
1961-1962
Box 3, Folder 21
Seventh Congress in Paris, France - Agenda and meeting minutes
1966
Box 3, Folder 22
Meetings and correspondence
1954-1966
Optical Society of America (OSA)
Box 3, Folder 23
"Visibility of Distant Objects" - Speech for Rochester Section
1949-1950
Box 3, Folder 25
Careers in Optics
1962
General note
A booklet designed to interest and inform students on working in the field of optics.
Box 3, Folder 26
International Commission on Illumination (CIE) Reports
1956-1963
Box 3, Folder 28
Committee on Invited Papers
1958-1964
Box 3, Folder 29
Committee on Teaching and Research in Optics
1959-1965
General note
Includes letters to Carl Eckart and SIO Director F. Spiess.
Box 3, Folder 30
American Institute of Physics (AIP) - Governing Board correspondence
1964-1965
Box 3, Folder 31
Specialty groups
1964-1965
Box 3, Folder 32
Traveling Lecturer Program - Abstract of lectures and correspondence
1964-1965
General note
Includes Duntley's abstracts for "What on Earth can an Astronaut See?" (a discussion of Duntley's research for NASA Gemini
flights V and VII) and "What Can a Fish See?"
Box 3, Folder 33
Book Lists
1965
General note
Includes an excerpt written by SQD.
Box 3, Folder 34
REPOSA Committee - Correspondence and publicity
1965
Box 3, Folder 35
By-laws and proposed changes
1958-1966
Box 3, Folder 36
Optika i Spektroskopiya translation - Correspondence
1960-1966
Box 3, Folder 37
Needs in Optics Committee - Correspondence and reports
1962-1966
Box 3, Folder 38
Dr. W.D. Garvey project
1966
Box 3, Folder 40-43
Board of Directors meetings
1956-1967
General note
Includes meeting minutes, programs, and agendas.
Box 4, Folder 1-6
Board of Directors correspondence
1957-1967
General note
Includes publicity on SQD winning the OSA presidency in 1965.
Box 4, Folder 7
Miscellaneous committees
1958-1967
Box 4, Folder 8
Society Objectives and Policy (SOAP) Committee
1958-1967
Box 4, Folder 10
Applied Optics correspondence
1961-1967
Box 4, Folder 11
Greater New York Section - Correspondence on building an optical center
1966-1967
Box 4, Folder 12
Frederic E. Ives Medal Committee
1966-1968
PHOTOGRAPHS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 7) PHOTOGRAPHS: One sleeve of slides documenting a Navy experiment, and two small boxes (housed within the last carton)
of glass lantern slides. The slides are unidentified, but have been sorted into groups based on theme and subject matter (instruments
and equipment, personnel, Air Force bomber plane, etc.). The images may complement or replicate negatives from the Visibility
Laboratory Records (SAC 38) negative archive.
Box 5, Folder 5
Navy experiment slides - Kodachrome
1948
Box 5, Folder 6
Instruments and scientific equipment - Lantern slides
ca. 1945-1965
Box 5, Folder 7
Diamond Island, NH field station - Lantern slides
ca. 1948-1949
Box 5, Folder 8
Underwater diving - Lantern slides
undated
Box 5, Folder 9
Air Force bomber plane with instrumentation - Lantern slides
1955
Box 5, Folder 10
Personnel and equipment - Lantern slides
ca. 1945-1965
General
All unidentified. Subjects may include Florida atmospheric optics experiments, Gemini project, the E.W. Scripps (ship), and
other researchers.
