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Tyler (John E.) Papers
SMC 0168
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Table of contents
Languages:
English
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: John E. Tyler Papers
Creator:
Tyler, John E. (John Edwards), 1911-
Identifier/Call Number: SMC 0168
Physical Description:
6 Linear feet
(6 record cartons)
Date (inclusive): 1935-1980, bulk 1955-1978
Abstract: Papers of John Edwards Tyler (1935-1978), a research physicist for the Visibility Laboratory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Scope and Content of Collection
Papers of John Edwards Tyler (1935-1978), physicist and experimentalist for the Visibility Laboratory (Vis Lab) at Scripps
Institution of Oceanography. Dr. Tyler was central to the Vis Lab's design, development and testing of optical oceanography
instruments. The collection includes professional correspondence, a small number of writings and research files (many more
proposals, papers and technical reports authored by Tyler may be found in the Visibility Laboratory Records), contracts and
grants for which Tyler was PI, and patent information. The collection also includes approximately one box of materials related
to Tyler's chairmanship of the SCOR Working Group 15, a joint project with UNESCO and IAPO on Photosynthetic Radiant Energy.
SCOR materials include correspondence and memoranda exchanged with contributors and colleagues, drafts of the WG 15 report,
and notes and planning materials for the Discoverer expedition.
Arranged in seven series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL AND PATENTS, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) WRITINGS AND RESEARCH, 4) PROJECTS, PROPOSALS
AND CONTRACTS, 5) SCOR WG 15, 6) MEETINGS AND EVENTS, and 7) LECTURES AND TEACHING.
John Edwards Tyler (1911-1992) was born on November 11, 1911 in Boston, Massachusetts. He studied in optics at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) and completed a thesis in spectrophotometry and colorimetry. Tyler joined the National Research
Corporation in 1941, and in 1944 transferred to Research Laboratories of the Interchemical Corporation in New York. Meanwhile,
Dr. Seibert Q. Duntley founded the Visibility Laboratory at MIT in 1939. By the late 1940s, Vis Lab began to focus more heavily
on ocean optics, and moved to San Diego, California and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1952. Duntley recruited
Tyler to the new Vis Lab location, where he worked on the development and testing of optical instruments, such as photometers
used to take radiance distribution measurements.
Tyler served as chair of the International Science Council's Scientific Committee on Ocean Research (SCOR) Working Group 15,
a joint project with UNESCO and IAPO on Photosynthetic Radiant Energy.
In San Diego, Tyler became vice president of San Diego Sigma Xi Club as well as president of the San Diego section of the
American Chemical Society. He was also a Fellow of Optical Society of America and of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science. Tyler authored over 70 scientific papers and innumerous technical reports.
John E. Tyler Papers. SMC 168. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquired 1981, 1988
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
UC San Diego. Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Visibility Laboratory records. SAC 38. Special Collections & Archives,
UC San Diego Library.
Seibert Q. Duntley papers. SMC 58. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Tyler, John E. (John Edwards), 1911- -- Archives
Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Visibility Laboratory