Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Schawlow (Arthur L.) Papers
SC0554
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Arthur L. Schawlow papers
Identifier/Call Number: SC0554
Physical Description:
100.75 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1949-1997
Abstract: These papers primarily document
Schawlow's career at Stanford and include correspondence, 1951-1995; lecture notes and class
files, 1980-1988, containing problem sets and solutions, exams, and other information; grant
files; records from participation in professional organizations including American Physical
Society, American Institute of Physics, and the Optical Society of America; and reprints of
his and his students' articles, 1949-1994. Also included is correspondence, clippings, and
brochures pertaining to autism, 1981-1989, including typescript of "Our Autistic Son" by
Aurelia T. and Arthur L. Schawlow.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Gift of Arthur Schawlow, 1997-1998.
This collection is open for research.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must
be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. 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/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of
digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Arthur L. Schawlow Papers (SC0554). Department of Special Collections and University
Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Biographical/Historical Sketch
Arthur L. Schawlow, professor of physics at Stanford University from 1961 to 1991, received
the Nobel Prize in physics in 1981 for his contributions to the development of laser
spectroscopy. He and his brother-in-law, Charles Townes, professor emeritus at the
University of California-Berkeley, published their first paper showing how to build a laser
in 1958, while Schawlow was a research physicist at Bell Telephone Laboratories. Schawlow
earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. at the University of Toronto and was a research associate
and associate professor at Columbia University before coming to Stanford. He was chair of
the physics department from 1966 to 1970 and retired from active teaching in 1991 with the
rank of professor emeritus. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the Optical
Society of America, the Institute of Electrical Electronics Engineers, the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences.
These papers primarily document Schawlow's career at Stanford and include correspondence,
1951-1995; lecture notes and class files, 1980-1988, containing problem sets and solutions,
exams, and other information; grant files; records from participation in professional
organizations including American Physical Society, American Institute of Physics, and the
Optical Society of America; and reprints of his and his students' articles, 1949-1994. Also
included is correspondence, clippings, and brochures pertaining to autism, 1981-1989,
including typescript of "Our Autistic Son" by Aurelia T. and Arthur L. Schawlow.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Microwave spectroscopy.
Lasers.
Autism.
Physics -- Study and teaching.
American Institute of Physics.
Schawlow, Arthur L.
American Physical Society.
Stanford University. Department of Physics
Optical Society of America.