Papers of Joseph Mayer, a theoretical chemical physicist, researcher, author, consultant, and professor of chemistry at UC San Diego from 1960 until his retirement in 1973. Mayer is best known for his work in statistical mechanics and the application of statistical mechanics to concepts of liquids and dense gases. Among the significant correspondents represented in the collection are Max Born, Johannes Hans Jensen, Martin Kamen, Linus Pauling, Roger Revelle, Leo Szilard, Hermann Weyl, and Bruno Zimm.

The son of a bridge engineer, Joseph Edward Mayer was born on February 5, 1904 in New York City. His family later moved to Canada and then to California, where Mayer graduated from Hollywood High School. In 1924 he received a B.S. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. He went on to the University of California at Berkeley and earned his doctorate there in 1927 under the direction of Gilbert N. Lewis.

19.2 Linear feet (50 archives boxes, 1 card file box and 2 oversize folders)

Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.