Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Laboratory for Nuclear Science records
Scope and Contents
Records received in 1990, boxes 1-8, 1940-1980, contain correspondence, reports, grant proposals, and other materials pertaining to the activities of the Laboratory for Nuclear Science, 1946-1980; also includes raw data from experiments, 1940-1971, and technical specifications and instructions for operating laboratory equipment, including particle accelerators.
The collection also includes archived versions of the Laboratory for Nuclear Science, Central Machine Shop, and Bates Research and Engineering Center websites.
Records received in 1989, audiocassettes 1989, consist of recordings of lectures delivered on 12 January 1989 by Frederic J. Eppling on "A Brief Overview of the History of the LNS," and Harald Enge on "Van de Graaff and His Impact on Nuclear Physics," as part of the IAP Lecture Series. Also contains recordings of addresses for the Zacharias Lecture Series by David Saxon on "Science Education in Secondary Schools and Colleges," delivered on 11 January, and Jack Goldstein on "Defense Projects in the U.S., and the Cold War, 1949-1955," delivered on 26 January 1989.
Records received in 1990, boxes 1-8, 1940-1980, contain correspondence, reports, grant proposals, and other materials pertaining to the activities of the Laboratory for Nuclear Science, 1946-1980; also includes raw data from experiments, 1940-1971, and technical specifications and instructions for operating laboratory equipment, including particle accelerators.
Records received in 1997, boxes 9-18, contain records pertaining to the Laboratory for Nuclear Science's linear accelerator (linac) in Building 20 and the design of the linear accelerator in Middleton, Massachusetts. (The Middleton linac eventually was named the Bates Linear Accelerator Center.) The general administrative files include reports, memos, safety manuals, planning documents, and some photographs of the Middleton vault area and linac instruments. The data and research notes include laboratory notebooks containing equipment designs and set-ups, data, and summary observations of experiments conducted by staff and students. The technical specifications include plans, diagrams, written requirements, and a few photographs of equipment configurations and experiment layouts. Also included are operating manuals relating to equipment used by LNS.
Publications, boxes 21-36, comprise technical reports published by the Laboratory for Nuclear Science and by the Cambridge Electron Accelerator.
Dates
- 1940 - 2005
- 2017 - Ongoing
Creator
Access note
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Conditions Governing Use
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Historical note
The Laboratory for Nuclear Science and Engineering was established at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in April 1946 as an interdepartmental laboratory to bring together scientists and engineers in the fields of experimental and theoretical nuclear physics, cosmology, inorganic chemistry, and civil, mechanical, and nuclear engineering to conduct research in nuclear and particle physics. Jerrold R. Zacharias, professor of physics at MIT, was the first director. The laboratory's early research was funded by the Office of Naval Research and the Atomic Energy Commission. In 1953, when the Department of Nuclear Engineering took over responsibility for the laboratory and for the MIT reactor and other work on applied nuclear science, the name of the laboratory was changed to the Laboratory for Nuclear Science (LNS). In the 1960s work on cosmic rays moved to the Center for Space Research, and programs in nuclear chemistry were phased out. The Center for Theoretical Physics was dedicated in March 1968, and operates under the auspices of the laboratory. Since 1974 the laboratory has also operated the Bates Research and Engineering Center (formerly the Bates Linear Accelerator Center).
The Laboratory for Nuclear Science currently supports the basic research in nuclear and elementary particle physics of faculty and research scientists in the School of Science. It supports research interests of faculty in the Department of Physics by maintaining and administering facilities adapted to studies in high energy and nuclear physics.
Among many projects supported by the lab are theoretical studies of nuclei and elementary particles; experimental programs using a variety of detector techniques to study strong, electromagnetic, and weak interactions of elementary particles and other high energy phenomena; application of high speed nuclear and elementary particle data analysis; nuclear studies using heavy-ion accelerators; and programs in medium energy nuclear research with electrons, photons, protons, and pions.
Directors of the Laboratory for Nuclear Science
- 1946-1956
- Jerrold R. Zacharias
- 1957-1973
- Peter T. Demos
- 1973-1979
- Martin Deutsch
- 1979-1980
- Francis E. Low
- 1980-1983
- Jerome I. Friedman
- 1983-1992
- Arthur K. Kerman
- 1992-2000
- Robert P. Redwine
- 2000-2006
- June L. Matthews
- 2006-2015
- Richard G. Milner
- 2015 - present (as of 2019)
- Boleslaw Wyslouch
Extent
19.8 Cubic Feet (13 record cartons, 19 manscript boxes, 1 half manuscript box, 1 oversize box, 4 audiocassettes)
3 item(s) (3 archived websites)
Language of Materials
English
Location
Materials are stored off-site. Advance notice is required for use.
Processing Information note
Some collection descriptions are based on legacy data and may be incomplete or contain inaccuracies. Description may change pending verification. Please contact the MIT Department of Distinctive Collections if you notice any errors or discrepancies.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Laboratory for Nuclear Science
- Nuclear engineering -- Research. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Creator
- Title
- Preliminary Inventory to the Records of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Nuclear Science
- Status
- Ready For Review
- Author
- Elizabeth Kaplan, Nancy Heywood
- Date
- Copyright 1997
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2019: Historical note updated.
- 2021: Publications series added.
- 2021 October 22: Central Machine Shop website added by Lana Mason.
- 2022 March 4: Bates Research and Engineering Center website added by Lana Mason.
- 2022 April 18: Laboratory for Nuclear Science website added by Lana Mason.
Repository Details
Part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Libraries. Department of Distinctive Collections Repository
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries
Building 14N-118
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge MA 02139-4307 US
distinctive-collections@mit.edu