David Oakes Woodbury papers
Scope and Contents
Papers about Woodbury's personal life and education include letters from his parents (1850-1900), Woodbury's correspondence with his family and wife, Ruth (1900-1940), his diaries and sketchbooks (1904-1912), and school exams and grades from Stanford. Woodbury's writings are documented in correspondence, manuscript drafts, and background material for his major works, including Around the World in 90 Minutes; Atoms for Peace; Beloved Scientist (biography of Elihu Thomson); Blood on the Lotus; Colorado Conquest; Five Days to Oblivion; Frigid World of Cryogenics; Glass Giant of Palomar; Great White Mantle: Outward Bound for Space; and When the Ice Age Comes. There are interview notes with manufacturers and indexes to his Collier's column, Your Life Tomorrow
, about the household applications of World War II technology; and correspondence concerning his lectures on the peaceful uses of atomic energy and other science-related topics.
Dates
- 1860 - 1980
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open.
Conditions Governing Use
Access to collections in the Department of Distinctive Collections is not authorization to publish. Please see the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy for permission information. Copyright of some items in this collection may be held by respective creators, not by the donor of the collection or MIT.
Biographical Note
David Oakes Woodbury, 1896-1981, AB in engineering, 1920, Stanford University; BS 1921, MS 1922, both in electrical engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a research assistant at MIT under Vannevar Bush in 1924. He later became a freelance writer and lecturer in popular science and wrote many books on such diverse topics as satellites, automation, and the building of the Hoover Dam, as well as biographies of noted scientists including Edward Weston and Elihu Thomson. He also wrote for magazines, including a regular column for Collier's, 1943-1947, entitled Your Life Tomorrow
.
Extent
24 Cubic Feet (23 record cartons, 2 manuscript boxes, 1 flat storage box)
Language of Materials
English
Physical 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.
- Science -- Popular works. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Scientists -- Biography. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Weston, Edward, 1886-1958
- Woodbury, Charles H. (Charles Herbert), 1864-1940
- Woodbury, David O. (David Oakes), 1896-1981
- Woodbury, Marcia Oakes, 1865-1913
- Woodbury, Ruth R. (Ruth Ruyl)
Creator
- Title
- Preliminary Inventory to the Papers of David Oakes Woodbury
- Status
- Ready For Review
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
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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