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Hans Bethe papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: 14-22-976

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Papers consist of Bethe's calculations, notes, and correspondence with colleagues concerning nuclear physics, solar, stellar, and nuclear energy, radiation, conduction in metals, quantum mechanics, the recommendation of physicists for various positions and grants, administration of the Cornell University Physics Department, Cornell courses, arms and arms control, underwater explosion research, nuclear test ban, and other topics; reports and hearings of the Atomic Energy Commission; Navy research reports; President's Science Advisory Committee memoranda; phonograph album of a television interview with Bethe concerning scientific education in the United States; articles, reprints, lectures, and textbooks by Bethe and others; reviews of professional writings; Ph.D. theses from the Cornell Physics Department; an engraving and two posters of Bethe used to advertise the Lauritsen Memorial Lecture for 1980; and correspondence received when Bethe won the Nobel Prize. Collection includes material on Strategic Defense Initiative, the H-Bomb and the Anti-Ballistic Missile, the end of the Cold War, and supernovae. Correspondents include Kenneth T. Bainbridge, Niels Bohr, Gregory Breit, Lee A. DuBridge, George Gamow, R. Clifton Gibbs, Emil J. Konopinski, Sigurd Kohler, Irving Langmuir, Ernest O. Lawrence, Edwin M. McMillan, Carleton Murdock, Lothar W. Nordheim, J. Robert Oppenheimer, George B. Pegram, Isidor I. Rabi, Morris E. Rose, Bruno Rossi, Harlow Shapley, Eugene Paul Wigner, Robert Wilson, and Victor Weisskopf.

Records created or assembled by Hans Bethe. The collection includes correspondence; drafts and copies of Bethe's articles; articles and publications gathered for his research; notes and calculations; material related to arms control and nuclear energy advocacy, including copies of congressional testimony; meeting minutes and memoranda related to Cornell University and the physics department, and material assembled for teaching, such as overhead transparencies; clippings; transcripts of oral history interviews; and material relating to Bethe's consulting work, including memoranda from the President's Science Advisory Committee and Navy research reports.

His research topics include nuclear physics, astrophysics, radiation, quantum mechanics, and metal conduction. Other topics include policy, and materials related to the history of physics and science, including research, biographies of other physics luminaries, and interviews with Bethe. Some Bethe interviews are printed, five are on videocassette, and one is on a phonograph.

While material in the collection dates back to the 1930's, the bulk of it dates from 1950-2000. Bethe actually assembled some of the earlier material later. For instance, he later collected photocopies of his old letters from the 1930's, some of which were photocopied from other archives.

Also, five videocassettes: "An Evening with Hans Bethe: The German A-Bomb Project"; "A Conversation with Emeritus Professor Dr. Hans Bethe and Dr. Victor Weisskopf"; "A Conversation with Emeritus Professors Dr. Hans Bethe and Dr. Robert Wilson"; and, "Hans Bethe: Super Nova Mechanism," and "'I can do that!' - Hans Bethe's First 60 Years at Cornell." Includes a photograph of Bethe, Day, Long et al at the groundbreaking for Newman Laboratory, and a photograph of Bethe with Peter Carruthers and Carson Mark near Los Alamos, circa 1980.

Ten audio recordings, including Fermi Memoriam Session Remarks, 29 April 1955; Hans Bethe, introduced by Norris Bradbury (2 reels), n.d.; Physics Lecture, 7 May 1976 (1 cassette); "The Energy Problem I: The Crisis is Real," 17 May 1976; "The Energy Problem: The Necessity of Nuclear Power," 19 May 1976; and Loeb Lecture, "Reversing the Nuclear Arms Race," 11 November 1982; and "A Talk with Hans Bethe," WSKG, 30 March 1995.

Also, packet celebrating life of Hans A. Bethe containing booklet "Hans Bethe, 1906-2005," DVD "Remembering Hans Bethe," three programs, one news release; movie film, "The Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967."

Dates

  • [ca. 1931]-1995.

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection material in English

Conditions Governing Use

Due to the fragility and potential degradation of moving image and sound recordings, viewing and listening is limited to items that have been digitized. If an item is in another media format, you may request to have the item digitized for access. Information on ordering access copies may be found on the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections webpage.

Conditions Governing Use

Audio visual media that has been digitized: V-8980, TR-10675

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Hans Albrecht Bethe (1906-2005) was among the most prominent physicists of the twentieth century, most famous for his work on the Manhattan Project during World War II, and for his Nobel prize-winning work on solar energy (1967).

Physicist, Cornell University professor of physics, Nobel laureate.

Born in Strasbourg, Bethe studied physics at Frankfurt and under Arnold Sommerfeld at the University of Munich. In 1930 he received a fellowship to Cambridge. He began his professional career at universities in Germany, and also worked with Enrico Fermi in Rome in the early 1930's. Although Bethe did not consider himself a Jew, his mother had Jewish ancestry, and thus he was removed from his university position at Tuebingen under the Nuremberg laws once Hitler came to power. He emigrated first to a position at Manchester, and then to Cornell University in 1935, where he would teach for the rest of his career.

In his early years at Cornell, Bethe formulated his theory of how stars produce energy, an achievement that would win him the Nobel Prize in 1967. Further notable accomplishments included his work on the Lamb Shift, his famous three-part summary of nuclear physics, and his post-retirement collaboration with Gerry Brown on supernovae and neutrinos.

During World War II, he headed the Theoretical Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory as part of the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. Despite his concerns about escalating the nuclear arms race, he assisted in the development of the Hydrogen bomb in the 1950's. Through these experiences, he became a vocal adversary of the nuclear arms race and control, opposing programs such as the Strategic Defense Initiative, and arguing in favor of anti-proliferation and test ban treaties, including SALT I and II. He was also an impassioned supporter of nuclear power as a solution to American energy needs. He was involved in policy throughout his adult life, as a science advisor to several presidents, as someone who frequently testified before Congress on issues of scientific importance, and as an advocate for the role of scientists in public affairs.

He also performed extensive consulting work for the U.S. government and American labs, such as the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and the Oakridge and Lawrence Livermore Laboratories. He also did consulting work for businesses such as Avco. Such consulting work generally related either to nuclear energy, or to defense.

After immigrating to the United States, he reconnected with Rose Ewald, daughter of his earlier physics mentor, Peter Paul Ewald. They married in 1939, and had two children, Henry and Monica. He retired from Cornell in 1975, but continued his astrophysics research and continued to be an expert on thermonuclear processes, shock waves, and neutrino reactions.

Bethe died at age 98 in 2005, having continued to participate in scientific study and policy until late in his life.

Extent

76.2 cubic feet. (76.2 cubic feet.)

9 videocassettes. (9 videocassettes.)

1 DVDs. (1 DVDs.)

4 audiotape reels. (4 audiotape reels.)

7 audiocassettes. (7 audiocassettes.)

41.4 gigabytes.

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers of Hans Albrecht Bethe, physicist, Cornell University professor of physics, Nobel laureate. Materials relate to Bethe's work concerning nuclear physics, solar, stellar, and nuclear energy, radiation, conduction in metals, and quantum mechanics; also the administration of the Cornell University Physics Department, and Cornell courses. Collection includes material on arms and arms control, underwater explosion research, the nuclear test ban, the Strategic Defense Initiative, the hydrogen bomb and the anti-ballistic missile, the end of the Cold War, and supernovae.

Arrangement

Unsorted folders primarily contain correspondence.

SERIES LIST FOR FIRST PORTION OF THE COLLECTION

Series I. Teaching

Courses Boxes 61, 62, 69, 73, 76, 79, 82 Exams Box 61 Students Boxes 61, 79, 87, 90, 92 Physics Department Boxes 65, 67, 77, 83, 87, 90, 92, 95, 96 Faculty Appointments/Promotions Boxes 82, 87, 93 Post-doctoral Fellowship Applicants Boxes 87-89 Cornell University Information Boxes 83, 87, 89

Series II. Research

Grant Proposals Boxes 96-97 Notes and Calculations Boxes 61-64, 66, 68, 76, 78, 79, 85, 89, 94, 97 Graphs, Tables, Diagrams, etc. Boxes 62, 63, 87, 89 Nuclear Matter Boxes 66, 68, 79, 93, 95 Pions Box 79 Solar Neutrinos Box 97 Supernovae Boxes 79, 87, 89, 95, 97-99

Series III. Works

Papers/Articles Boxes 62-65, 68, 76, 78-79, 87-92, 95-96 Books Box 73 Oral Presentations Boxes 63, 65, 68, 73, 76, 78-79, 84, 86, 96-97

Series IV. Subject Files

Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABM) Boxes 65, 67-68, 80-81 Arms Control Boxes 77, 82, 85-86, 93, 97, 99 Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) Boxes 77, 95, 97 Atomic Power Development Associates, Inc. (APDA) Boxes 66-67 Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Box 67 Atomic Power Development Associates (APDA) Box 67 AVCO-Everett Research Laboratory Boxes 67, 81, 87 Fulbright Fellowship, 1955-56 Box 83 Nuclear Energy Boxes 81-82, 90, 93 Controls on Atomic Energy Box 82 Nuclear Testing/Test Ban Boxes 64-65, 67-68, 77, 82, 93 Nuclear Winter Box 82 Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, "Star Wars") Boxes 80, 82, 87, 93 Miscellaneous Boxes 65, 67-68, 72, 77, 82, 87, 93, 95-97

Series V. Correspondence

General Correspondence Boxes 65, 67-69, 76-78 Correspondence - Alphabetical Boxes 67-72, 82-83, 85, 87, 89-90, 93-95, 97 Correspondence - Chronological Boxes 68-69, 78, 82-83, 86, 93, 95

Series VI. Awards/Honoraria

Awards Boxes 62-63, 67, 78, 95, 97 Nobel Prize (1967) Boxes 68, 76, 96 Honoraria Boxes 76, 79, 100

Series VII. Works by Others

Papers/Articles/Lectures Boxes 62-63, 66, 68, 76-79, 82, 84, 87-90, 92-93, 95-97 Books Boxes 65, 74-75

Series VIII. Miscellaneous

Personal Boxes 65, 67-68, 85-88, 90, 93-94, 109 General Boxes 65-69, 76, 82-87, 89-93, 95-97, 99 Unsorted Files Boxes 83-97, 101-1089

Series IX. Videocassettes/DVD's

SERIES LIST FOR SECOND ADDITION TO THE COLLECTION

Series I. Research

General Notes and Calculations Bethe's Articles Research by Others Talks

Series II. Policy

General Energy Arms Control

Series III. Consulting

General and Arms Energy

Series IV. Cornell

General Cornell University Physics Department

Series V. Correspondence

By Name or Topic Additional Correspondence Alphabetical by Letter Additional Correspondence By Year Additional Miscellaneous Correspondence

Series VI. History

General Manhattan Project Soviet and International Science and Intrigue

Series VII. Certificates and Awards

Series VIII. Oversize

Series IX. Multimedia

Videos Tape recordings

Related Materials

Electronic resources/ related resources including Hans Bethe: celebrating "an exemplary life:" http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/14146.

Physical Description

Academic papers, notes, correspondence, administrative documents, course materials, reports, memoranda, phonograph album, articles, reprints, lectures, textbooks, reviews of professional writings, Ph.D. theses, posters, videocassettes, photographs.

General

Contact Information:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections 2B Carl A. Kroch Library Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3530 Fax: (607) 255-9524 rareref@cornell.edu http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:
M.E. Warren, M. Blanco, J. ParkerHilary Wong, Jude Corina
Date completed:
November 1996 (revised January 1998) January 2012
EAD encoding:
Mireille Lee, June 2000Evan Earle, February 2012
Date modified:
Kristen Reichenbach, January 2019

General

IMPORTANT: The collection is made up of two separate additions. They each have their own series lists. Similar material may be found in each portion of the collection. This means that if you are interested in Bethe's research for instance, you should browse both the series labeled research in the first part of the collection and the second part of the collection. THE SERIES LIST FOR FIRST PORTION OF THE COLLECTION IS JUST BELOW

General

LINK TO THE SERIES LIST FOR SECOND PORTION OF THE COLLECTION

General

LINK TO THE START OF THE BOX LIST FOR FIRST PORTION OF THE COLLECTION

General

LINK TO THE START OF THE BOX LIST FOR SECOND PORTION OF THE COLLECTION

General

See also Internet-First University Press Collection, #6746, for more DVDs.

Subjects

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Status
Completed
Author
Compiled by M.E. Warren, M. Blanco, J. Parker, Hilary Wong, Jude Corina
Date
June, 2000
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
ENG

Physical Storage Information

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Repository

https://rare.library.cornell.edu/
Contact:
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)

Related Unprocessed Material

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