This is the manuscript of a lecture presented in Houson Hall at the University of Pennsylvania; it was published in "Old Penn," November 21, 1914.

These are notes of lectures and experiments made at Paris as a student at the Jardin des Plantes. The volumes are entitled: Botany & Agriculture (with a large portion actually on electrical machinery); Trees and Shrubs; Chemistry, Physics, Mineralogy; and Zoology.

A physicist and social activist, Edward G. Ramberg contributed to the early development of electron microscopy and color television, and devoted much of his life to pacifist and Quaker causes. Born in Italy to an American mother and German father, Ramberg experienced the losses of war firsthand during the First World War when his father was killed while serving with the German army. After moving to the United States with his mother, Ramberg attended Reed College and Cornell University before returning to Germany for postdoctoral study under Arnold Sommerfeld. Employed at RCA for most of his career (1935-1972), Ramberg refused any involvement in military or war-related research, and as a conscientious objector during the Second World War, was assigned to duty in Civilian Public Service camps. He continued to work in fostering social harmony until late in life. With his wife, Sarah Sargent, a Swarthmore graduate whom he met through the American Friends Service Committee, Ramberg helped to establish Bryn Gweled, a cooperative community in which people of various religious, social, and racial backgrounds lived and worked together. The bulk of the Ramberg papers consists of files pertaining to his work with Amnesty International, the American Friends Service Committee, and peace groups in the Philadelphia and Bucks County region. Of particular note is a bundle of correspondence with Sommerfeld.

The physicist, Emanuel Ruben Piore, emigrated from Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1917 at the age of 9. "Mannie," as he was known, became a naturalized citizen in 1924, and obtained both his BA and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wisconsin. After gaining nearly ten years experience as a research physicist, first at the Radio Corporation of American then CBS laboratories, he went to work for the Navy, eventually becoming the first civilian to head the Office of Naval Research and playing a major role in the transition of American science from war to peace. Throughout his career, Piore strove to promote research through a close relationship between government, industry, and universities. IBM realized the importance of developing a strong research department and Piore's key role in this endeavor and offered him the position as their first Director of Research. At IBM he continued to encourage research by establishing the IBM Fellow program rewarded to top researchers. Piore held increasingly responsible positions at IBM becoming a vice president, group executive and finally Chief Scientist. He served as a member of IBM's advisory board well after he retired. The Piore papers contain material relating to his latter years at IBM as Vice President and Chief Scientist, as well as some of his time spent on the Board of Directors. In addition, there are materials, though sparse, concerning his work with the Navy. An extensive series of speeches and lectures illustrates Piore's commitment to scientific research and national policy. In addition to his professional correspondence, the papers contain material pertaining to Piore's involvement in professional organizations such as the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Science, Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research and the American Philosophical Society. A number of professional and personal photographs are also found within the papers.

The Scientists Collection is comprised of individual letters and small groups of correspondence from American, British, French, and German scientists during the past three centuries. Although the content is highly varied, there is significant strength in astronomy, natural history, conchology, and geology. Among the scientists better represented in the collection are the astronomers William Radcliffe Birt, J.F.W. Herschel, and Franz Xaver von Zach; the conchologists A.D. Brown, Fred L. Button, Otto Mörch, Alfred Newton, Christian M. Poulsen, Temple Prime, Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, and A. G. Wetherby; the physical scientists George Biddell Airy, Arnold Sommerfeld, Ferdinand R. Hassler, and Max Planck; the archaeologist Jean François Nadaillac; the philosopher William Whewell; and the naturalists Walter Henry Bates, Robert Chambers, Edme Dupuget, Robert Kaye Greville, Joseph Henry, John Stevens Henslow, John Lubbock, and Herbert Spencer.

A gifted mathematician, Polish-born Stanislaw Ulam made contributions to set theory, topology, mathematical logic, and number theory, but is most widely remembered for his work in fostering the technical development of thermonuclear weapons. He was associated with Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories for most of the years between 1943 and 1965, and thereafter with the University of Colorado. These papers include personal and professional correspondence, manuscripts of both published and unpublished works, and memorabilia.

A physician, natural historian, and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Benjamin Smith Barton (1766-1815) was one of the central figures in Philadelphia's early national scientific establishment. Having received his medical training in European universities, Barton was appointed Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in 1789, lecturing on botany, materia medica, natural history. A prolific author, he established his reputation as one of the nation's preeminent botanists through his botanical text book The Elements of Botany (1803), but his contribtions to zoology, ethnology, and medicine were equally noteworthy. Barton's monograph on the "fascinating faculty" of the rattlesnake and his efforts in historical linguistics (New Views of the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America, 1798) were widely read, and his Philadelphia Medical and Physical Journal (1804-1809) was one of the nation's first medical journals and an important outlet for natural historical research. The Barton Papers offer a comprehensive view of the professional work of Benjamin Smith Barton from the time of his return to the United States in 1789 until his death. The collection is divided into five series: Correspondence, Subject Files, Bound Volumes, Graphic Materials, and Printing Plates. The collection includes a particularly valuable series of botanical, medical, and natural historical drawings collected by Barton for research, reference, and publication. Among the many artists represented are William Bartram, Frederick Pursh, Pierre Turpin, and Benjamin Henry Latrobe.