John Archibald Wheeler (1911-2008) was a leading theoretical physicist of the twentieth century, contributing particularly to the fields of general relativity, gravitation, and quantum mechanics. Wheeler was a pioneer in the study of black holes, celestial phenomena which he named. (He had a penchant for creating new terms in physics, and is credited with naming other phenomena such as geons, wormholes, and quantum foam.) Wheeler is also known for his work in atomic and nuclear physics. In 1939, he and Niels Bohr co-authored a paper that gave the basis for recognizing that Uranium 235 and Plutonium 239 are highly fissile, a milestone in the understanding of atomic energy. Wheeler believed in the importance of public service, assisting in the U.S. war effort to develop the atomic and hydrogen bombs, and served as a scientific advisor to numerous government agencies. During a prolific academic career that spanned seventy years, Wheeler taught physics to thousands of undergraduate students at Princeton University and the University of Texas, and mentored more than fifty Ph.D. students. The Wheeler Papers provide an extensive look into the expansive career of John Archibald Wheeler, the pioneering and award-winning theoretical physicist. Comprised of 150 linear feet, this large collection contains a wide array of materials including correspondence, subject files, manuscripts by Wheeler, papers by colleagues and students, research notes and notebooks, photographs, awards, and audiovisual materials. The collection provides much insight in to Wheeler's lengthy career as a scientist, scholar, and teacher. The bulk of the material is from the 1950s to the 1990s and covers the wide scope of his professional endeavors, from his teaching at Princeton University and the University of Texas, to his many publications, to his consultation work with government agencies, industry, and atomic energy projects, to his numerous public talks and lectures.

This collection includes correspondence, articles, newsclippings, photographs, and recordings, concerning Menzel's documentation of UFOs as natural phenomena explainable in scientific terms. One can find material on the National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena, Project Blue Book, the Velikovsky controversy, and a card file of meteor activity, 1946-1961.

Ernst Boas (1891-1955), son of the anthropologist Franz Boas, was a physician noted for his work in cardiology, and like his father, he was very much involved with liberal social causes. Boas was an instructor in pathology and physiology, and an expert in chronic diseases. As a scientific investigator he developed the cardiotachometer and did primary research in many areas, especially on cholesterol and arteriosclerosis. He was one of the primary antagonists of the American Medical Association during the 1940s and 50s, a leading proponent of National Health Insurance, and an organizer of the Physicians Forum. The Ernst Boas Papers contains correspondence, diaries, notebooks, and manuscripts, relating to all of the varied interests and to his 400 or more publications. There is substantial material on Montefiore Hospital, Mt. Sinai Hospital, the New York County Medical Society, and the New York Heart Association. O f particular note is the correspondence with John P. Peters, a friend and liberal who was dismissed from the Public Health Service because of "disloyalty" to the U.S., in 1953, and whose vindication came from a landmark Supreme Court decision

After receiving his doctorate from Harvard in 1923, the physicist John Clarke Slater did postgraduate work at Cambridge University and on the continent working n quantum theory with both Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. Slater was appointed to the head of the department of physics at MIT in 1930, which he and Karl Compton worked effectively to transform into one of international stature. His own work on the electromagnetic theory of microwaves was fundamental to the development of radar systems. During the Second World War, he was affiliated with the radiation laboratory and after he helped found the solid state and molecular theory group, the interdisciplinary Center for Materials Science and Engineering, the Research Laboratory of Electronics, and the Laboratory for Nuclear Science. After his retirement from MIT in 1966, Slater moved to the University of Florida, remaining active until his death in 1976. The Slater Papers contains a wealth of information on the development of physics at MIT, as well as Slater's post-1966 work at the University of Florida. There are about 133 (7 linear ft.) research notebooks, 1944-1976, and a long series (30 linear ft.) of folders, containing lectures, scientific notes, drafts of manuscripts and papers, correspondence during his collaboration with the Los Alamos Labs, 1966-1970, and extensive correspondence relating to the National Academy of Science. Information about American-Swedish exchange in quantum science is located in the correspondence with Per-Olov Löwdin.

Edward Uhler Condon was a theoretical physicist at Princeton University and Westinghouse Laboratories who later served as director of the National Bureau of Standards (1945-1951), and as the director of research and development (1951-1954) and consulting physicist (1954-1974) at Corning Glass Works. The Condon Papers includes correspondence, notebooks, writings, photographs, and other materials concerning Condon's education, teaching, and his government, industrial, and academic.

The geneticist Milislav Demerec emigrated from Yugloslavia in 1919, spending nearly his entire career in the Department of Genetics at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Working initially on the genetics of maize and later on Drosophila virilis, his research interests included radiation and chemical mutagenesis, and during the Second World War, penicillin and the genetics of antibiotic resistance. Demerec served as head of the laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor from 1941 until 1960. The Demerec collection contains the extant professional papers of Milislav Demerec, dating primarily from the time of his arrival at Cold Spring Harbor until his retirement. In addition to his correspondence with colleagues, the collection includes interesting material on the administration of Cold Spring Harbor laboratory during the 1940s and 1950s, data and research notes, material relating to professional organizations (e.g. Genetics Society of America, American Society of Naturalists), a lengthy series of lectures given by Demerec, and a large number of photographs pertaining to Demerec's research, but also to his colleagues and Cold Spring Harbor itself. There is also a Register of visitors to the laboratory (1927-1945) and a Milislav Demerec reprint list.

An electrical engineer and senior editor for Aviation Week and Space Technology, Philip Klass began investigating UFOs in 1966 after participating in a panel discussion on the subject for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). From that time forward Klass has investigated UFO sightings in an effort to find a credible prosaic explanation, and became one of the most widely recognized UFO "debunkers." A founding member of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), serving on the Executive Council and the UFO subcommittee, Klass has authored seven books and numerous articles on UFOs, including the Skeptics UFO Newsletter in 1989. In the early 1970s, he became interested in space based weapons, and began collecting material related to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) for a possible book. The Klass Collection relate to his forty-plus years of investigating UFO sightings, and includes correspondence with many of the leading UFOlogists, both pro and con. The collection contains case files, subject files, and correspondence. In addition, Klass' SDI material is included.