Britton Chance (1913-2010) was a biochemist and biophysicist as well as a pioneer in the field of biomedical optics. Chance received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1940 and his Ph.D. in Biology and Physiology from Cambridge University in 1942. Over the course of his nearly eight decade career, Chance was dedicated to the application and transfer of basic scientific research and technology to clinical medicine. The Britton Chance Papers contain correspondence, research notes, experimental data, publication materials, and photographs stemming from Chance's life as a biochemist, biophysicist, and yachtsman. The collection is broken up into fifteen series that document every aspect of his scientific work.

This collection of correspondence and documents concerns the sociology of science, i.e., the relationship of governments and scientific establishments, and especially the problems of organization, planning, policy-making, and productivity. There is much on scientific research and technology, especially for the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Sweden, U.S.S.R., and Yugoslavia. There is a significant series of transcripts of interviews with scientists and government officials in various countries.