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.

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.

One of the most influential statisticians of the twentieth century, John Wilder Tukey (1915-2000) played a key role in both the development and study of statistics. Upon receiving his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1939 from Brown University, he joined the faculty at Princeton; in 1945, he also began work at Bell Laboratories. Equally committed to both Princeton and Bell Labs, Tukey chose to work concurrently at both institutions. He was also a consultant for many companies, such as Merck and Company, Xerox Corporation, and the Educational Testing Service, and was a frequent advisor to the government for such programs as the US Census. From 1960 to 1980 he led the statistical component of NBC's election night projections. Among other projects Tukey analyzed Alfred Kinsey's research and examined data on ozone depletion. Tukey made many important contributions to the field of statistics, such as work in time series analysis, exploratory data analysis, and multiple comparisons. Through his work, Tukey developed statistical applications including the Box-and-Whisker Plot, the Stem-and-Leaf Diagram, Cooley-Tukey Fast Fourier Transforms, Tukey's Paired Comparisons and citation and permutated indices. Tukey's influence extends beyond statistics to everyday language: he was the first to use the word "software" in print and coined words such as "bit" and "linear programming." A prolific writer, John W. Tukey penned more than 500 technical papers and reports and published, among numerous other works. His collected papers amount to eight volumes of work. The Tukey Papers provides a comprehensive perspective into Tukey's professional activities from his days as a graduate student until his death in 2000. Among the material is his correspondence and his published and unpublished works. There is abundant material from Tukey's long careers at Bell Laboratories and Princeton University, including extensive lecture notes and syllabi. Also included are copious materials relating to his professional activities with such agencies as the National Research Council, the Army Records Office, Xerox PARC, Merck and Company, the President's Science Advisory Committee, and the National Academy of Sciences.

An administrator and humanist, Henry Allen Moe (1894-1975) was the first director of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and was a president of the American Philosophical Society from 1959 to 1970. The Moe Papers are a vast and rich resource documenting all phases of Moe's career, but are also a major source of information on twentieth-century philanthropic organizations. As the first Secretary, then Administrator, and finally President of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (ca. 1925-1963), Moe made contact with the influential and the aspiring in the worlds of banking, finance, the arts, and sciences. This collection is particularly strong in correspondence and information relating to Latin America, much of it generated through Moe's oversight of the Guggenheim's Latin America Fund and by Moe's otherwise keen interest in the region. This material is diverse, ranging from material on agriculture (see Escuela Agricola Panamericana, 15 boxes) and Peruvian archaeology (see Alfred Kroeber's detailed report) to many folders of correspondence and grant reports from artists, writers, and politicians of South and Central America. Moe served as trustee, officer, and committee member of over thirty private foundations, many of which are well represented in the collection by yearly reports and grant applications, among other types of records.