The Fox Family Papers include three quite dissimilar journals spanning generations of the Fox family. The first two volumes are from the late-eighteenth century (1785 and 1790) and both appear to have been maintained by George Fox, a prominent Philadelphia doctor and close friend of William Temple Franklin. The first journal features some entries from 1785, though few are sequential. Fox records both a transatlantic voyage (6/25/1785) and and various trips throughout continental Europe later that fall. This volume might be better described as a commonplace book than a journal, with numerous quotations, historical notes, and data, including at least one note about Buffon, written in French. A second volume, also presumably recorded by George Fox, contains accounts from the year 1790. Finally, a descendent, Sara Fox, furnishes a European travel diary from nearly one-hundred years later. That volume recounts Fox's sightseeing in England, France, Germany and Italy between 1883-1884. These volumes may interest scholars researching the Fox family, transatlantic travel in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and women's history.
 

The John Slater Papers include abstracts from his diaries, available as loose, mostly typed pages, which traverse his consequential career in physics (1900-1975). These abstracts trace Slater's doctoral study at Harvard (1923) and postgraduate work at Cambridge University, appointment at MIT (1930), work at the Laboratory for Nuclear Science during World War II, and late-career at the University of Florida (after his retirement from MIT in 1966). His diaries contain notes about a trip to Japan (including Hiroshima and Nagasaki) in the fall 1953, meetings with defense contractors (such as Lockheed Martin) throughout the 1950s and 1960s, a sighting of Sputnik (7/20/1958), notes about an "NSF proposal for computing center" (4/30/1965), associations with and publications of APS members (7/7/1951, 7/7/1972), and Slater's own personal affairs, as excerpted in Selected Quotations. As such, these abstracts may interest scholars researching John Clark Slater's career in the field of physics, biochemistry, atomic history, and the history of science more broadly, as well as those considering World War II and military contractors in the Cold War period, the space race, the history of computing, and the institutional history of the American Philosophical Society.; To supplement these diary abstracts, researchers might choose to expand their exploration of the Slater Papers, which also contain 133 research notebooks (1944-1976), a lengthy series of folders, containing lectures, scientific notes, drafts of manuscripts and papers, correspondence from his collaboration with the Los Alamos Labs (1966-1970), and correspondence relating to the National Academy of Science.
 

Given the sheer volume of material contained in the Blumberg Papers--at least 127 volumes traversing almost 70 years of his professional career--it may be helpful to periodize these journals using landmarks from his professional career. This extended note suggests four main periods (1942-1957, 1957-1974, 1974-1994, and 1994-2011) that researchers may use to explore these remarkably rich collections.
 
The first 15 years of Blumberg diaries (1942-1957) traverse his education and travels to Suriname, Nigeria, much of Europe (including Italy, Germany, and France), and, notably, Israel, during the post-war period. While the Blumberg Papers include a school notebook from February 1942, his diaries begin in earnest in 1948, when he traveled by ship to the Cancer Institute in Portugal. In the early-1950s, Blumberg maintained diaries pertaining to a medical trip in Dutch Guiana (1950), his tenure at New York's Bellevue Hospital (1951-52), and medical trips to Venezuela and Aruba (1953), during which he worked to contain outbreaks of yellow fever, smallpox, and typhus. In that latter volume, Blumberg provides rich accounts of Venezuela under military dictatorship. "We passed a super-market which had been built by the Nelson Rockefeller-Venezuelan development group," writes Blumberg. "There are many vestiges of this enlightened business effect in Venezuela—although you hear much talk of it."
 
The volume entitled "Asia Minor S. Europe 1953" offers noteworthy insights into gay subculture in 1950s New York, postwar Europe, and Israel in its early years as a nation state. Aboard the S.S. Italia, Blumberg meets Phyllis Fitzgerald, a clothes model in New York's garment district, who introduces him to some new terminology, including "gay bar." (Reference Selected Quotations for an excerpt from that encounter.) Arriving in Europe, Blumberg furnishes numerous descriptions of Italy, including Naples, of which he writes: "It is far from beautiful and the back streets contain slums and small mean shops. The Italian peasantry and lower class city dweller is still quite depressed. We have poverty in our cities but the large lower class one sees in Southern Europe doesn't seem to occupy as an important portion of the population" (7/14/1953). From Italy, Blumberg travels to Israel, which had been established as a state just five years earlier. He furnishes detailed descriptions of the kibbutzim, the cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv, and the young Israelis he encounters in his travels. Notably, he discusses vestiges from the War of Independence (7/7/1953), the Gaza Strip (7/24/1953), Israeli politics (8/19/1953), and religious orthodoxy, of which he writes: "In Israel there is only orthodox religion—and that of a radical sort—or no (or even anti-) religion. There's no in between. There appears to be a spiritual barrenness in the country for which there's no answer. When people [move] here they see no need to keep up the conservative or reformed Judaism which did them so well at home & [make] them feel as one with their race" (8/5/1953).
 
Following his trip to "Asia Minor," Blumberg records substantial changes in his personal and professional life. He notes his wedding to Jean Lieblsman--after which they "ate leftover food & then went to a movie 'Hell or High Water'" (4/5/1954)--and several volumes that correspond with his enrollment at Oxford Balliol College ("Europe 1955," "Southeastern Europe," and "Spain 1956, Nigeria 1957," "West Africa"). From Oxford, Blumberg makes trips across Europe, including a "motor trip to [Josip Broz] Tito's birthplace" (4/12/1956). As with so many of Blumberg's journals, these volumes are remarkable for their entries as well as the ephemera he collects--postcards, photographs, and local newspaper clippings.
 
The next 17 years of diaries (1957-1974) follow Blumberg's early career, including his tenure at the National Institutes of Health (1957-64) and the Institute for Cancer Research (1964-67), as well as field trips across the globe to develop the hepatitis B vaccine. As such, this series of diaries will certainly interest researchers examining Blumberg's medical career. However, his diverse travels will captivate a host of other researchers. Blumberg documents trips to Alaska ("American Arctic 1958"), the Marshall Islands ("Central Pacific 1959"), Quebec ("Canada 1962"), Norway ("Account of trip to England and Scandinavia," 1963), and Brazil ("Trip to Brazil," 1963). A three-ring binder of assorted travel logs (1961-68) record lab work in Greece and Israel, and, notably, field work with indigenous peoples in Labrador (1962), Arizona (1967) and New Mexico (1967).
 
Beginning in 1967, Blumberg begins record-keeping using volumes entitled "General Notes," some of which lack dated entries and test the boundaries of journaling. For example, a volume for October 1967 - July 1968 includes no dated entries, but features extensive notes pertaining to cell studies, genetics data, epidemiology, and a wealth of ancillary materials related to the American Cancer Society. ("General Notes," September 1968 - February 1970 and February 1970 - November 1971" also lack dated entries.) Other volumes contain only sporadic entries, as with the four volumes dedicated to 1973. However, researchers who take the time to sift through those records will discover detailed notes about the Institute of Cancer Research. (Researchers interested specifically in his work at the Institute of Cancer Research would be well-advised to examine his "General Notes" from September 1973 - August 1974.)
 
In 1973, Blumberg begins a self-conscious account of his research--the first of two volumes entitled "Narrative History of Research." (The Blumberg Papers include another copy of the 1973 edition and a second volume from 1984.) Researchers interested in Blumberg's research, the field of genetics in the second half of the twentieth-century, and the history of science more broadly will be richly rewarded by these "narratives." Blumberg discusses his understanding of the scientific method, philosophy of science, methodological concerns (especially post-hoc reasoning), influences (e.g. Karl Popper and Jacob Bronowski), and professional networks, which include luminaries such as Harold Brown, Alexander Ogston, Tony Allison, Harvey Alter, Batsheba Boone, Alton Sutrick, Cyril Levine, Barbara Werner, Rongelap Atoll, Robert Conard, Tom London, William Summerskill, and Gary Getnick.
 
The next 20 years of diaries (1974-1994) recount some of Blumberg's most significant professional honors, most especially his receipt of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1976) and appointment as Master at Oxford University Balliol College (1989-1994). Those who have explored the Dobzhansky Papers will take note that Blumberg attended a Symposium on Evolution in his memory ("General Notes," May 1975 - September 1976). However, the next volume may overshadow it: "General Notes" (September 1976 - July 1978) documents Blumberg's receipt of the Nobel Prize, including a wealth of notes and ephemera related to travel, preparation, and formalities. Interspersed with those preparations are the kind of idiosyncratic record-keeping that Blumberg researchers will come to expect. For example, he records "Ages of Winners of Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine" (p.31), presumably to measure his own progress. Scholars from the Philadelphia metropolitan area may flag a photograph that shows Blumberg being awarded the Philadelphia Bowl in October 1976 by the infamous mayor Frank Rizzo (p.87), and researchers interested in the history of the American Philosophical Society may bookmark a program for a symposium that featured a presentation by George Wharton Pepper.
 
Blumberg maintained numerous notebooks related to his travels to Senegal, Hawaii, Japan, China, and the Soviet Union in the late-1970s. Scholars invested in modern China will take particular notice of the notebooks related to a trip to China on the eve of historic economic reforms (October 1977). In a black three-ring binder dedicated to the trip, Blumberg celebrates the "now-awakening city" of Tokyo, whose cultural advancement he measures through the prevalence of joggers--particularly women joggers (p.1, p.7). While in Tokyo, Blumberg meets with the mayor and compares the city favorably to New York, calling it cleaner and more "wholesome looking" (p.9, p.10). In Peking, he records "great changes," writing that "Maoist interest in developing a new China and obliterating to an extent the vestiges of the past" (p.18). A subsequent notebook ("General Notes," 9/28/1978-5/31/1979) notes travel to Moscow for a Hepatitis Conference, where Blumberg alludes to problems with anti-semitism. He writes that Garri Abelev finds himself in "some jeopardy as a consequence of his being Jewish and because of some transgression the nature of which I do not know" (p.47). Blumberg maintains at least four botanical field books related to these trips.
 
Notebooks from the early-1980s continue to document Blumberg's wide-ranging travels, and they also offer a glimpse at Blumberg's sense of humor. While those interested in his career may choose to focus on "General Notes" (2/28-11/17/1980), which includes a draft of his talk for a Nobel Lecture Series (3/22/1980) as well as notes about space exploration that pressage his later work for NASA (5/3/1980), Blumberg also interweaves notes and ephemera that give researchers a sense of his personality. For example, he encloses an invitation to a United Nations roundtable with the note: "Don't use the toaster (it's not ready to work in France)." In his next set of "General Notes" (11/12/1980-6/31/1981), Blumberg juxtaposes invitations to lectureships, awards, and notes from research councils with a photograph of himself running 10K under which he transcribes a quip from the boxer Saad Muhammad, "hey man, your pants are falling down" (10/11/1980). In a later trip to New York, he welcomes the opportunity to catch up on jokes, several of which he transcribes in his journal (1/19-11/24/1982).
 
These volumes--and others--provide a textured sense of Blumberg the scientist and Blumberg the human being. Blumberg often registers his religious (Jewish) upbringing through ephemera. For example, he encloses a program for "The Jew in American Today: Where are We?" at the Society Hill Synagogue in Philadelphia (2/4-2/6/1983). He also demonstrates a sustained interest in literature, particularly the writings of James Joyce. After a trip to Japan later that year, he includes a newspaper clipping for "Bloomsday: A Joycean Celebration" from the Philadelphia Inquirer (6/17/1983), and later records reading Finnegans Wake and Ulysses. Blumberg even attends a lecture on psychoanalysis and anthropology (though he dismisses the discussion as "pretty thin stuff, pretentious," 2/10/1984).
 
Between in 1984-1986, Blumberg transitions to larger notebooks that accommodate even more ephemera, including newspaper clippings on China's one-child policy (8/11/1984), Elie Wiesel's visit to the White House (4/20/1985), and reporting on the AIDS epidemic (10/7/1985). Blumberg maintained a pair of diaries related to a 1985 trip to Chile, which, notably, discuss the "problem of torture" under Pinochet and ethical challenges U.S. scientists face working with their counterparts in "non-democratic countries" (p.4, p.10, p.43). A notebook on a visit to India ("India Diary 1986") reveals Blumberg's thoughts on Hinduism, meeting with the prime minister (Rajiv Gandhi), and notes for a presentation about Gandhi's influence on Martin Luther King, Jr. (p.19, p.35-36, p.49-50). Other notebooks from 1986-88 document travels to Nepal, Japan, Taiwan, and Trinidad and Tobago, and even conference of Nobel Laureates in Paris (1/9/1988).
 
Perhaps most notably, Blumberg acknowledges his historic appointment as Master at Balliol College obliquely--through newspaper clippings--in these 1988 entries. One clipping, from the London Sundry Times notes that Blumberg is the first American to receive the honor (June 1988). It isn't until 1989 "General Notes" (1/1-8/9/1989) that he reflects upon the recognition, writing: "I looked at myself in the mirror, dark suite, striped Balliol tie, Master gown and thought what a strange series of event had brought me to this election. First American, first foreigner, first scientist, first Jew—I wish my father and mother could have known about this
 
how pleased they would have been" (6/3/1989). Blumberg's departure for the post appears bitter suite. He records a farewell party at the Fox Chase Cancer Center with an excerpt of his remarks: "[T]he world is a big playground for scientists and FCCC for 25 years has been my playground" (9/14/1989).
 
The early-1990s journals follow Blumberg's tenure at Balliol, marked by a series of notable personal events, including the death of his brother, wedding of his daughter, and birth of his first grandchild. Blumberg encloses a draft of his eulogy for his brother (6/30/1992) and an account of the funeral (7/1/1992). The next summer brings the wedding of his daughter, Anne Blumberg to Jonathan Dorfman (7/4/1993). After he completes his appointment at Balliol (10/1/1994), Blumberg celebrates the birth of Isabella Jean Dorfman, writing, "our first-borne—Anne—had our first Jewish grandchild" (4/2/1995).
 
The remaining notebooks (1994-2011) offer candid insights into Blumberg's late-career, including his directorship of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (1999-2002) and presidency of the American Philosophical Society (2005). Upon completing his appointment at Oxford, Blumberg appears to reach something of an impasse. On the occasion of his 72nd birthday, he writes: "feeling somewhat ill at ease about the direction my life should take. I'm so accustomed to being fully engaged and scheduled, being on vacation is a distraction…I should focus on the writing and make that my main goal at least for the present. That means I have to learn the discipline of writing, something I had nearly acquired when I was at LASBs. Enough philo. I'm delighted to have made it to 72 still intact and active" (7/28/1997). Blumberg would ascertain that direction in short order. In fact, included in that volume is a NASA Ames Research Center visitor's badge that anticipates the next chapter in his career.
 
Although Blumberg would not formally assume the role of director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute until May 1999, his journals suggest that conversations and preparations began much earlier. In "General Notes" (6/17/1998-3/10/1999), Blumberg attends an Astrobiology Roadmap Workshop (7/20-22/1998), where he writes (in third-person): "BSB spoke to the study of humans and their microorganisms" (7/22/1998). Shortly thereafter, he adds, "Malcolm Cohen called and told me that the scientists at NASA had taken up on this idea and want to have a conference about it early next year" (10/6/1998). Blumberg's exchanges with NASA leadership appear to have piqued his interest in space exploration, as evidenced in newspaper clippings that he collects in his journals (e.g. 3/19/1999). In his next volume of "General Notes" (3/11-10/13/1999), Blumberg records his "conditions for NASA employment" (p.3). Finally, he documents his appointment via newspaper clippings from the San Francisco Chronicle and New York Times dated 5/19/1999.
 
Blumberg's tenure at the Astrobiology Institute granted him new political and administrative responsibilities, which he documents thoroughly in "General Notes" and "Astrobiology" notebooks. Blumberg recounts a meeting with Newt Gingrich on 11/18/1999 with the gloss "Fascinating discussion. Far-ranging, visionary." In a subsequent volume of "General Notes" (5/11/2000-1/30/2001), researchers gain insights into the administrative work behind the Institute. "Spoke with Armstrong and Cerrel," writes Blumberg. "We arranged budget for ~ 20 million. 10 teams @ 1.5 x 106 plus 5 x 106 for supplementary funding an administration" (p153). Blumberg's commitment to the agency, and space exploration more broadly, endures well-past his tenure. In 2004, he travels to Puerto Rico to visit the radio telescope, and, on the 50th anniversary of the launching of Sputnik, he recollects, "On Oct 4, 1957. Jean Anne and BSB were crossing the Atlantic on the SS France and I saw Sput" (10/4/2007).
 
In the early-aughts, Blumberg returns to travel and private reflection. Notably, he records the September 11 terrorist attacks in an entry entitled "Day of Horror," writing, "I awake this morning to see on TV the horrible scenes of the bombing the World Trade Towers. I have written about it in my computer diary" (9/11/2001). (Unfortunately, it is unclear whether Blumberg printed that diary and included it with his papers.) He continues to attend Nobel conferences and symposia, including a 100th anniversary celebration of the Prize hosted by the White House on 11/27/2001. In a later journal, he notes that he attends a conference for Nobel Laureates that features speeches by King Abdullah II, Ted Koppel, Richard Holbrooke, and others (6/21/2006). Blumberg returns to Israel, Australia and China in 2002. In Israel, he notes the "terrible" condition of the West Bank (5/26/2002). In China, he recollects his 1977 trip as "most important (field) trip taken." Marveling at the "enormous changes" in the country, he writes that Shanghai is "only city I've visited that causes me to question solitary greatness of New York" (5/3/2002). New York remains a favorite stop for Blumberg
 
in fact, researchers interested in the arts will note that he meticulously records the opening of "The Gates" at Central Park (2/18/2005).
 
Alongside wide-ranging travels, later diaries offer unusually candid assessments of U.S. politics and media. Blumberg discusses immigration politics in late-2006, writing, "Bush admin has no interest in reality of data, they have been hopeless in responding to the problem [illegal immigration]. Punishment is their first response" (11/10/2006). After attending a talk on the media with Gwen Ifill and Tom Brokaw, he observes, "Republicans control press--board of directors compared to the Democrat's college dormitory" (4/28/2007).
 
The last five years of diaries may hold the greatest appeal to researchers exploring the institutional history of the American Philosophical Society. Although Blumberg doesn't appear to write directly about his election as president in 2005, the APS figures prominently in his final journals. He discusses a 2006 visit to the Google campus with APS members, where he marvels, "The place is bursting with intellectual energy. Masses of very young people…average age must be 25" (11/8/2006). Blumberg regularly records attendance of APS meetings, often enclosing programs. Perhaps most notably, he notes a meeting with former librarian Martin Levitt, during which Levitt conveyed the institution's interest in his diaries and its plans for a "NA DH Center," presumably the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research.

The Baruch S. Blumberg Papers feature one of the most remarkable--and expansive--collections of diaries available in the collections at the American Philosophical Society. Containing at least 127 volumes spanning nearly seven decades (1942-2011), these journals comprehensively document Baruch Blumberg's career in science, including: his undergraduate and graduate education, field work across the globe, development of the hepatitis B vaccine, receipt of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, appointment as Master at Oxford University Balliol College, directorship of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, and presidency of the American Philosophical Society. Through his wide-ranging travels, Blumberg furnishes on-the-ground accounts of post-war Europe, the early years of Israeli statehood, China on the eve of economic reforms, Chile under Pinochet, and New York after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Alongside personal recollections, Blumberg uses his journals as veritable scrapbooks, packing volumes with newspaper clippings, programs, postcards, business cards, and various other forms of ephemera. Thus, while the Bloomberg diaries will attract researchers investigating his career, the field of genetics, and the history of science more broadly, these notebooks will captivate scholars interested in material culture, sexuality, religion, U.S. politics and foreign policy, media and technology, and much more.
 
Given the sheer volume of material contained in the Blumberg Papers--at least 127 volumes traversing almost 70 years of his professional career--it may be helpful to periodize these journals using landmarks from his professional career. This extended note suggests four main periods (1942-1957, 1957-1974, 1974-1994, and 1994-2011) that researchers may use to explore these remarkably rich collections.
 
The first 15 years of Blumberg diaries (1942-1957) traverse his education and travels to Suriname, Nigeria, much of Europe (including Italy, Germany, and France), and, notably, Israel, during the post-war period. While the Blumberg Papers include a school notebook from February 1942, his diaries begin in earnest in 1948, when he traveled by ship to the Cancer Institute in Portugal. In the early-1950s, Blumberg maintained diaries pertaining to a medical trip in Dutch Guiana (1950), his tenure at New York's Bellevue Hospital (1951-52), and medical trips to Venezuela and Aruba (1953), during which he worked to contain outbreaks of yellow fever, smallpox, and typhus. In that latter volume, Blumberg provides rich accounts of Venezuela under military dictatorship. "We passed a super-market which had been built by the Nelson Rockefeller-Venezuelan development group," writes Blumberg. "There are many vestiges of this enlightened business effect in Venezuela—although you hear much talk of it."
 
The volume entitled "Asia Minor S. Europe 1953" offers noteworthy insights into gay subculture in 1950s New York, postwar Europe, and Israel in its early years as a nation state. Aboard the S.S. Italia, Blumberg meets Phyllis Fitzgerald, a clothes model in New York's garment district, who introduces him to some new terminology, including "gay bar." (Reference Selected Quotations for an excerpt from that encounter.) Arriving in Europe, Blumberg furnishes numerous descriptions of Italy, including Naples, of which he writes: "It is far from beautiful and the back streets contain slums and small mean shops. The Italian peasantry and lower class city dweller is still quite depressed. We have poverty in our cities but the large lower class one sees in Southern Europe doesn't seem to occupy as an important portion of the population" (7/14/1953). From Italy, Blumberg travels to Israel, which had been established as a state just five years earlier. He furnishes detailed descriptions of the kibbutzim, the cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv, and the young Israelis he encounters in his travels. Notably, he discusses vestiges from the War of Independence (7/7/1953), the Gaza Strip (7/24/1953), Israeli politics (8/19/1953), and religious orthodoxy, of which he writes: "In Israel there is only orthodox religion—and that of a radical sort—or no (or even anti-) religion. There's no in between. There appears to be a spiritual barrenness in the country for which there's no answer. When people [move] here they see no need to keep up the conservative or reformed Judaism which did them so well at home & [make] them feel as one with their race" (8/5/1953).
 
Following his trip to "Asia Minor," Blumberg records substantial changes in his personal and professional life. He notes his wedding to Jean Lieblsman--after which they "ate leftover food & then went to a movie 'Hell or High Water'" (4/5/1954)--and several volumes that correspond with his enrollment at Oxford Balliol College ("Europe 1955," "Southeastern Europe," and "Spain 1956, Nigeria 1957," "West Africa"). From Oxford, Blumberg makes trips across Europe, including a "motor trip to [Josip Broz] Tito's birthplace" (4/12/1956). As with so many of Blumberg's journals, these volumes are remarkable for their entries as well as the ephemera he collects--postcards, photographs, and local newspaper clippings.
 
The next 17 years of diaries (1957-1974) follow Blumberg's early career, including his tenure at the National Institutes of Health (1957-64) and the Institute for Cancer Research (1964-67), as well as field trips across the globe to develop the hepatitis B vaccine. As such, this series of diaries will certainly interest researchers examining Blumberg's medical career. However, his diverse travels will captivate a host of other researchers. Blumberg documents trips to Alaska ("American Arctic 1958"), the Marshall Islands ("Central Pacific 1959"), Quebec ("Canada 1962"), Norway ("Account of trip to England and Scandinavia," 1963), and Brazil ("Trip to Brazil," 1963). A three-ring binder of assorted travel logs (1961-68) record lab work in Greece and Israel, and, notably, field work with indigenous peoples in Labrador (1962), Arizona (1967) and New Mexico (1967).
 
Beginning in 1967, Blumberg begins record-keeping using volumes entitled "General Notes," some of which lack dated entries and test the boundaries of journaling. For example, a volume for October 1967 - July 1968 includes no dated entries, but features extensive notes pertaining to cell studies, genetics data, epidemiology, and a wealth of ancillary materials related to the American Cancer Society. ("General Notes," September 1968 - February 1970 and February 1970 - November 1971" also lack dated entries.) Other volumes contain only sporadic entries, as with the four volumes dedicated to 1973. However, researchers who take the time to sift through those records will discover detailed notes about the Institute of Cancer Research. (Researchers interested specifically in his work at the Institute of Cancer Research would be well-advised to examine his "General Notes" from September 1973 - August 1974.)
 
In 1973, Blumberg begins a self-conscious account of his research--the first of two volumes entitled "Narrative History of Research." (The Blumberg Papers include another copy of the 1973 edition and a second volume from 1984.) Researchers interested in Blumberg's research, the field of genetics in the second half of the twentieth-century, and the history of science more broadly will be richly rewarded by these "narratives." Blumberg discusses his understanding of the scientific method, philosophy of science, methodological concerns (especially post-hoc reasoning), influences (e.g. Karl Popper and Jacob Bronowski), and professional networks, which include luminaries such as Harold Brown, Alexander Ogston, Tony Allison, Harvey Alter, Batsheba Boone, Alton Sutrick, Cyril Levine, Barbara Werner, Rongelap Atoll, Robert Conard, Tom London, William Summerskill, and Gary Getnick.
 
The next 20 years of diaries (1974-1994) recount some of Blumberg's most significant professional honors, most especially his receipt of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1976) and appointment as Master at Oxford University Balliol College (1989-1994). Those who have explored the Dobzhansky Papers will take note that Blumberg attended a Symposium on Evolution in his memory ("General Notes," May 1975 - September 1976). However, the next volume may overshadow it: "General Notes" (September 1976 - July 1978) documents Blumberg's receipt of the Nobel Prize, including a wealth of notes and ephemera related to travel, preparation, and formalities. Interspersed with those preparations are the kind of idiosyncratic record-keeping that Blumberg researchers will come to expect. For example, he records "Ages of Winners of Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine" (p.31), presumably to measure his own progress. Scholars from the Philadelphia metropolitan area may flag a photograph that shows Blumberg being awarded the Philadelphia Bowl in October 1976 by the infamous mayor Frank Rizzo (p.87), and researchers interested in the history of the American Philosophical Society may bookmark a program for a symposium that featured a presentation by George Wharton Pepper.
 
Blumberg maintained numerous notebooks related to his travels to Senegal, Hawaii, Japan, China, and the Soviet Union in the late-1970s. Scholars invested in modern China will take particular notice of the notebooks related to a trip to China on the eve of historic economic reforms (October 1977). In a black three-ring binder dedicated to the trip, Blumberg celebrates the "now-awakening city" of Tokyo, whose cultural advancement he measures through the prevalence of joggers--particularly women joggers (p.1, p.7). While in Tokyo, Blumberg meets with the mayor and compares the city favorably to New York, calling it cleaner and more "wholesome looking" (p.9, p.10). In Peking, he records "great changes," writing that "Maoist interest in developing a new China and obliterating to an extent the vestiges of the past" (p.18). A subsequent notebook ("General Notes," 9/28/1978-5/31/1979) notes travel to Moscow for a Hepatitis Conference, where Blumberg alludes to problems with anti-semitism. He writes that Garri Abelev finds himself in "some jeopardy as a consequence of his being Jewish and because of some transgression the nature of which I do not know" (p.47). Blumberg maintains at least four botanical field books related to these trips.
 
Notebooks from the early-1980s continue to document Blumberg's wide-ranging travels, and they also offer a glimpse at Blumberg's sense of humor. While those interested in his career may choose to focus on "General Notes" (2/28-11/17/1980), which includes a draft of his talk for a Nobel Lecture Series (3/22/1980) as well as notes about space exploration that pressage his later work for NASA (5/3/1980), Blumberg also interweaves notes and ephemera that give researchers a sense of his personality. For example, he encloses an invitation to a United Nations roundtable with the note: "Don't use the toaster (it's not ready to work in France)." In his next set of "General Notes" (11/12/1980-6/31/1981), Blumberg juxtaposes invitations to lectureships, awards, and notes from research councils with a photograph of himself running 10K under which he transcribes a quip from the boxer Saad Muhammad, "hey man, your pants are falling down" (10/11/1980). In a later trip to New York, he welcomes the opportunity to catch up on jokes, several of which he transcribes in his journal (1/19-11/24/1982).
 
These volumes--and others--provide a textured sense of Blumberg the scientist and Blumberg the human being. Blumberg often registers his religious (Jewish) upbringing through ephemera. For example, he encloses a program for "The Jew in American Today: Where are We?" at the Society Hill Synagogue in Philadelphia (2/4-2/6/1983). He also demonstrates a sustained interest in literature, particularly the writings of James Joyce. After a trip to Japan later that year, he includes a newspaper clipping for "Bloomsday: A Joycean Celebration" from the Philadelphia Inquirer (6/17/1983), and later records reading Finnegans Wake and Ulysses. Blumberg even attends a lecture on psychoanalysis and anthropology (though he dismisses the discussion as "pretty thin stuff, pretentious," 2/10/1984).
 
Between in 1984-1986, Blumberg transitions to larger notebooks that accommodate even more ephemera, including newspaper clippings on China's one-child policy (8/11/1984), Elie Wiesel's visit to the White House (4/20/1985), and reporting on the AIDS epidemic (10/7/1985). Blumberg maintained a pair of diaries related to a 1985 trip to Chile, which, notably, discuss the "problem of torture" under Pinochet and ethical challenges U.S. scientists face working with their counterparts in "non-democratic countries" (p.4, p.10, p.43). A notebook on a visit to India ("India Diary 1986") reveals Blumberg's thoughts on Hinduism, meeting with the prime minister (Rajiv Gandhi), and notes for a presentation about Gandhi's influence on Martin Luther King, Jr. (p.19, p.35-36, p.49-50). Other notebooks from 1986-88 document travels to Nepal, Japan, Taiwan, and Trinidad and Tobago, and even conference of Nobel Laureates in Paris (1/9/1988).
 
Perhaps most notably, Blumberg acknowledges his historic appointment as Master at Balliol College obliquely--through newspaper clippings--in these 1988 entries. One clipping, from the London Sundry Times notes that Blumberg is the first American to receive the honor (June 1988). It isn't until 1989 "General Notes" (1/1-8/9/1989) that he reflects upon the recognition, writing: "I looked at myself in the mirror, dark suite, striped Balliol tie, Master gown and thought what a strange series of event had brought me to this election. First American, first foreigner, first scientist, first Jew—I wish my father and mother could have known about this
 
how pleased they would have been" (6/3/1989). Blumberg's departure for the post appears bitter suite. He records a farewell party at the Fox Chase Cancer Center with an excerpt of his remarks: "[T]he world is a big playground for scientists and FCCC for 25 years has been my playground" (9/14/1989).
 
The early-1990s journals follow Blumberg's tenure at Balliol, marked by a series of notable personal events, including the death of his brother, wedding of his daughter, and birth of his first grandchild. Blumberg encloses a draft of his eulogy for his brother (6/30/1992) and an account of the funeral (7/1/1992). The next summer brings the wedding of his daughter, Anne Blumberg to Jonathan Dorfman (7/4/1993). After he completes his appointment at Balliol (10/1/1994), Blumberg celebrates the birth of Isabella Jean Dorfman, writing, "our first-borne—Anne—had our first Jewish grandchild" (4/2/1995).
 
The remaining notebooks (1994-2011) offer candid insights into Blumberg's late-career, including his directorship of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (1999-2002) and presidency of the American Philosophical Society (2005). Upon completing his appointment at Oxford, Blumberg appears to reach something of an impasse. On the occasion of his 72nd birthday, he writes: "feeling somewhat ill at ease about the direction my life should take. I'm so accustomed to being fully engaged and scheduled, being on vacation is a distraction…I should focus on the writing and make that my main goal at least for the present. That means I have to learn the discipline of writing, something I had nearly acquired when I was at LASBs. Enough philo. I'm delighted to have made it to 72 still intact and active" (7/28/1997). Blumberg would ascertain that direction in short order. In fact, included in that volume is a NASA Ames Research Center visitor's badge that anticipates the next chapter in his career.
 
Although Blumberg would not formally assume the role of director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute until May 1999, his journals suggest that conversations and preparations began much earlier. In "General Notes" (6/17/1998-3/10/1999), Blumberg attends an Astrobiology Roadmap Workshop (7/20-22/1998), where he writes (in third-person): "BSB spoke to the study of humans and their microorganisms" (7/22/1998). Shortly thereafter, he adds, "Malcolm Cohen called and told me that the scientists at NASA had taken up on this idea and want to have a conference about it early next year" (10/6/1998). Blumberg's exchanges with NASA leadership appear to have piqued his interest in space exploration, as evidenced in newspaper clippings that he collects in his journals (e.g. 3/19/1999). In his next volume of "General Notes" (3/11-10/13/1999), Blumberg records his "conditions for NASA employment" (p.3). Finally, he documents his appointment via newspaper clippings from the San Francisco Chronicle and New York Times dated 5/19/1999.
 
Blumberg's tenure at the Astrobiology Institute granted him new political and administrative responsibilities, which he documents thoroughly in "General Notes" and "Astrobiology" notebooks. Blumberg recounts a meeting with Newt Gingrich on 11/18/1999 with the gloss "Fascinating discussion. Far-ranging, visionary." In a subsequent volume of "General Notes" (5/11/2000-1/30/2001), researchers gain insights into the administrative work behind the Institute. "Spoke with Armstrong and Cerrel," writes Blumberg. "We arranged budget for ~ 20 million. 10 teams @ 1.5 x 106 plus 5 x 106 for supplementary funding an administration" (p153). Blumberg's commitment to the agency, and space exploration more broadly, endures well-past his tenure. In 2004, he travels to Puerto Rico to visit the radio telescope, and, on the 50th anniversary of the launching of Sputnik, he recollects, "On Oct 4, 1957. Jean Anne and BSB were crossing the Atlantic on the SS France and I saw Sput" (10/4/2007).
 
In the early-aughts, Blumberg returns to travel and private reflection. Notably, he records the September 11 terrorist attacks in an entry entitled "Day of Horror," writing, "I awake this morning to see on TV the horrible scenes of the bombing the World Trade Towers. I have written about it in my computer diary" (9/11/2001). (Unfortunately, it is unclear whether Blumberg printed that diary and included it with his papers.) He continues to attend Nobel conferences and symposia, including a 100th anniversary celebration of the Prize hosted by the White House on 11/27/2001. In a later journal, he notes that he attends a conference for Nobel Laureates that features speeches by King Abdullah II, Ted Koppel, Richard Holbrooke, and others (6/21/2006). Blumberg returns to Israel, Australia and China in 2002. In Israel, he notes the "terrible" condition of the West Bank (5/26/2002). In China, he recollects his 1977 trip as "most important (field) trip taken." Marveling at the "enormous changes" in the country, he writes that Shanghai is "only city I've visited that causes me to question solitary greatness of New York" (5/3/2002). New York remains a favorite stop for Blumberg
 
in fact, researchers interested in the arts will note that he meticulously records the opening of "The Gates" at Central Park (2/18/2005).
 
Alongside wide-ranging travels, later diaries offer unusually candid assessments of U.S. politics and media. Blumberg discusses immigration politics in late-2006, writing, "Bush admin has no interest in reality of data, they have been hopeless in responding to the problem [illegal immigration]. Punishment is their first response" (11/10/2006). After attending a talk on the media with Gwen Ifill and Tom Brokaw, he observes, "Republicans control press--board of directors compared to the Democrat's college dormitory" (4/28/2007).
 
The last five years of diaries may hold the greatest appeal to researchers exploring the institutional history of the American Philosophical Society. Although Blumberg doesn't appear to write directly about his election as president in 2005, the APS figures prominently in his final journals. He discusses a 2006 visit to the Google campus with APS members, where he marvels, "The place is bursting with intellectual energy. Masses of very young people…average age must be 25" (11/8/2006). Blumberg regularly records attendance of APS meetings, often enclosing programs. Perhaps most notably, he notes a meeting with former librarian Martin Levitt, during which Levitt conveyed the institution's interest in his diaries and its plans for a "NA DH Center," presumably the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research.