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Interview with Robert L. Sinsheimer
Get PDFInterview in 1990 and 1991 with Dr. Robert L. Sinsheimer, who served as chairman of Caltech's Division of Biology for nine years (1968-1977) and later became chancellor of the University of California at Santa Cruz. He recalls his undergraduate education in the new biophysics program at MIT, his war work at MIT's Radiation Laboratory, and his graduate study at MIT in biophysics (PhD 1948). After a postdoc year there, he goes to Iowa State College as associate professor of biophysics; takes six-month leave in 1953 to Caltech, works on phage genetics with Max Delbrück. Joins Caltech faculty as professor of biophysics in 1957 and continues his work on isolating the virus Phi X 174; work with Arthur Kornberg of Stanford on in vitro synthesis of DNA. Receives California Scientist of the Year Award in 1968 and is elected that year to the National Academy of Sciences. He recalls his tenure as chair of the Biology Division, the growth of molecular biology, and his awareness of potential risks involved in the new technology of recombinant DNA. He discusses his concern over low level of public understanding of science; his involvement in the Asilomar Conference of February 1975 and creation of NIH guidelines for recombinant DNA research; and his part in initiating the Human Genome Project. In 1977, Sinsheimer left Caltech to become chancellor of UC Santa Cruz, a post he held until 1987, when he moved to UC Santa Barbara, where he became professor emeritus in 1990 and where this interview takes place
Interview with Paul S. Epstein
Get PDFMemoirs recorded by Paul Sophus Epstein (1883-1966) with his wife, Alice Epstein, late in 1965 and possibly into early 1966. He describes his undergraduate and graduate study in physics at Moscow University, 1901-1909, under P. N. Lebedev, and his move to Munich in early 1910 to begin his doctoral study under A. Sommerfeld. He remembers his professors in Russia: N. V. Bugaev, N. A. Umov, B. Mlodziowski, N. E. Zhukovsky, A. P. Sokolov; his Russian student colleagues T. P. Kravets, A. K. Timiryazev, P. P. Lazarev, and V. K. Arkadiev. He acknowledges P. Ehrenfest's influence in the move to Munich and the change from experimental to theoretical physics, and he recounts aspects of Ehrenfest's early career. Educational practices and social conditions of the turn of the century and early decades of the twentieth century in both Russia and Germany are discussed in detail, including the situation of European Jews and anti-Semitic laws and attitudes. Sommerfeld's scientific background and connections in Königsberg, Göttingen and Aachen are described: mathematicians D. Hilbert, F. Klein, H. Minkowski; the philosopher E. Husserl. Epstein remembers his German professors: C. L. F. Lindemann (mathematics), P. H. von Groth (crystallography), W. C. Röntgen (physics); his Munich student colleagues P. Debye, M. von Laue, A. F. Ioffe, P. P. Koch, P. P. Ewald, and A. Rosenthal; and he recollects important intellectual exchanges at Munich Stammtische. Epstein notes his involvement with avant-garde Munich artists from the Blaue Reiter circle, including P. Klee, W. Kandinsky, F. Marc, and A. von Jawlensky. World War I delays the completion of his studies and creates financial hardship. He recounts leaving Munich for Zurich (1919), where he meets A. Einstein; his Habilitation thesis on the application of the Stark effect to optics creates a stir. He subsequently moves to Leiden to assist Ehrenfest and H. Lorentz (1921). During these years, Epstein marries and divorces Mina (Maria) and develops interest in psychoanalysis; he meets Freud in Switzerland ca. 1920. Epstein meets R. A. Millikan in Leiden, decides to take teaching position at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He describes his early period at Caltech and colleagues there (1920s). Epstein ends with an account of Röntgen's career, especially his discovery of X rays; discusses Röntgen's relations with Sommerfeld in Munich
Interview with J. Beverley Oke
Get PDFAn interview in two sessions, September 1991, with J. Beverley Oke, professor of astronomy, emeritus, in the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy (PMA). BS and MS from University of Toronto. Graduate work at Princeton with Martin Schwarzschild on modeling giant stars. He describes continual development of improved detectors as staving off interest in building bigger telescopes until the late 1970s. Discusses his instrument building; mentions work of Arthur Code and James A. Westphal.
He discusses need for more light gathering and the various designs for a 10-meter telescope, including his own; rejection of E. Joseph Wampler’s meniscus design. Recalls Caltech’s plans to partner with other institutions and his support for collaborating with University of California; Jerry Nelson’s design. Discusses UC’s funding tribulations, Keck Foundation offer, Caltech’s eventual equal partnership with UC, and UC’s uneasiness.
Comments on debate over siting Keck headquarters. Nelson’s work on segmented-mirror setup; detailed discussion of optical system; difficulties with Itek. Altitude problems at Keck site, including oxygen depletion and its effects. Dome design and his part in design of Nasmyth deck and elevator. Discussion of advantages of Keck Telescope over Palomar 200-inch for various astronomy projects. He concludes by describing his work with Jeremy Mould on Virgo Cluster and plans for building Keck II
Interview with Heinz A. Lowenstam
Get PDFInterview conducted in eight sessions in the summer of 1988 with Heinz A. Lowenstam, professor of paleoecology. Dr. Lowenstam was born in Germany and educated at the universities of Frankfurt and Munich. He emigrated to the United States in 1937 to continue his graduate studies in geology and paleontology at the University of Chicago, receiving the PhD there in 1939. After a stint at the Illinois State Museum, he joined the Chicago faculty in 1948, working with Harold C. Urey on paleotemperatures. He joined Caltech's Geology Division in 1952 as a professor of paleoecology, pursuing research in a variety of fields. In 1962, he identified iron in chiton teeth, the first known instance of biomineralization, later found in such diverse creatures as bacteria, honeybees, and birds. In this interview, he recalls the difficulties he faced as a Jew in Nazi Germany, his graduate work in Palestine in the mid-1930s, his life as an émigré, his investigation of Silurian fossils in the Chicago area, and his interaction with such mentors and colleagues at Chicago as Urey, N. L. Bowen, Bailey Willis, Bryan Patterson, and Karl Schmidt. He discusses the evolution of the Geology Division at Caltech; its important move, under division chairman Robert P. Sharp, into geochemistry in the early 1950s; his work on the paleoecology of marine organisms; his recollections of Caltech colleagues, including Sam Epstein, Beno Gutenberg, Hugo Benioff, James Westphal, Max Delbruck, and George Rossman; and the changes that took place in the division over the decades since his arrival
Interview with J. Kent Clark
Get PDFAn interview in three sessions, January-February 1989, with J. Kent Clark, emeritus professor of literature. Professor Clark, a specialist in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English politics and literature, received his BA at Brigham Young University in 1939 and his PhD at Stanford. In this interview, he discusses his Mormon background in Utah and his early interest in musical comedy. Graduate school at Stanford was interrupted by World War II; he eventually finished his dissertation (on Jonathan Swift) and received his PhD in 1950, by which time he had already joined Caltech's Humanities Division (1947) as an English instructor. He recalls the intellectual character of the division in the late forties under the chairmanship of Clinton Judy and the high caliber of the literature and history courses. Recollections of colleagues Harvey Eagleson, Roger Stanton, George McMinn, Beach Langston, William Huse, Hallett Smith. He talks about the extremely popular musical comedies he wrote and produced with Elliot Davis on campus for many years, beginning in 1954. Recollections of Caltech president Lee DuBridge and of the changes in the late 1960s as the division became the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences; greater emphasis on research and specialization, as opposed to teaching and survey courses. Professor Clark also recalls his stint as Caltech's "culture czar" and the fate of the arts program instituted in the late sixties. He discusses the admission of women (1970) and the Jenijoy La Belle tenure case, and he concludes with a discussion of his work on biographies of the late-seventeenth-century figures (and brothers) Goodwin and Thomas Wharton
Interview with Robert W. Oliver
Get PDFInterview in five sessions, 1988-1990, with Robert W. Oliver, professor of economics emeritus, who arrived at Caltech in 1959 as an assistant professor. His principal interest was in economic development, and during his years at Caltech he also worked as a consultant to the World Bank. He was also active in the city government of Pasadena. This wide-ranging interview begins with his recollections of his education at USC and war service in the South Pacific. He describes the makeup and character of the Humanities Division (then under the chairmanship of Hallett Smith) at the time of his arrival and its evolution into the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences. His interest in Africa, and the establishment of his Technical Cooperation Seminar in the early 1960s. Recollections of Smith's retirement as chairman in "palace revolution;" roles of Lance Davis, Roger Noll, and Rodman Paul; eventual succession of Robert Huttenback. His opposition to Huttenback's appointment and criticism of Huttenback's division chairmanship. The battle over granting tenure to literature professor Jenijoy La Belle. Discusses his work on various faculty committees and his tenure as master of student houses, and comments on presidential styles of Lee DuBridge, Harold Brown, Marvin [Murph] Goldberger, and Thomas Everhart. Discusses the work of the World Bank, especially in the 1970s. Recalls his years on Pasadena's city board in the latter half of the 1960s, the struggles over variances and development projects, and his unsuccessful campaign for reelection to the board in 1973
Interview with George W. Housner
Get PDFInterview in 1984 with George W. Housner, Carl F. Braun Professor of Engineering emeritus. BS, University of Michigan in civil engineering, 1933. MS Caltech, 1934. Interest in earthquake engineering after 1933 Long Beach earthquake; 1934-39, designed schools, bridges, and dams in Los Angeles; returned to Caltech for PhD (1941) with R. R. Martel. Worked for Corps of Engineers in Los Angeles, protecting aircraft industry from possible wartime attack. Adviser to the air force in North Africa and Italy during the war. Joined Caltech faculty 1945 as asst. prof. of applied mechanics; buildup of Engineering and Applied Science Division under chairman Fred Lindvall. Comments on differences between seismologists and earthquake engineers. Recalls origins of earthquake engineering at Caltech under Martel. Chairs engineering committee on 1964 Alaska quake. With Paul Jennings, consults on earthquake design for buildings in downtown Los Angeles. Founding of Earthquake Engineering Research Institute [EERI]. Comments on liquefaction in 1964 Niigata earthquake. Recalls Theodor von Kármán's part in designing pumps for Colorado River Aqueduct. Recalls his own involvement in Feather River Project in 1950s as president of EERI, and Ralph Nader's misrepresentation of its earthquake safety. Comments on engineering improvements in aftermath of 1971 San Fernando earthquake. Visits China in 1978 as member of delegation on earthquake engineering. Comments on superiority of Japanese earthquake preparedness. Founding of International Association for Earthquake Engineering and Caltech Earthquake Research Affiliates. Establishment with NSF funding of a Committee on Natural Hazards, including wind damage. Sen. Alan Cranston's part in getting NSF money in 1974 for earthquake research. Comments on his work at Palomar Observatory and Union Bank Building. Comments on demolition of Caltech's Throop Hall following San Fernando quake, on future of engineering education, and on his stint as chairman of the faculty. Comments on Ed Simmons, inventor of a strain gauge, Simmons's legal battle with Caltech, and Caltech's patent policy
Interview with Lyman G. Bonner
Get PDFAn interview in two sessions in April 1989 with Lyman Bonner, who held several important positions in Caltech’s administration from 1965 to 1989. He and his brother James spent the academic year of 1929-1930 as Caltech undergraduates while their father was on sabbatical here from the University of Utah. Both returned to Utah and received BS degrees in chemistry, James in 1931 and Lyman in 1932. Both then returned to Caltech as graduate students: James received a PhD in biology, joining the Caltech faculty in 1936; Lyman received his PhD in chemistry in 1935 (the second of four Bonner brothers to earn Caltech PhDs) and went as a postdoc to Princeton, where he switched to physics. He then worked at Duke University with Hertha Sponer on infrared spectroscopy, joined the faculty, and taught physics there in the wartime V-12 program. He recalls those early academic years and his wartime work on rocket propellants at Allegany Ballistics Laboratory and later at Hercules, Inc., ending as director of development for its Chemical Propulsion Division in Bacchus, Utah.
He returned to Caltech in 1965 as director of foundation relations. Two years later, he became assistant to President Lee A. DuBridge for facilities planning and in 1968 became director of student relations. He describes the careers of his scientist siblings. He recalls the student activism led by undergraduate Joseph Rhodes and the moderate unrest at Caltech during the Vietnam War. Among his duties under President Harold Brown was oversight of the student Health Center; he discusses its history, as well as the admission of women beginning in 1970. In 1977, he became registrar, holding that post until his retirement in 1989
Interview with David C. Elliot
Get PDFInterview conducted in five sessions, April and May 1986, by Carol Bugé with David Clephan Elliot, professor of history, emeritus, who arrived at Caltech in 1950 as an assistant professor, was appointed full professor by 1960, and served as the humanities and social sciences division's executive officer from 1967 to 1971, as well as the secretary of the faculty from 1973-1985. Born and raised in Scotland, he received his MA in 1939 from the University of St. Andrews. In 1940 the British government sent Elliot to India, where he spent six years in the Punjab region working for the Indian Civil Service. In 1947, Elliot entered Harvard University, where he received an AM in 1948 and a PhD in 1951; later, in 1956, he also received an MA from Oxford University, where he studied international organizational law.
The interview begins with Elliot discussing his early years in Scotland, the outbreak of World War II, meeting his future wife Nancy, and his experiences in India. He then goes on to discuss his decision to settle in the U.S., and more specifically his arrival in California in 1950. His recollections of the 1950s and 1960s at Caltech include descriptions of the makeup and character of the campus and the students; the humanities division under the chairmanship of Hallett Smith; and later, with the addition of the social sciences to the division, the gradual shift in emphasis from teaching and survey courses to research and specialization, which took place under the helm of Robert Huttenback. Elliot discusses History 5 and the eventual development of the California Seminar on Arms Control and Foreign Policy. He recounts the visit of Alexander Topchev and other Soviet scientists to Caltech in the early sixties. Elliot compares and contrasts the Caltech presidencies of Lee DuBridge, Harold Brown, and Marvin Goldberger: the men, their respective policies, and their influences on the campus. This includes recollections of: Linus Pauling's political activities, the Honker Group, the La Belle tenure case, the Arroyo Center, and Caltech's seventy-fifth anniversary.
Throughout the interview there are interesting anecdotes regarding a wide variety of individuals: Dr. and Mrs. Robert A. Millikan, Hallett Smith, Alan Sweezy, Matthew Meselson, Carl Rogers, Robert Huttenback, Robert Christy, Harold Brown, Roger Noll, Rochus Vogt, Marvin Goldberger, Phillips Talbot, Matthew Sands, Dean Acheson, General Lauris Norstad, Charles Lauritsen, Albert Hibbs.
Elliot concludes the interview discussing his retirement, his years as secretary of the faculty and a member of the steering committee; offers from other institutions; his association with trustees; consulting work for RAND, NASA, and the Ford Foundation; and his research on London during the English Restoration as well as the Vista Project
Interview with Theodore C. Combs
Get PDFAn interview in three sessions in December 1987 with Theodore C. Combs, Caltech BS 1927 and former secretary of Caltech’s Board of Trustees. He recalls his undergraduate years at Caltech, his work as a civil engineer in Upland, Long Beach, and in the timber industry, and his wartime work for the 9th Corps Area in California and in purchases and contracts for the under-secretary of war in Washington, DC.
He retired from the timber industry and returned to Caltech in the mid-1960s, initially working in corporate relations and later as secretary of the Board of Trustees (1968-1973). He comments on the contributions of various trustees and board chairmen over the years and discusses his longtime involvement with the Alumni Association, the Gnome Club, the Caltech Y, the Industrial Relations Center, and the Caltech Associates