Oral History at the Center for History of Physics
Most scholars who visit the Library use its collection of oral history interviews. While no substitute for original correspondence and other primary source materials, interviews provide invaluable overviews of a subject, offer fresh insights, and suggest directions for further research. - alphabetical list of most interviewees - list of transcripts online - list of voice clips online. |
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The Center's interviewing has largely been done in connection with projects focussed on particular subjects; therefore the oral history collection is particularly strong in the areas of:
- quantum physics
- nuclear physics
- modern astrophysics and astronomy
- solid state physics
- laser science
- multi-institutional collaborations in high-energy physics
- space science and geophysics
- physicists in industry
- science education
- science societies and institutions
- science and society
The majority of persons interviewed are Americans, but many Europeans and some others are included.
The Center's grants-in-aid support interviewing by others in a wide variety of physics-related fields, with copies of the resulting interviews deposited in the Library's collection. The Center occasionally exchanges copies of interviews with other repositories.
The collection includes over 3,000 hours of interviews with some 1,500 physicists, astronomers and others. Most of the interviews are transcribed; most have indexes, abstracts, and detailed tables of contents, copies of which are available upon request. The Library also holds the original tape recordings of most interviews.
Another 1,000-plus recordings (voice and some video) of public reminiscences given by scientists at memorials, anniversaries, and "history" sessions of meetings offer unique eye-witness accounts similar to those in oral history interviews. While generally not transcribed, many of these tapes have been given detailed tables of contents.
All are indexed in our Catalog of Sources, which also lists many interviews held in other repositories.