Finding Aid to the David Knapp Papers, 1884-1973 (bulk 1930-1973)Sponsor:This finding aid has been encoded by the Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics as part of a collaborative project supported by a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities, an independent federal agency. Collaboration members in 2002 consisted of: American Institute of Physics, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Rice University, University of Alaska, University of Illinois, and University of Texas. Publisher:American Institute of Physics. Center for History of Physics. Encoding Information:Machine-readable finding aid encoded in EAD 2002 by Clay Redding on November 25, 2002. Any revisions made to this finding aid occurred as part of the editing and encoding process. Finding aid written in English. Description of the CollectionLocation of collection:American Institute of Physics. Center for History of Physics. Title and dates of collection:David Knapp Papers, 1884-1973 (bulk 1930-1973) Papers/Records created by:Knapp, David Goodwin, 1907- Size of collection:1 linear foot (2 manuscript boxes) Short description of collection:This collection contains scientific manuscripts, reports, drafts of papers, memoranda, correspondence, bibliographies, biographical references, photographs, illustrations, calculations, reprints and newspaper clippings focusing on terrestrial magnetism from David Knapp, a geophysicist. Language(s) of material:English Selected Search TermsThese papers have been indexed in the International Catalog of Sources for History of Physics and Allied Sciences (ICOS) using the following terms. Those seeking related materials should search under these terms. Biography of David KnappDavid Goodwin Knapp was born in Indianapolis on July 20, 1907. He worked as a minor laboratory apprentice at the National Bureau of Standards from 1926 until 1928 and as laboratory technician at Indianapolis Power & Light Company from 1928 until 1936. He received his B.S. from Butler University in 1935. During 1936 and 1937 Knapp attended George Washington University. Also in 1936 Knapp began work as a geophysicist at the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey. David Knapp performed research in the areas of cartographic techniques in geomagnetism, solar-diurnal variations, arctic aspects of geomagnetism, induction effects in permanent magnets, equatorial and auroral electrojets as shown by magnetic events, dipole determinations, and the history of geomagnetism. Knapp was a member of the American Geophysics Union and the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy. He was the secretary of the Terrestrial Magnetism and Electricity section of the AGU from 1944 till 1950. Scope and Contents of CollectionThe collection focuses on terrestrial magnetism. The subjects covered are atmospheric electricity, aurora borealis, sunspots, storms, the ionosphere, compasses, and geomagnetic cartography. It contains scientific manuscripts, reports, drafts of papers, memoranda, correspondence, bibliographies, biographical references, photographs, illustrations, calculations, reprints and newspaper clippings. The correspondence deals mainly with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey before and during Knapp’s time as a scientist there. The correspondence with R.S. Owendoff concerns Knapp’s critique and suggestions for Owendoff’s book. There are manuscripts, notes and newspaper clippings written and collected by Knapp dealing with aspects of terrestrial magnetism. There are manuscripts by other scientists and some government publications as well. There are theoretical discussions on handwritten and typed notes, and calculations dealing with a variety of topics in terrestrial magnetism. The bibliographical materials are comprised of subject bibliographies, a bibliography of Knapp’s works and a review of the literature dealing with terrestrial magnetism. The biographical materials are lists of biographical references and obituaries from 1952 till 1970. The pictorial materials are drawings of scientists and two photographs. The photographs are of the 1968 IAGA-WMS Symposium and the 1884 Polar Year Meeting. Correspondence accompanies the Polar Year Meeting photo. Before Knapp’s death, Joseph C. Cain culled this collection from Knapp’s files. As a result of the selection process, this collection appears to be thin in some areas. The general correspondence seems to be especially fragmented. Arrangement of CollectionOrganized into the following series: I. Correspondence; II. Manuscripts, Publications and Notes; III. Bibliographic and Biographical Materials; IV. Pictorial Materials. The documents in this collection have been arranged chronologically by date, with the exception of materials with no date and the subseries entitled "Theoretical Discussions." The materials with no date were arranged alphabetically. The "Theoretical Discussions" were left in their original order, which appears to be roughly chronological. Access to CollectionNo restrictions. Restrictions on Use of CollectionUse of primary source material in the Niels Bohr Library requires prior approval through an Application for Access, which includes a statement of research purpose and the names and addresses of two scholars as references. Access applications can be obtained by contacting the Library (telephone 301-209-3177; or e-mail nbl@aip.org). The application can also be printed from our website. Provenance and Acquisition InformationThe papers were donated by Joseph Cain in 1987. Processing InformationThis collection was processed by Heather McBride in January 2001. Newspaper articles were photocopied onto acid-free paper and the originals were removed from the collection. All materials were rehoused in archival quality, acid-free folders and boxes. All notations made by the processor to assist with identification were made in pencil and enclosed in brackets. All other notations were previously on the documents in the collection when it was received. Other Related Materials
Materials Separated from CollectionPhotographs and drawings were removed from the collection and placed in the Emilio Segrè Visual Archives. Photocopies of the photographs and drawings remain with the collection. Container List
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||