Finding Aid to the Records of the American Physical Society, Records of the Directed Energy Weapons Study, 1983-1988Publisher:American Institute of Physics. Center for History of Physics. Encoding Information:Machine-readable finding aid encoded in EAD 2002 by Katherine A. Hayes on November 5, 2004. 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:Finding Aid to the Records of the American Physical Society, Directed Energy Weapons Study, 1983-1988 Records created by:American Physical Society. Size of collection:2.25 linear feet (5 boxes) Short description of collection:This collection contains proposals, correspondence, press releases, newspaper, and magazine clippings, papers and reports, Congressional materials, and petitions dealing with the Reagan administration's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) or "Star Wars," and the American Physical Society's Directed Energy Weapons Study, initiated in response to SDI. 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. History of the APS Directed Energy Weapons StudyThis professional society of educators, industrial and government research workers, and students of physics and related fields, was established in 1899 to promote the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of physics. It was a founding Member Society of the American Institute of Physics. The Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Study was commissioned by the American Physical Society (APS) on November 20, 1983 to evaluate the status of the science and technology of DEW. A study group was formed by November 1984 with the goal of creating an unclassified report for the APS's membership and others with an interest in DEW. The report was to contain basic technical information about DEW and serve as a reference point for public discussions. The study concentrated on the physical basis of high intensity lasers and energetic particle beams, beam control and propagation, and other issues. The study found significant gaps in the scientific and engineering understanding of many issues associated with the development of DEW technologies. The report was released in April 1987 and it generated controversy among scientists and within the United States Congress. Scope and Contents of CollectionThis collection contains materials about the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), the APS's DEW Study, and the APS's Source Term Study. The SDI materials include correspondence, press releases from the American Institute of Physics and other organizations, newspaper and magazine clippings, papers and reports, materials covering the actions of the United States Congress and SDI, and petitions for and against SDI. The APS DEW Study materials contain the study proposal, correspondence about the study, funding, members of the study, cooperation with the Department of Defense and the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, and reactions to the study by scientists and Congress. The correspondence also includes responses to a guest comment piece by Robert R. Wilson in Physics Today. The newspaper, magazine, and television clippings include those mentioning the study, reactions to the study, and the controversy following its release. The papers and reports include a printed copy of the final study from Reviews in Modern Physics. The collection also contains materials regarding the actions of Congress in response to the APS DEW Study. The Source Term materials include correspondence, press releases, newspaper and magazine clippings, and papers and reports. Individuals represented in the collection include: Val Fitch, Gregory H. Canavan, Frederick Seitz, Robert R. Wilson, and Lowell Wood. Arrangement and Organization of CollectionThe collection has been divided up into three series: Series I. Strategic Defense Initiative; Series II. American Physical Society Directed Energy Weapons Study; and Series III. Source Term Study. The materials in this collection were organized chronologically. Access to CollectionPermission of an officer of The American Physical Society is required for access to records less than 25 years old. Earlier records are open to qualified researchers. 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 records were received from the American Physical Society's Washington Office in September 1999. Processing InformationThis collection was processed by Heather McBride in July 2001. Duplicate materials were removed from the collection. Paper clips and staples were removed from the documents and in some cases replaced with archival quality paper clips. Newspaper articles were photocopied onto acid-free paper and the originals were removed from the collection. Pages with Post-It Notes were photocopied with the note in place. The photocopy was placed with the original page and the Post-It Notes 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. Preferred Citation of CollectionCite as: Box [number], Folder [number], American Physical Society, Records of Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Study, 1983-1988. American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library, College Park, MD 20740, USA. Other Related MaterialsAmerican Institute of Physics. Physics Today Division. Records of Irwin Goodwin, 1983-1993. American Physical Society. Records of the American Physical Society, 1899-1987. Hecht, Jeff, 1947-. Laser pioneer interviews, 1985-1986. Container List
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||