Finding Aid to the Edgar Buckingham papers, 1889-1938.Niels Bohr Library & Archives 1.0 American Institute of Physics Niels Bohr Library & Archives
One Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740 USA nbl@aip.org
2009 Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Melanie J. Brown in 2009. Any revisions made to this finding aid occurred as part of the editing and encoding process. Finding aid is written in English Description of the CollectionBuckingham, Edgar, 1867-1940. Edgar Buckingham papers, 1889-1938. American Institute of Physics. Niels Bohr Library & Archives. 2.75 linear feet1 manuscript box, 1 half manuscript box, 2 records boxes AR238 English Papers of physicists Edgar Buckingham. Selected Search Terms

These 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.

Bridgman, P. W. (Percy Williams), 1882-1961. Buckingham, Edgar, 1867-1940. Chadwick, Guy. Swinburne, James. Strassburg University. United States. National Bureau of Standards Université de Strasbourg. Dimensional analysis. Fluid dynamics. Thermodynamics. Vector analysis. Biographical Note

Physicist (thermodynamics, fluid dynamics). On the faculty in physics and physical chemistry, Bryn Mawr College, 1893-1899; assistant physicist, Bureau of Soils, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1902-1906; and physicist with the Bureau of Standards, 1906-1940. The majority of Buckingham's papers are held at the archives of the National Bureau of Standards.

Scope and Contents of Collection

Lecture and instructional notes; manuscripts; laboratory notebooks; reprints; correspondence. Lecture and instructional notes (1896-1918) concentrating on fluid and thermodynamics and dimensional analysis. Unfinished manuscripts and notes for unpublished papers and books on the subjects of vector analysis and fluid, and thermodynamics. Laboratory notebooks (1889-1938) recording the research of Buckingham in fluid and thermodynamics from his years as a student at Strassburg University to a physicist at the National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C. Reprints (1894-1936) of articles written by Buckingham throughout his career. Correspondence (1932-1939) concerning publication matters and a critical discussion with Percy W. Bridgman over Bridgman's book, DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS. Correspondents include: Percy W. Bridgman, Guy Chadwick, and James Swinburne.

 Organization and Arrangement of Collection

This collection is organized into four series:

Series I: Notebooks Series II: Lecture notes Series III: Published articles Series IV: Miscellaneous

Each series is arranged chronologically.

 Access to Collection

Researchers must have an approved access application on file in order to access archival materials. http://www.aip.org/history/nbl/access.html.

 Restrictions on Use of Collection

Provenance and Acquisition Information

 Processing Information

Lara D'Agaro 2009.

Preferred Citation of Collection

Box [number], Folder [number], Edgar Buckingham papers, . American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, College Park, MD 20740, USA.

 Container List Series I: Notebooks 11 Notebook I: various observations, 1889 12 Notebook II: various observations, 1889 13 Notebook III: various observations, 1890 14 Notebook IV: miscellaneous observations, 1890-1894 15 Notebook VI: chemistry, November 1890 16 Notebook VII: work on alloys, 1891 17 Notebook IX: experiments on freezing mixture of different substances to find the composition of ice, January 1891 18 Notebook XI: resume of various results, January 1890 19 Notebook XII, October 1892 110 Notebook XIII, Winter 1892-1893 111 Notebook XIV: fluorescence of quinine sulfate, Winter 1892-1893 21 Notebook XV: experiments on the fluorescence of quinine salts, Summer 1893 22 Notebook XVI, April-June 1893 23 Notebook XVII, June-December 1893 24 Notebook XVIII: laboratory notes, December 1894-March 1902 25 Notebook, 1915 31 Notes, 1920-1921 32 Notes, July 1921-June 1926 33 Notes, September 1926-June 1938 Series II: Lecture notes 34 Thermodynamics I, 1908-1909 35 Thermodynamics II, 1908-1909 36 Thermodynamics III, 1908-1909 37 Thermodynamics IV, 1908-1909 38 Thermodynamics V, 1908-1909 39 Thermodynamics VI, 1908-1909 310 Advanced physical chemistry, September 28-October 8, 1909 311 Second law of thermodynamics, March 1910 312 Steam turbines and On the reheat factor, November 9, 1910 and March 31, 1911 313 Technical thermodynamics I: elements, application to turbines, 1910-1911 314 Technical thermodynamics II: graphical representations, the second law and entropy, 1910-1911 315 Technical thermodynamics III: gas machines, properties of vapors and refrigeration, 1910-1911 316 Technical thermodynamics IV: steam turbines, 1910-1911 317 On the computation of C2 in Planck’s equation, May 1911 318 Radiation laws, December 11, 1911 and December 18, 1911 319 Flight of projectiles, February 1912 320 Dynamical similarity, October 1912 321 Thermodynamics I: elements of theory for fluids, 1912-1913 322 Thermodynamics II: reciprocating motors, 1912-1913 323 Thermodynamics III: refrigeration, 1912-1913 324 Thermodynamics IV: equations of state and deductions from van der Waals, 1912-1913 325 Thermodynamics V: radiation, 1912-1913 326 Thermodynamics VI: radiation, 1912-1913 327 Thermodynamics VII: general principles, 1912-1913 328 Thermodynamics VIII: refrigeration, 1912-1913 329 Thermodynamics II: elements of theory, 1912-1913 330 Thermodynamics III: elements of theory, 1912-1913 331 Thermodynamics IV: compressors, 1912-1913 332 Thermodynamics V: internal combustion engines, 1912-1913 333 Thermodynamics VI: diesel engines, 1912-1913 334 Thermodynamics VII: refrigeration, 1912-1913 335 Thermodynamics IX: flow of ideal gases of steam through orifices and nozzles, 1912-1913 336 Thermodynamics X, 1912-1913 337 Dynamical similarity, 1912-1913 338 Refrigeration investigations, March 1913 339 Notes on some European Laboratories, December 1913 340 Principles of refrigeration, 1913 341 Notes on dimensions, May 1914 342 The theory of dimensions, December 1914 343 The theory of efflux viscometers, February 1916 344 General principles of thermodynamics, November 20-December 11, 1916 345 Thermodynamics, October 1917-February 1918 346 Submarine detection, June 1918 347 Miscellanea on war work, June 1918 348 Signaling, June 1918 349 Accuracy of naval gun fire, July 1918 350 Work at Bureau of Standards on aero-motors and radiators, July 1918 351 Subterranean sound racing, microseismometry, July 1918 352 Sound racing: fonotelemetria, July 1918 353 Sound racing: fonotelemetria: B.S.T.M. records, July 1918 354 Wireless telephony, July 1918 355 National Physical Laboratory, notes on visit, August 1918 356 Istituto Centrale Aeronautica, September 1918 357 Notes on weekly meetings of the Ufficio Invenz et Richerche, September 1918 358 Laboratorio di Precisione d’Artigleria, September 5-October 21, 1918 359 Rinaldi’s aero-torpedo, September 1918 360 Miscellanea and personal notes, Summer 1918 361 Theory of dimensions, April 19-May 17, 1920 362 Hydraulics, January 1923 363 Dimensions and models, February-March 1923 364 Metering natural gas, November 1924 365 Elements of electrostatics and magnetism, August 11-September 24, 1927 366 Talk to division III, February 1937 367 Thermodynamic Formulae, undated 368 Bomb-sights, stabilizers, undated Series III: Published articles 41 “Uber einige Fluoreszenzerscheinungen”, 1894 42 “On the establishment of the thermodynamic scale of temperature by means of the constant-pressure thermometer,” Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards, February 1907 43 “The thermodynamic corrections of the nitrogen scale,” Philosophical Magazine, April 1908 44 “The theory of the Hampson Liquefier,” Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards, May 1909 45 “The steam-turbine expansion line on the Mollier Diagram, and a short method of finding the reheat factor,” Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards, March 1911 46 “On the computation of the constant C2 of Planck’s Equation by an extension of Paschen’s Method of equal ordinates,” Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards, April 1911 47 “On the deduction of Wien’s Displacement Law,” Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards, April 1912 48 “Windage resistance of steam-turbine wheels,” Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards, July 1913 49 “On physically similar systems; illustrations of the use of dimensional equations,” The Physical Review, October 1914 410 “Model experiments and the forms of empirical equations,” paper presented at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, June 1915 411 “Notes on the dimensional theory of wind tunnel experiments,” Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, January 1916 412 “On the use of models in investigating the resistance of ship structures to external explosions,” Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, May 1921 413 “Notes on the method of dimensions,” Philosophical Magazine, November 1921 414 “On plastic flow through capillary tubes,” Proceedings of the American Society for Testing Materials, 1921 415 “Discharge coefficients of square-edged orifices for measuring the flow of air,” Bureau of Standards Journal of Research, March 1929 416 “Notes on the orifice meter: the expansion factor for gases,” Bureau of Standards Journal of Research, July 1932 417 “Dimensional analysis of model propeller tests,” Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, May 1936 Series IV: Miscellaneous 418 Graduate thermodynamics, 1896-1897 419 Graduate thermodynamics: physical-chemical applications, 1896-1898 420 Graduate thermodynamics: physical applications, 1896-1898 421 Graduate thermodynamics, 1896-1898 422 Graduate thermodynamics: synopsis, 1897-1898 423 Gas engine testing, 1899 424 Thermodynamics: Boyle’s Law, 1901-1902 425 Thermodynamics: Chapters I-IX, 1904-1905 426 Thermodynamics: Chapters X-XII, 1904-1905 427 Thermodynamics: Chapters XIII, thermodynamic properties of fluids, 1904-1905 428 Thermodynamics: radiation laws, 1904-1905 429 Thermodynamics: solutions, 1904-1905 430 Phase Rule, notes on the , 1904-1905, 1908-1909 431 The reversibility of thermodynamics by James Swinburne, 1905 432 Reactions in ideal gas mixtures, 1905-1909 433 Thermodynamics, 1908-1909 434 Manuscript for book on thermodynamics, 1910-1912 435 Thermodynamics formulas, 1914 436 Joukowski’s Circulation Theorem, notes on, 1923-1924, 1934-1935 437 Bridgeman’s Dimensional Analysis, notes on, 2nd edition and correspondence, 1932-1939 438 Bernoulli’s Theorem, notes on, 1934-1935 439 Vector analysis, 1934, 1939 440 Circulation theorem, 1935 441 Thermodynamic surfaces and D. Berthelot on equations of state , undated 442 Calorimetry of saturated fluids by E. Mathias, undated