Hugh Bradner Papers
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http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8g73kjm Online items available Hugh Bradner Papers Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Copyright 2017 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla 92093-0175 [email protected] URL: http://libraries.ucsd.edu/collections/sca/index.html Hugh Bradner Papers SMC 0016 1 Descriptive Summary Languages: English Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla 92093-0175 Title: Hugh Bradner Papers Creator: Bradner, Hugh, 1915-2008 Identifier/Call Number: SMC 0016 Physical Description: 17.5 Linear feet(16 cartons and 3 oversize folders) Date (inclusive): 1935-1998 Abstract: Papers of physicist Hugh Bradner, including his correspondence, research files, teaching material and writings. Scope and Content of Collection Papers of physicist Hugh Bradner, including his correspondence, research files, teaching material and writings. Subjects of note include high energy physics, ocean-bottom seismology, DUMAND and the history of the wet suit. Arranged in nine series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL FILES, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) SUBJECT FILES, 4) GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS, 5) PROJECTS AND RESEARCH, 6) DEEP UNDERWATER MUON AND NEUTRINO DETECTOR PROJECT (DUMAND), 7) DIVING, 8) WRITINGS, COURSE MATERIALS AND NOTES and 9) PHOTOGRAPHS AND SLIDES. Biography Hugh Bradner (1915-2008) was a physicist who worked for the Manhattan Project and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory before joining the SIO Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) as a geophysicist. He received his B.A. from Miami University in 1937 and graduated from Caltech with a Ph.D. in Physics in 1941. Bradner worked as a researcher for the Naval Ordnance Laboratory between 1941 and 1943 studying the design of magnetic naval mines. He was then recruited by Robert Oppenheimer to work on the development of explosive detonators for the Manhattan Project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory until 1946. After World War II, he accepted a position at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where he studied high-energy accelerators, nuclear particles detectors and high-energy particular physics from 1946 to 1961. During this time he was responsible for developing and directing data reduction systems for hydrogen bubble chambers, pioneered proton-neutron polarization experiments, and was one of the first scientists to observe the catalysis of a muon-catalyzed fusion. In 1951 Bradner served as co-director for the Operation Greenhouse nuclear test series on the islands of the Enewetak Atoll. During his tenure at the University of California, Bradner experimented with early wet suit design. He was particularly concerned with the discomfort and unreliability of existing "dry suits" fabricated from heavy rubberized cloth, under which divers had to wear woolen undergarments to keep warm. Seeking to improve the diving attire of Navy frogmen, Bradner devoted his free time in the spring of 1951 to research on existing wet suit models. After testing various materials, he sent his concept designs to fellow Berkeley physicist Lauriston C. Marshall, who was involved with the National Research Council Panel on Underwater Swimmers. Bradner contended that wet suits need not be watertight "dry suits" if insulation were adequately achieved by the thermal qualities of unicellular material; furthermore, the use of unicellular foam rubber afforded divers increased protection from underwater shock waves. Collaborating with a group of engineers from the University of California, Berkeley, Bradner became the first person to use neoprene in the creation of wet suits. However, he did not pursue commercial manufacture and the U.S. Navy ultimately rejected his design in 1957, citing existing experiments using unicellular material for the application of diving "underwear." In 1961 Bradner accepted a position at UC San Diego, where he lectured as Professor of Engineering Physics and Geophysics and worked as Research Physicist for the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP). His research interests included ocean-bottom seismology, high energy fundamental particle physics and neutrino physics. Bradner also served as member of the Deep Muon and Neutrino Detection (DUMAND) Steering Committee, which oversaw a proposed deep ocean astronomy project to install an underwater neutrino telescope in the Pacific Ocean in the late 1970s. Bradner retired in 1980. Preferred Citation Hugh Bradner Papers. SMC 16. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego. Acquisition Information Acquired 1982, 1987, 2001. OFF-SITE STORAGE COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS. Hugh Bradner Papers SMC 0016 2 Publication Rights Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection. Digital Content Selected photographs from this collection have been digitized and can be viewed through links in the container list, or by searching on the term "Hugh Bradner Papers" on the UC San Diego Library Digital Collections website. Subjects and Indexing Terms Diving suits Seismology Research Ocean bottom -- Research Particles (Nuclear physics) -- Research Bradner, Hugh, 1915-2008 -- Archives DUMAND (Project) -- Archives BIOGRAPHICAL FILES Scope and Content of Series Series 1) BIOGRAPHICAL FILES: Includes biobibliographies, certificates and awards, appointment calendars and a personal scrapbook. Box 1, Folder 1-2 Biobibliographies and other biographical information 1961-1983 Box 1, Folder 3 Certificates of appreciation and awards 1976-1981 Box 1, Folder 4 Independent diver's license, French Federation of Undersea Studies and Sports 1969 Box 1, Folder 5 Sabbatical leave 1974-1978 Box 1, Folder 6 Application and notice of employment for Brookhaven National Laboratory 1979 General note Bradner was appointed temporary Guest Senior Physicist for two years. Box 1, Folder 7-12 Appointment calendars 1970-1981 Oversize FB-435, Scrapbook ca. 1939-1945 https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb43698104 Folder 9 https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb0752032d https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb2902221q https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb7339123t https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb8431283h https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb6554130t https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb97964854 https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb5598488k https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb8055848w https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb51206732 https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb1912450m General note Includes photographs and annotations regarding Caltech faculty and classmates, Bradner at the U.S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory and Alamogordo Air Base, and other miscellaneous images. A selection of photographs from this folder have been digitized. Box 1, Folder 13 Pencil sketch of Cape Cod by Hugh Bradner 1942 Oversize FB-435, Roger Revelle as Matsumoto Koshiro playing Grobe the Fishmonger - Original Folder 10 artwork by Hugh Bradner 1964 https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb82605010 CORRESPONDENCE Box 1, 1935-1962 Folder 14-37 Box 2, Folder 1-22 1962-1971 Box 3, Folder 1-23 1971-1991 Box 3, undated Folder 24-25 Hugh Bradner Papers SMC 0016 3 SUBJECT FILES SUBJECT FILES Box 3, Accelerometers 1960-1973 Folder 26-27 Box 3, Folder 28 ACR Electronics Corp. 1959-1962 Box 3, Folder 29 ATLAS missile 1962-1970 Box 3, Folder 30 Ball lightening plasmoids 1963-1964 Box 3, Folder 31 Buoys 1963 General note Correspondence and product diagrams from Ocean Science and Engineering, Inc. Box 4, Folder 1 Conductor cables 1961-1962 Box 4, Folder 2 Clocks and chronometers 1963-1966 Box 4, Folder 3 Edmund Salvage Corporation 1944-1946 General note Brochures and forms advertising war surplus lenses, optics and low cost scientific equipment. Box 4, Folder 4 Eniwetok Marine Biological Laboratory 1973 General note Correspondence and notes detailing Bradner's seismic calculations in the Eniwetok Atoll. Box 4, Folder 5 Fermilab 1978 Box 4, Folder 6 Gravimeters 1964-1968 Box 4, Folder 7 Heat flow 1953 Box 4, Folder 8-9 Hydrophones 1963-1964, undated Box 4, Folder 10 Lectures and speaking engagements 1964-1966 Box 4, Folder 11 Lunar seismograms 1971 Box 4, Magnetic monopoles 1957-1963 Folder 12-27 General note Assorted correspondence, notes and other materials. Original order maintained. Box 4, Folder 28 Magnetometers 1949-1952 Patents and inventions Box 4, Folder 29 Correspondence 1959-1966 Box 4, Folder 30 Assorted applications 1966 Box 4, Folder 31 Mine firing system 1944 Box 4, Folder 32 Summary of proposed animal-proof garbage can lid 1956 Box 4, Suntan Composition Containing Fluorescent Compounds 1970-1982 Folder 33-36 Box 5, Folder 1-2 Suntan Composition Containing Fluorescent Compounds (cont.) 1970-1982 Box 5, Folder 3 Photographs of unidentified devices undated Box 5, Folder 4 Photogrammetry 1958-1959 Box 5, Folder 5 Pressure vessels 1962-1966 Box 5, Folder 6 Release mechanisms 1962-1963 Box 5, Folder 7-9 Seismometers 1959-1978 Box 5, Folder 10 Surfing 1984-1985 Box 5, Folder 11 Telemetering bottom seismograph 1961 Box 5, Folder 12 Texas Instruments, Inc. equipment 1962-1966 General note Includes correspondence and notes regarding seismometers and amplifiers. Box 5, Folder 13 Underwater flares 1962-1963 Box 5, United ElectroDynamics, Inc. seismographs 1961-1968 Folder 14-16 General note Correspondence and notes regarding purchase and use of seismographic instruments. Hugh Bradner Papers SMC 0016 4 SUBJECT FILES Box 5, Folder 17 Vibrating structure gyroscopes 1967-1969 Box 5, Folder 18 William M. Brobeck & Associates 1960-1965 General note Engineering company for