Theodore Von KÃ
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http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt2f59p3mt No online items Guide to the Papers of Theodore von Kármán, 1871-1963 Archives California Institute of Technology 1200 East California Blvd. Mail Code 015A-74 Pasadena, CA 91125 Phone: (626) 395-2704 Fax: (626) 793-8756 Email: [email protected] URL: http://archives.caltech.edu © 2003 California Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Guide to the Papers of Theodore Consult repository 1 von Kármán, 1871-1963 Guide to the Papers of Theodore von Kármán, 1871-1963 Collection number: Consult repository Archives California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California Contact Information: Archives California Institute of Technology 1200 East California Blvd. Mail Code 015A-74 Pasadena, CA 91125 Phone: (626) 395-2704 Fax: (626) 793-8756 Email: [email protected] URL: http://archives.caltech.edu Encoded by: Francisco J. Medina. Derived from XML/EAD encoded file by the Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics as part of a collaborative project (1999) supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Processed by: Caltech Archives staff Date Completed: 1978; supplement completed July 1999 © 2003 California Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Descriptive Summary Title: Theodore von Kármán papers, Date (inclusive): 1871-1963 Collection number: Consult repository Creator: Von Kármán, Theodore, 1881-1963 Extent: 93 linear feet Repository: California Institute of Technology. Archives. Pasadena, California 91125 Abstract: This record group documents the career of Theodore von Kármán, Hungarian-born aerodynamicist, science advisor, and first director of the Daniel Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. It consists primarily of correspondence, speeches, lectures and lecture notes, scientific manuscripts, calculations, reports, photos and technical slides, autobiographical sketches, and school notebooks. Language: English. Access The collection is open for research. Researchers must apply in writing for access. Publication Rights Copyright may not have been assigned to the California Institute of Technology Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the California Institute of Technology Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Preferred Citation Guide to the Papers of Theodore Consult repository 2 von Kármán, 1871-1963 [Identification of item, box and file number], Papers of Theodore von Kármán. Archives, California Institute of Technology. Acquisition Information Theodore von Kármán left instructions in his will that his papers be given to the Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics and Jet Propulsion named after him at the California Institute of Technology. Shortly after his death in 1963, the U.S. Air Force Academy Library selected several items from the collection for an exhibit at the dedication of the new von Kármán wing of the Academy's library. These items were subsequently presented to the library. The collection itself remained in the custody of the Kármán Laboratory until April 1968, when Professors Duncan Rannie and Frank Marble released the material to Dr. Judith R. Goodstein, the Institute's Archivist, following the formal creation of Caltech's science archives program. Material in the 1994 supplement to the von Kármán Papers was given to the Caltech Archives by Professor Frank Marble in September and December, 1994. All materials described in the 1994 Supplement guide came originally from von Kármán's estate. Processing History The systematic arrangement and description of the collection began in 1976, with the support of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The project was completed in September 1978. The publication in 1981 of the printed guide to the von Kármán papers and microfiche edition, under the editorship of Judith R. Goodstein and Carolyn Kopp, was supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The 1994 supplement was processed by Charlotte E. Erwin in March 1995. The finding aid was updated in July 1999. Alternate Formats of this Collection This collection is also available in microfilm. The microfiche edition of the von Kármán collection consists of the contents of 3,496 folders, representing virtually all the documents in boxes 1 through 157, reproduced on 4,131 microfiche cards. The documents cover the years 1871 to 1963, but the core of the collection consists of the records relating to his career in Germany after World War I; materials pertaining to his association with such organizations as the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics, the National Advisory Committee on Aviation, the Air Force, and the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; and personal and scientific correspondence with colleagues and students in Europe, the Far East, and the United States. The microfiche publication of the Theodore von Kármán collection in 1980 was supported by a contract with the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C. The papers have been microfiched in the order in which the collection itself is arranged. Each microfiche card has the same identification number and title as the original folder number. Copyrighted publications, with the exception of newspaper clippings, were not filmed. 1881 May Theodore von Kármán born in Budapest (Hungary), son of Maurice (Mór) Kármán and Helene Kármán (née 11 Kohn) 1898 von Kármán enters The Royal Joseph Technical University, Budapest 1902 receives degree in mechanical engineering from The Royal Joseph 1903-1906 joins the firm of Ganz and Company in Budapest as a consulting engineer; accepts position as assistant professor of hydraulics at The Royal Joseph 1906 wins a two-year fellowship to Göttingen; attends lectures by David Hilbert, Felix Klein, and Ludwig Prandtl 1907 sees his first airplane flights near Paris 1908 writes dissertation on the buckling of columns and receives doctor's degree from the University of Göttingen 1908-1912 receives appointment as privatdocent at Göttingen 1911 studies the stability of vortex patterns that form behind stationary bodies in flowing fluids ("Kármán vortex street") 1912-1913 von Kármán turns to a problem in solid state physics; he and Max Born analyze the lattice dynamics of a crystal and deduce the spectrum of frequencies in a solid. Next, they apply Einstein's 1907 paper on the heat capacity of solids to their model of crystalline lattice vibrations 1913 moves to Aachen as professor of mechanics and aeronautics at the Technische Hochschule and director of the Aerodynamics Institute 1914-1918 military service in the Austro-Hungarian Army; becomes head of the experimental division of the Aviation Corps; collaborates with Wilhelm Zurovec on design of first stable hovering captive helicopter 1915 Oct 15father dies in Budapest 1919 returns to Technische Hochschule, Aachen 1922 organizes with Tullio Levi-Civita a scientific conference in Innsbruck devoted to aerodynamics and hydrodynamics Guide to the Papers of Theodore Consult repository 3 von Kármán, 1871-1963 1924 lectures on the stability of laminar flow and turbulence at the First International Congress on Applied Mechanics at Delft; General Aerodynamic Theory, 2 vols. (with J. M. Burgers) 1926 Sept makes his first visit to the United States under the auspices of the Daniel Guggenheim Fund; serves as 24 consultant on the design of new aeronautics laboratory and wind tunnel at Caltech 1927 visits Japan; advisor to Kawanishi airplane company; designs country's first industrial wind tunnel 1928-1930 two more visits to the United States 1930 von Kármán returns to the problem of turbulence; he succeeds in deriving a logarithmic formula for turbulent skin friction, announces results at Göttingen and at Third International Congress of Applied Mechanics at Stockholm 1930 Oct 1 appointment as professor of aeronautics, director of the Daniel Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT), and director of the Daniel Guggenheim Airstrip Institute at Akron, Ohio 1932 founding member, Institute of Aeronautical Sciences 1934 founding member, hydraulic machinery laboratory for research on centrifugal pumps; consultant, Metropolitan Water District of Los Angeles 1935 presents fundamental paper analyzing from a variety of viewpoints the problem of resistance at subsonic and supersonic speeds, Fifth Volta Congress, Rome 1936 acquires USA citizenship; GALCIT Rocket Research Project begins 1937 visits Russia, China, and Japan; Wilbur Wright Lecture, Royal Aeronautical Society 1938 election to National Academy of Sciences; publishes definitive paper (with L. Howarth) on statistical theory of isotropic turbulence 1939 Joseph Willard Gibbs lecturer ("The Engineer Grapples with Nonlinear Problems"), American Mathematical Society, Columbus, Ohio 1939 Apr 18von Kármán proposes a Jet Propulsion Experimental Station in the Arroyo Seco July 1 Special Committee of the National Academy of Sciences for Air Corps research initiates jet propulsion research program (GALCIT Project, No. 1) under von Kármán's direction; aerodynamic consultant, Smith-Putnam Wind Turbine 1939-1952 consultant, U.S. Army Air Corps 1940 Mathematical Methods in Engineering (with M.A. Biot) 1941 aerodynamic