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Nicholas U. Mayall Papers http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8qj7mn5 No online items Nicholas U. Mayall Papers Debra Roussopoulos The University Library Special Collections and Archives University Library University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California, 95064 Email: [email protected] URL: http://library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/ 2013 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Nicholas U. Mayall Papers MS279 1 Nicholas U. Mayall Papers Collection number: MS279 The University Library Special Collections and Archives University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California Processed by: Debra Roussopoulos Date Completed: 2015 Encoded by: Debra Roussopoulos 2013 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Descriptive Summary Title: Nicholas U. Mayall papers Dates: 1931-1990 Collection number: MS279 Creator: Mayall, N. U. (Nicholas Ulrich), 1906-1993 Collection Size: 31 linear feet (74 archives boxes) Repository: University of California, Santa Cruz. University Library. Special Collections and Archives Santa Cruz, California 95064 Abstract: This collection contains correspondence, administrative files, photographs, charts, meeting notes, research, and writings of astronomer Nicholas Ulrich Mayall. Physical location: Collection stored off-site at NRLF: Advance notice is required for access. Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English Access Collection open for research. Publication Rights Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to publish or to reproduce the material, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives. Preferred Citation Nicholas U. Mayall papers. MS279. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz. Biography Nicholas Ulrich Mayall (May 9, 1906-January 5, 1993). Born in Moline, Illinois, Dr. Mayall grew up in Stockton, California. He earned his bachelor's degree and doctorate at the University of California at Berkeley. During World War II he did government research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Mayall worked on projects that helped develop scientific understanding of the origin, age, and size of the universe. He contributed to astronomical knowledge of nebulae, supernovae, spiral galaxy internal motions, and the reshifts of galaxies. As a young astronomer at Mount Wilson Observatory, California, he exposed a single plate that recorded 48 bright-line stars, of which 27 were previously undiscovered. Previous to that, other researchers seeking to record bright-line stars often took photographs without success. From Lick Observatory in California, he worked on a 20-year project with astronomers at Mount Wilson and Mount Palomar on the big-bang concept of the beginning of the universe. He was a co-author of a 1955 report on research concluding that the universe is 6 billion years old, three times the previous estimate, and three times bigger than previously thought. At Lick he also studied galaxy movement and did studies of Pluto. The National Science Foundation appointed him to develop and head the Kitt Observatory in Arizona from 1960 until his retirement in 1971. He also worked at its affiliated Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Nicholas U. Mayall Papers MS279 2 He died in Tucson, Arizona at the age of 86. Excerpt from, "Nicholas U. Mayall, 86, Leader Of Studies on Nature of Universe" by Bruce Lambert. The New York Times Jan. 11, 1993. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/11/us/nicholas-u-mayall-86-leader-of-studies-on-nature-of-universe.html Scope and Content of Collection This collection contains correspondence, research and writings, files and notes for committees, working groups, and symposiums, club annual reports and by-laws, awards, brochures, photographs and negatives, reprints, reviews, and clippings. Arrangement The collection adheres to the original order organized by the creator and arranged alphabetically and by subject. Original folder titles were retained. Indexing Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog. Mayall, N.U. (Nicholas Ulrich), 1906-1993 Lick Observatory. Astronomy--United States--History Other Finding Aids Lick Observatory Records: Glass negatives http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8mp55db/ Related Material UA36 Lick Observatory Records box:folder 1:1 List of files sent Aug. 30, 1971 box:folder 1:2 Abetti, Georgio 1955 box:folder 1:3 Abramenko, B 1948-1954 box:folder 1:4 Abrams, John 1946 box:folder 1:5 Abt, Helmut A. 1953-1985 box:folder 1:6 Adams, Ansel 1955 box:folder 1:7 Adams, Walter S. and Adeline 1933-1943, 1971 box:folder 1:8 Aitken, Robert G. 1931-1950 box:folder 1:9 Aller, Lawrence 1938-1983 box:folder 1:10 American Academy of Achievement 1966 box:folder 1:11 American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1961-1988 box:folder 1:12 American Association for the Advancement of Science - General 1946-1968 box:folder 1:13 AAAS - Chicago Meeting Dec. 26-31, 1970. 1970-1971 box:folder 1:14 AAAS Meeting - Dallas, Texas Dec. 1968. 1968-1969 box:folder 1:15 American Astronomical Society 1939-1962 box:folder 1:16 American Astronomical Society Nominating Committee 1964-1969 box:folder 1:17 American Astronomical Society - General 1965-1990 box:folder 1:18 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) 3rd Annual Meeting Nov. 1966 box:folder 2:1 American Philosophical Society 1962-1989 box:folder 2:2 Anglo-Australian Telescope 1975-1976 box:folder 2:3-4 Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics 1962-1973 box:folder 2:5 Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics Meeting, Pasadena, CA. May 8, 1966 box:folder 2:6 Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics Meeting, Tucson, AZ. 1966 box:folder 2:7 Arp, Halton C. 1956-1962 box:folder 2:8 Astronomical Journal (A.J.) Reviews of Papers 1961-1965 box:folder 2:9 Astronomical League 1948-1950 box:folder Astronomical Society of the Pacific 1937-1989 2:10-3:2 box:folder General 1937-1989 2:10-2:15 box:folder 3:1 Meeting - Dec. 1964. 1960-1964 Nicholas U. Mayall Papers MS279 3 Collection Contents box:folder 3:2 Publication notes 1945-1965 box:folder 3:3 Astrophysical Journal (Ap. J.) Review of Papers 1961-1973 box:folder 3:4-5 AURA, Inc. 1967-1989 box:folder 3:6 A - Misc. Correspondence 1949-1989 box:folder 3:7-8 Baade, Walker 1936-1960 box:folder 3:9 Babcock, Horace W. 1939-1966 Note Includes: "A Proposal for the Construction of a 200 inch Telescope in the Southern Hemisphere" box:folder 3:10 Babcock, Horace W. 1971-1988 box:folder 3:11 Baker, James 1944-1967 box:folder 4:1 Baker, Robert H. 1948-1955 box:folder 4:2 Barbier, D. 1945-1951 box:folder 4:3 Baum, Custer C. 1946-1947 box:folder 4:4 Beer, Arthur 1966 box:folder 4:5 Benedict, H. H. 1935-1941 box:folder 4:6 Belton, Michael 1979 box:folder 4:7 Berendzen, Richard 1970-1977 box:folder 4:8 Bertiau, F. C. 1954-1955 box:folder 4:9 Bidelman, William P. 1953-1987 box:folder 4:10 Blaauw, Adrian 1949-1960 box:folder 4:11 Blanco, Victor M. 1971-1983 box:folder Bok, Bart J. 1942-1976 4:12-14 box:folder 4:15 Borst, Lyle B. 1948-1950 box:folder 4:16 Bower, Ernest C. 1930-1931 box:folder 4:17 Bowen, Ira S. 1939-1973 box:folder 4:18 Bradt, Hale 1973-1974 box:folder 4:19 Brasch, Frederick E. 1950-1962 box:folder 4:20 Burbidge, Geoffrey and Margaret 1960-1986 box:folder 4:21 B - Miscellaneous Correspondence 1933-1986 box:folder 5:1-2 Caltech Visiting Committee 1968-1977 box:folder 5:3 Cameron, Robert C. 1954-1972 box:folder 5:4 Campbell, Elizabeth B. 1949 box:folder 5:5 Project CANOPUS - Univ. of Tasmania, Theodore Dunham, Jr. 1965-1972 box:folder 5:6 Carpenter, Edward F. 1939-1963 box:folder 5:7 Case Institute of Technology - Visiting Committee 1965-1968 box:folder 5:8 Chandrasekehar, S. 1941-1982 box:folder 5:9 Cloudcroft Meeting - New Mexico 1962 box:folder 5:10 Colchagoff, George D. 1950-1964 box:folder 5:11 Committee on International Exchange of Persons 1963-1970 box:folder 6:1 Committee on Polar Research - National Academy of Sciences 1968 box:folder 6:2 COSPAR - Committee on Space Research 1962-1971 box:folder 6:3-7 Copernican Volume Correspondence 1971-1979 box:folder 6:8 Copernicus Volume - Allen R. Sandage Correspondence and essay draft 1971-1973 box:folder 6:9-11 Cosmos Club 1964-1972 box:folder 6:10 Recommendations for Membership 1966-1973 box:folder 6:11 Awards, Bulletins, By-Laws, House Rules 1967-1971 box:folder 7:1 Courtes, M. Georges 1955-1974 box:folder 7:2 Crawford, David L. 1973-1989 box:folder 7:3 Crawford, R. T. 1930-1937 box:folder 7:4 Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) 1979-1987 box:folder 7:5 Cunningham, Leland 1946-1955 box:folder 7:6 Custer, C. P. 1950-1957 box:folder 7:7 C - Miscellaneous Correspondence 1933-1987 box:folder 7:8 Davies, R. D. 1949-1964 Nicholas U. Mayall Papers MS279 4 Collection Contents box:folder 7:9-11 de Vaucouleurs, Gérard 1949-1974 box:folder 7:12 de Vaucouleurs, Gérard and Antoinette 1982-1989 box:folder 7:13 Devorkin, David H. 1978, 1988 box:folder 8:1 Dunham, Theodore H. 1943-1958 Note Includes documents regarding design of aircraft gunsights box:folder 8:2 D - Miscellaneous Correspondence 1938-1987 box:folder 8:3-6 Edmondson, Frank - AURA history 1940-1990 box:folder 8:7 Eggen, Olin J. 1951-1973 box:folder 8:8 Elias, Hans 1953-1962 box:folder 8:9 Emberson, Richard M. 1955-1960 box:folder 9:1-2 Encyclopedia Britannica 1945-1999 box:folder 9:3 E - Miscellaneous Correspondence 1939-1980 box:folder 9:4 Federer, Charles A.
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