Arrhenius, Svante (1859-1927). Chemist. APS 1911.

Osterhout Papers*

Svante Arrhenius received the Nobel Prize in 1903 for his studies of electrolytic dissociation in solutions, work which was on the borderland of physics and chemistry. Two years later he assumed the directorship of the Nobel Institute for Physical Chemistry, a post he held until his death. His proclivity for interdisciplinary topics led him to apply principles from physical chemistry to immunology and to advance theories of cosmology and the origin of life (Worlds in the Making, 1908). His broad scientific interests and his position in the Nobel Institute placed him at the center of international communities of physical and life scientists.

W. J. V. Osterhout* met Arrhenius at Berkeley, where Arrhenius was a visiting professor shortly after being awarded the Nobel Prize. The friendship which developed between the two men is reflected in about thirty letters (in English) written by Arrhenius (1 file, ca. 1906-1924). In these letters Arrhenius refers to his visit at Berkeley and his friendship with Jacques Loeb**, and later (1911) to his visit at the Rockefeller Institute. He conveys his impressions of science in the United States and other countries, his reflections on books and scientific issues, and gives descriptions of the research in his laboratory (1913).

The correspondence during the war is filled with details about German science and the impact of the war on Europe's scientific community. Postwar letters describe vividly the plight of the average person, as well as the changing attitude toward German science. Of particular interest are the letters concerning the congress of physiology in Paris (from which Germans were excluded) and the politics of the Nobel Prize (ca. 1920s). These letters are a rich source on European science and on the relationships between European and American science. They also reveal a great deal about Arrhenius as a scientist, thinker, and organizer of international science.

Ball, Eric Glendinning (1904-1979). Biochemist.

Clark Papers*, F.R. Sabin Papers.

(The E.G. Ball Papers are deposited at the Countway Library, Harvard.)

Eric G. Ball received his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania in 1930. From 1933 until 1940 he was a research associate in W. M. Clark's* biochemistry laboratory at The Johns Hopkins Medical School, where he concentrated on studies of biological oxidations and enzymatic reactions under hormonal influence. These areas remained dominant in his research program at Harvard Medical School (from 1941), where he was professor of biological chemistry and chairman of the Division of Medical Sciences (1952-1962).

Although the amount of material on Ball at the APS is small, it is a significant source in several areas. The E.G. Ball file (1934) in the F.R. Sabin Papers contains detailed letters describing his research interests while working in Clark's* laboratory. The correspondence of Ball with Clark* (1937-1963) illuminates interesting aspects of Ball's scientific career, the intellectual content and institutional settings. The most valuable part of the correspondence is the letters written from Europe when Ball was on sabbatical leave in 1937-1938. Most of the letters are about Otto Warburg's laboratory at the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, where Ball was working on determinations of oxidation-reduction potentials in the cytochrome system. These letters offer a wealth of information on the physical aspects of the laboratory, social interactions, and Warburg's personality. There are also descriptions of Ball's stay at the Harnack-Haus and his reaction to the political scene in Germany.

Butenandt, Adolph Friedrich Johann (1903- ). Biochemist.

Neuberg Papers*

Adolph F. J. Butenandt made most of his seminal discoveries in reproductive biochemistry in the 1930s, while serving as director of the organic chemical laboratories at the University of T�bingen. During that decade he isolated the female sex hormone estrone, the male hormone androsterone, and the female hormone progesterone. Applying sensitive microanalyses, Butenandt deduced the chemical formula of androsterone and predicted the structure of a related compound that was synthesized shortly after. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1939, but was forced to refuse it by the Hitler regime, he did not actually receive it until 1949.

In 1936 Butenandt was appointed director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute for Biochemistry in Berlin, replacing his friend and colleague Carl Neuberg*, who had been ousted by the Nazis. Butenandt helped him set up a short-lived underground laboratory in a different part of Berlin, and remained a friend and loyal supporter until Neuberg's* death in 1956.

The Butenandt files in the Neuberg Papers* (1947-1956, in German) document the strong bond between these two important biochemists. There are references to the prewar era, but much of the correspondence addresses events after the war: Butenandt's tenure at the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute, the state of German science, and Neuberg's* plight. These letters are an important source on Butenandt, German science, and the intellectual migration.

Caspersson, Torbj�rn Oskar (1910- ). Cytologist, biophysicist. APS 1974

Schultz Papers*, Lewis Papers**

Torbj�rn O. Caspersson was trained in medicine and biophysics at the University of Stockholm in the 1930s, becoming a lecturer in biochemistry at the chemistry division of the Karolinska Institute (1937-1942), and professor of medical cell research and genetics in 1944. That same year a special research institution was created, the Nobel Institute for Medical Cell Research and Genetics, which soon after was supplemented by the Wallenberg Laboratory of Experimental Cell Research; Caspersson was director of both institutions.

Although he worked within a medical institutional context, Caspersson's research program focused on fundamental aspects of cytogenetics, with a special emphasis on precise spectroscopic measurements. In the 1930s and 1940s, long before the race along the path to the double helix had begun, Caspersson promoted the genetic significance of nucleic acids. Combining his knowledge of cell biology and biochemistry with accurate spectroscopic observations of nucleic acids in living cells, Caspersson concluded in the late 1930s that nucleic acids were somehow involved in protein synthesis, an unorthodox view at a time when protein chemistry dominated the chemical approach to heredity.

Some of this important work was done during a two-year collaboration with Jack Schultz* in Stockholm. After Schultz* left abruptly at the outbreak of the war in 1939, Caspersson attempted to join W.H. Lewis's* cytology laboratory at Johns Hopkins as a Rockefeller Fellow. The Caspersson file (1939-1943) in the Lewis Papers* includes important correspondence describing his collaboration with Schultz* and his future research plans.

The collaboration with Schultz*, which grew into a life-long friendship, continued through correspondence, visits, and exchange of research assistants. The Schultz Papers** contain 11 files (1937-1970) on Caspersson with letters, lectures, and reports, describing their collaboration on genetics and nucleic acids. The pre-1950s material is of special significance, documenting Caspersson's frustrations while working against the mainstream of protein research. The files contain interesting information about other institutions of the life sciences, other research programs, and science in Europe during the war. Together, these records comprise an important chapter in the history of biochemistry, biophysics, genetics, and molecular biology.

Chance, Britton (1913- ). Biochemist. APS 1958.

Roughton Papers*, Cohn Papers*, H.A. Moe Papers.

(The Papers of Britton Chance are expected to be deposited at the APS.)

Britton Chance was educated first at the University of Pennsylvania, obtaining a doctorate in 1940. A two-year association with F.J.W. Roughton*, a specialist in the biochemistry and biophysics of hemoglobin, culminated in 1942 in a second doctorate from Cambridge University. Chance returned to the University of Pennsylvania to become professor of biophysics and biochemistry and director of the Eldridge Reeves lJohnson Foundation. Under his leadership, the Department of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry became a world center for the study of cell metabolism.

During the 1940s, Chance's research program focused mainly on enzyme kinetics of peroxidases, physico-chemical studies that elucidated in minute detail the mechanisms of formation of enzyme-substrate complexes. Broadened in scope in the 1950s, the research included the study of phosphorylation mechanisms in mitochondria and cytochromes. In general, by introducing new biochemical methods, especially sensitive photometric techniques, Chance was able to explain various physiological states of cell metabolism in vivo.

Some of Chance's research interests overlapped with those of his British mentor, F.J.W. Roughton*, leading to collaborations which spanned decades. These activities, as well as other shared interests, are documented in several correspondence files on Britton Chance (mainly 19.43-19.44, ca. 1940s-1960s) in the Roughton Papers*. In addition to letters, there are papers and reports written by Chance, descriptions of his research program, and the broader institutional framework in which his studies were planned. Together, these materials form a substantial record of Chance's research program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Complementing these files is the correspondence with Chance in the Cohn Papers* (3 files, ca. 1960s). Their communications generally focus on the study of biochemical reactions, and more specifically on applications of the new techniques of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance to biochemical problems.

Chittenden, Russell Henry (1856-1943). Physiological chemist. APS 1904.

Sixty Years of Service in Science: an Autobiography. Microfilm, 1 reel. Original at the Sterling Library at Yale.

(The Russell H. Chittenden Papers are at Yale University Library.)

Russell Henry Chittenden is generally regarded as the father of American biochemistry, having led at Yale the country's first biochemistry department (ca.1870s-1920s). A prot�g� of the German biochemist Willy K�hne, Chittenden continued his mentor's research program on the action of proteolytic enzymes, at the same time adapting the work at the New Haven laboratory to local and national needs. Chittenden's research program, tied to the region's agricultural chemistry and nutrition, was noted for work on toxicology and on protein requirements in humans. During World War I Chittenden was a member of a committee in charge of nutrition and food supply to the Allies. His strongest impact was in professional and administrative activities, especially as the president of the American Physiological Society, as member of editorial boards of journals such as the American Journal of Physiology, the Journal of Experimental Medicine, and the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and as a prolific writer. Chittenden's autobiographical account documents his contributions within a broader context of the rise of biochemistry in America.

Cohn, Edwin Joseph (1892-1953). Biochemist. APS 1949.

Bergmann Papers*, Leonard Carmichael Papers, Flexner Papers*, Rous Papers*, Florence R. Sabin Papers, Seibert Papers*, Joseph Stokes Papers.

(The Edwin J. Cohn Papers are at the Pusey Library, Harvard.)

Edwin Joseph Cohn established his research program in protein chemistry in 1920 at the department of physical chemistry of Harvard Medical School. Integrating the intellectual approaches of his mentors -- L. J, Henderson, F.R. Lillie**, T.B. Osborne, and S.P.L. Sorensen -- and adapting his combined program to the concerns of a medical institution, Cohn addressed a variety of physiological problems of clinical relevance. However, fundamental investigations of the physical chemistry of proteins and amino acids remained a major focus throughout his tenure at Harvard. These studies (in collaboration with J.T. Edsall, J. Kirkwood, J. Oncley, and J. Wyman) led to the discovery of important correlations between the structures of proteins and their physical properties, such as solubilities, ionization, and spectra.

Being a central figure in the international network of protein chemists, Cohn communicated with many colleagues. There is substantial correspondence in the Bergmann Papers* (ca. 1930s-1940s) on scientific and administrative issues, including materials on the campaign to establish a separate section on protein chemistry within the American Chemical Society (see also a file on "Protein Committee", ca. 1930s). There is correspondence in the Flexner Papers* (ca. 1919-1927) regarding Cohn's liver research, scientific correspondence with Florence Sabin (ca. 1920s) in the Sabin Papers, with Florence Seibert" (2 files, 1937-1947) and with P. Rous" in their respective papers .

One of Cohn's most important accomplishments, and a major contribution to biomedical knowledge of the Committee on Medical Research, was his blood-fractionation project. An enormous enterprise involving biochemists, physiologists, clinicians, and other life scientists, the project yielded purified serum albumin for treatment of shock, gamma globulins for immunization, and numerous other protein fractions of blood plasma. Cohn's procedures were scaled up for industrial distribution for military and civilian uses. This project also yielded new information about blood chemistry and physiology. The Joseph Stokes Papers at the APS (currently unindexed) contain a great deal of material on Cohn's war project. Some of this material may be found in the files dealing with research on gamma globulins, and in the files on the Committee for Blood Fractionation.

Du Vigneaud, Vincent (1901-1978). Biochemist. APS 1944.

Bergmann Papers*, Clarke Papers*, Cohn Papers*, J.B. Murphy Papers, H.A. Moe Papers, L. Carmichael Papers, E.L. Opie Papers.

(Oral History, 1964, at the Butler Library, Columbia University)

Most of Vincent du Vigneaud's prolific career was spent at Cornell University Medical College in New York, where his research program focused mainly on amino acids. In the late 1930s his studies of the amino acid methionine made it possible to trace the biochemical pathway through which methyl groups were shifted from compound to compound. In the early 1940s he identified the compound biotin and deduced its chemical structure; biotin was immediately synthesized by Merck Laboratories. And in the late 1940s he isolated the active fragment of the pituitary hormone oxytocin, and within a few years worked out its amino acid composition. It was the first protein hormone ever to be synthesized, earning du Vigneaud the 1955 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Du Vigneaud and Bergmann*, whose researches on amino acids were closely related, also shared other cultural and social interests. The Bergmann Papers* contain substantial correspondence with du Vigneaud (ca. 1930s-1940s) documenting this common ground. There is a file on du Vigneaud (ca. 1960s) in the papers of Mildred Cohn*; Cohn had worked in his laboratory from 1938-1946. There is also interesting material on du Vigneaud in the Clarke Papers* (ca. 1950s) describing his graduate student days at the University of Rochester.

Levene, Phoebus Aaron Theodore (1869-1940). Biochemist. APS 1923.

Bergmann Papers*, F. Boas Papers, Flexner Papers*, j.B. Murphy Papers, P. Rous Papers*, F.R. Sabin Papers.

(The P.A.T. Levene Papers are at the Rockefeller Archive Center.)

In 1905 P.A.T. Levene was selected by Simon Flexner* to head the biochemistry program at the newly created Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, where Levene worked until his retirement in 1939. By the time he joined the Institute, Levene was already well into his second career. Having abandoned medicine for chemistry, he had supplemented his chemistry training at Columbia University with study in the laboratories of Edmund Drechsel, Albrecht Kossel, and Emil Fischer. From Kossel he acquired an interest in nucleic acids, which developed into a major research program at the Institute .

One of Levene's most important contributions was the isolation and identification in 1909 of the carbohydrate portion of the nucleic acid molecule. That year he shewed that ribose was found in some nucleic acids (RNA), and in 1929 he identified deoxyribose in another class of nucleic acids (DNA). However, his tetranucleotide hypothesis of DNA composition was disproved in the 1940s by the work of Chargaff* Levene was an exceptionally effective laboratory researcher, and his technical skills enabled him to carry out numerous and diverse biochemical analyses. In more than 700 publications, Levene addressed the chemistry of nucleic acids, proteins, glycoproteins, sugars, and lipids; all this was aimed at explaining basic physiological processes in a chemical language.

The Papers of Simon Flexner* include 9 files (1910-1940) which contain a wealth of information on Levene's laboratory, research reports, and personal and professional correspondence related to Levene's work, as well as to the work of other biochemists. Of special interest is the correspondence (ca. 1933) about nucleic acids research, and about Max Bergmann* and general trends in biochemistry. There is also a file on Levene (ca. 1930s) in the Bergmann Papers* containing his reaction to Bergmann's work.

Lillie, Frank Rattray (1870-1947) Embryologist, physiologist APS 1916.

C.B. Davenport Papers, Flexner Papers*, H.�S. Jennings Papers, Lewis Papers*, J. A. Mason Papers, J.�B.� Murphy Papers, Osterhout Papers*, R. Pearl Papers.

(The Frank R. Lillie Papers are at the University of Chicago Archives, and at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole.)

The scientific path of Frank Rattray Lillie began around 1890 at the University of Chicago. Starting with descriptive morphology of cell lineage of the fresh water mussel, his research moved progressively toward an experimental, physiological, and biochemical approach to fertilization and differentiation. From 1910 to 1921 Lillie focused mainly on physiological studies of fertilization in sea urchins, work which culminated in his noted "fertilizin" theory. During that period he also began his studies of sexual differentiation in freemartins, research that led him to collaborate with biochemists and resulted in the isolation and chemical analyses of sex hormones. Under Lillie's leadership, sex research -- the physiological and biochemical studies of differentiation, development, and maturation -- became a major program at the University of Chicago.

Lillie was an ardent promoter of experimental biology and general physiology. His scientific success extended far beyond the laboratory. Under his directorship (1910-1935) the biology division at the University of Chicago flourished, and his fifty-five years of leadership at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole were crucial to that institution's development. Lillie was an influential figure in the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council, and helped shape the direction of the life sciences through his advisory role in the Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundations.

The Flexner Papers* contain substantial material (2 files, 1915-1938), which document some of Lillie's important administrative activities. These files in the Flexner Papers* include records related to activities at Woods Hole (1915-1938), material on Lillie's role in the Rockefeller Foundation's program of "experimental biology" (the precursor of "molecular biology"), correspondence related to the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, and the Science Advisory Committee (ca. 1930s). There is also interesting material on Lillie in the Osterhout Papers* (ca. 1920s-1930s), on his activities at Woods Hole and other institutions of the life sciences.

Link, Karl Pau1(1901-1978). Biochemist.

Bergmann Papers*.

Karl Paul Link had hoped to go to medical school. Instead, with the exception of two years of post-doctoral training in Europe, his entire scientific career-undergraduate, graduate, and fifty years of research -- was nurtured within the agricultural tradition of the University of Wisconsin. In retrospect, medicine benefited more from his accomplishments as an agricultural chemist than it would have from his practice of medicine. His discovery of Dicumarol (an important clinical coagulant), his procedures for isolating vitamins and other natural products of importance to nutrition, and his important contributions in carbohydrate chemistry (his specialty) exemplify his overlapping medical and agricultural concerns.

Link was also an influential teacher, in a sense a scientific cult figure. His analytical excellence and technical skills, matched by a charismatic personality and an open life-style, drew many students to his laboratory and home. Through his long academic lineage (among his students are Carl Niemann and Stanford Moore), Link's influence extended to other institutions, including Max Bergmann's* laboratory at the Rockefeller Institute.

Bergmann** and Link were colleagues and friends. Their many shared scientific, cultural, and social interests are documented in the correspondence with Link (6 files, ca. 1930-1940s). The principal importance of these files lies in the information they contain about the growth of biochemistry within an agricultural context, and the relation of Link's work to other programs. Being a renowned chemist, Link was well connected within the international community of biochemists. There is a great deal on general trends in biochemistry (including a critique of protein chemistry), and interesting exchanges related to the immigration of Neuberg* and Meyerhoff. These files are an important source on the history of biochemistry in general, and American agricultural chemistry in particular.

Loeb, Jacques (1859-1924). Physiologist. APS 1899.

F. Boas Papers, Clark Papers*, Flexner Papers*, H.S� Jennings Papers, J. B. Murphy Papers, Osterhout Papers*, R. Pearl Papers.

(The J. Loeb Papers are at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)

The American odyssey of the German physiologist Jacques Loeb began in 1891 at Bryn Mawr College, followed by eleven years at the University of Chicago, the University of California at Berkeley, and from 1910 until his death at the Rockefeller Institute in New York; the summers were spent at the marine biological laboratories at Woods Hole and Pacific Grove.

During those years Loeb's work increasingly moved toward physicochemical explanations of life. A materialist and an arch-determinist, Loeb's research program was based on a mechanistic conception of life. His studies of phototropism aimed at demonstrating that instincts of organisms were merely photochemical phenomena, his expenments on artificial parthenogenesis in sea urchins were undertaken in order to prove that ordinary physico-chemical agents couId initiate the development of life. In his last decade, Loeb's work focused mainly on proteins as the agents of life, a unification of physiology and physiological chemistry.

Loeb's striking experimental feats captured the popular and scientific imagination; his charismatic personality and cultivated manner added to his fame. Through his work and personal style he had a profound impact on the development of a non-medical general physiology. Although Loeb preferred not to participate in administrative activities and avoided bureaucratic entanglements, he was one of the most visible scientists of his generation.

The papers of Simon Flexner* contain substantial material on Jacques Loeb (4 files, 1913-1924), covering the period of Loeb's tenure at the Rockefeller Institute. The correspondence addresses issues related to research problems: Loeb's research, as well as the scientific careers of other workers in the life sciences, for example, Otto Warburg (1915), Samuel Meltzer (1919), and Leonor Michaelis (1924). There is also correspondence related to the Journal of General Physiology.

The material on Loeb in the Osterhout Papers* (2 files, 1909-1922) includes correspondence from Loeb's stay at Berkeley, which is as informative on Loeb as on Berkeley and Pacific Grove. There are also interesting anecdotes ofJacques Loeb, which illuminate the man and his work. The Clark Papers* contain scientific and administrative correspondence with Loeb (1920-1922), serving mainly to illustrate Loeb's influence among biochemists and chemists.

Northrop, John Howard (1891-1987). Biochemist. APS 1938.

Bergmann Papers', A.F. Blakeslee Papers, C.B. Davenport Papers, Flexner Papers*, J.B. Murphy Papers, Osterhout Papers*, O. Riddle Papers, Roe Papers*, Robbins Papers*, Rous Papers*

John Howard Northrop, an intellectual heir to a long line of scholars, had always been intrigued by the vitalist-mechanist debate. In search of insights into the nature of life, he began his advanced training in biology with T. H. Morgan and E. Beecher Wilson" at Columbia University, but soon turned to the study of physical and biological chemistry (under J. H. Nelson), where he felt he could find exact explanations of vital processes. In 1915 Northrop joined Jacques Loeb** at the Rockefeller Institute, collaborating on a variety of projects, but his interests were increasingly moving toward the biochemistry of viruses, bacteriophage, and enzymes.

In the late 1920s and 1930s this interest developed into a major research program at the Princeton branch of the Rockefeller Institute. During these years Northrop had crystallized several proteolytic enzymes and showed some of them to be autocatalytic proteins, work that also contributed to the crystallization of the tobacco mosaic virus by his colleague W. M. Stanley**. In the late 1930s Northrop returned to studies of viruses, concentrating mainly on the biochemistry of bacteriophage. In 1946 he was awarded the Nobel Prize (shared with Stanley** and J.B. Sumner) for his work on enzymes.

In addition to his research on proteins, Northrop distinguished himself on other fronts. During World War I he had developed a microbial process for producing acetone, and during World War II, techniques for measuring mustard gas. Northrop was also Simon Flexner's* confidant; his judgment on research problems and researchers, on administrative matters and editorial issues was frequently solicited by Flexner and other members of the Institute.

Northrop's intellectual and social influence is reflected in correspondence in several collections. The Flexner Papers* contain substantial material on Northrop (4 files, 1915-1941), which include Loeb's** recommendation of Northrop to work at the Institute (1915), Northrop's report on the production of acetone (1918), his work on enzymes (1929), and scientific and administrative communications. There is interesting correspondence in the Osterhout Papers* (1934-1964), mostly in relation to the Journal of General Physiology, and extensive correspondence in the Rous Papers* (3 files, 1920-1940s) on a wide range of scientific and institutional matters. The exchanges with Northrop in the Bergmann Papers* (1930s-1940s) relate mainly to scientific and technical issues of protein chemistry. These manuscript sources are complemented by biographical materials gathered in the Anne Roe Collection* (currently restricted).

Olby, Robert Cecil (1933Papers, 1951-63, ca. 150 items.). Historian of science.

This collection of letters, documents, and biographical information represents some of the materials Olby had gathered for his noted book The Path to the Double Helix (1974), material which he then deposited at the APS. Correspondents include: S. Brenner, F.H.C. Crick, M. Delbr�ck, R. Franklin, G. Gamow, R. M. Harriott, A. D. Hershey, S. Luria, J. H. Matthaei, M. Nirenberg, M. Meselson, L. Pauling, A. Rich, J. D. Watson. The collection includes a copy of a manuscript by Crick and Watson, "The Complementary Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid", presented by R. C. Olby in 1969.

Stanley, Wendell Merideth (1904-1971). Biochemist. APS 1940.

A.F. Blakeslee Papers, Clark Papers*, Clarke Papers*, Demerec Papers*, L.C. Dunn Papers, Flexner Papers*, H.A. Moe Papers, Osterhout Papers*, Roe Papers*, Rous Papers*.

(The W.M. Stanley Papers are at the Bancroft Library, Berkeley.)

W. M. Stanley joined the Rockefeller Institute in 1931. After working briefly with Osterhout*, he was transferred to the Princeton branch to set up a research project on the tobacco mosaic virus, work that focused mainly on protein chemistry. At that time virology had already grown into a major field of biomedical research, but no one had yet succeeded in isolating a single virus. Stanley's skills in bio-organic chemistry, augmented by Northrop's** cooperation, resulted in 1935 in the crystallization of the tobacco mosaic virus, a technical feat that attracted international attention. Stanley's conclusion that the reproductive material in the virus was an autocatalytic protein seemed to have solved the virus mystery, and to confirm the widespread belief in the primacy of proteins in heredity. Stanley's work, for which he had received the 1946 Nobel Prize (shared with J. B. Sumner and Northrop**), has generally been viewed as a cornerstone of molecular biology and a major landmark in the history of medicine.

The Flexner Papers* contain material (1935-1941) on Stanley's research program which illuminate its early phase; the letters in the Osterhout Papers* (1937-1953) include references to Stanley's work at Osterhout's* laboratory. There is a substantial record on Stanley in the Rous Papers* (2 files, 1930s-1960s), addressing problems in virus research and its connection to cancer studies.

The interviews with Stanley in the Roe Papers* offer a wealth of biographical information on Stanley through the 1950s. These materials are especially helpful in following up on his scientific career after he left the Rockefeller Institute in 1947 to become director of the virus research center at the University of California at Berkeley, an enormous scientific enterprise that included cancer research.

Svedberg, Theodor (1884-1971). Chemist. APS 1941.

Seibert Papers*.

When Theodor Svedberg became professor of physical chemistry at the University of Uppsala in 1912, colloid chemistry was a major new research area in the life sciences. Based on the premise that a colloidal or aggregate state was a fundamental property of living matter, especially of protoplasm, chemists, among them Svedberg, focused on physico-chemical studies of bio-colloids.

The goal of analyzing the aggregate properties of colloids was partly responsible for Svedberg's design of the analytical ultracentrifuge, an enormous machine that separated colloidal solutions into components based on a differential rate of sedimentation in a force field. The ultracentrifuge, designed in the 1920s in collaboration with J. W. Williams** of the University of Wisconsin, was crucial in demonstrating the macromolecular theory and became a powerful sorting and weighing device in molecular research. In 1926 Svedberg was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry.

Until the late 1930s Svedberg's laboratory was the only place for studies requiring ultracentrifugation; it became an international center for a wide range of researches from physical chemistry to medicine. The Seibert Papers* contain material on Svedberg and his laboratory (2 files, 1932-1949), documenting the connection between her biomedical research and Svedberg's laboratory. Her correspondence with the Guggenheim Foundation (ca. 1930s) contains material relating to her fellowship in Uppsala.

Tiselius, Arne (1902-1971). Chemist. APS 1964.

Seibert Papers*, Rous Papers*, H.A. Moe Papers, J. Slater Papers.

Arne Tiselius was the prot�g� of Theodor Svedberg at the University of Uppsala. His dissertation on the electrophoresis of colloidal proteins (1930) was an outgrowth of Svedberg's ultracentrifuge studies. It was well known since the 1900s that proteins carried different electric charges and could therefore be separated out of mixtures by applying an electromotive force. Several biochemists before Tiselius, including Landsteiner*, Northrop**, and Michaelis, had attempted to build electrophoresis apparatus, but were hindered by technical difficulties. In 1937, partly through collaborations with these men, Tiselius substantially improved on the original design, building a sensitive and reliable apparatus which quickly became indispensable to biochemical research. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1948.

Tiselius's laboratory in Uppsala became in the late 1930s a world center for research and training in the intricate techniques ofelectrophoresis; among the young biochemists who came to Uppsala was Florence Seibert*. The correspondence with Tiselius in the Seibert Papers* (5 files, 1938-1961) documents the technological and social aspects of her collaboration with Tiselius and his group in Uppsala. After her return to the United States, Seibert's* correspondence with Tiselius enabled her to build her own electrophoresis equipment in 1939. She remained close to Tiselius and his family, and these scientific and social contacts are well documented in the Tiselius files.

Van Slyke, Donald Dexter (1883-1971). Biochemist. APS 1938.

A. F. Blakeslee Papers, Clark Papers*, Clarke Papers*, R. Cole Papers, Flexner Papers*, J. B. Murphy Papers, Neuberg Papers*, E. L. Opie Papers, F. R. Sabin Papers, Roughton Papers*, Rous Papers

(The D. D. Van Slyke Papers are at the Rockfeller Archive Center.)

The scientific career of Donald D. Van Slyke was spent at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. Beginning in 1907 in the biochemistry laboratory of P. A. T. Levene**, Van Slyke went on to become chief chemist of the hospital of the Institute, where he stayed until his move to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1949.

Undoubtedly influenced by his medical environment, Van Slyke's research program in physical biochemistry focused on studies of gas, fluid, and acid-base equilibria in relation to pathology. One of Van Slyke's chief interests was the analysis of physico-chemical equilibria in blood. In collaboration with L. J. Henderson, Van Slyke developed a series of studies on the acid-base properties of hemoglobin. In these and other biomedical investigations Van Slyke relied heavily on accurate measurements, employing instruments and analytical techniques he had devised, notably his manometric apparatus for blood-gas analysis.

Van Slyke's interest in blood equilibria and in instrumentation overlapped with those of F. J. W. Roughton*. The Roughton Papers* contain correspondence with Van Slyke (files 22.40-22.43, ca. 1930s-1960s) on their shared technical and theoretical interests. The Clark Papers* contain material (3 files, 1923-1955), which reflect the common ground (intellectual and institutional) between Clark's research on physiological equilibria and the studies of Van Slyke, and their long-term professional association.

The Flexner Papers' contain a wealth of information on Van Slyke (7 files, 1913-1942). Some of the correspondence concerns the move from Levene's** laboratory to the Institute's hospital (1913), other career decisions, Van Slyke's editorship of the Journal of Biological Chemistry (1915-1925), and personal matters.

Wieland, Heinrich Otto (1877-1957). Chemist.

Neuberg Papers*, Clark Papers*.

Heinrich O. Wieland spent his student and research career at the University of Munich. His diverse researches in organic chemistry drew students from many countries; several Americans obtained advanced training in his laboratory. His most important investigations (1910s) centered on elucidating the molecular structures of bile acids, showing them to be steroid in nature. As the appreciation for the importance of steroids in reproductive physiology and in nutrition increased during the 1920s, the contributions of Wieland assumed far greater significance. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1927.

In the 1930s Wieland openly opposed the Nazi regime and supported his Jewish colleagues. One of them was Carl Neuberg*, who in 1937 was fired from his post as director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute for Biochemistry. The Wieland correspondence (1946-1955, in German) in the Neuberg Papers contains long letters about German and American colleagues, German and American science, and exchanges about the effects of the war. The correspondence in the Clark Papers* dates from the 1920s.

Williams, John Warren (1898- ). Chemist.

Bergmann Papers*, Seibert Papers*

John W. Williams's most important contribution to chemistry lay in his design and construction of laboratory apparatus. The theoretical and experimental research on the ultracentrifuge and electrophoresis facilitated major advances in almost every field in the life sciences, especially in biochemistry, immunology, and molecular biology. Beginning around 1922 at the University of Wisconsin, Williams collaborated with the Swedish chemist Theodor Svedberg** (during Svedberg's visit to Wisconsin as a Rockefeller Fellow) on the first prototype of the ultracentrifuge. The mathematical theories behind the apparatus were worked out by the physicist Warren Weaver, who left Wisconsin to become the director of the Rockefeller Foundation's division of natural sciences. Williams's ultracentrifuge projects received sizable grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, and his laboratory was the first academic center in America to house an ultracentrifuge (1937), thus becoming an important research and training center in the life sciences.

The Seibert Papers* contain considerable material (6 files, 1938-1948) on Williams. Having purchased an ultracentrifuge in 1938, she carried on extensive correspondence with Williams related to that technology, as well as about her newly acquired electrophoresis apparatus. During the war Williams engaged in the blood fractionation project (designed by E. J. Cohn**) for preparing globulins and serum albumins. The Seibert Papers* document interesting aspects of that important project. There is also minor correspondence (4 items, ca. 1930s) in the Bergmann Papers*

Wyckoff, Ralph W.G. (1897- ). Biophysicist.

Bergmann Papers*, Flexner Papers*, J.B. Murphy Papers, Rous Papers*, J. Slater Papers.

The move of Ralph W. G. Wyckoff from the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington to the Rockefeller Institute in 1927 marked an important development in the history of both the Institute and American biophysics. Under Wyckoffs leadership a new subdivision was formally designated as biophysics. Wyckoff initiated his program with the study of x-ray crystallography of simple inorganic and organic molecules with an eye to determining the molecular structures of complex macromolecules such as proteins. Together with Robert B. Corey (who joined L. Pauling's group at Caltech when Wyckoffleft the Institute in 1937) they laid some of the early foundations for determining the structures of amino acids.

During the 1930s, Wyckoff in collaboration with several members of the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation designed an air-driven ultracentrifuge, far simpler and cheaper than the machine built by T. Svedberg**. The domestic ultracentrifuge was especially important to the virus studies of W. M. Stanley**. Wyckoff also collaborated with Rous* and J. B. Murphy in the 1930s on electromagnetic methods of isolating microphages.

The significance of Wyckoff's research transcends his technical accomplishments. Wyckoff was a champion of the new field of biophysics, and made a deliberate effort to define and shape it. The Flexner Papers* contain material (5 files, 1926-1937) which address both the technical and disciplinary aspects of the new biophysics. There is correspondence on x-ray crystallography and viruses, and an informative report on the future of biophysics. There is also material in the Rous Papers* on Wyckoff and the growth of biophysics (2 files, 1930s-1960s), and minor correspondence (5 items, ca. 1930s) in the Bergmann Papers*. These materials should be of value in reconstructing the convoluted history of American biophysics.