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Table of Contents

Biography

AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as Subject

Merle Antony Tuve

Photo

Dates

June 27, 1901 – May 20, 1982

Authorized Form of Name

Tuve, Merle Antony, 1901-1982

Additional Forms of Names

Tuve, M. A. (Merl Antony), 1901-1982

Tuve, Merle A. (Merle Antony), 1901-1982

Tuve, Merle Anthony, 1901-1982

Biography

Abstract

Merle Tuve was Distinguished Service Member at Cargenie Institution of Washington (1966-1982). His research interests included nuclear physics, geophysics, high voltage vacuum tubes, high-speed protons, transmutations of atomic nuclei, nuclear forces, deep seismic shots, earth's crust, and radio astronomy.

Important Dates

June 27, 1901Birth, Canton (S.D.).

1922Obtained BS, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (Minn.).

1923Obtained AM, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (Minn.).

1923 – 1924Instructor in Physics, Princeton University.

1926Obtained PhD in Physics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (Md.).

1926 – 1982Associate Physicist (1926-1928); Physicist (1928-1938); Chief Physicist (1938-1946); Director (1946-1966), Department of Terrestrial Magnetism; and Distinguished Service Member (1966-1982), Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington (D.C.).

1940 – 1941Member, Committee on Uranium, National Defense Research Committee.

1941Member, Section on Uranium, Office of Scientific Research and Development.

1942 – 1946Director, Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University.

1946Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1949 – 1953Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research.

1954 – 1959Member, United States National Committee, International Geophysical Year.

1960 – 1970Chair, Geophysics Research Board, National Research Council.

May 20, 1982Death.

Occupation

Geophysicist.

Places

Birth

Canton (S.D.)

Undergraduate Education

Minneapolis (Minn.)

Graduate Education

Minneapolis (Minn.)

Baltimore (Md.)

Employment

Washington (D.C.)

Subjects

Geophysics.

Nuclear forces (Physics).

Nuclear physics.

Radio astronomy.

Seismology.

Relationships

People

Family

Tuve, Anthony G.

Father.

Tuve, Ida Marie Larsen

Mother.

Tuve, Lucy

Daughter.

Tuve, Trygve

Son.

Whitman, Winifred Gray

Wife. Married in 1927.

Advisors & Collaborators

Breit, Gregory, 1899-1981

Used a pulsed radio transmitter to demonstrate the existence of the ionosphere. Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington and on the Technical Subcommittee, Advisory Committee on Uranium.

Hafstad, Lawrence, 1904-

Collaborated on work leading to development of million-volt vacuum tube. Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Colleagues

Abelson, Philip Hauge

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Allison, Samuel King, 1900-1965

Both employed at the Office of Scientific Research and Development.

Berkner, Lloyd V. (Lloyd Viel), 1905-1967

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Bush, Vannevar, 1890-1974

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Compton, K. T. (Karl Taylor), 1887-1954

Both employed at Princeton University.

Fleming, J. A. (John Adam), 1877-1956

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Forbush, Scott E., 1904-1984

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Van Allen, James A. (James Alfred), 1914-2006

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Vestine, E. H. (Ernest Harry), 1906-1968

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Wetherill, George West

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Additional

Bascom, Willard

Beams, Jesse W. (Jesse Wakefield), 1898-1977

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

Bowen, Ira Sprague, 1898-1973

Chadwick, James, 1891-1974

Clarke, Hans Thacher, 1887-1972

Cockcroft, John, Sir, 1897-1967

Crane, H. R. (Horace Richard), 1907-2007

Doell, Richard Rayman

Edmondson, Frank K. (Frank Kelley), 1912-

Fermi, Enrico, 1901-1954

Fowler, William A.

Fraser, Lorence

Gamow, George, 1904-1968

Greenstein, Jesse L. (Jesse Leonard), 1909-2002

Laporte, Otto, 1902-1971

Lauritsen, Charles Christian, 1892-1968

Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958

Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)

MacDonald, Gordon J. (Gordon James), 1929-2002

Manley, John Henry, 1907-

Roe, Anne, 1904-1991

Rutherford, Ernest, 1871-1937

Sachs, Robert Green, 1916-

Shankland, Robert S., 1908-

Sullivan, Woodruff Turner

Tate, John T. (John Torrence), 1889-1950

Student of Tate's at the University of Minnesota.

Taylor, Lauriston S. (Lauriston Sale), 1902-2004

Vacquier, Victor

Van de Graaf, Robert Jemison, 1901-1967

Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008

Institutions

Major Positions

Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism

Associate Physicist; Physicist; Chief Physicist; Director; and Distinguished Service Member.

Princeton University. Department of Physics

Instructor in Physics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

General Electric Company. Research Laboratory

International Geophysical Year, 1957-1958

Member, United States National Committee.

Johns Hopkins University. Applied Physics Laboratory

Director.

Johns Hopkins University. Department of Physics

Obtained PhD (1926).

Manhattan Project (U.S.)

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

National Research Council (U.S.)

Chair, Geophysics Research Board.

United States. National Bureau of Standards

United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development

Member, Section on Uranium.

United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development. National Defense Research Committee

Member, Committee on Uranium.

University of Minnesota. Department of Physics and Astronomy

Obtained BS (1922) and AM (1923).

Wiley-Blackwell

Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy records, 1953-1974.

Bentley Historical Library

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA

Gregory Breit Symposium [sound recording], 1968 May 3.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Merle Antony Tuve papers, 1901-1982 (bulk 1941-1966).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Monthly reports of Merle A. Tuve, 1928-1940.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Merle Antony Tuve, 1967 March 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Merle Antony Tuve, 1967 May 6.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Merle Antony Tuve, 1982 January 13 and February 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Woodruff T. Sullivan papers, 1946-2009.

Archives.

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA

Subject

Anne Roe papers, 1949-1971 (bulk).

Library.

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Atoms for Peace Award records, 1944-1972.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Carnegie Institution Department of Terrestrial Magnetism Ionospheric Section records, 1927-1959, (bulk 1942-1946).

Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Library and Archives

Carnegie Institution of Washington

5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA

Carnegie Institution Department of Terrestrial Magnetism Nuclear Physics Program records, 1927-1963 (bulk 1933-1955).

Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Library and Archives

Carnegie Institution of Washington

5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA

Carnegie Institution Department of Terrestrial Magnetism Radio Astronomy Program records 1950-1976 (bulk 1953-1960).

Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Library and Archives

Carnegie Institution of Washington

5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA

Carnegie Institution Department of Terrestrial Magnetism Section T "Proximity Fuze" records, 1940-1999 (bulk 1941-1943).

Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Library and Archives

Carnegie Institution of Washington

5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA

From the cupboards of Lauriston S. Taylor, 1985.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Gregory Breit papers, 1929-1980 (bulk 1960-1970).

Manuscript and Archives.

Yale University Library

Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA

Gregory Breit selected papers [microform], (bulk 1950-1973).

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Hans Thacher Clarke papers, circa 1903-1973.

Library.

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Howard Edwin Tatel papers, 1924-1960 (bulk 1945-1957).

Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Library and Archives

Carnegie Institution of Washington

5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA

Jesse W. Beams selected correspondence, 1945-1949.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Midcentury Convocation records, 1949.

Institute Archives

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

MIT Office of the President records of Karl Taylor Compton and James Rhyne Killian, 1930-1959.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Oral history interview with Charles Christian Lauritsen, 1966 June 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Frank K. Edmondson, 1977 April 21 and 1978 February 2.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with George Gamow, 1968 April 25 and 26.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Gordon J. MacDonald, 1993 November 15, 1994 March 18 and 1995 August 4.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with H. R. Crane, 1973 March 28 and 1974 June 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Ira Bowen, 1968 August 9 and 1969 August 26.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with James Chadwick, 1969 April 15, 16, 17 and 20.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Jesse Leonard Greenstein, 1974 July 31.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1967 April 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with John Henry Manley, 1976 July 9 and 11.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Lawrence Hafstad, 1984 June 4.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral History interview with Lorence Fraser, 1983 March 9.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Milton Stanley Livingston, 1967 August 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Norman Ramsey, 1978 December 19, 1979 January 5 and 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Otto Laporte, 1964 January 29 and 31.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Richard Doell, 1978 April 17, 26, and 28.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert S. Shankland, 1974 August 20 and 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Sir John Cockcroft, 1967 March 28.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Vannevar Bush, 1964.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Victor Vacquier, 1988 February 17 and 1989 January 24.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with William A. Baum, 2004 June 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with William Alfred Fowler, 1972 June 8, 9, 1973 February 5, 6, and 1974 May 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Wolfgang Gentner, 1971 November 15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Robert G. Sachs letters concerning Merle Tuve's and Raymond Herb's physics research at Johns Hopkins University and the Univerity of Wisconsin, 1983-1984.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Royal Observatory papers of Harold Spencer Jones, 1920-1968.

Department of Manuscripts and University Archives

Royal Greenwich Observation Archives

Cambridge University Library, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DR, England UK

Vannevar Bush papers, 1921-1974.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Washington Conference on Theoretical Physics records, 1933-1947.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Willard Bascom papers, 1938-2000, undated.

Mandeville Special Collections Library

University of California, San Diego

9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA

Published Resources

Subject

"'Big Science' vs. 'Little Science': Laboratories and Leading Ideas in Conflict, Nuclear Physics in the Thirties and Forties," Physis: Rivista Internazionale di Storia della Scienza 30 (1993): 373-390

"Conflicting Orientations: John Graham, Merle Tuve, and Paleomagnetic Research at DTM, 1938-1958," Earth Sciences History 8 (1989): 55-65

"Lloyd Berkner, Merle Tuve, and the Federal Role in Radio Astronomy," Osiris 3 (1987): 261-288

"Merle Antony Tuve: 1901-1982", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences

"Merle Antony Tuve: Pioneer Nuclear Physicist," Physics Today 41 (1988): 57-64

"Physics, Emotion, and the Scientific Self: Merle Tuve's Cold War," Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 42 (2012): 341-388

"The Big Story: Tuve, Breit, and Ionospheric Sounding, 1923-1928," in The Earth, the Heavens, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, ed. Gregory A. Good (Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union: 1994)

"The Carnegie Institution of Washington and Radio Astronomy: Prelude to an American National Observatory," Journal for the History of Astronomy 22 (1991): 55-67

Merle A. Tuve and his program of nuclear studies at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism : the early career of a modern American physicist / by Thomas D. Cornell.

Merle A. Tuve Physics Today obituary.