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Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsCitationsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorKarl K. Darrow
Dates
November 26, 1891 – June 7, 1982
Authorized Form of Name
Darrow, Karl K. (Karl Kelchner), 1891-
Additional Forms of Names
Darrow, Karl K., 1891-1982
Darrow, Karl Kelchner, 1891-
Biography
Abstract
Physicist (science writer). Physicist, Western Electric Company, 1917-1924 and Bell Telephone Laboratories, 1925-1956; Secretary, American Physical Society, 1941-1966. Died 1982.
Important Dates
November 26, 1891Birth, Chicago (Ill.).
1911Graduate work, Université de Paris.
1911Obtained BS, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).
1912Obtained PhD, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).
1917 – 1925Research physicist, Western Electric, New York (N.Y.).
1925 – 1956Science writer, Bell Telephone Laboratories, New York (N.Y.).
1929Visiting professor, Stanford University.
1931Visiting professor, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).
1932Visiting professor, Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).
1941 – 1942Visiting professor, Smith College.
1941 – 1967Secretary, American Physical Society (APS).
1949Awarded Honorary Doctorate of Science, University of Lyons.
1952Awarded rank of Chevalier, French Legion of Honor.
1960Awarded Karl Taylor Compton Gold Medal, American Institute of Physics (AIP).
June 7, 1982Death.
Occupation
Physicist and science writer.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Subjects
Physics -- Industrial applications.
Science -- International cooperation.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Europe.
Citations
Finding aid of the Karl K. Darrow papers, Niels Bohr Library & Archives.
Relationships
People
Family
Darrow, Clarence, 1857-1938
Uncle.
Darrow, Dora Elizabeth Marcy
Wife, married in 1943.
Darrow, Edward Everett
Father.
Darrow, Helen Kelchner
Mother.
Advisors & Collaborators
Barton, Henry Askew, 1898-1983
Collaborated to found the American Institute of Physics (AIP).
Havens, William W. (William Westerfield), 1920-2004
Deputy secretary of the American Physical Society (APS) under Darrow.
Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953
PhD advisor, thesis concerned the measurement of the specific heat ratios of hydrogen.
Colleagues
Colpitts, Edwin Henry
Both employed at Western Electric.
Ives, Herbert Eugene, 1882-1953
Both employed at Bell Laboratories.
King, Robert Waldo, 1890-1979
Both employed at Bell Laboratories.
Additional
Allis, William P. (William Phelps), 1901-1999
Anderson, Carl D. (Carl David), 1905-1991
Anslow, Gladys A. (Gladys Amelia)
Baruch, Bernard M. (Bernard Mannes), 1870-1965.
Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005
Birge, Raymond T. (Raymond Thayer), 1887-
Boyce, Joseph Canon, 1903-
Bozorth, R. M. (Richard M.)
Bragg, William Henry, 1862-1942
Bridgman, P. W. (Percy Williams), 1882-1961
Briggs, Lyman J. (Lyman James), 1874-1963
Buckley, Oliver Ellsworth, 1887-1959
Compton, Arthur Holly, 1892-1962
Compton, K. T. (Karl Taylor), 1887-1954
Coy, Nettie Helena, 1909-
Cranberg, Lawrence, 1917-2011
Darwin, Charles Galton, Sir, 1887-1962
Davisson, Clinton Joseph, 1881-1958
Debye, Peter J. W. (Peter Josef William), 1884-1966
Déjardin, Georges
Dryden, Hugh L. (Hugh Latimer), 1898-1965
DuMond, Jesse W. M. (Jesse William Monroe), 1892-1976
Ewald, Paul Peter, 1888-1985
Fermi, Laura
Finkelstein, Louis
Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981
Fleming, Gertrude
Goudsmit, Samuel A. (Samuel Abraham), 1902-1978
Hoddeson, Lillian
Hull, Gordon Ferrie, 1870-
Jewett, Frank B. (Frank Baldwin), 1879-1949
Johnson, John Bertrand
Klopsteg, Paul E. (Paul Ernest), 1889-
Lauritsen, Charles Christian, 1892-1968
Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958
Lecomte du Noüy, Pierre, 1883-1947
Leprince-Ringuet, Louis
Loomis, F. W. (Francis Wheeler), 1889-1976
Marshall, Leona
McMillan, Edwin M. (Edwin Mattison), 1907-
Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956
Mendenhall, Charles E. (Charles Elwood), 1872-1935
Menzel, Donald H. (Donald Howard), 1901-1976
Michelson, Albert A. (Albert Abraham), 1852-1931
Millman, S. (Sidney), 1904-2006
Morse, Philip M. (Philip McCord), 1903-1985
Mulfinger, George, 1932-
Nichols, Harold William, 1886-1925
Nix, Foster Cary, 1905-
Nottingham, Wayne B. (Wayne Buckles), 1899-
Oliphant, Mark, 1901-2000
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967
Osgood, Thomas H.
Pauling, Ava Helen
Pauling, Linus, 1901-1994
Pearson, Gerald L. (Gerald Leondus)
Took class from Darrow in 1927.
Pegram, George Braxton, 1876-1958
Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988
Ricker, Norman Hurd
Sandoval Vallarta, Manuel, 1899-1977
Shaw, A. Norman
Took summer class from Darrow at Stanford University.
Slater, John C. (John Clarke), 1900-1976
Smoluchowski, Roman
Strauss, Lewis L.
Swann, W. F. G. (William Francis Gray), 1884-1962
Tate, John T. (John Torrence), 1889-1950
Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980
Waller, Ivar, 1898-1991
White, Addison Hughson, 1909-
Wood, Elizabeth A. (Elizabeth Armstrong)
Wooldridge, Dean E.
Wyckoff, Ralph W. G. (Ralph Walter Graystone), 1897-1994
Institutions
Major Positions
Science writer.
Columbia University. Department of Physics
Visiting Professor.
Smith College
Stanford University. Department of Physics
Visiting Professor.
University of Chicago. Department of Physics
Obtained BS and PhD and Visiting Professor.
Western Electric Company
Research Physicist.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Association of Physics Teachers
Founding member.
American Philosophical Society
Secretary.
Carnegie Hall (New York, N.Y.)
Century Association (New York, N.Y.)
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Graduate work.
Metropolitan Opera (New York, N.Y.)
Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research
United States. National Bureau of Standards
Université de Paris
Graduate work.
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
75th anniversary session of the American Physical Society [sound recording] : 1974 April 22.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Invited papers on physics today [sound recording], 1951 October.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Karl Darrow American Physical Society files on the Division of Chemical Physics, Division of Solid State Physics, and Division of Plasma Physics, 1956-1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Karl Darrow correspondence relating to history of physics, 1943-1968.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Karl Darrow correspondence relating to history of the American Physical Society, 1943-1968.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Karl K. Darrow papers, 1872-1978 (bulk 1917-1972).
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Melba Phillips correspondence with Karl Kelchner Darrow, 1965-1967.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Karl K. Darrow, 1964 April 2 and 10 June.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Subject
AIP Office of the Director records of Elmer Hutchisson, 1948-1966, (bulk 1957-1964).
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
AIP Office of the Director records of Henry A. Barton, 1931-1964.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
AIP Office of the Secretary records, circa 1950-1990.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
American Physical Society Division of Solid State Physics records of Roman Smoluchowski, 1943-1947.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
American Physical Society Ohio Section records of the Central Ohio Physics Club, 1926-1946.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
APS Office of the Treasurer records of George B. Pegram, 1926-1957.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Arthur J. Dempster papers [microform], 1945-1950.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Charles C. Lauritsen papers, 1927-1977 (bulk 1946-1973).
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Elizabeth A. Wood letters, invitations and a photo, sent to Wood concerning Max von Laue, Paul Peter Ewald, C. J. Davisson, and Karl K. Darrow, 1951-1977.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Elmer Hutchisson papers, 1919-1982.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
F. W. Loomis papers, 1920-1976.
University Archives
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1408 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Francis Bitter papers, 1925-1967.
Institute Archives and Special Collections
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Ivar Waller papers, circa 1912-1989.
Centrum för Vetenskapshistoria
Kungl. Svenska vetenskapsakademien
Stockholm, Sweden
John Clarke Slater papers, 1908-1976.
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Karl K. Darrow Physics Today obituary
Lawrence Cranberg papers, 1962-2000.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Lillian Hoddeson papers, 1904-2001.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Norman Ricker papers, 1914-1956.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview Addison Hughson White, 1976 September 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Dean E. Wooldridge, 1976 August 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Eugene Paul Wigner, 1981 January 24.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Foster Cary Nix, 1975 June 27.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Frederick Seitz, 1982 October 6 and 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Gerald Leondus Pearson, 1976 August 23 and 8 April 1980.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Leon H. Fisher and Robert N. Varney, 2008 July 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Maurice Mandel Shapiro, 1978 May 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Paul E. Klopsteg, 1970 March 31.
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 Robert Serber, 1967 February 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Sidney Millman, 1974 August 2, September 13 and 1975 August 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Willard Frank Libby, 1979 April 12 and 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with William Shockley, 1974 September 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with William W. Havens, 1991 February 21, July 17, 29, Augut 5, 12 and 14.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Philip Morse papers, 1927-1980.
Institute Archives and Special Collections
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Reviews of Modern Physics correspondence of John Torrence Tate, 1928.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Selected papers [sound recording], 1967.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Weekly Broadcasts, 1941-1943.
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
William Francis Gray Swann papers, 1903-1962.
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Published Resources
Author
Classified list of published bibliographies in physics, 1910-1922
Elementare Einführung in die Quantenmechanik ...
Elementare Einführung in die Wellenmechanik
Introduction to contemporary physics
La synthèse des ondes et des corpuscules
Physical science and human values : a symposium
Some contemporary advances in physics
Some contemporary advances in physics : XIV introduction to wave mechanics