Archives:Clarence E. Larson Collection: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:08, 7 May 2013

Welcome to the Clarence E. Larson Collection, a collection of video oral histories with noted Physicists.

Clarence E. Larson

Clarence E. Larson (1909-1999) was an important pioneer in the field of atomic energy. After serving on the Manhattan Project during World War II, Larson became director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he served from 1950 to 1955. He was an executive at Union Carbide. from 1955-1969 where he headed up the Nuclear Energy Division. From 1969-1974 Dr. Larson was Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. He was the recipient of many awards and honors.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, after his retirement, Dr. Larson conducted video interviews with over five dozen of his fellow pioneers in atomic energy and tangential fields, which were taped by his wife Jane Larson. The Larsons made the acquaintance of István Hargittai, University Professor of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, when he interviewed Clarence Larson for one of his own oral history projects. Professor Hargittai published several of the Larson interviews in a now defunct journal. Subsequently Clarence Larson passed away, and Jane Larson donated the video tapes to Hargittai and encouraged their continued publication (copies of many of the tapes are also known to have been donated to George Mason University and a few to the University of Maryland as well). Extracts of nine of the interviews were published in a book by Hargittai and his son Balazs, also a scientist (Candid Science V: Conversations with Famous Scientists, Imperial College Press, London, 2005) that also included Hargittai’s interview of Clarence Larson.

The collection had not been further utilized, although Hargittai has felt that it would be important to do so. Clarence Larson’s son Robert is a past president of IEEE, and brought to the attention of the IEEE Foundation the existence of the Clarence E. Larson Collection and the need to disseminate it. Since atomic energy is a field of interest to at least two of IEEE’s technical divisions—the Power Engineering Society and the Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society—IEEE has an interest in seeing the contents of these tapes more broadly disseminated (moreover, some of the non-atomic energy interviews are of interest to other IEEE technical divisions, including the IEEE Computer Society). Therefore, the IEEE History Center is partnering with Prof. Hargittai and the Larson family to make the videos available on-line.

Clarence E. Larson Collection Interviewees

Produced Segments

Science Stories A - Interviews with David Packard and Linus Pauling

Science Stories B - Interviews with Robert Larson, Glenn Seaborg, Roger Egeberg, and Luis Alvarez

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 [[Image:Celarson.jpg|thumb|right|Clarence E. Larson]]
-Clarence E. Larson (1909-1999) was an important pioneer in the field of atomic energy. After serving on the Manhattan Project during World War II, Larson became director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he served from 1950 to 1955. He was an executive at Union Carbide. from 1955-1969 where he headed up the Nuclear Energy Division. From 1969-1974 Dr. Larson was Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. He was the recipient of many awards and honors.
+Clarence E. Larson (1909-1999) was an important pioneer in the field of atomic energy. After serving on the [[Manhattan Project|Manhattan Project]] during World War II, Larson became director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he served from 1950 to 1955. He was an executive at Union Carbide. from 1955-1969 where he headed up the Nuclear Energy Division. From 1969-1974 Dr. Larson was Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. He was the recipient of many awards and honors.
-In the 1980s and early 1990s, after his retirement, Dr. Larson conducted video interviews with some four dozen of his fellow pioneers in atomic energy and tangential fields, which were taped by his wife Jane Larson. The Larsons made the acquaintance of István Hargittai, University Professor of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, when he interviewed Clarence Larson for one of his own oral history projects. Professor Hargittai published several of the Larson interviews in a local journal. Subsequently Clarence Larson passed away, and Jane Larson donated the video tapes to Hargittai and encouraged their continued publication (copies of the tapes are also known to have been donated to George Mason University and the University of Maryland, and were perhaps donated to other universities as well). Extracts of nine of the interviews were published in a book by Hargittai and his son Balazs, also a scientist (Candid Science V: Conversations with Famous Scientists, Imperial College Press, London, 2005) that also included Hargittai’s interview of Clarence Larson.
+In the 1980s and early 1990s, after his retirement, Dr. Larson conducted video interviews with over five dozen of his fellow pioneers in atomic energy and tangential fields, which were taped by his wife Jane Larson. The Larsons made the acquaintance of István Hargittai, University Professor of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, when he interviewed Clarence Larson for one of his own oral history projects. Professor Hargittai published several of the Larson interviews in a now defunct journal. Subsequently Clarence Larson passed away, and Jane Larson donated the video tapes to Hargittai and encouraged their continued publication (copies of many of the tapes are also known to have been donated to George Mason University and a few to the University of Maryland as well). Extracts of nine of the interviews were published in a book by Hargittai and his son Balazs, also a scientist (Candid Science V: Conversations with Famous Scientists, Imperial College Press, London, 2005) that also included Hargittai’s interview of Clarence Larson.
-The collection had not been further utilized, although Hargittai has felt that it would be important to do so. Clarence Larson’s son Robert is a past president of IEEE, and brought to the attention of the IEEE Foundation the existence of the Clarence E. Larson Collection and the need to disseminate it. Since atomic energy is a field of interest to at least two of IEEE’s technical divisions—the Power Engineering Society and the Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society—IEEE has an interest in seeing the contents of these tapes more broadly disseminated (moreover, some of the non-atomic energy interviews are of interest to other IEEE technical divisions, including the IEEE Computer Society). Therefore, the IEEE History Center is partnering with Prof.. Hargittai and the Larson family to make the videos available on-line. Subsequently there are plans for another book, and for an IEEE.tv documentary based on this important historical material.
+The collection had not been further utilized, although Hargittai has felt that it would be important to do so. Clarence Larson’s son [[Robert Larson|Robert]] is a [[Presidents of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)|past president of IEEE]], and brought to the attention of the IEEE Foundation the existence of the Clarence E. Larson Collection and the need to disseminate it. Since atomic energy is a field of interest to at least two of IEEE’s technical divisions—the Power Engineering Society and the Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society—IEEE has an interest in seeing the contents of these tapes more broadly disseminated (moreover, some of the non-atomic energy interviews are of interest to other IEEE technical divisions, including the IEEE Computer Society). Therefore, the IEEE History Center is partnering with Prof. Hargittai and the Larson family to make the videos available on-line.
-<br> <flash>file=PlayHoffStandard.swf|width=320|height=280|quality=best</flash>
-<br>Interview with Dr. Ted Hoff
-<br><br> [[Image:Hoff640x480.flv|High-definition Hoff video]]
 == Clarence E. Larson Collection Interviewees  ==
-[[Philip Abelson|Philip Abelson]]
+*[[Philip Abelson|Philip Abelson]]
+*[[Harold Agnew|Harold Agnew]]
-[[Harold Agnew|Harold Agnew]]
+*[[Luis Walter Alvarez|Luis Walter Alvarez]]
+*[[John V. Atanasoff|John V. Atanasoff]]
-[[Luis Walter Alvarez|Luis Walter Alvarez]]<br>
+*[[Robert Bacher|Robert Bacher]]
+*[[John Backus|John Backus]]
-[[John V. Atanasoff|John V. Atanasoff]]
+*[[Stephen Bechtel, Sr.|Stephen Bechtel, Sr.]]
+*[[William Brobeck|William Brobeck]]
-[[Robert Bacher|Robert Bacher]]
+*[[Melvin Calvin|Melvin Calvin]]
+*[[Ken Davis|Ken Davis]]
-[[John Backus|John Backus]]
+*[[Dantas De Brito|Dantas De Brito]]
+*[[Carl Djerassi|Carl Djerassi]]
-[[William Brobeck|William Brobeck]]
+*[[Harold E. Edgerton|Harold E. Edgerton]]
+*[[William Alfred Fowler|William Alfred Fowler]]
-[[Melvin Calvin|Melvin Calvin]]
+*[[Robert Frase|Robert Frase]]
+*[[Keith Glennan|Keith Glennan]]
-[[Carl Djerassi|Carl Djerassi]]
+*[[Bertrand Goldschmidt]]
+*[[Lawrence Hafstad|Lawrence Hafstad]]
-[[Harold E. Edgerton|Harold E. Edgerton]]<br>
+*[[Carl Hammer|Carl Hammer]]
+*[[Wesley T. Hanson]]
-[[William Alfred Fowler|William Alfred Fowler]]
+*[[Ted Hoff|Ted Hoff]]
+*[[Chester E. Holifield|Chester E. Holifield]]
-[[Keith Glennan|Keith Glennan]]
+*[[Alexander Hollaender|Alexander Hollaender]]
+*[[Cuthbert Hurd|Cuthbert Hurd]]
-[[Chester E. Holifield|Chester E. Holifield]]
+*[[Thomas Jukes|Thomas Jukes]]
+*[[Martin Kamen|Martin Kamen]]
-[[Alexander Hollaender|Alexander Hollaender]]
+*[[Clarence Larson|Clarence Larson]]
+*[[Robert Larson|Robert Larson]]
-[[Ted Hoff|Ted Hoff]]
+*[[Horace Magoun|Horace Magoun]]
+*[[Edwin M. McMillan|Edwin M. McMillan]]
-[[Martin Kamen|Martin Kamen]]
+*[[Kenneth Nichols|Kenneth D. Nichols]]
+*[[Mark Oliphant|Mark Oliphant]]
-[[Edwin M. McMillan|Edwin M. McMillan]]
+*[[David Packard|David Packard]]
+*[[Linus Pauling|Linus Pauling]]
-[[Mark Oliphant|Mark Oliphant]]
+*[[Rudolph Peierls|Rudolph Peierls]]
+*[[Arthur Rupp|Arthur Rupp]]
-[[David Packard|David Packard]]
+*[[Arthur L. Schawlow|Arthur Schawlow]]
+*[[Glenn T. Seaborg|Glenn T. Seaborg]]
-[[Linus Pauling|Linus Pauling]]
+*[[Robert C. Seamans|Robert C. Seamans]]
+*[[Emilio Segre|Emilio Segre]]
-[[Rudolph Peierls|Rudolph Peierls]]
+*[[S. Fred Singer|S. Fred Singer]]
+*[[Chauncey Starr|Chauncey Starr]]
-[[Arthur L. Schawlow|Arthur Schawlow]]
+*[[Kurt Stehling|Kurt Stehling]]
+*[[Gerald Tape|Gerald Tape]]
-[[Glenn T. Seaborg|Glenn T. Seaborg]]
+*[[Lauriston Taylor|Lauriston Taylor]]
+*[[Edward Teller|Edward Teller]]
-[[Robert C. Seamans|Robert C. Seamans]]
+*[[John Totter|John Totter]]
+*[[Charles Townes|Charles Townes]]
-[[Emilio Segre|Emilio Segre]]
+*[[Dean Warren|Dean Warren]]
+*[[Alvin Weinberg|Alvin Weinberg]]
-[[Chauncey Starr|Chauncey Starr]]<br>
+*[[Herb York|Herb York]]
-[[Kurt Stehling|Kurt Stehling]]
-[[Gerald Tape|Gerald Tape]]
-[[Lauriston Taylor|Lauriston Taylor]]
-[[Edward Teller|Edward Teller]]
-[[John Totter|John Totter]]
-[[Charles Townes|Charles Townes]]
+== Produced Segments  ==
-[[Alvin weinberg|Alvin Weinberg]]
+[[Archives:Science Stories A|Science Stories A]] - Interviews with [[David Packard]] and [[Linus Pauling]]
-[[Herb_York|Herb York]]<br><br>
+[[Archives:Science Stories B|Science Stories B]] - Interviews with [[Robert Larson|Robert Larson]], [[Glenn T. Seaborg|Glenn Seaborg]], Roger Egeberg, and [[Luis Walter Alvarez|Luis Alvarez]]
-[[Category:People_and_organizations]] [[Category:Scientists]] [[Category:Engineers]] [[Category:Nuclear_and_plasma_sciences]] [[Category:Nuclear_physics]]
+[[Category:People and organizations|Larson]] [[Category:Scientists|Larson]] [[Category:Engineers|Larson]] [[Category:Nuclear and plasma sciences|Larson]] [[Category:Nuclear physics|Larson]]