Archive for the History of Quantum Physics finding aid. Go here to access the materials.

     The University of Pittsburgh is one of nineteen universities worldwide who own this collection and only one of five in the United States. Our copy is the farthest west of those in the United States.

     Much of the AHQP is described in detail in Kuhn's Sources for History of Quantum Physics (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1967). This is the most important overview of the collection and its history (Print copy: q QC174.1 .S724, Hillman Library - General Collection and Engineering Library, G33 Benedum Hall). It must be remembered, though, that more than half the microfilms in the AHQP were produced after this guide was compiled. Furthermore, some sub-collections have their own published finding aids. Noteworthy among these are: 

• Bruce Wheaton, Catalogue of the Paul Ehrenfest Archive at the Museum Boerhaave, Leiden (Leiden: Museum Boerhaave, 1977).
• Lawrence Badash, Rutherford Correspondence Catalog (New York: American Institute of Physics, 1974).

Available online collection guides:

1. Sources for History of Quantum Physics. An Inventory and Report. (SHQP). Thomas S. Kuhn et al. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1967.
2. The International Catalog of Sources for History of Physics and Allied Sciences at AIP can be searched for updated collection information.
3. The online index at the American Philosophical Society Library gives an index by reel.

The AHQP's various finding aids, including Kuhn's inventory, provide only chronological and proper name access to material. Permission to quote from or to publish documents in the AHQP must be obtained from the respective literary heirs, trustees, or deposit library. You may find more information in the finding aid linked above regarding these restrictions.

University of Pittsburgh microfilm holdings in this collection:

AHQP - Main Series - Reels 1-92. (See the 1967 guide above and/or the online catalog above.)

Bohr, Niels - Scientific Manuscripts - Reels 1-27

Bohr, Niels - Scientific Correspondence - Reels 1-34

Ehrenfest, Paul - Reels 1-32

Lorentz, Conrad - Reels 1-20

Oral History Interview Transcriptions - Reels 1-5

Richardson, O. W. - Reels 1-76

Rutherford, Ernest - Reels 1-5

Pauli, Wolfgang - Reels 1-6

Zeeman, Pieter - Reels 1-2

     Microfilms are stored and accessed at the Archives Service Center at our Thomas Blvd building in Point Breeze, Pittsburgh. A user-friendly digital viewing machine is available for use, from which readers can make scans of pages for personal research use. Use the finding aid to select materials and make an appointment.