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Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 7467

Multhauf, Robert P.

Robert P. Multhauf Papers, circa 1957-1987

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Multhauf, Robert P.
Title:Robert P. Multhauf Papers
Dates:circa 1957-1987
Quantity:7 cu. ft. (7 record storage boxes)
Collection:Record Unit 7467
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

These papers consist largely of correspondence documenting Multhauf's participation in various national and international organizations, most notably the American Council of Learned Societies, History of Science Society, International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science, National Air and Space Administration Historical Committee, Society for the History of Technology, and American Federation of Information Processing Societies. In addition there are manuscripts of published and unpublished articles; copies of major publications including "The Origins of Chemistry" and "A History of Common Salt;" research notes; photographs of Multhauf at symposiums; and records pertaining to Isis, for which Multhauf was Editor.

Historical Note

Robert P. Multhauf (1919-2004), historian of science, was born in Sioux City, South Dakota. He graduated from Iowa State University, B.S., 1941, and received his M.A., 1950, and Ph.D., 1953, from the University of California at Berkeley. Multhauf was employed by the Smithsonian Institution as Associate Curator for the Division of Engineering, United States National Museum (USNM), in 1954. The following year he became Curator of the Division and in 1957 was appointed Head Curator of the Department of Engineering and Industries at USNM. When USNM was reorganized and the Museum of History and Technology (MHT) was established in 1957, Multhauf became Head Curator for the Department of Science and Technology under MHT. He also served as Acting Curator of the Division of Physical Sciences within the Department.

In 1966, Multhauf was appointed Director of MHT and served in this capacity until 1969, the year MHT was renamed the National Museum of History and Technology (NMHT). Afterwards he became Senior Scientific Scholar of the Department of Science and Technology, 1970-1977, and for the Department of the History of Science, 1978-1979, at NMHT. Multhauf joined the staff of the Office of Senior Historians in 1980, when NMHT was renamed the National Museum of American History, and retired from the Smithsonian Institution in 1987.

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Descriptive Entry

These papers consist largely of correspondence documenting Multhauf's participation in various national and international organizations, most notably the American Council of Learned Societies, History of Science Society, International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science, National Air and Space Administration Historical Committee, Society for the History of Technology, and American Federation of Information Processing Societies. In addition there are manuscripts of published and unpublished articles; copies of major publications including The Origins of Chemistry and A History of Common Salt; research notes; photographs of Multhauf at symposiums; and records pertaining to Isis, for which Multhauf was Editor.

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7467, Robert P. Multhauf Papers

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Container List

Box 1

A: General Correspondence and Miscellaneous Materials

Box 1 of 7

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 1972-1973

Box 1 of 7

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 1971

Box 1 of 7

American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), 1972

Box 1 of 7

ACLS, 1975

Box 1 of 7

ACLS, 1976

Box 1 of 7

ACLS, 1977

Box 1 of 7

ACLS, 1978

Box 1 of 7

ACLS, 1979

Box 1 of 7

ACLS, 1980

Box 1 of 7

American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS), Computer History Project, 1969

Box 1 of 7

AFIPS, Computer History Project, 1970

Box 1 of 7

AFIPS, Computer History Project, 1971

Box 1 of 7

AFIPS, Computer History Project, 1972

Box 1 of 7

AFIPS, Computer History Project, 1973-1974

Box 1 of 7

AFIPS, 1978-

Box 1 of 7

American Chemical Society (ACS), 1980 Meeting, Houston

Box 1 of 7

ACS, History of Chemistry Task Force Meeting, June 10-11, 1981

Box 1 of 7

ACS, History of Chemistry Task Force

Box 1 of 7

American Chemical Society

Box 1 of 7

ACS Meeting, August 23-24, 1981

Box 1 of 7

American Institute of Physics Newsletter

Box 1 of 7

U.S. Archives

Box 1 of 7

Arizona

Box 1 of 7

Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)

Box 1 of 7

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), 1969-1970

Box 1 of 7

Atomic Energy Commission, 1971-1975

Box 1 of 7

B: Miscellaneous Materials

Box 1 of 7

Berkeley Campus, 1985

Box 1 of 7

Charles Babbage Foundation, University of Minnesota, May 1986

Box 1 of 7

Multhauf Files, The Charles Babbage Institute, January 1985-February 1986

Box 1 of 7

Box 2

Multhauf Files, The Charles Babbage Institute, March-September 1984

Box 2 of 7

Multhauf Files, The Charles Babbage Institute, April 1978-October 1983

Box 2 of 7

Book Reviews, 1981-1982

Box 2 of 7

Meeting Agendas, 1985-1986

Box 2 of 7

Charles Babbage Institute Newsletter, 1979-1986

Box 2 of 7

C: General Correspondence

Box 2 of 7

Carpenters' Company Symposium, March 27-29, 1974

Box 2 of 7

Charles Babbage Institute for the History of Information Processing, 1983

Box 2 of 7

Chemistry, Center for History of, 1982-1983, 1985

Box 2 of 7

Copernicus Symposium, 1973: Invited Speakers

Box 2 of 7

Copernicus Symposium, 1973: General Correspondence

Box 2 of 7

D: General Correspondence

Box 2 of 7

G. Debus Allen

Box 2 of 7

Bern Dibner, Correspondence

Box 2 of 7

Dibner Library, 1979-1980

Box 2 of 7

Dibner Library, 1974, 1976-1978

Box 2 of 7

Dibner Reminiscences, 1976-1977, 1979-1980

Box 2 of 7

Natural Museum of Los Angeles County

Box 2 of 7

Dibner Library Publications (2 folders)

Box 2 of 7

Dibner Library Publication Series, Galileo, Il Compasso

Box 2 of 7

Dibner Library, Guerlac/Lavoisier Translation

Box 2 of 7

Dibner Library Book Series, Van der Heiden

Box 2 of 7

Dibner Library Publication Series, Stradanus, Nova Reperta

Box 2 of 7

Dibner Library Publications, Heralds of Science

Box 2 of 7

Dibner Library Publications, Dibner Festschrift

Box 2 of 7

Box 3

H. Drubba

Box 3 of 7

E: General Correspondence

Box 3 of 7

Energy Exhibit

Box 3 of 7

Engineering Foundation, Research Conference, Andover, New Hampshire, August 4-8, 1969

Box 3 of 7

Engineering Foundation Conference, July 23-28, 1972

Box 3 of 7

F: General Correspondence

Box 3 of 7

Arthur Frazier

Box 3 of 7

M. Fores, 1977-1978

Box 3 of 7

Fulbright Committee, 1973-1976

Box 3 of 7

G: Miscellaneous Materials and General Correspondence

Box 3 of 7

H: General Correspondence

Box 3 of 7

Harvard University Newsletter, 1972-1973

Box 3 of 7

Historia Mathematica, 1972-1973

Box 3 of 7

Historia Scientiarum, International Journal of the History of Science Society of Japan

Box 3 of 7

History of Science Society Newsletter, 1980-1986

Box 3 of 7

History of Science Society, 1981-1983

Box 3 of 7

History of Science Society: Zeitlin-VerBrugge Prize, 1982-1983

Box 3 of 7

Contributions, 1983-1984

Box 3 of 7

History of Science Society, 1984

Box 3 of 7

History of Science Society, 1985

Box 3 of 7

History of Science in America; News and Views, 1981

Box 3 of 7

Holmes, Frederic L., President, History of Science Society

Box 3 of 7

Hufbauer, Karl

Box 3 of 7

Hughes, Thomas Parke

Box 3 of 7

I: Miscellaneous Materials and General Correspondence

Box 3 of 7

Indiana University, 1983-1984

Box 3 of 7

International Academy of the History of Science, 1982

Box 3 of 7

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Newsletter, 1982

Box 3 of 7

Isis

Box 3 of 7

J: General Correspondence

Box 3 of 7

Johns Hopkins Press, Neptune's Gift (2 folders)

Box 3 of 7

K: General Correspondence (2 folders)

Box 3 of 7

L: General Correspondence

Box 3 of 7

Kauffman, George B.

Box 3 of 7

Library

Box 3 of 7

Library of Congress

Box 3 of 7

Box 4

Mc: General Correspondence and Miscellaneous Materials

Box 4 of 7

M: General Correspondence and Miscellaneous Materials

Box 4 of 7

Maienschein, Jane

Box 4 of 7

Mayr, Ernst

Box 4 of 7

Mendel Newsletter, The, 1979-1981, 1983-1986

Box 4 of 7

Multhauf, Robert P.

Box 4 of 7

Multhauf, Robert P., Personnel Files

Box 4 of 7

Multhauf, Robert P., Requests for Reprints

Box 4 of 7

N: Miscellaneous Materials and General Correspondence

Box 4 of 7

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Historical Committee, 1976

Box 4 of 7

NASA, Historical Committee, 1975

Box 4 of 7

NASA, Historical Committee, 1974-1975

Box 4 of 7

NASA, Historical Committee, 1973

Box 4 of 7

NASA, Historical Committee, 1972

Box 4 of 7

National Science Foundation

Box 4 of 7

O: General Correspondence

Box 4 of 7

P: General Correspondence and Miscellaneous Materials

Box 4 of 7

Center for History of Physics Newsletter, 1983

Box 4 of 7

Pan Jixing: Correspondence

Box 4 of 7

Photograph Laboratory

Box 4 of 7

Querner, Professor Hans

Box 4 of 7

R: General Correspondence

Box 4 of 7

Regan, Rosemary

Box 4 of 7

S: General Correspondence (2 folders)

Box 4 of 7

Schneider, Ivo

Box 4 of 7

Scriba, Christoph

Box 4 of 7

Sivin, Nathan

Box 4 of 7

Smeaton, William

Box 4 of 7

Smithsonian, 1982

Box 4 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1965-1968

Box 4 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1969

Box 4 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1970

Box 4 of 7

Box 5

Society for the History of Technology, 1971

Box 5 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1972

Box 5 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1973

Box 5 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1974

Box 5 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1975

Box 5 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1976

Box 5 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1977

Box 5 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1978

Box 5 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1979

Box 5 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1980

Box 5 of 7

Society for the History of Technology, 1981

Box 5 of 7

Property Custody

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, 1987

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution Library Committee

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, 1984-1985

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, 1985

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, 1986

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Annual Reports

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Archives

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Bicentennial

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Budget, 1971-1979

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Collections

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Colloquium Series

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Curators Association

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Department of History of Science

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Department of Science and Technology

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Wilton Dillon: Symposia and Seminars Advisory Committee

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, MHT Director's Meetings

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Douglas Evelyn

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Exhibits

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Josiah Hatch

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Identification, 1979

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Inventory

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Roger Kennedy, 1980

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Office of Academic Programs, 1971-1972

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Office of Fellowships and Grants

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Oral History Project, 1974

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Organizations

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Performance Appraisal

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Personnel, 1974

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Requisitions

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Research Foundation, 1972

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Research Projects

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Resident Associates

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, SI Press, 1974-1976

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Sabbatical Leave, 1972, 1975-1977

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Steering Committee for the History of Science and Technology, 1970-1971

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Miscellaneous

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Travel Memos

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Travel Papers, 1981-1982

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Institution, Travel Papers, 1969-1980

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian/Dibner Symposium: "The American System of Manufacture," 1979

Box 5 of 7

Smithsonian Historical Seminar: "Wood in American Culture"

Box 5 of 7

Stockholm Meeting, Traveler's File, August 1977

Box 5 of 7

Submarine Telegraphy, George Washington University

Box 5 of 7

Swedish Translations, 1977-1978

Box 5 of 7

Szymanowitz, Raymond, 1969-1972

Box 5 of 7

T: General Correspondence

Box 5 of 7

Thackray, Arnold

Box 5 of 7

Thackray, Arnold: Isis Correspondence

Box 5 of 7

Tomash, Erwin

Box 5 of 7

Trenn, Thaddeus

Box 5 of 7

Box 6

Tropp, Hank

Box 6 of 7

U: General Correspondence and Miscellaneous Materials

Box 6 of 7

Union Internationale d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences (UIHPS), General, 1957-1973

Box 6 of 7

International Congresses of the History of Science

Box 6 of 7

UIHPS Moscow Meeting, 1971

Box 6 of 7

UIHPS Tokyo Meeting, Travel Grants, 1974

Box 6 of 7

Uppsala Newsletter, History of Science, 1984-1985

Box 6 of 7

UIHPS, Tokyo Congress, 1974 (2 folders)

Box 6 of 7

U.S. National Committee for the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science (USNC/IUHPS), March 14, 1975

Box 6 of 7

UIHPS, Edinburgh Congress, 1977

Box 6 of 7

UIHPS, Bucharest Congress, 1981

Box 6 of 7

Volunteers, Lettie Multhauf

Box 6 of 7

V: General Correspondence

Box 6 of 7

W: General Correspondence

Box 6 of 7

Watson, Neale

Box 6 of 7

Westfall, Richard S.

Box 6 of 7

Wilson, Leonard

Box 6 of 7

X-Y-Z: General Correspondence

Box 6 of 7

"Some Observations on the State of the History of Technology"

Box 6 of 7

J. A. Weber Writings and Biographical Information

Box 6 of 7

"Copernicus and Bacon as Renovators of Science"

Box 6 of 7

"The Discovery of Borax"

Box 6 of 7

"Geology, Chemistry and the Production of Salt"

Box 6 of 7

"History of Chemistry"

Box 6 of 7

"The Science of Matter," Chapter 11 in David C. Lindberg and Michael S. Mahoney, eds., The Scientific World of the Middle Ages

Box 6 of 7

"Saltpeter: Its Constitution, According to Becher and Stahl"

Box 6 of 7

"The French Crash-Program for Saltpeter Production, 1776-1794"

Box 6 of 7

"Sal Ammoniac: A Case History in Industrialization"

Box 6 of 7

"Essays on Alchemy," Essay Review, Isis

Box 6 of 7

"Immigrants and Minerals: Four Episodes"

Box 6 of 7

"America's Wooden Age"

Box 6 of 7

"What the Chemists Found in Pandora's Box"

Box 6 of 7

"A History of Magnesia Alba"

Box 6 of 7

"Science and Technology"

Box 6 of 7

"Potash in the United States"

Box 6 of 7

"The Prehistory of Boron"

Box 6 of 7

"Technology and Society: The Factor of Scale, As Illustrated by the Alkali Industry"

Box 6 of 7

"The History of Science, 1924-1974: As Reported in Isis"

Box 6 of 7

"Jacob Mathias Schleiden"

Box 6 of 7

"How the United States Became a Technological Culture...and How it is Reflected in Museums"

Box 6 of 7

"Docufacts: Or What is the Use of Museum Specimens? 0517f," Berkeley, August 1985

Box 6 of 7

"A Fogyish Look at Technology: Technology and the Museum, 0517f," November 1985

Box 6 of 7

"Some Observations on the History of Chemistry, 0541f," Chicago, 1985

Box 6 of 7

Box 7

General Correspondence

Box 7 of 7

Geomagnetism, 1983

Box 7 of 7

"The State of the World in 400, 1300, and 1700"

Box 7 of 7

"Docufacts: Or What is the Use of Museum Specimens? 0517f"

Box 7 of 7

"The Ancient Origin of the New Physics"

Box 7 of 7

"Robert Hare's Electrochemical Theory"

Box 7 of 7

"Apianus"

Box 7 of 7

"Popular and Recondite Science in Tudor and Stuart England"

Box 7 of 7

"Daniel Sennert, 1572-1637"

Box 7 of 7

"Salt and Environmental Pollution: An Historical View," (Research Notes) New York Academy of Sciences, May 24, 1984

Box 7 of 7

"Lana Terza" (Including black and white photographs)

Box 7 of 7

"Science in American History," Read at George Washington University, 1964

Box 7 of 7

"Earth Boring: Diffusion of Independent Discovery?"

Box 7 of 7

"Balances" and "...Oxygen and Hydrogen, and the Ratio of their Atomic Weights," Smithsonian Institution, 1895

Box 7 of 7

"Some Observations on the Historiography of the Industrial Revolution;" "Literary Background of the Industrial Revolution;" "Technology and Classification;" and "Francis Bacon and the Rise of British Technology"

Box 7 of 7

"The Origins of Chemistry," Manuscript by Robert P. Multhauf (2 folders)

Box 7 of 7

"The History of Common Salt," Manuscript by Robert P. Multhauf (3 folders)

Box 7 of 7