Smithsonian Videohistory Collection

Background

Riccardo Giacconi, astrophysicist and Nobel laureate, is regarded for pioneering the field of X-ray astronomy. Much of Giacconi's pioneering work took place during his tenure at American Science & Engineering, Inc. where Giacconi and his team discovered the first celestial X-ray source outside the solar system and designed and fabricated the first imaging X-ray telescope.

Giacconi received his Ph.D. in physics in 1954 from the University of Milan where he began his professional career as a member of the teaching staff. He was awarded a two-year Fulbright Fellowship to Indiana University in 1956. After one year as a research associate at the Cosmic Ray Laboratory at Princeton University, he took the post of senior scientist, vice president in charge of the Space Research and Systems Division, at the American Science & Engineering, Inc. in 1959. He stayed at AS&E, serving as executive vice president and a member of the board of directors, until 1973, when he left to become associate director of the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CFA) and professor of astronomy at Harvard University. He remained at the CFA until 1981 when he was appointed first director of the Space Telescope Science Institute and professor of physics and astronomy at The Johns Hopkins University. In 1991 he was also appointed professor of physics at the University of Milan. Giacconi directed the European Southern Observatory where he oversaw the development and construction of the Very Large Telescope from 1993 to 1999. He then served as president of Associated Universities, Inc., the operator of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory from 1999 to 2004. He is currently a research professor at The Johns Hopkins University. Giacconi has been awarded numerous prizes for his scientific research, including the 2002 Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of cosmic x-ray sources.

In Session One, David H. DeVorkin, curator, Department of Astronautics, National Air and Space Museum, conducted a videotaped interview of Giacconi after a January 22, 2004, symposium in Giacconi’s honor held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and sponsored by its Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention & Innovation. The interview discussed his education, research, and career in astrophysics.

Video Sessions

This collection is consists of one interview session, totaling approximately 5 hours of recordings, and 110 pages of transcripts. There are three generations of tape for each session: original tapes, VHS reference tapes, and audio-cassette reference tapes. In total, this collection is comprised of 5 original Beta-SP videotapes, 5 VHS reference videotapes, and 5 reference audiotapes.

Session One (January 22, 2004), conducted after a symposium held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. David Devorkin provided a personal perspective on the career of Riccardo Giacconi, with emphasis on his formative years, influences, and career, including:

• reminiscences of his early years and education;
• participation on Project Starfish;
• his role as principle investigator NASA programs, including SAS-A (Uhuru), SO-54 (Skylab), HEAO-2 ("Einstein"), AXAF (Chandra), 1973-1981;
• work on the Hubble Space Telescope;
• thoughts on the exploration of Mars.

Original Masters: 5 Beta SP videotapes
Reference Copies: 5 VHS videotapes, 5 audiotapes
Transcript: 110 pages (unprocessed)
5 hours