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		Bitter, Francis, 1902-1967.

	Subjects
		Business consultants.
		Electrodynamics -- Study and teaching.
		Electromagnets -- Research.
		Ferromagnetism -- Research.
		Magnetism -- Study and teaching.
		Government consultants.
		Patents aat
		American Academy of Arts and Sciences.).
		American Association of Physics Teachers.
		American Institute of Physics.
		American Philosophical Society
		American Physical Society.
		Arthur D. Little, Inc.
		Bell Telephone Laboratories
		Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory.
		Jackson & Moreland.
		Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.
		Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Geology and Geophysics -- Study and teaching -- 1960-1967.
		Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics -- Study and teaching -- 1945-1960.
		Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- Faculty -- Personal and professional papers.
		Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research Laboratory of Electronics.
		Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel.
		National Research Council (U.S.)
		Royal Society Mond Laboratory.
		United States. Navy. Magnetism Division.
		Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Magnet Division.
		Bloch, Felix, 1905-
		Brossel, Jean.
		Bush, Vannevar, 1890-1974.
		Cockcroft, John, Sir, 1897-1967.
		Compton, K. T. (Karl Taylor), 1887-1954.
		Condon, Edward Uhler, 1902-1974.
		Darrow, Karl K. (Karl Kelchner), 1891-
		Fowler, C. M.
		Fowler, R. H. (Ralph Howard), 1889-1944.
		Kastler, Alfred.
		Rashevsky, Nicolas, 1899-
		Seitz, Frederick, 1911-2008
		Yensen, Trygve D. (Trygve Dewey), 1884-1950.
		Zwicky, F. (Fritz), 1898-
		Brot, P. C.
		Chubb, Lewis Warrington, b. 1882.
		de Klerk, Dirk.
		Diaries.
		Notebooks.
		Minutes.
		Reports.
		Sketches.
		Drawings.
		Blueprints.

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		Bitter, Francis, 1902-1967.

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		Francis Bitter paper...



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Francis Bitter papers, 1925-1967.

by Bitter, Francis, 1902-1967.

17.3 cubic feet (17 records cartons) and (1 manuscript box).

Owning Repository:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections. M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

http://www.aip.org/history/ead/browse.html#mit_bitter (Online finding aid)

Country of Repository:

Biography/History:

Francis Bitter, 1902-1967, B.S. 1925, Ph.D. 1928, Columbia University, worked at the California Institute of Technology and the Westinghouse Research Laboratories and studied at Cambridge University, England, before coming to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1934 as an associate professor in the Department of Mining and Metallurgy. A magnet laboratory was established at MIT by 1938 largely through his efforts, and in 1939 he created what was then the highest continuous magnetic field ever achieved in a new type of electromagnet. During World War II he worked with the Naval Bureau of Ordnance in England on methods to demagnetize German mines in the English Channel. After the war he returned to MIT as professor of physics to conduct research in nuclear magnetism. He became a full professor in 1951 and served as associate dean of the School of Science from 1956 to 1960. In 1960 he joined the Department of Geology and Geophysics to do research on terrestrial magnetism and the earth's magnetic envelope of plasma.

He also assumed primary responsibility for the design and completion of the National Magnet Laboratory at MIT, funded by the United States Air Force. The facility's research program focused on earth and space sciences. He was the author of many papers and books, including Magnets: The Education of a Physicist, a book of personal memoirs in the Physical Science Study Committee series. The National Magnet Laboratory was renamed the Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory in his honor 21 November 1967.

Scope of Material:

Bitter's career as a member of the MIT faculty is documented in a small amount of course notes, exams, and student reports from classes he taught in electrodynamics, magnetism, and physics. Some correspondence with administrators and students records his role as master of MIT's Graduate House. Correspondence, notebooks, and computations capture Bitter's efforts to establish and carry out research on magnets at MIT from the late 1930s, when the first magnet laboratory was built, until the 1960s, when the National Magnet Laboratory was established at MIT. Correspondence, graphs, blueprints, and reports trace his postwar work to develop nuclear magnet resonance. Notebooks and progress reports demonstrate how that work led him to collaborative efforts with the Research Laboratory of Electronics.

Much of the collection consists of correspondence with colleagues, professional societies, and companies he worked with. There are applications, descriptions, and other technical data about patents he applied for while at Westinghouse. There is also technical correspondence with Westinghouse about magnetic alloys and other projects Bitter worked on as a consultant in later years. The collection documents other consulting work, including projects for the United States Navy's Electricity and Magnetism Division and the Ferromagnetic Committee. There is extensive correspondence about the Atomic Energy Commission Project for the Los Alamos Laboratories in the 1960s. Bitter's interest in education is revealed in his correspondence with professional societies including the Advisory Board of Education for the National Research Council and the Massachusetts Advisory Committee in Science and Mathematics. Also included are copies of his articles and books, correspondence about his speeches, and reprints of articles of his colleagues.

Access Restrictions:

There are no restrictions on access to this collection. Retrieval requires advance notice.

Finding aid available.

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