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Records of Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) study, 1983-1988.

by American Physical Society.

2.25 lin. ft. (5 boxes)

Owning Repository:

American Institute of Physics. Niels Bohr Library & Archives. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

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

Country of Repository:

Biography/History:

This professional society of educators, industrial and government research workers, and students of physics and related fields, was established in 1899 to promote the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of physics. It was a founding Member Society of the American Institute of Physics. The Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) Study was commissioned by the American Physical Society on November 20, 1983 to evaluate the status of the science and technology of DEW. A study group was formed by November 1984 with the goal of creating an unclassified report for the APS's membership and others with an interest in DEW. The report was to contain basic technical information about DEW and serve as a reference point for public discussions. The study concentrated on the physical basis of high intensity lasers and energetic particle beams, beam control and propagation, and other issues. The study found significant gaps in the scientific and engineering understanding of many issues associated with the development of DEW technologies. The report was released in April 1987 and it generated controversy among scientists and within the United States Congress.

Scope of Material:

This collection contains materials about the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), the APS's DEW Study, and the APS's Source Term Study. The SDI materials include correspondence, press releases, magazine and newspaper clippings, papers and reports, materials covering the actions of the United States Congress and SDI, and petitions for and against SDI. The APS DEW Study materials contain the study proposal, correspondence about the study, funding, members of the study, cooperation with the Department of Defense and the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, and reactions to the study by scientists and Congress. The correspondence also includes responses to a guest comment piece by Robert R. Wilson in Physics Today. The newspaper, magazine, and television clippings include those mentioning the study, reactions to the study, and the controversy following its release. The papers and reports include a printed copy of the final study from Reviews in Modern Physics. The collection also contains materials regarding the actions of Congress in response to the APS DEW Study. The Source Term Study materials include correspondence, press releases, newspaper and magazine clippings, and papers and reports. Individuals represented in the collection include: Val Fitch; Gregory H. Canavan; Frederick Seitz; Robert R. Wilson; and Lowell Wood.

Received from APS Washington Office, September 1999.

Access Restrictions:

Permission of an officer of depositing organization required for access to records less than 25 years old.

Finding aid available, 5 pp.

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AIP International Catalog of Sources