Scope and Content Note
The papers of Nathaniel Charles Gerson (1915-2002) span the years 1928-1998, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period 1950-1970. The collection focuses on Gerson's career as a research physicist, particularly on his involvement with the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958). The collection consists of four series: General Correspondence, United States National Committee for the International Geophysical Year, Writings, and Subject File. Included in the papers are biographical material, correspondence, drafts and offprints of scientific papers, memoranda, minutes, notes and equations, reports, research material, rosters, schematics, and miscellaneous material.
The General Correspondence series consists of letters sent and received primarily from family members, friends, colleagues, employers, business suppliers, and professional organizations, such as Mitre Corporation, Syracuse University Research Corporation, American Geophysical Union, National Academy of Sciences, and companies supplying scientific equipment for expeditions. The series also contains correspondence relating to the education of Gerson's children, recommendations for membership in the Cosmos Club, with which Gerson was very involved, and lists of books and serials on physics donated to the library at Brandeis University.
The United States National Committee for the International Geophysical Year series is the largest in the collection. From 1953 to 1957 Gerson served as secretary of both the organization and its executive committee. The series provides information regarding the planning and execution of projects and expeditions undertaken during the International Geophysical Year. Subjects include budget estimates on projects, ballistics research and rocket exploration of the upper atmosphere, expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica, and cooperative efforts with the Soviet Union.
The Writings series is organized in two parts. Writings by Gerson include drafts and offprints of scientific papers dealing with various aspects in physics. Writings by others represent drafts and offprints by colleagues and associates. Used frequently by Gerson as reference material, these relate to meteorology, geomagnetism, aurora and airglow, ionospheric physics, solar activity, cosmic rays, glaciology, radio propagation, oceanography, rockets and satellites, seismology, and gravity.
The Subject File consists of both personal and professional material. The former includes biographical material and information relating to the Cosmos Club. Files more professional in nature include lists of classified records destroyed, notes and equations on physics, and issues of RASO, published by Radio Amateur Scientific Observations, an amateur radio organization cofounded by Gerson to provide general research information.