Scope and Content Note
The papers of the Clinton Joseph Davisson (1881-1958) span the years 1908-1962, with the bulk of the material dating from 1937 to 1946. The papers are organized into the following series: Correspondence , Scientific Papers , Miscellany , and Oversize .
The Correspondence includes mostly letters received by Davisson from family members and are generally of a nonscientific nature. Included with the 1937 correspondence is a volume of letters and a scrapbook containing correspondence, photographs, clippings, and printed ephemera relating to Davisson's winning of the Nobel Prize in 1937. A few letters addressed to Davisson's wife, Charlotte Sara Davisson, and one of his sons, Owen Davisson, conclude the series.
The Scientific Papers , consisting of articles, memoranda, and reports, encompass the major areas of Davisson's research while employed by the Western Electric Company and Bell Telephone Laboratories. Many of the papers relate to Davisson's study of the secondary emisson of electrons. His investigations into this subject led to his experimental demonstration of electron diffraction, thus confirming the wave properties of electrons. There are numerous papers relating to his interest in electron optics and the construction of instruments for electron focusing, as well as papers concerning crystal physics relevant to the development by Bell Telephone Laboratories of quartz crystal plates as circuit elements. Included with the papers are notes, statistics, blueprints, graphs, photographs, and other research material.
The Miscellany is mostly comprised of the lecture notes Davisson used while a visiting professor in physics at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He taught undergraduate and graduate courses and directed doctoral thesis research work. Included also are nonscientific articles, biographical material, certificates and awards, photographs, and speeches.