In researching the growth of NRAO and American radio astronomy, we have been aided by the collections in the NRAO/AUI Archives. Holdings include the formal records of NRAO, papers of many early NRAO staff members, as well as the personal papers of some of the pioneers of US radio astronomy, especially Grote Reber, as well as Ronald Bracewell, Bernard Burke, Marshall Cohen, John Kraus, and Gart Westerhout.
We are grateful to the AUI Board, and especially Patrick Donahoe and Robert Hughes, for making the records of AUI Board meetings available. We must also acknowledge the resources of many other institutional archives and of the Library of Congress. Shelly Erwin and Loma Karklins gave their generous help and support during many visits to the Caltech Archives to examine the papers of Jesse Greenstein, Lee DuBridge, Alan Moffet, and Gordon Stanley. Gordon’s children, Teressa and Luise, kindly made available some of their father’s personal papers. Janice Goldblum at the National Academy of Sciences Archives provided us with access to the records of the 1964 Whitford and the 1972 and 1973 Greenstein reviews of astronomy and astrophysics, as well as records of the early meetings of the USNC-URSI commission on radio astronomy. Elise Lipkowitz facilitated access to the records of the NSF’s National Science Board (NSB) during the critical period surrounding the establishment and early years of NRAO. Shaun Hardy helped us research the papers of Merle Tuve at the Carnegie Institution Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Robin McElheny at the Harvard University Archives facilitated our access to the papers of Harvey Brooks, Ed Purcell, Bart Bok, Donald Menzel, and Leo Goldberg. Brian Andreen at the Research Corporation kindly gave us access to their files related to their long-term support of Grote Reber. Bernard Schermetzler at the University of Wisconsin Archives made available Karl Jansky’s letters written to his father in 1932 and 1933, which contain regular reports on the work leading to his remarkable discovery, along with snippets of life during those difficult depression years.
Tony Tyson and Bob Wilson provided much valuable information on Karl Jansky from the Bell Laboratories Archives. Karl Jansky’s widow, Alice, and their children, Ann Moreau and David, shared with us memories of Karl Jansky and the environment at Bell Labs during the 1930s. Miller Goss kindly made available his extensive research on Joe Pawsey, including privately held Pawsey family papers provided by Joe Pawsey’s son, Hastings Pawsey. Nora Murphy, MIT Archivist for Reference, Outreach, and Instruction, and Bonny Kellermann helped provide the recording of Otto Struve’s 1959 Karl Taylor Compton Lecture. Steven Dick kindly gave us copies of Frank Drake’s 1961 presentation at the Washington Philosophical Society, which led to the first conference on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. We are also indebted to Richard Wielebinski for sharing with us his inside view of the activities leading to the construction of the German 100 m radio telescope.
Many of our colleagues read early versions of chapters, provided additional information, and made valuable suggestions for improvement. We thank Jaap Baars, Barry Clark, Marshall Cohen, Steven Dick, Bob Dickman, Pat Donahoe,
