Lanouette/Szilard Papers, 1920-2006 (MSS 659)

Restrictions: Audiocassette recordings in boxes 8 through 18 in the INTERVIEWS ON CASSETTE TAPE series are restricted. Listening copies may be available for researchers. Also, the collection contains some photocopies of originals held by other institutions. Should users want reproductions of these documents, they must contact the owning institution.

Extent: 5 Linear feet (7 archives boxes, 11 card file boxes)

Papers relating to writer and public policy analyst William Lanouette's research for Genius in the Shadows: A Biography of Leo Szilard, the Man Behind the Bomb, published in 1994 with Szilard's brother Bela Silard as co-author. Research materials are mostly photocopies of correspondence, clippings, patent documents, and other materials related to Szilard's life and work. The collection also contains 180 audio cassette tapes of interviews with friends, colleagues, and coworkers of Szilard.

William Lanouette is a writer and public policy analyst whose main focus has been nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. He has written for The Atlantic, The Economist, and The Washinton Post, and has served as the Washington correspondent for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. From 1991-2006 he served as a senior analyst for energy and science issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Published in 1994, Genius in the Shadows was Lanouette's first book.

The Lanouette/Szilard Papers document Lanouette's research for the book Genius in the Shadows, a biography on physicist Leo Szilard's life and works. The collection is arranged in three series: 1) SUBJECT FILES, 2) WRITINGS BY LANOUETTE, and 3) INTERVIEWS ON CASSETTE TAPE.

Series 1: SUBJECT FILES

The SUBJECT FILES series holds the majority of Lanouette's research materials and dates from 1920 to 2006. It is arranged in four subseries: A) Leo Szilard, B) Translations of Leo Szilard Letters to Gertrude Weiss Szilard, C) Patents, and D) Other Subjects.

A) The Leo Szilard subseries contains materials relating directly to Szilard including biographical information, writings, speeches, and clippings collected by Lanouette.

B) The Translations of Leo Szilard Letters to Gertrud Weiss Szilard subseries contains Josef Ernst's English translations of Szilard's German letters dated 1937-1959 to his wife, Gertrud Weiss Szilard. Collection MSS 650, Leo Szilard Letters to Gertrud Weiss Szilard, at the UCSD Mandeville Special Collections Library, contains some, though not all, of the original letters in German.

C) The Patents subseries contains applications, agreements, and correspondence on patents sought by Szilard and Einstein.

D) The Other Subjects subseries is arranged alphabetically by subject name. Materials were used in Lanouette's research and include newspaper clippings, interview transcripts, Lanouette's notes, and some correspondence. Research topics include Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, Henry Kissinger, and Robert Oppenheimer.

Series 2: WRITINGS BY LANOUETTE

The WRITINGS BY LANOUETTE series contains photocopies, some annotated, of Lanouette's articles relating to Szilard and the Manhattan Project. The articles date 1992-2006 and are arranged alphabetically by title in one folder.

Series 3: INTERVIEWS ON CASSETTE TAPE

The INTERVIEWS ON CASSETTE TAPE series comprises 180 audio cassette tapes of interviews with 117 friends, colleagues, and coworkers of Szilard. The interviews were conducted by Lanouette between 1982 and 1988, with the majority dating after 1985. The series is arranged alphabetically by the last name of the interviewee. In the cases where there was more than one person interviewed on a single tape, the tape was filed under the name Lanouette listed first.

This collection has additional unprocessed materials not described in this finding aid. See the UC San Diego Library catalog record to view the acquisition dates and extent of unprocessed additions.

Container List

SUBJECT FILES, 1920-2006

Leo Szilard, 1920-1964

Box 1 Folder 1
Biographical, 1920-1960
Box 1 Folder 2
Chronology compiled by Lanouette, 1958-1963
Box 1 Folder 3-4
Clippings about Szilard
Box 1 Folder 5
Miscellaneous
Box 1 Folder 6
"On Memory and Recall"- Transcription from shorthand notebooks, 1964
Box 1 Folder 7
Proposal to the National Science Foundation for a roving professorship, 1956
Box 1 Folder 8
Speeches, 1961-1962
Box 1 Folder 9
Writings, 1957-1960

Translations of Leo Szilard letters to Gertrud Weiss Szilard, 1937-1959

Box 1 Folder 10
1937
Box 1 Folder 11
1938
Box 1 Folder 12
1939
Box 1 Folder 13
1941
Box 1 Folder 14
1942
Box 1 Folder 15
1943
Box 2 Folder 1
1944
Box 2 Folder 2
1945
Box 2 Folder 3
1946
Box 2 Folder 4
1947
Box 2 Folder 5
1948
Box 2 Folder 6
1949
Box 2 Folder 7
1950
Box 2 Folder 8
1951
Box 2 Folder 9
1952
Box 2 Folder 10
1953
Box 2 Folder 11
1954
Box 2 Folder 12
1955
Box 2 Folder 13
1956
Box 2 Folder 14
1957
Box 2 Folder 15
1958
Box 2 Folder 16
1959

Patents

Box 2 Folder 17
Applications and agreements
Box 2 Folder 18-19
Correspondence
Box 2 Folder 20
Miscellaneous

Other Subjects, 1924-2006

Box 2 Folder 21
A - Miscellaneous, 1953-2003
Box 2 Folder 22
Anderson, Herbert, 1951-1987
Box 2 Folder 23
B - Miscellaneous, 1933-2003
Box 2 Folder 24
Benjamin, John, 1958
Box 2 Folder 25
Bethe, Hans, 1986-1988
Box 2 Folder 26
Blum, Walter J., 1951-1997
Box 2 Folder 27
Borst, Lyle, 1959-1960
Box 3 Folder 1
Bronowski, Jacob, 1958-1989
Box 3 Folder 2
Byers, Nina, 2000-2003
Box 3 Folder 3
C - Miscellaneous, 1952-2001
Box 3 Folder 4
Compton, A. H., 1942
Box 3 Folder 5
Creutz, Edward, 1964-1987
Box 3 Folder 6
D - Miscellaneous, 1935-1988
Box 3 Folder 7
De Peyer, Jean, 1987-1988
Box 3 Folder 8
Delbruck, Max, 1956-1960
Box 3 Folder 9
Dyson, Freeman, 1962-1980
Box 3 Folder 10
Ehrenfest, P., 1933
Box 3 Folder 11
Einstein, Albert, 1924-2003
Box 3 Folder 12
Einstein letter to President Franklin Roosevelt - Photocopies of drafts and final, 1939-1955
Box 3 Folder 13
Elasser, Walter, 2007
Box 3 Folder 14
Elkes, Joel, 1986
Box 3 Folder 15
Emory University, 1985
Box 3 Folder 16
F - Miscellaneous, 1936-1997
Box 3 Folder 17
Feld, Bernard, 1984-1986
Box 3 Folder 18
Fermi, Enrico, 1936-1955
Box 3 Folder 19
Fox, Maurice, 1941-1988
Box 3 Folder 20
Franck, James, 1936-1993
Box 3 Folder 21
Friedman, Milton, 1986-1987
Box 3 Folder 22
Friendly, Alfred, 1946
Box 3 Folder 23
G - Miscellaneous, 1957-2006
Box 3 Folder 24
Gabor, Dennis, 1980-1988
Box 3 Folder 25
Garwin, Richard, 1986
Box 3 Folder 26
Gest, Howard, 1995
Box 4 Folder 1
Goldberg, Stanley, 1985-2003
Box 4 Folder 2
Goldhaber, Maurice, 1966
Box 4 Folder 3
Grodzins, Morton, 1954-1960
Box 4 Folder 5
H - Miscellaneous, 1933-1995
Box 4 Folder 6
Heisenberg, Werner K., 1956-1957
Box 4 Folder 7
Hess, Stephen, 1989
Box 4 Folder 8
Higinbotham, William, 1984-1988
Box 4 Folder 9
Hume, James, 1935-1994
Box 4 Folder 10
J - Miscellaneous, 1958-1988
Box 4 Folder 11
Joliot, G., 1939
Box 4 Folder 12
K - Miscellaneous, 1944-1995
Box 4 Folder 13
Kaysen, Carl, 1961-1963
Box 4 Folder 14
Kennedy, John F., 1960-1963
Box 4 Folder 15
Kerscher, Rudolf, 1987
Box 4 Folder 16
Khrushchev, Nikita, 1961
Box 4 Folder 17
Kincade, Bill, 1985
Box 4 Folder 18
Kissinger, Henry A., 1961-1964
Box 4 Folder 19
Klein, George, 1986
Box 4 Folder 20
Krewer, Semyon, 1939-1978
Box 4 Folder 21
Kurti, Nicholas, 1978-1998
Box 4 Folder 22
L - Miscellaneous, 1934-2006
Box 4 Folder 23
Lapp, Ralph E., 1987-1995
Box 4 Folder 24
Lederberg, Joshua, 1948-1988
Box 4 Folder 25
Lewis, Robert A. - Photocopy of diary (co-pilot of the Enola Gay), 1945
Box 4 Folder 26
Liebowitz, Benjamin, 1984
Box 4 Folder 27
Lindemann, Frederick A., 1938-1943
Box 4 Folder 28
Livingston, Robert B., 1958-1962
Box 4 Folder 29
Long, Franklin, 1986
Box 4 Folder 30
Lorenz, Konrad, 1987-1991
Box 4 Folder 31
M - Miscellaneous, 1960-2004
Box 4 Folder 32
Maas, Werner K., 1958-1983
Box 5 Folder 1
MacDuffie, Marshall, 1947-1960
Box 5 Folder 2
Marcus, Philip, 1983-1993
Box 5 Folder 3
Mark, Hermann, 1960-1987
Box 5 Folder 4
Marx, Samuel, 1987
Box 5 Folder 5
Melcher, Horst, 1979-1988
Box 5 Folder 6
Merton, Thomas, 2005
Box 5 Folder 7
Nethersols, N.N., 1955
Box 5 Folder 8
Novick, Aaron, 1950-1994
Box 5 Folder 9
O - Miscellaneous, 1934-1961
Box 5 Folder 10
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1950-1954
Box 5 Folder 11
Oram, Harold, 1946-1987
Box 5 Folder 12
Orlans, Harold, 1986
Box 5 Folder 13
Osmond, Humphry, 1942-1987
Box 5 Folder 14
Pallo, Gabor, 1985-1987
Box 5 Folder 15
Paneth, Friedrich A., 1929-1986
Box 5 Folder 16
Panofsky, W. K. H., 1963
Box 5 Folder 17
Pauling, Linus, 1950-2005
Box 5 Folder 18
Philipsborn, Jakob, 1986
Box 5 Folder 19
Piel, Gerard, 1988-1993
Box 5 Folder 20
Platt, John, 1960-1991
Box 5 Folder 21
Pok, Attila, 1986
Box 5 Folder 22
Polanyi, Michael, 1929-1987
Box 5 Folder 23
Pregel, Boris, 1941-1999
Box 5 Folder 24
Puck, Theodore, 1953-2005
Box 5 Folder 25
R - Miscellaneous, 1939-1945
Box 5 Folder 26
Rabi, Isidor I., 1934-1963
Box 5 Folder 27
Rabinowitch, Eugene, 1957-1987
Box 5 Folder 28
Racker, Franzisca, 1984-1992
Box 5 Folder 29
Raskin, Marcus, 1988-1993
Box 5 Folder 30
Rauh, Joseph, 1986
Box 6 Folder 1
Rich, Willard, undated
Box 6 Folder 2
Roberts, Richard B., 1939
Box 6 Folder 3
Rockefeller Foundation, 1934-1960
Box 6 Folder 4
Rotblat, Josef, 1957-1996
Box 6 Folder 5
Rutherford, Ernest, 1935
Box 6 Folder 6
S - Miscellaneous, 1933-1992
Box 6 Folder 7
Sachar, Abram L., 1953-1985
Box 6 Folder 8
Sachs, Alexander, 1939-1964
Box 6 Folder 9
Salk, Jonas, 1959-1964
Box 6 Folder 10
Seaborg, Glenn, 1987
Box 6 Folder 11
Seitz, Frederick, 1987-1989
Box 6 Folder 12
Shils, Edward, 1964-1997
Box 6 Folder 13
Silard, Bela, 1917-1989
Box 6 Folder 14
Simon, Francis, 1934-1992
Box 6 Folder 15
Simpson, Esther, 1960-1996
Box 6 Folder 16
Smith, Alice K., 1957-1960
Box 6 Folder 17
Spanel, Abe and Margaret, 1944-1990
Box 6 Folder 18
Straight, Michael, 1961-1988
Box 6 Folder 19
Strauss, Lewis L., 1936-1961
Box 6 Folder 20
Szilard, Louis and Tekla, 1920-1954

Includes several original letters from 1920 from Szilard's mother, Tekla Szilard.

Box 6 Folder 21
T - Miscellaneous, 1939-1991
Box 6 Folder 22
Tabin, Julius, 1964-1985
Box 6 Folder 23
Teller, Edward, 1945-1999
Box 7 Folder 1
U - Miscellaneous, 1954-1964
Box 7 Folder 2
United States Government - White House, 1961
Box 7 Folder 3
Volbach, Walther, 1983-1989
Box 7 Folder 4
Von Laue, Max, 1924-1985
Box 7 Folder 5
W - Miscellaneous, 1933-2002
Box 7 Folder 6
Wallace, Henry, 1945-1991
Box 7 Folder 7
Weart, Spencer, 1976
Box 7 Folder 8
Weisskopf, Victor, 1939-1985
Box 7 Folder 9
Wigner, Eugene, 1933-1987
Box 7 Folder 10
Zarnitz, Marie Luise, 1987
Box 7 Folder 11
Zinn, Walter, 1984-1988
Box 7 Folder 12
Zuberi, M., 1981-1994
Box 7 Folder 13
Unidentified, 1927-1958
Box 7 Folder 14-15
Miscellaneous news clippings, articles and research materials

WRITINGS BY LANOUETTE, 1992-2006

Box 7 Folder 16
Writings by Lanouette, 1992-2006

INTERVIEWS ON CASSETTE TAPE, 1982-1988

Box 8 Folder 1
Adams, James L., November 11, 1987

Adams, Ruth

Box 8 Folder 2
May 1, 1986
Box 8 Folder 3-4
October 21, 1986
Box 8 Folder 5-7
Anderson, Herb, October 6, 1986
Box 8 Folder 8-9
Arnold, J., February 11, 1987
Box 8 Folder 10
Auger, Pierre, July 3, 1987
Box 8 Folder 11
Benacerraf, Baruj, January 15, 1987
Box 8 Folder 12-13
Box 8 Folder 14
Bettelheim, Anna, October 2, 1986
Bihaly[?], Lazlo, May 25, 1986

See Esther Simpson interview cassette located in Box 17, Folder 5.

Box 8 Folder 15
Blum, Walter, February 26, 1987
Box 8 Folder 16
Brenner, Sydney, June 25, 1987
Box 8 Folder 17
Bresette, John F., April 18, 1988
Box 8 Folder 18
Bronowski, Rita, January 22, 1986
Box 9 Folder 1
Brooks, Harvey, November 9, 1987
Box 9 Folder 2-3
Brown, Harrison, October 6, 1986
Box 9 Folder 4-5
Cohn, Mel, August 11, 1987
Cooke, Arthur, May 26, 1986

See Margaret Gowing interview cassette located in Box 11, Folder 12.

Box 9 Folder 6
Cousins, Norman, August 1, 1986
Box 9 Folder 7-8
Creutz, Ed, August 8, 1987
Box 9 Folder 9
Crick, Francis, January 24, 1986

Danos, Alice

Box 9 Folder 10-12
June 10, 1986
Box 9 Folder 13-15
September 4, 1986
Box 9 Folder 16-17
Davis, Bernard, December 17, 1985
Box 10 Folder 1
Delbruck, Manny, February 9, 1987
Box 10 Folder 2-4
Detre, Roland, October 1-2, 1986
Box 10 Folder 5-6
Doering, William, November 12, 1986
Box 10 Folder 7
Doty, Paul, November 9, 1987
Box 10 Folder 8
Dulbecco, Renato, August 28, 1987
Box 10 Folder 9
Dyson, Freeman, December 1, 1986
Box 10 Folder 10
Edsall, John T., May 25, 1988
Box 10 Folder 11
Elsasser, Walter, February 20, 1987
Box 10 Folder 12
Fano, Ugo, March 17, 1987

Feld, Bernard T

Box 10 Folder 13
1982
Box 10 Folder 14
January 13, 1987
Box 10 Folder 15
Fisher, Roger, November 13, 1986
Box 10 Folder 16-17
Forbes, Allan, November 11, 1986
Box 11 Folder 1
Forbes, Allan, November 11, 1986

Fox, Maurice

Box 11 Folder 2
November 13, 1985
Box 11 Folder 3-4
December 16, 1985
Box 11 Folder 5
January 13, 1987
Box 11 Folder 6
May 24, 1988
Freedman, Lawrence, June 26, 1987

See Sydney Brenner interview cassette located in Box 8, Folder 16.

Box 11 Folder 7
Friedman, Milton, August 10, 1986
Box 11 Folder 8-11
Goldhaber, Maurice, December 4, 1985
Box 11 Folder 12
Gowing, Margaret, May 26, 1986

Green, Howard

Box 11 Folder 13-14
November 14, 1986
Box 11 Folder 15
January 15, 1987
Box 11 Folder 16
Grodzins, Ruth, February 26, 1987
Box 11 Folder 17
Grossman, Jerome, May 26, 1988
Box 12 Folder 1
Grossman, Jerome, May 26, 1988
Gueron, Jules, July 2, 1987

See Pierre Auger interview cassette located in Box 8, Folder 10.

Box 12 Folder 2
Hamermesh, Morton and Roger Stuewer, August 22, 1986
Box 12 Folder 3
Hartshorne, Charles, April 10, 1987
Box 12 Folder 4
Hausmann, Gertrude, October 1, 1986
Box 12 Folder 5-6
Hawkins, David and Frances, November 19, 1986
Box 12 Folder 7
Hotchkiss, Rollin, January 16, 1987

Hume, James P

Box 12 Folder 8-10
October 3, 1986
Box 12 Folder 10
October 4, 1986
Box 12 Folder 11
February 25, 1987
Box 12 Folder 12-13
Inglis, David, December 3, 1986
Jacob, Francois, July 1, 1987

See Sydney Brenner interview cassette located in Box 8, Folder 16.

Box 12 Folder 14
Johnson, Gerald, November 10, 1988
Box 12 Folder 15
Kalckar, Herman, January 13, 1987
Box 12 Folder 16-17
Kaysen, Carl, January 12, 1987
Box 13 Folder 1
Kelerman, Esther Scheiber, June 11, 1986
Box 13 Folder 2-3
Korodi, Albert, June 10, 1986
Box 13 Folder 4-5
Kurti, Nicholas, May 25, 1986
Box 13 Folder 6-7
Lapp, Ralph, April 6, 1987
Box 13 Folder 8-9
Lerman, Leonard, January 14, 1987
Box 13 Folder 10
Lerner, Max, January 23, 1986
Box 13 Folder 11-12
Levi, Edward, March 19, 1987
Box 13 Folder 13
Liebowitz, Elsbeth, October 2, 1986
Box 13 Folder 14-15
Lilly, John C., February 9, 1987
Box 13 Folder 16-17
Livingston, Robert, January 22, 1986
Box 14 Folder 1
Long, Franklin, November 21, 1985
Box 14 Folder 2
de Lozado, Antonio, April 25, 1987
Box 14 Folder 3
Luria, Salvador L., November 12, 1986
Box 14 Folder 4-5
Maas, Werner and Renata, May 19, 1987
Box 14 Folder 6-7
Mann, Norene, July 11, 1986
Box 14 Folder 8-9
Marcus, Philip, December 3, 1986

Mark, Hermann

Box 14 Folder 10
October 28, 1985
Box 14 Folder 11-12
November 24, 1985
Box 14 Folder 13
Marshall, John Jr., February 2, 1988
Box 14 Folder 14
McGovern, George, May 18, 1988
Box 14 Folder 15-16
Meselson, Matthew, November 10, 1986
Box 14 Folder 17
Morrison, Philip, November 11, 1986
Box 15 Folder 1
Neiger, Dorothy Dunaway, February 1, 1988

Novick, Aaron

Box 15 Folder 2-3
July 2, 1986
Box 15 Folder 4-7
August 11-12, 1986
Box 15 Folder 8
Orgel, Leslie, February 12, 1987
Box 15 Folder 9
Palevsky, Harry and Elaine, December 5, 1985
Box 15 Folder 10
Peierls, Rudolph, May 27, 1986
Box 15 Folder 11-12
Platt, John, January 12, 1987
Box 15 Folder 13
Puck, Theodore with David Hawkins and Walter Orr Roberts, November 18, 1986
Box 15 Folder 14
Puck, Theodore, November 18, 1986
Box 15 Folder 15-16
Rabi, Isador, August 19, 1985
Box 15 Folder 17
Racker, Franzisca, November 22, 1985
Box 16 Folder 1-2
Racker, Franzisca, November 22, 1985
Box 16 Folder 3
Raskin, Marcus, April 18, 1988
Box 16 Folder 4-5
Rathjens, George, November 10, 1986
Box 16 Folder 6
Rauh, Joseph Jr., March 20, 1986
Box 16 Folder 7
Rich, Alexander, May 25, 1988

Roberts, Walter Orr

Box 16 Folder 8-9
October 7, 1986
Box 16 Folder 10
November 19, 1986
Box 16 Folder 11
Rosenblatt, Maurice, February 3, 1986
Box 16 Folder 12
Rotblat, Joseph, September 21, 1985
Box 16 Folder 13-14
Sachar, Abram L., December 17, 1985
Box 16 Folder 15
Schelling, Thomas C., November 10, 1987
Box 16 Folder 16-17
Schorr, Lisbeth B., April 12, 1988
Box 17 Folder 1-2
Shurcliff, William, May 26, 1988
Box 17 Folder 3
Simon, Charlotte, May 27, 1986
Box 17 Folder 4-5
Simpson, Esther, May 25, 1986

See also Maurice Fox interview cassette located in Box 11, Folder 2 for interview dated October 3, 1985.

Box 17 Folder 6-7
Simpson, John, March 17, 1987
Box 17 Folder 8
Singer, Daniel, January 19, 1987
Box 17 Folder 9
Smith, Alice K. and Cyril, November 13, 1986
Box 17 Folder 10-11
Spanel, Margaret, December 2, 1986
Box 17 Folder 12
Straight, Michael, April 14, 1988
Box 17 Folder 13
Taylor, Ted, January 7, 1988
Telegdi, Valentine, July 5, 1987

See Pierre Auger interview cassette located in Box 8, Folder 10.

Box 17 Folder 14-15
Weisskopf, Victor, December 16, 1985
Box 17 Folder 16-17
Wiesner, Jerome, November 10, 1987
Box 18 Folder 1
Wigner, Eugene, October 12, 1984
Box 18 Folder 2
Wilson, Robert R., November 21, 1985
Box 18 Folder 3-4
Wood, Naomi and Ramsay, April 22, 1986
Box 18 Folder 5
York, Herbert, January 24, 1986
Zahler, Stan, November 22, 1985

See Franzisca Racker interview cassette located in Box 16, Folder 2.

Box 18 Folder 6-7
Zeisel, Eva, August 19, 1985

See also Eugene Wigner interview cassette located in Box 18, Folder 1 for interview dated June 10, 1988.

Box 18 Folder 8-9
Zeisel, Hans, February 25, 1987