The collection is particularly noteworthy for its coverage of Adams's lectures, research and incoming correspondence.
Section A, Biographical, is not substantial. It includes a little material of Adams's relating to his own career including three Bedford School notebooks and his PhD thesis, and material assembled by I M James during the preparation of his Royal Society memoir.
Section B, Research, provides extensive documentation of Adams's research from the 1950s until his death. It is presented in an alphabetical sequence arranged by subject title.
Section C, Lectures, is the largest in the collection. Two subsections comprise Adams's lecture notes and other teaching material for courses given at Manchester and Cambridge, and material from conferences and seminars attended by Adams throughout the world including drafts of Adams's contributions and notes of contributions by others. A third subsection consists of Adams's ms notes found in filing cabinet drawers labelled 'Other people's lectures'. It includes notes taken by Adams as an undergraduate at Cambridge in 1949.
Section D, Publications, is very slight. It includes drafts of a few of Adams's scientific papers.
Section E, Correspondence, contains virtually no extended exchanges of correspondence as very few copies of Adams's own letters survive. There is, however, significant correspondence from colleagues such as M F (later Sir Michael) Atiyah, M G Barratt, P J Hilton, I M James and S MacLane, sometimes extending over a period of twenty or thirty years.
This section contains material gathered after Adams's death, primarily by I. M. James while working on the memoir for the Royal Society published in 1990. This includes letters from former colleagues and students with descriptions and stories about Adams, and includes a photograph taken of Adams after climbing on top of a sculpture at midnight and the eulogy delivered in Trinity College Chapel by J. P. May at the memorial service in April 1993.
The Independent obituary dated 14 January 1989. The Times obituary dated 30 January 1989.
Letters from C. S. Nicholls of the Dictionary of National Biography, Friedrich Hirzebruch, and Adrian Adams.
Material assembled by I. M. James during the preparation of his Royal Society memoir of Adams, with letters from Tony Bahri (includes photograph of Adams on top of a sculpture in 1983), Geoffrey Best, Peter Bousfield, and A. B. Clegg.
Material assembled by I. M. James during the preparation of his Royal Society memoir of Adams from Donald M. Davis (enclosing a copy of a letter from Adams to Davis), John P. C. Greenlees, and Victor K. A. M. Gugenheim.
Material assembled by I. M. James during the preparation of his Royal Society memoir of Adams with letters from Peter Johnstone and David G. Kendall with J. P. May's eulogy for Adams, 29 April 1989.
Material assembled by I. M .James during the preparation of his Royal Society memoir of Adams from R. M. F. Moss, enclosing a letter from Adams dated 28 June 1960, and J. C. Polkinghorne.
Material assembled by I. M. James during the preparation of his Royal Society memoir of Adams with letters from Douglas C. Ravenel to Grace Adams, and N. Ray, J. A. Sjogren, and V. Snaith to I. M. James.
Material assembled by I. M. James during the preparation of his Royal Society memoir of Adams with letters from W. A. Sutherland, Martin C. Tangora (a printout of an email), and Charles B. Thomas.
Part of the material gathered by I. M. James for his memoir. The letter encloses several letters from Adams to Grant, and two syllabi from courses at the University of Manchester in the 1960s.
Photocopies of various writings by Adams: 'Report on Tenure of a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship', Adams's report on his research conducted in USA 1958. 'Conversation between a Topologist and Two Machines', 10 January 1984. 'An Inquiry into some work of William M Singer,' not dated.
Photocopied letter to a research student, 11 November 1981.
On the occasion of the inaugural J. H. C. Whitehead Lecture, 28 June 1974, Adams prepared 'a wall-chart showing the pupils of Whitehead and his pupils' pupils, and so on.' The wall-chart is included with letters from John M. Howie, David B. A. Epstein, Derek A. Waller, Shaun Wylie, C. R. F. Maunder, and C. T. C. Wall.
Correspondence between I. M. James and D. J. H. Garling. Includes only those working under Adams for more than one year.
'1'. Inscribed inside front cover 'D. Adams I. VI Calculus' with list of contents given beneath. Also used from the back for mathematics notes. Hardback notebook, paginated.
'2'. Inscribed inside front cover 'D. Adams VI Mathematics'. Also used from the back. Hardback notebook.
'3'. Inscribed inside front cover 'J.F. Adams VI '. Also used from the back. Hardback notebook.
Bound carbon typescript.
Three letters re: appointment to University Assistant Lectureship, possible College Fellowship, etc.
Offers of appointment from Adrian Albert at the University of Chicago 1959, and 1960-61, from A. Kosinski at Rutgers University in 1966; a letter from James Simons declining Adams's application for a post at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1970.
Correspondence re: award of Honorary Doctorate of the University of Heidelberg, March 1985-July 1986 including letters from Albrecht Dold, Eric Friedlander, Fritz John, and Ib Madsen.
The material is principally Adams's undated MS drafts, notes and calculations documenting his research from the 1950s until his death. It was found in Adams's own folders with titles inscribed thereon. These titles have been reproduced in the catalogue entries and form the basis for the arrangement of the material in an alphabetical sequence. At the end of this sequence is miscellaneous research material including 'work done' and 'work in progress'. The contents of bulky folders have been subdivided for ease of reference.
Includes untitled 12pp ms draft beginning 'Let be a principal ideal domain of coefficients'.
Miscellaneous ms notes etc.
Includes note on back of 1960 Trinity Hall register of addresses. Some sets of calculations have later annotations by Adams.
Includes letter from D Rees, nd, and C Hooley, 17 March 1966.
MS notes on 'o) Jordan-Holder Theorem'.
Miscellaneous notes.