Series B - Scientific research

This series consists of notebooks, laboratory notes, observations and working papers, drafts for publications, and correspondence. The material is arranged into ten subseries indicating the locations of the various laboratories, institutions and universities at which Frisch worked, in chronological order: Vienna; Berlin; Hamburg; Birkbeck College, London; Copenhagen; Birmingham; Liverpool; Los Alamos; Harwell; and Cambridge. A supplemental subseries has been added consisting of papers given by Ulla Frisch after the main body of papers.

Several of the diaries and notebooks in A.8-32 also contain some scientific information and should be consulted as supplementary sources.

The first two subseries are small: Vienna, B.1-2 and Berlin, B.3-7. For material concerning Frisch's appointment at Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR), see A.46, Correspondence and papers re arrangements to work with C. Müller.

The third subseries, Hamburg, B.8-42, dates from Frisch's work as assistant to Otto Stern (see What little I remember, pp. 41-56). See F. 123 for Stern's acknowledgement of Frisch's contribution to the work on molecular beams. The outgoing correspondence in B.39 - B.42, as well as B.73 - B.81 dates from 1930 - July 1939. These letters follow Frisch's own chronological order and includes personal and family as well as scientific letters.

The fourth subseries, Birkbeck College, London, B.43 consists of correspondence from 1943.

The fifth subseries, Copenhagen, B.44-94 dates from Frisch's work at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, directed by Niels Bohr (see What little I remember, pp. 81-119). The letters at B.73-81 are, like B.39-42, Frisch's carbons, in date order, of his outgoing letters both personal and scientific. The item numbers 83-94 in this subseries have not been allocated, and do not represent missing items. See also B.208, part of the supplemental papers supplied by Ulla Frisch.

Birmingham, B.95-104, is comprised almost entirely of correspondence. These are almost wholly concerned with research projects. Unlike the previous correspondence files, they may include both incoming and outgoing letters. For personal material relating to Frisch's appointment at Birmingham, departure from Copenhagen and settlement in Britain, see A.11, A.48-53. See also B.209-221, part of the supplemental papers supplied by Ulla Frisch.

Liverpool, B.105-131, includes research reports on nuclear projects, B.109-116, and correspondence, B.117-131, which are almost wholly concerned with research projects, and include incoming and outgoing letters. For material relating to Frisch's appointment at Liverpool, see A.55.

Virtually no material survives for Los Alamos, B.132-136A, because of the strict security restrictions enforced on all personnel. For personal material relating to Frisch's service at Los Alamos, see A.58-63 and also A.12-15. The subseries does include a letter from Louis, identified as Louis Slotin by Sir Rudolf Peierls, written a month before Slotin's fatal accident (B.136A).

The ninth subseries is Harwell, B.137-142. For personal material relating to Frisch's period at Harwell, see A.64, A.65. See also B.222, part of the supplemental papers supplied by Ulla Frisch.

The subseries Cambridge, B.143-B.207, is divided into materials relating to the Cavendish Laboratory (B.143-183) and Frisch's company Laser Scan Limited, B.184-207. The Cavendish Laboratory is further subdivided into Notebooks and research notes, B.143-152, Lectures, B.153.175, and Correspondence, B.176-183. The lectures are arranged in chronological order as far as possible. The majority are graduate and undergraduate lectures given at Cambridge University, but see B.167-169 for lectures as visiting scientist at CERN 1967. Almost all the work is in Frisch's hand and is rarely written up as a narrative. The Laser Scan Limited materials are further subdivided into Notebooks and research notes, B.184-196, Publications and manuals, B.197-200, and Correspondence, B.201-207. The Notebooks and research notes include Frisch's later miscellaneous projects related to the company, as well as the original SWEEPNIK material. There are also some SWEEPNIK notes in B.143, 'ORF 18', hard-cover notebook. The correspondence includes Frisch's folder of material relating to the history of Laser Scan (B.201-205), with notes, drawings, and correspondence. See also B.223-224, part of the supplemental papers supplied by Ulla Frisch.

The last subseries, B.208-224, consists of supplemental material given by Ulla Frisch after the main body of papers arrived. These documents relate to nuclear fission in the first half of 1939: correspondence between Frisch and Lise Meitner, correspondence between Frisch and Niels Bohr, two drafts of Bohr's paper on the disintegration of heavy nuclei and correspondence between Frisch and Nature.