Ernest Harry
Vestine Papers, 1894-1950 (bulk 1942-1947)
DTM-2005-03
Introduction
Abstract: This
collection consists of the personal papers of Ernest Harry Vestine. He worked
for the Carnegie Institution of WashingtonÕs Department of Terrestrial
Magnetism from 1938-1957. The papers in this collection are mainly reflective of
his work and research at the department during World War II.
Extent: 4.75 linear
feet: 2 document boxes, 1 flat box, 2 oversize records center cartons.
Acquisition: The
records have been in the possession of Department of Terrestrial Magnetism since
their creation.
Access Restrictions: There
are no access restrictions.
Copyright: Copyright
is held by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of
Washington. For permission to reproduce or publish please contact the
archivist at the department.
Preferred Citation: Ernest
Harry Vestine Papers, 1894-1949, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie
Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.
Processing:
Processing was completed in February 2005, by Jennifer Snyder.
This collection was processed through the generous support
of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Biographical Note
Ernest Harry Vestine was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 9
May 1906. When he was two, his parents moved to Alberta, Canada where he was
raised and attended school. Vestine earned his BS in 1931 in physics and math.
In 1937 he earned a PhD in applied mathematics from the University of London.
He was formally hired by the Carnegie Institution of WashingtonÕs Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM) in 1938, though he had been a collaborator with the
Department since the early 1930s.
The following is excerpted from the American National
Biography entry on Harry Vestine by G.A. Good.
Vestine joined the DTM as it neared the
end of its decades-long geomagnetic survey of the planet. Bringing to the
department the mathematical and organizational skills necessary for the
analysis of this data and completion of the projectÉVestine was hired in
January 1938 as a research assistant and within a year was promoted to chief of
the DTMÕs section [on] Land Magnetic Survey.
[It] resulted in VestineÕs most
important work, published in two volumes in 1947, The Description of the
EarthÕs Main Magnetic Field and Its Secular Change, 1905-1945 and The Geomagnetic Field: Its Description
and Analysis. The latter volume
concentrated on variations of EarthÕs magnetism. These unprecedented analyses
made possible advances in theories of geomagnetism.
Vestine contributed fundamentally to
the full range of geomagnetic investigation, from events in EarthÕs core to
others in the magnetosphereÉ.
In 1946 Vestine broadened his duties at
the DTM, becoming head of the Section on Theoretical Geophysics. While he
maintained his role in geomagnetic research, he also collaborated on seismic
and cosmic ray projects.
He left the DTM and joined RAND
Corporation in 1957 to devote more time to space and planetary science and
national security issues.
Vestine died in Santa Monica, California 18 July 1968. A
crater on the Moon was named for him in honor of his contributions to space
science.
Scope and Content
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into two series:
Series 1: Research and Reports,
1894, 1923-1950, n.d.
Subseries 1: Files, 1894,
1923-1949
Subseries 2: Computation
Notebooks, 1932-1950, n.d.
Series 2: Correspondence and
Memoranda, 1936-1947
Series 1: Research and Reports, 1894, 1923-1950, n.d.
This series contains VestineÕs office files and computation
notebooks. It is divided into two subseries.
Series 1, Subseries 1: Files, 1894, 1923-1949
This subseries contains office files (presumably) left
behind by Vestine when he left DTM. The files contain his research on places,
instruments, field observations, and other geomagnetic related matters. The
files are arranged alphabetically. Many of the folders in this series have
items worth noting:
- Expeditions -- includes
ÒInstructions for the Scientific Work of the MacMillan Arctic Expedition
of 1923-1924Ó
- Fluxmeters -- includes
correspondence and reports (with photographs) relevant to College, Alaska,
& Cheltenham, MD magnetic observatories
- Ivigtut, Greenland -- contains
correspondence between J.A. Fleming and outside people regarding the
Ivigtut observatory
- Magnetic secular change:
Western Hemisphere -- contains work completed by Lucille Laporte, a
computer at DTM
- ObserversÕ reports -- contains
reports from Earl Hanson, J.P. Ault, etc. and correspondence between J.A.
Fleming and various observers
- Reduction of field
observations -- contains a report entitled ÒGeophysical Work in the USSRÓ
dated 1944
- Secular variation [L.A.
Bauer?] -- this report may be L.A. BauerÕs rough sketch of thesis on
secular variation.
Series 1, Subseries 2: Computation Notebooks, 1932-1950,
n.d.
This subseries contains VestineÕs computation notebooks.
They are arranged alphabetically as the dates of some were not apparent.
Series 2: Correspondence and Memoranda, 1936-1947
This series is arranged alphabetically. It includes
VestineÕs correspondence with various observatories, agencies, and NOrd.
Folder Listing
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Box
|
Folder
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Series 1: Research and Reports, 1894, 1923-1950, n.d.
Subseries 1: Files, 1894, 1923-1949
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1
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1
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Expeditions, 1923-1925
|
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2-3
|
|
Fluxmeters, 1942-1944
|
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4
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|
Isomagnetic Charts, 1942-1947
|
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5
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|
Ivigtut, Greenland, 1943-1944
|
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6
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|
Land magnetic observations, 1927
|
|
7
|
|
Land magnetic survey, 1938-1941
|
|
8
|
|
Land magnetic survey: Annual reports, 1939-1946
|
|
9
|
|
Land magnetic survey: Monthly reports, 1940-1942
|
|
10
|
|
Magnetic secular change: Western hemisphere, 1946
|
|
11
|
|
Miscellaneous research, 1942-1944
|
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12
|
|
Monthly reports: DTM, 1946
|
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13
|
|
ObserversÕ reports, 1928-1938
|
|
14
|
|
Progress reports, 1942-1946
|
2
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1
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|
Reduction of field observations, [1940s]
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2
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Reduction of field observations: Instructions, 1942-1944
|
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3
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Reduction of field observations: Instructions, 1944
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4
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|
Reduction of geomagnetic observations to epoch, 1943
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5
|
|
Secular variation [L.A. Bauer?], 1894
|
3
|
1
|
|
Work reports, 1943-1949
|
3
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2
|
|
Work reports: NOrd, 1945, [1940s]
|
2
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6
|
|
Work to be completed, 1944
|
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7
|
|
|
|
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Series 1: Research and Reports, 1894, 1923-1950, n.d.
Subseries 2: Computation Notebooks, 1932-1950, n.d.
|
|
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Current Systems
of Magnetic Storms, 1938-1939
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4
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Storms,
1932-1933
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|
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Storms
Following Sudden Commencements A: Cheltenham Tucson San Juan, n.d.
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|
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Storms
Following Sudden Commencements B: I - Horizontal Intensity/III Ionospheric
Changes During Storms, ca. 1950
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Storms
Following Sudden Commencements C: II Initial Phase, n.d.
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Storms
Following Sudden Commencements D: Graphs, n.d.
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|
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Sudden
Commencements Crochets Initial Phase of Storms Book (1) , n.d.
|
5
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Sudden
Commencements Crochets Initial Phase of Storms Book (2) , n.d.
|
|
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Work on
Wiener's Time Series Analysis by Laguerre Polynomials, ca.1941
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Series 2: Correspondence and Memoranda, 1936-1947
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|
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Alaska: Correspondence, 1942-1944
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2
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8
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General correspondence: A-Z, 1936-1940
|
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9
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General correspondence: A-M, 1941-1944
|
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10
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General correspondence: N-Z, 1941-1944
|
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11
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Miscellaneous correspondence, 1942-1945
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12
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Miscellaneous memoranda, 1942-1945
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13
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Navy: Correspondence, 1940-1945
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14
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Navy: Correspondence, 1946-1947
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15
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Navy: Correspondence re: reports and memoranda, 1942-1945
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16
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Office chart, 1946
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3
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3
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Subject Terms
Topics: Bauer,
L. A. (Louis Agricola), 1865-1932
Fleming, J. A. (John Adam),
1877-1956
Geomagnetism
Geomagnetic observatories
Geophysics
Hanson, Earl Parker, b. 1899
Parkinson, W. C. (William
Charles), 1918-
Occupation: Geophysicists
Corporate
Names: Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
Forms: Annual
reports
Correspondence
Laboratory
notebooks
Monthly reports
Progress reports
Bibliography
Good, Gregory A.
ÒErnest Harry Vestine.Ó American National Biography, ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, 22:343-344.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Related Collections
Papers of E.H.
Vestine, 1932-1968. [unprocessed] Manuscript Division, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.
