| Description | From a collection of personal letters at Sir Francis Simon's home. The letters were filed alphabetically by names of correspondent. This arrangement has been maintained.
The correspondence deals with Simon's life and career both pre and post-Second World War. Although titled 'personal', the files cover such topics as Simon's scientific work at Berlin, Breslau and Oxford, his attitude to the UK's treatment of emigre Jews from Germany, his work on the 'Tube Alloys' project during the Second World War and his views on academics in post-war Germany.
The correspondents in this section with whom Simon exchanged the most letters were: Prof Max von Laue (1951-1955); Kurt Mendelssohn (1931-1946); Prof A Michels; Prof NF Mott (1934-1955); Prof Walther Nernst (1934-1955); Martin Ruhemann (1932-1940); Dr Charles F Squire and Prof JH van Vleck (1936-1943). There is also a small amount of correspondence with Albert Einstein. |