| Reference number | MS/850 |
| Level | SubFonds |
| Title | Papers concerning nuclear fission by Hans von Halban and Lew Kowarski and correspondence regarding their deposit with the Royal Society |
| Date | 1939-1942 |
| Description | Scientific papers concerning early experiments and findings on nuclear fission. Based on research carried out by Hans von Halban and Lew Kowarski, first in France with Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie's 'Paris Group' and later at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, with F W Fenning, H F Freundlich, and Nicholas Kemmer for the MAUD Committee and wartime Tube Alloys project; clandestine research concerned with developing nuclear weapons. Papers deposited by James Chadwick, Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett and David R Pye during the second world war, with the request that they be kept sealed by the Royal Society as they were too sensitive for publication at the time. Intended for eventual publication in 'Proceedings of the Royal Society 'C''. With original wax-sealed envelopes and associated correspondence regarding the papers being deposited with the Royal Society. |
| Extent | 18 items [1 MS Box, large] |
| Format | Typescript |
| Physical description | Loose typescript papers and brown paper envelopes, boxed |
| Arrangement | The catalogue arrangement divides the material into three series: papers, correspondence, and original envelopes. As the original order had not been maintained prior to cataloguing it is not always clear which papers relate to which envelopes and letters, where the relationship is clear, this has been noted under related material for each item. |
| Access status | Open |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | Name | Dates |
| NA8164 | Chadwick; Sir; James (1891 - 1974) | 1891 - 1974 |
| NA8131 | Blackett; Patrick Maynard Stuart (1897 - 1974); Baron Blackett of Chelsea; nuclear physicist | 1897 - 1974 |
| NA1120 | Pye; Sir; David Randall (1886 - 1960) | 1886 - 1960 |
| NA8212 | Egerton; Sir; Alfred Charles Glyn (1886 - 1959); chemist | 1886 - 1959 |