Robert Weinstock Papers, 1937-2004

The Robert Weinstock papers, which heavily focus on Weinstock's scholarly activity outside the classroom, largely consist of his correspondence with colleagues and with the editors of various physics journals.

Weinstock regularly reviewed books, instructional texts and manuscripts submitted for publication in the American Journal of Physics, and his own work was published recurrently in several prominent physics journals. His professional activity as an outside referee is corroborated by an extensive series of letters to the authors whose work he appraised and to the editor of AmJPhys dating from 1966 to 2000. More correspondence with the editor of AmJPhys exists regarding Weinstock's own submissions, 1961-1991. The Principia argument is discussed in communication with other physics professors, 1979-1982, preceding the publication of his article "Dismantling a centuries-old myth: Newton's Principia and inverse-square orbits", 1983. This set of material is among the most significant in the collection.

The collection contains reprints of articles written by Weinstock, which appeared in serials such as Physical Review, American Mathematical Monthly, and the American Journal of Physics, 1942-2000.

Although Weinstock's teaching and research files contain evidence of his early work as an instructor at Stanford in the form of a document entitled "A Brief Course in Elementary Optics", October 1943, little is revealed concerning the structure of the courses he taught at Oberlin College.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I. Biographical Files, 1937-38, 1968-1999, 2001 (0.05 l.f.)

Biographical materials include curricula vitae, faculty information blanks, publications lists, a birth certificate, and a copy of Robert Weinstock's letter to the editor of the OAM  [Winter 1995] titled "Oberlin education as fine as ever". More biographical information can be found in copies of other articles which appeared in the OAM [1984] and The Observer [1984]. Of special note is "An account of the professional career of Robert Weinstock...as reported in February 1997 to Professor Paul A. Heiney, Department of Physics, University of Pennsylvania". The biographical series also contains several certificates that Mr. Weinstock received throughout his professional career, including awards given to him from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1990), the Marquis Who’s Who (in America) Publications Board (1991/92 and 1999), and the International Biographical Centre in Cambridge, England (1992).

Series II. Correspondence Files, 1944-2004, n.d. (1.95 l.f.)

The bulk of the correspondence is between Weinstock and other scholars and teachers in the physics field, as well as editors of various physics journals regarding his own submissions and his work as an independent reviewer. Materials detailing Weinstock's activities as an outside reviewer of manuscripts submitted for publication in the American Journal of Physics include correspondence with editors of the AmJPhys and responses from authors. Also classified here is similar correspondence pertaining to several book reviews.

The correspondence series is divided into three subseries. Subseries 1 consists of correspondence between Robert Weinstock and former students and colleagues from Oberlin College (1960-2004, n.d.). Included here are letters sent and received by Mr. Weinstock from former students Margaret Cheney, Peter Molnar, Albert Moyer, Lawrence Holladay, and Edwin Taylor, among others. Weinstock's correspondence with former students primarily consists of requests for recommendations as well as both personal and professional communication after graduation. The subseries also contains correspondence with Oberlin College faculty members and administrators. Included here is a succession of long letters from Weinstock to his hospitalized colleague, David L. Anderson, 1986, which was returned to Weinstock by Anderson's widow, Madeleine. The subseries contains correspondence with other Oberlin colleagues such as William Renfrow, John Scofield, Susan Colley, and college presidents Frederick Starr and Nancy Dye, among others. The correspondence with President S. Frederick Starr is a restricted file and available by permission of the archivist.

Letters to and from W.E. Haisley, 1980-1981, Steven J. Heims, 1980-1982, Ernan McMullin, 1980-1981, and Joseph W. Dauben, editor of Historia Mathematica, 1980-1982, substantiating the debate fomented by Weinstock's objections to Newton's logical reasoning in the Principia, can be found in subseries 2.

Subseries 3 consists of correspondence (sent or received) relating to various projects and research topics in physics (1944-2004, n.d.). The files are organized by names of individual contacts, or by title and subject of research project (as maintained by Professor Weinstock), and include both projects of Robert Weinstock and of other scholars in the field of physics. Professional correspondents include Margaret Rayner of St. Hilda's College, Oxford, England, 1977-1979, who repeatedly sought Weinstock's assistance in constructing IB Further Mathematics examinations, and Edward M. Kiess, 1988-1989, with whom Weinstock exchanged ideas concerning Kiess' article, "Evolution of chemical potential and energy for an ideal Fermi-Dirac gas.” Please see the Robert Weinstock Papers inventory for a complete listing of individual correspondents and research topics. Weinstock’s writings are filed in Series VIII.

Series III. Files relating to the Oberlin College Department of Physics, 1961-1965, 1980-1981, 1991, n.d. (0.2 l.f.)

Items pertaining to the Physics library include lists of books purchased through the John W. Heckert Fund and the Forest G. Tucker Fund, 1960-1961, and a complete copy of Applied Physics Letters v. 1 no. 2 [October 1962]. The series contains some correspondence with department chair Joseph N. Palmieri, 1980-1981, re general administrative matters. Also grouped here are departmental memoranda and physics staff meeting agendas. An entry for Physics Lecture Series contains correspondence with speakers, schedules and news releases.

Series IV. Grant Files, 1961-1964 (0.2 l.f.)

Papers produced during and after application for three National Science Foundation grants include requests to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences to make proposals, itemized lists of experiments and apparatus needed, proposals, news releases, summary reports and expenditure lists.

Series V. Talks and Speeches, 1962-1994

This series consists of speeches and talks delivered by Mr. Weinstock to academic audiences as well as materials related to college/university visits and guest lectures. Of note is Mr. Weinstock’s speech, “Two Kinds of Truth,” delivered as the Oberlin College Senior Assembly Address in 1962. Also included in the series are materials relating to talks given by Mr. Weinstock at Principia College (1994), Southern Methodist University (1964), and the annual Sigma XI Initiation Banquet (1971).

Series VI. Teaching and Fellowship Files, 1943, 1954-1990 (0.4 l.f.)

An outline of Robert Weinstock's course in Elementary Optics at Stanford University, October 1943, manifests his earliest work as a physics instructor. Weinstock's winter term files contain bulletins, project proposals and evaluations. Most of these materials relate to his sponsorship of winter term projects in Reading Dickens, 1976-1982.  Also presented here are files devoted to his National Science Foundation Faculty Fellowship at Oxford University, England, 1965-1966, as well as to other sabbaticals at Oxford, 1972-1973, 1976-1977. The Teaching and Fellowship files also include classroom anecdotes and cartoons saved by Professor Weinstock as well as sample examinations and solutions to physics problems. The gradebooks and class lists contained in this series are restricted files.

Series VII. Topical Files, 1942-1993 (span) (0.4 l.f.)

Entries exist documenting Robert Weinstocks attendance at various professional conferences between 1961 and 1978, his work on the American Association of Physics Teachers Committee on Resource Letters, 1969-1972, and his involvement in the American Institute of Physics Visiting Scientists Program, 1967-1971, and the Ohio Academy of Science Visiting Scientists Program, 1961-1971.

Series VIII. Writings Files, 1942-2004 (span) (0.19 l.f.)

The series is divided into three subseries. The first subseries contains articles (primarily reprints) and letters to the editor written by Mr. Weinstock and published in professional physics journals including the American Journal of Physics, The Physical Review, The Physics Teacher, and Historia Mathematica. Subseries 2 consists of published book reviews written by Robert Weinstock, as well as correspondence with editors of professional physics journals relating to articles and book reviews (written by or about Robert Weinstock). The third subseries contains Mr. Weinstock’s unpublished manuscripts, papers, and reviews. Please refer to the inventory for a listing of specific titles.

Series IX. Photographs, 1968 (0.01 l.f.)

The photographic series contains six 4x5, black and white prints. All are candid shots of Robert Weinstock interacting with colleagues and students at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan. One subject is identified as Vern Eaton.