Book or ephemera?

From the same physics professor's book collection, I found this. I found a reference to it in this list http://wilsonweb.physics.harvard.edu/cyclotron/cyclotron_publications.html but don't see it on the book lists (bookfinders, abebooks) I've checked. Not really put out by a "publisher", so is this even really a book?

 

That's very interesting. Wouldn't be surprised if it was classified in its day. Should be of interest to physicists and engineers.

 

Yes, apparently the first Harvard Cyclotron was bought (for $1) by the Govt and sent to Los Alamos on condition that the US build them a new one after the war. This (1950) is the new one, built after the war. I wondered but don't see any sign it was classified in the document.

 

It self-identifies as a "report."

Debora

 

thesis of one of his students perhaps. how many pages ?

 

Yes, it's a report. Probably funded by a government grant, although I haven't researched it.

The definition of "book" include just by format a monographic report , so... I would say you could call it a book in the sense of its format. However, I generally think of a report as a special thing that is not the same as a book.

This may be a different version, since it lists a publisher, Harvard University Press. Perhaps the report was later published as a more traditional book:
http://cds.cern.ch/record/110134?ln=en

OK, here is a detailed slide show about the history of the report. So, it seems significant:
https://www.nrao.edu/archives/Ewen/ewen_cyclotron_slides.shtml

 

So I know a bit about the owners history. He studied to be an artist pre WW2, but enlisted and was in the army signal corps in Japanese occupation, possibly WW2.

After the war he went to Harvard for a Physics PhD. He would have been there in 1950 when this was printed. He could well have taken a course or worked with a professor using the Cyclotron. Brilliant that you found a citation for it at CERN from Harvard University Press! If the Harvard University Press book was so marked inside (this one is not), then this could have been an early version printed for students before it went to press.

From the preface: "Finally, the reason for preparing this report was to provide a source of useful information to those who are to use this machine in the future and also, it is hoped, to those who will be involved in building similar machines elsewhere." 211 pages 8-1/2 x 11.

 

For more than just students... probably all professors and scientists interested in the topic. Since the slide show that I linked said the report was "to the Navy" I imagine that the original was distributed to people in the U.S. Navy as well.

Reports often are never issued by publishers as books, which is one reason I thought this one must have been more broadly significant if it was published by the University Press.

I'm actually wondering whether that citation to Harvard University Press is legitimate or not. I haven't found it in WorldCat, and that's a bad sign for a supposed University Press version. [I should have done more research before posting the link.]

WorldCat has two cataloged versions listed in libraries. The second one on the list has no holding libraries listed. The first one has four holding libraries, including the Cabot Science Library at Harvard.

https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=ti:The+Harvard+95+inch+Cyclotron&qt=advanced&dblist=638