Papers of Harold Clayton Urey, Nobel Prize-winning chemist who contributed to significant advances in the fields of physical chemistry, geochemistry, lunar science, and astrochemistry. He received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1934 for his discovery of deuterium, and made key scientific contributions to the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. He conducted fundamental work on the structure of atoms and molecules, the thermodynamic properties of gases, the separation of isotopes, and the chemical problems involved in the origin of the earth, the moon, and the solar system. He was also an advocate of nuclear arms control, working actively with other scientists to promote global cooperation and to prevent nuclear proliferation and conflict. Among Urey's teaching positions were posts at Montana State University, Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, the University of Chicago, and the University of California, San Diego. The papers span the years 1929 to 1981 and are organized into ten series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 2) GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 3) SUBJECT FILES, 4) WRITINGS, 5) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 6) PERSONAL EPHEMERA, 7) PHOTOGRAPHS, 8) AWARDS, 9) LUNAR ORBITER PHOTOS AND CHARTS, and 10) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES. The collection contains significant correspondence with Urey's fellow scientists, including Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and Edward Teller. Absent from the collection are most materials relating to Urey's wartime work on the atomic bomb, records of his activities at Johns Hopkins and Columbia Universities, and documentation of his personal life.

Harold Clayton Urey was a scientist of considerable scope whose discovery of deuterium helped him win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1934. Urey also made fundamental contributions to the production of the atomic bomb through his development of the isotope separation processes for the Manhattan Project. In the period following World War II, Urey played an active part in advocating nuclear arms control, in promoting space exploration and in the development of the newly created campus of the University of California, San Diego.

75.20 linear feet (156 archives boxes, 49 oversize folders and 5 art bin items)

Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.