The Letters and Papers of Jan Hendrik Oort

The astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort (1900-1992) left behind an extensive collection of notes and correspondence, both on his research and on matters that concerned him in a variety of official functions. Upon Oort's death, the collection was augmented by more personal papers, letters, journals, and diaries.
The resulting collection forms a rich source of information on many aspects of twentieth-century astronomy, in which Oort played such an important role. The scientific and personal material covers the entire span of time from Oort's early youth until his death.
To make these papers accessible to a wide circle of users, the collection has now been catalogued and described; the result is presented in this volume. A name index and a subject index have been added to facilitate access. The inventory is accompanied by a short biographical sketch, and a number of photographs, mostly relating to Oort's career as a scientist.
The original papers themselves are archived in the Leiden University Library.

Inhalt

1. Research and Teaching.- 1.1. Research, general.- 1.2. Specific research for special lectures.- 1.3. Book reviews, biographies etc.- 1.4. Popular lectures and articles.- 1.5. Courses of lectures at Leiden Observatory.- 1.6. Other lectures.- 1.7. Research of colleagues and students.- 1.8. Lecture notes when a student.- 1.9. Chapter 21 of Stars and Stellar Systems V; Book.- 1.10. Notes on literature.- 2. Correspondence.- 2.1. General correspondence.- 2.2. Personal correspondence.- 2.3. Strange letters and wild theories.- 2.4. Correspondence with foreign visitors.- 2.5. Correspondence on travel arrangements.- 2.6. Correspondence on projects financed by ZWO.- 2.7. Letters of recommendation.- 3. Leiden Observatory.- 3.1. Correspondence on the Observatory at Hartebeespoortdam.- 3.2. Correspondence Rockefeller Telescope.- 3.3. Leids Sterrewacht Fonds.- 3.4. Leids Kerkhoven-Bosscha Fonds (LKBF).- 3.5. Assistant Director.- 3.6. Director, 1945-1947.- 3.7. Kenya Expedition.- 3.8. Bosscha Observatory at Lembang.- 3.9. Diaries; day-to-day appointments.- 3.10. Jan Hendrik Oortfonds.- 4. Leiden University.- 4.1. Baccalaureate Committee, 1957-1960.- 4.2. Committee for the Development of Scientific Research.- 4.3. Boerhaave Museum for the History of Science.- 4.4. Academic Arts Committee.- 4.5. Curatoren.- 4.6. Senate, 1951-1955, 1963-1969.- 4.7. Faculty of Science.- 4.8. Bachiene Foundation.- 4.9. Civitas Academica.- 5. Astronomy in the Netherlands.- 5.1. Netherlands Foundation for Radio Astronomy.- 5.2. Benelux Cross Antenna Project, 1958-1967.- 5.3. Space Research.- 5.4. Bulletin of the Astronomical Institutes of the Netherlands.- 5.5. Eclipse Commission.- 5.6. Summer course at Nijenrode, 1960.- 5.7. Scientific meetings.- 5.8. Dutch Telescope in Southern Europe.- 5.9. Academic Council, section Astronomy (SSAR).- 6. Netherlands.- 6.1. KNAW (Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences).- 6.2. Other learned societies and organizations, both national and foreign.- 6.3. Speeches.- 6.4. Teacher's degree examinations, 1930-1941.- 6.5. Academic Council.- 6.6. KNMI (Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute).- 6.7. Editorial Board of Natuur en Techniek.- 6.8. Christiaan Huygens.- 7. Europe.- 7.1. European Southern Observatory.- 7.2. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 1968-1972.- 7.3. Astronomy and Astrophysics, correspondence and referee reports.- 7.4. European Conferences.- 7.5. Foreign Programme committees, 1971-1977.- 7.6. Astronomy in Germany, 1967.- 7.7. Pontifical Academy.- 7.8. Jury membership Prix Docteur A. de Leeuw.- 8. International (World).- 8.1. International Astronomical Union (IAU).- 8.2. Inter-Union Committee for the Allocation of Frequencies.- 8.3. International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU).- 8.4. Symposia.- 8.5. Foreign Visits, lectures, and seminars.- 8.6. Honours and prizes.- 8.7. International Computation Centre.- 8.8. Copernicus 500th Anniversary celebrations.- 8.9. Periodical publications.- 8.10 Humanitarian Issues.- 9. Personal Archives.- 9.1 Correspondence.- 9.2 Documents and notes.- 9.3 Personal notes and diaries.- 9.4 Press cuttings.- List Of Publications.- List Of Abbreviations.- Name Index.