Vera Florence Cooper Rubin (1928-2016) was an American astronomer whose work provided clear, observational evidence of the existence of dark matter. This collection consists of four born digital images of astronomer Vera Rubin, seated at her desk with papers relating to her discovery of dark matter, during an oral history interview conducted by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) curator David H. DeVorkin and NASM intern Ashley Yeager in Rubin's office.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of four born digital images of astronomer Vera Rubin, seated at her desk with papers relating to her discovery of dark matter, during an oral history interview conducted by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) curator David H. DeVorkin and NASM intern Ashley Yeager in Rubin's office at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.; July 20, 2007. DeVorkin was the photographer and is not seen in the images; Yeager appears seated beside Rubin's desk in one image. Images were received as 300 ppi image files in RGB JPG format, each 2560 x 1920 pixels in size.
Arrangement:
Collection is in original order.
Biographical / Historical:
Vera Florence Cooper Rubin (1928-2016) was an American astronomer whose work provided clear, observational evidence of the existence of dark matter. Rubin graduated with a degree in astronomy from Vassar College in 1948, completed a master's degree from Cornell University in 1951, and a Ph.D. from Georgetown University in 1954. In the 1960s, Rubin began what would become a life-long quest to understand the motions of stars within galaxies and the motions of galaxies themselves. Expecting to discover that stars farther from the center of a galaxy moved more slowly than stars closer to the center, Rubin instead observed that the outermost stars all seemed to be orbiting faster than they should. The stars were being influenced by the gravity of a vast amount of undetected mass surrounding the galaxy that came to be known as dark matter. Rubin collaborated with gifted instrument-maker W. Kent Ford, Jr. using an image tube spectrograph he developed at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. When Rubin used this instrument in telescopes it allowed for much more sensitive observations of distant galaxies than had previously been possible. These observations yielded evidence for the existence of dark matter that stimulated general acknowledgement that it forms much of the mass in the universe. For her ground-breaking work, Vera Rubin became the second woman in history to receive the prestigious Gold Medal of England's Royal Astronomical Society. Rubin was also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1993.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
This collection consists of the photographs used in Race to the Stratosphere: Manned Scientific Ballooning in America and collected by David DeVorkin for research. It also includes a few engineering drawings of balloon gondolas.
Scope and Contents:
David DeVorkin, a Space History Curator at the National Air and Space Museum, completed Race to the Stratosphere: Manned Scientific Ballooning in America in 1989. The book traces the history of manned scientific ballooning from the 1930's to the 1960's, beginning with the flights of Auguste Piccard, and proceeding through the manned flights by the Army Air Corps, up to the Apollo Space Missions.
This collection consists of the photographs used in the book and collected by David DeVorkin for research. The collection is organized by chapter. There are also a few engineering drawings of the gondola of balloons.
There are three series in this collection. Series 1 consists of the photographs actually used in the book, arranged by chapter. Series 2 consists of photographs collected for research by David DeVorkin, but not used in the book. They are arranged by chapter. Series 3 consists of two subseries: Miscellaneous and Duplicate Photographs, and Science Service Photographs.
There is one appendix to this collection. It is a list of all the Smithsonian Institution negative numbers from all the images that David DeVorkin used that came from the National Air and Space Museum's collections.
Arrangement:
There are three series in this collection. Series 1 consists of the photographs actually used in the book; it is arranged by chapter. Series 2 consists of photographs collected for research by David DeVorkin, but not used in the book; it is arranged by chapter. Series 3 consists of two subseries: Miscellaneous and Duplicate Photographs and Science Service Photographs.
There is one appendix to this collection. It is a list of all Smithsonian Institution negative numbers from all images that David DeVorkin used that came from the National Air and Space Museum's collections.
Biographical/Historical note:
David DeVorkin, a curator of Space History at the National Air and Space Museum, completed Race to the Stratosphere: Manned Scientific Ballooning in America in 1989. The book traces the history of manned scientific ballooning, beginning with the flights of Auguste Piccard, and proceeding through the manned flights by the Army Air Corps, up to the Apollo Space Missions.
Provenance:
David DeVorkin, Transfer, 1997
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Race to the Stratosphere Photograph Collection, Acc. 1997-0034, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
