California Institute of Technology

California Revealed is a State Library initiative to help California’s public libraries, in partnership with other local heritage groups, digitize, preserve, and provide online access to archival materials - books, newspapers, photographs, audiovisual recordings, and more - that tell the incredible stories of the Golden State. We also provide free access and preservation services for existing digital collections for partner organizations with in-house digitization programs. California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.

Institution: California Institute of Technology

Donald A. Glaser (1926–2013) was one of the 20th century’s most innovative and versatile scientists, opening new fields of both physics and biology by combining theory with engineering. In 1952, he invented the bubble chamber, which revolutionized particle physics by enabling physicists to observe the motion of exponentially more subatomic particles. Glaser received the Nobel Prize for it in 1960. Glaser then catalyzed the growth of molecular biology by devising several machines—with colorful names like Dumbwaiter and Cyclops—for automating experiments with microbial cultures, and by cofounding the first biotechnology company, Cetus, in 1971. From the 1980s into the 2000s, he …

Institution: California Institute of Technology

The online Image Archive, formerly known as PhotoNet, consists of more than 10,000 images, and it continues to grow. Original historic and contemporary photographs from Institute life are found here, as are documentary photos of artifacts, fine art, and rare books in our collections. Caltech history photos include most faculty and many staff members, trustees, notable visitors and other affiliated persons, along with buildings, laboratories, events, and student activities.

Institution: California Institute of Technology

Paul B. MacCready (1925–2007) came to Caltech as a graduate student, initially obtaining his Master's degree in physics in 1948 and then a PhD in aeronautical engineering in 1952. He was a visionary, an inventor and an entrepreneur who pioneered alternative energy solutions through his company, AeroVironment. The collection documents most aspects of MacCready's personality and career through a diverse array of documents, media, objects, manuscripts and printed material spanning over seventy years (ca. 1930-2002). Especially prevalent within the collection are papers and ephemera from 1977 to 1985 during which time MacCready was working on his human-powered airplanes, the Gossamer …

Institution: California Institute of Technology