Harvey Brooks

Biography

Abstract

Harvey Brooks' research involved the fields of solid-state physics, nuclear engineering, underwater acoustics, and science and public policy. He was part of Harvard's Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and was dean from 1957 to 1975. Harvey Brooks also served on the science advisory committees in the Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations.

Important Dates

August 5, 1915Birth, Cleveland (Ohio).

1937Obtained AB in Mathematics, Yale University, New Haven (Conn.).

1940Obtained PhD in Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).

1940 – 1941Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).

1941 – 1945Researcher, Underwater Sound Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).

1946 – 1950Researcher and Associate Head, Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, General Electric Company.

1950 – 2004Professor of Applied Physics (1950-1975); Dean, Division of Engineering and Applied Physics (1957-1975); Professor of Applied Physics and Technology and Public Policy (1975-1986); Benjamin Pierce Emeritus Professor of Technology and Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government (1986-2004); and Gordon McKay Emeritus Professor of Applied Physics (1986-2004), Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).

1956 – 1980Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Elsevier Science Publishers.

1957 – 1963Chair, Committee on Undersea Warfare, National Research Council.

1958Member, Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Programs and Policies, United States Atomic Energy Commission.

1960 – 1964Member, President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

1961Member, American Philosophical Society.

1962Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1962 – 1974Member, National Science Board.

1966 – 1972Chair, Committee on Science and Public Policy, National Academy of Sciences.

1968Member, National Academy of Engineering.

1971 – 1976President, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1975 – 1978Chair, Commission on Sociotechnical Systems, National Research Council.

1987 – 1991Member, Advisory Committee on Science and Technology for Development, United Nations.

1993Awarded Philip Hauge Abelson Prize, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

May 28, 2004Death, Cambridge (Mass.).

Occupation

Applied physicist.

Places

Birth

Cleveland (Ohio)

Undergraduate Education

New Haven (Conn.)

Graduate Education

Cambridge (Mass.)

Employment

Cambridge (Mass.)

Death

Cambridge (Mass.)

Subjects

Applied physics and engineering.

Nuclear physics.

Science and state.

Torpedoes.

Underwater acoustics.

Relationships

People

Family

Bourgoin, Alice B.

Daughter.

Brooks, Helen Lathrop

Wife.

Brooks, Katharine G.

Daughter.

Brooks, Kingsley C.

Son.

Stowe, Rosalind B.

Daughter.

Advisors & Collaborators

Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980

Ph.D. advisor in diamagnetism and ferromagnetism at Harvard University. Both employed at Harvard University.

Colleagues

Armstrong, J. A. (John A.)

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bainbridge, Kenneth T. (Kenneth Tompkins), 1904-1996

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bienenstock, Arthur

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bloembergen, N.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bode, Hendrik W. (Hendrik Wade), 1905-1982

Both employed at Harvard University.

Branscomb, Lewis M., 1926-

Both employed at Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Bridgman, P. W. (Percy Williams), 1882-1961

Both employed at Harvard University.

Carrier, George F.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Clark, N. A. (Noel Anthony), 1940-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Conant, James Bryant, 1893-1978

Both employed at Harvard University.

Coolidge, William David, 1873-1975

Both employed at General Electric Company.

Emmons, H. W. (Howard W.)

Both employed at Harvard University.

Frosch, Robert A. (Robert Alan), 1928-

Both employed at Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Garwin, Richard L.

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee.

Griggs, David, 1911-1974

Both employed at Harvard University.

Holdren, John P.

Both employed at Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Hull, Albert Wallace, 1880-1966

Both employed at General Electric Company.

Kastner, Marc A.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Kemble, Edwin C. (Edwin Crawford), 1889-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Kistiakowsky, George B. (George Bogdan), 1900-1982

Both employed at President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

MacDonald, Gordon J. (Gordon James), 1929-2002

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Meyer, Robert B.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Nelson, David R., 1951-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Piore, Emanuel Ruben, 1908-2000

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Press, Frank, 1924-

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Purcell, Edward M.

Both employed at Harvard University and President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Raney, William P.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Slichter, Charles P.

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Street, Jabez Curry, 1906-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Weinberg, Alvin Martin, 1915-2006

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Wu, Tai Tsun

Both employed at Harvard University.

Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Zinn, Walter H. (Walter Henry), 1906-2000

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Additional

Herring, William Conyers, 1914-

Seitz, Frederick, 1911-2008

Silsbee, Robert H., 1929-

Sproull, Robert L.

Institutions

Major Positions

General Electric Company

Researcher and Associate Head, Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.

Harvard University. Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Obtained PhD in Physics (1940). Professor of Applied Physics; Dean; Professor of Applied Physics and Technology and Public Policy; and Gordon McKay Emeritus Professor of Applied Physics.

Harvard University. Underwater Sound Laboratory

Researcher.

John F. Kennedy School of Government

Professor of Applied Physics and Technology and Public Policy. Benjamine Pierce Emeritus Professor of Technology and Public Policy.

Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory

Researcher and Associate Head.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

President.

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Received 1993 Philip Hauge Abelson Prize.

American Philosophical Society

Elsevier Science Publishers

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids.

Harvard University. Department of Physics

Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows.

National Academy of Engineering

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Chair, Committee on Science and Public Policy.

National Research Council (U.S.)

Chair, Committee on Undersea Warfare and Chair, Commission on Sociotechnical Systems.

National Science Board (U.S.)

Member.

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

Member, Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Programs and Policies.

United Nations

Member, Advisory Committee on Science and Technology for Development.

United States. President's Science Advisory Committee

Member.

Yale University. Department of Mathematics

Obtained AB (1937).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

F. V. Hunt memorial session II [sound recording] : Professor Hunt, educator; 1973 April 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Harvey Brooks papers, 1930s-2001.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Sessions from the tenth annual meeting of Corporate Associates [sound recording], 1967 October 2.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Special joint session of the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers on coupling of physics and society in the seventies [sound recording], 1968 January 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Harvard University Division of Engineering and Applied Physics addition to records, 1906-1978.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Harvard University Division of Engineering and Applied Physics records, 1846-

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Helen L. Brooks papers, 1958-1982.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Oral history interview with Frederick Seitz, 1982 October 6 and 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Herman Silsbee, 1982 March 29.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Sproull, 1983 July 11.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with William Conyers Herring, 1981 December 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

President's Science Advisory Committee records, 1957-1961.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Library

Abilene, KS 67410, USA

Published Resources

Author

The government of science.

Subject

Harvey Brooks: 1915-2004, Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences