Primary Sources in Science and Technology in Special Collections

The Brinton Family papers document several generations of the Brinton, Steinmetz, and Ward families, three important families who flourished between 1760-1930 in Pennsylvania and New York. Joseph J. Steinmetz , the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Steinmetz of Germantown, near Philadelphia, was an engineer. In 1929-1930, he traveled around the world and attended a 1929 World Engineering Conference in Tokyo. Throughout his world tour, he maintained regular correspondence with his mother and sister Margaret, sending letters and postcards from Japan, China, the Philippines, Indo-China, India, Ceylon, Egypt, Jerusalem, Constantinople, and Athens..

The Karl Wolfgang Böer Papers, 1945-2003, document the life work and professional career of this German-American physicist, inventor, university professor, and solar energy pioneer. Böer’s work in solid state technology, understanding the photoconductivity and structure of cadmium sulfide, and photovoltaics are seminal to twentieth-century advances in solar energy conversion and the modern energy conservation movements. Dr. Böer’s papers are integrally related to his career at the University of Delaware, where he has been since 1961. The collection reflects a relationship with the institution that allowed Böer to fulfill his academic role and conduct scientific research, while also allowing him every opportunity to build research laboratories and pursue entrepreneurial initiatives applying advances in technologies resulting from his research.