Title Oral history interview with Isabella Karle and Jerome Karle, 1987 February 26, June 15 and September 9 / conducted by James J. Bohning and David K. Van Keuren.


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Location	Call Number	Status
Oral Histories	QD21.K3754 A5 1987	AVAILABLE

Description	sound files : digital, mp3 file.
	transcript : (107 leaves) ; 29 cm
Content	text txt
	spoken word spw
Media	unmediated n
	audio s
Carrier	volume nc
	other sz
Series	Science History Institute Oral history transcript ; 0066.
Note	Interview conducted by James J. Bohning and David K. Van Keuren at Naval Research Laboratory, on 26 February, 15 June and 9 September 1987. (With Subsequent Corrections and Additions)
Summary	Isabella and Jerome Karle met while both were pursuing doctorates in physical chemistry under Professor Lawrence Brockway at the University of Michigan. After earning their degrees (and marrying), they worked on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory. After a brief return to the University of Michigan, the Karle's moved to the United States Naval Research Laboratory, where they focused on the development of X-ray crystallography. They worked together to develop a direct method for determining crystal structures, work for with Jerome Karle, and their colleague Herbert Hauptman, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1985. In the first of three interview sessions, the discussion focuses on Isabella and Jerome's family backgrounds, their education in the public schools of Detroit and New York, respectively, their undergraduate careers, and their meeting and graduate work at the University of Michigan under Professor Brockway. The second interview session covers the Karles' work on the Manhattan Project at the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago, their subsequent return to the University of Michigan, the growth of the field of electron diffraction, the challenges of pursuing dual research careers, and their move to the Naval Research Laboratory. This second session concludes with a look at their early years at NRL, during which experimental approaches to solving the crystal structure problem. The third and final interview session begins with a discussion about the early opposition to the Karles' theoretical work on the crystal structure problem, and the process by which that work gained acceptance through Isabella Karle's X-ray diffraction work beginning in the mid-fifties, through which she was able to solve the structures of spurrite, p,p'-dimethoxybenzophenone, and arginine, among others. Discussion then turns to the nature of the Karles' working partnership in research and in their family life, their children's interests and eventual careers in science, their collaboration with Herb Hauptman, and the effect of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on their lives and work. The interview concludes with Jerome Karle's thoughts on the present state of science education and training in the United States, and his concerns for a global future marked by overpopulation, pollution and natural resource depletion.
Cite As	Isabella Karle and Jerome Karle interview conducted by James J. Bohning and David K. Van Keuren at Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, District of Columbia, on 26 February, 15 June and 9 September 1987. (Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation, Oral History Transcript 0066).
Note	Sound files Science History Institute.
	Transcript Science History Institute.
Access Restrictions	No restrictions on access. Reproduction and use with permission.
Biography	Isabella and Jerome Karle met while both were pursuing doctorates in physical chemistry under Professor Lawrence Brockway at the University of Michigan. After earning their degrees (and marrying), they worked on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory. After a brief return to the University of Michigan, the Karle's moved to the United States Naval Research Laboratory, where they focused on the development of X-ray crystallography. They worked together to develop a direct method for determining crystal structures, work for which Jerome Karle, with their colleague Herbert Hauptman, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1985. Over the course of three interview sessions, the Karles discuss their childhoods, early education, undergraduate and graduate work, careers and collaborations.
Indexes	Transcript has been indexed.
Note	Part or all of this item has been digitized by Science History Institute.
Subject(s)	Karle, Isabella, 1921-2017, interviewee.
	Karle, Jerome, interviewee.
	Hauptman, Herbert A. (Herbert Aaron), 1917-2011.
	Brockway, L. O. (Lawrence Olin), 1907-
	Naval Research Laboratory (U.S.)
	University of Michigan -- Faculty.
	Manhattan Project (U.S.)
	Nobel Prize winners.
	Chemists -- United States -- Biography.
	Chemists -- United States -- Interviews.
	Women in science -- United States -- Biography.
	Women in science -- United States -- Interviews.
	Women chemists -- United States -- Biography.
	Women chemists -- United States -- Interviews.
	Crystallography -- Research -- United States.
	Electrons -- Diffraction -- Research -- United States.
Genre	Oral histories. lcgft
Alternate Author	Karle, Jerome, interviewee.
	Bohning, James J., interviewer.
	Van Keuren, David K., interviewer.
	Science History Institute.
Alternate Title	Isabella Karle and Jerome Karle oral history interview
	Karle oral history interview